Personal Biography
My first degree was in Materials Science at St Anne’s College, Oxford. This was followed by a DPhil at Corpus Christi, Oxford developing novel methods for measuring micromechanical properties in copper and nickel alloys. During my doctoral studies I was a senior scholar at Corpus, as well as being the MCR social secretary and treasurer, playing lacrosse for the university, rowing for the college and meeting my now wife.
In 2009 I was awarded the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy Junior Research fellowship at St Edmund Hall. This fellowship allowed me to apply micromechanical testing methods developed in my doctoral studies to materials for fusion power – in particular irradiated tungsten alloys where I showed that implantation of helium can significantly alter mechanical behaviour of tungsten. In 2013 I was awarded a 5 year Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship titled “Micro-engineering advanced alloys for extreme nuclear power environments”. This was focused on developing methods of measuring mechanical behaviour of materials at the nanoscale at temperatures up to 1000oC. In 2022 I was awarded the title of Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.
Research and Teaching
My research interests lie around the mechanical and physical behaviour of materials which operate under extreme conditions. These can include high temperatures such as those found in jet engines or nuclear reactors, high levels of radiation damage in fusion or fission reactors, or high stresses in energy storage and geological materials. By understanding materials’ behaviour and failure mechanisms under these conditions I work to develop new materials with improved performance. This research is often in collaboration with leading international engineering companies and laboratories including Rolls Royce, UKAEA, MicroMaterials, NNL, University of California Berkeley and University of North Carolina. Externally I sit on the UKAEA Materials Research Facility advisory board, the EPSRC Fusion Advisory Board and the management board of the Science and Technology of Nuclear Fusion Centre for Doctoral Training.
In 2015 I was awarded the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining Grunfeld Memorial Award & Medal, for a professional contribution that has had significant influence on engineering applications in the metallurgical industries.
I teach a range of courses across the first two years of the materials science degree, mostly focused on mechanical behaviour of materials, microstructural evolution, and engineering applications of polymers, metals and ceramics. In the department I teach the 1st year mechanical properties course, a second year lab on materials selection and a third year option course on Nuclear Materials. I also teach a range of graduate student courses for the Fusion CDT on nuclear materials and technology. I typically supervise one or two final year undergraduate projects a year as well as having a large number of doctoral students.
Major Publications
For an up to date list of my publications please visit my webpage here.