James Alexander

My Undergrad degree was at the University of Birmingham, UK, studying Biomedical Materials Science (BMedSci).

I am researching surface multifunctionalisation of metallic biomaterials for body implants and medical tools at the University of Birmingham.

I hope this work will aid in improving patient implant survival, reducing the stress on both the patients and the NHS.

Shuo Feng

I obtained a master’s degree in Materials Physics & Chemistry from Central Iron & Steel Research Institute (CISRI) in China.

I am pursuing a PhD in the IMPaCT Centre based at the University of Leicester.  My research is on  hot cracking in superalloys and Nb-silicide in-situ composites.

I hope my work  will result in deeper understanding of the mechanism of hot cracking.

Rosa Griñón Echaniz

In 2015 I completed my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, followed by a Msc in Nanotechnology in 2016,both at the University of Zaragoza in Spain.

I am now pursuing a PhD at the IMPaCT Center, based in Leicester and in colaboration with TWI. My investigation aims to get a mechanistic approach to predicting the realistic long-term corrosion performance of coatings, since the “assurance of coatings” is one of the priorities for future development. Therefore, I hope the results obtained will help to understand how both existing and new coatings perform over long durations of time in their operating environment through short term-testing

Michael Johnson

I studied for an MEng in Nuclear engineering at the University of Birmingham and graduated in 2016.

I am now studying for a PhD with IMPaCT looking into modelling the oxidation of nickel based alloying systems based in Birmingham.

This research will help to increase the current understanding about oxidation of Nickel alloys, especially at the early stages of the oxidation process. Deeper insight into the oxidation process allows designing alloys with improved oxidation characteristics and better targeting alloys for specific applications.

Julija Kazakeviciute

Having gained a 1st studying at the University of Nottingham in MEng Mechanical Engineering.

Julija is now based at  the University of Nottingham within the IMPaCT CDT. Her research topic is developing a small specimen fatigue testing technique.

Julija hopes her  research with determine the remaining life of power plans would be cheaper and easier.

Bogdan Nenchev

I graduated from University of Leicester with a first class in General Engineering.

I am currently working towards my PhD in materials science with the IMPaCT centre based at the University of Leicester. My research is on modelling of casting defects and it is in collaboration with Doncasters and Sente software (JMatPro).

I am currently investigating hot cracking phenomena arising during the final stages of solidification. It is hoped that by developing a microstructural model of dendritic solidification coupled with shrinkage and thermal segregation would lead to better understanding of the process. The aim of my project is to determine the susceptibility of different alloys to casting defects using thermodynamic and kinetic information from a JMatPro database.

Matthew Rowson

University of Nottingham, Mechanical Engineering, First Class.

My current project look at methods for experimentation and modelling of inertia friction welding at the University of Nottingham.

The work is contributing to gaining a better understanding of the inertia friction welding method.

Gareth Sheppard

Graduated from The University of Leicester with a 2:1 in Mechanical Engineering (MEng) in 2016.

I am now studying a PhD in welding methods with IMPaCT at Leicester, I hope to be able to find new innovative methods to join metals together and to further existing methods.

Joel Strickland

I studied at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and achieved a 1st Class Masters in Mechanical Engineering (with year in industry) (honours).

I am now studying single-crystal/investment casting of superalloys for aerospace and power generation applications. I am working in partnership with Rolls Royce, looking into the dendritic structure of solidified Ni-base alloys, particularly the primary arm spacing.

If successful, my work can help improve turbine strength, material temperature capability and reduce solution heat treatment time.  These advances in turbine design will help improve jet engine thermal efficiency, save up to an 1/8th of manufacturing cost and reduce C02 emissions.

Berenika Syrek-Gerstenkorn

I have completed a MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering and Machine Design at Gdansk University of Technology in Poland and a MSc degree in Structural Integrity at Brunel University in London.

I am now pursuing a PhD programme in the IMPaCT Centre in collaboration with TWI. My host university is the University of Birmingham.
I am investigating the use of nanostructured coatings to mitigate corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement of high strength steels.

Since the cost of corrosion is extremely high, not only in terms of financial costs, but also in terms of lives lost due to catastrophic failures, new methods of corrosion mitigation must be intensively researched. My project will explore the use of novel, nanostructured materials to modify thermally sprayed aluminium (TSA) pore architecture and its corrosion behaviour in seawater. The ultimate aim is to understand the mechanism by which such coatings may protect high strength steels from corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement.
The project results could lead to generation of guidelines and standards for safe operation of high strength steels in offshore environments (such as mooring chains) by mitigating corrosion-initiated failures.

Karl Tassenberg

I graduated with a Master’s degree in Physics with Nanoscience and Technology at the University of Leicester with a 2:1 (Higher).

I am currently doing a PhD with IMPaCT, based at the University of Leicester. I am studying Metal Matrix NanoComposites (MMNCs) in hopes of strengthening light metals, such as Aluminium.

If this research is successful, Aluminium could be strengthened and the range of applications in which such a cheap metal could be used for would increase. As such, it would decrease the cost of these products; which would be good in general.