Materials Annual Report - Friends of Imperial College

» Professor of Materials Science
Professor Manish Chhowalla
BS | PhD
Manish joined the Department in 2009 as Chair in
Materials. Prior to Imperial, he was an Associate
Professor and the Donald H Jacobs Chair at
Rutgers University in NJ USA. At Rutgers University
he awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER Award
for young scientists as well as the Sigma Xi
Outstanding Young Investigator Award for the
Mid Atlantic Region. Before Rutgers, he was a
Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow
at the University of Cambridge after completing
his PhD in Electrical Engineering there. Prior to
his PhD, he worked for Multi-Arc Incorporated
(now Ion Bond) where he developed one of
the first applications of ‘amorphous diamond’
thin films. His technological interests are in the
synthesis and characterisation of novel carbon
materials and their incorporation into devices for
electrical, optical and mechanical applications.
Fundamentally, he is interested in understanding
the role of disorder in determining material
properties. His research topics presently include
investigation of the opto-electronic properties of
graphene and carbon nanotubes, organic memory
and photovoltaic devices, structural properties of
boron carbide, nanostructuring in alumina/spinel
nanocomposites, and deposition of carbide and
nitride thin films. He has over 120 publications
with over 4,500 citations on these topics.
He has served on organising committees for
numerous international conferences. Most
recently, he organised Symposium L at the MRS
Fall 2009 Meeting in Boston. The Symposium
highlighted advances in solution processable
electronics using carbon nanomaterials. Manish
left the Department on 15 July 2010 returning to
Rutgers University, NJ USA.
Email: m.chhowalla@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/m.chhowalla
» Lecturer
Dr Iain E Dunlop
MA | DPhil
Iain joined the Department in 2009, having spent
the previous few years in southwest Germany,
as a postdoc and Alexander von Humboldt
Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for
Metals Research in Stuttgart. He did his doctorate
(DPhil) in the Department of Chemistry at Oxford
University, graduating in 2005. Previously, he read
Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge,
specialising in physics.
Iain’s research uses nanotechnology and surface
chemistry to address outstanding questions in
cell biology. The focus is on preparing artificial
cell culture environments that mimic the complex
structures encountered by cells in vivo. These
well-defined articicial niches enable fundamental
investigations of cell signalling processes, and
are also directed towards improving cell-based
therapies based on ex vivo culture. This research
builds on Iain’s scientific background in soft
matter physics, which dates to his doctoral work
on electrostatically charged polymers at the
solid liquid interface. He also maintains a strong
interest in characterisation methods for soft and
biologically active interfaces, including mechanical
measurements, X-ray/neutron reflectometry, and
surface-sensitive infrared spectroscopy.
Email: i.dunlop@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/i.dunlop
» Senior Lecturer
» Exams Co-ordinator
David joined the Department in 2003 from
the National Research Council in Chalk River,
Canada. His undergraduate degree and PhD were
from Cambridge University, where he studied
the weldability of nickel-base superalloys.
Subsequently at Chalk River, he continued to work
on welding in single crystal nickel superalloys, the
transient measurement of stress around welds
and the micromechanics of deformation in metals
and alloys. He has been the recipient of the 2002
and 2005 Marcus A Grossman Award of ASM
International and the 2005 IOM 3 Grunfeld Medal
and is 2009 Chair of Metallurgical Transactions B
and the 2010 IOM 3 Harvey Flower Titanium Prize.
His primary research focus is the use of
synchrotron and neutron diffraction to understand
micromechanics and materials processing, e.g.,
at ISIS, Diamond, Los Alamos, and the ESRF.
David has collaborated extensively with industry,
working with Rolls-Royce, Corus, BAE Systems,
QinetiQ, Timet and DSTL. Current projects focus
on the creep in nickel single superalloys, fatigue
and processing of Ti-6Al-4V and Zircaloy-4,
and the micromechanics of NiTi alloys in aeroengine
applications, of the ‘super’ titanium alloy
Gum metal and of TRIP/TWIP steels. He has
also worked on the in situ observation of the
electroreduction of oxides to metals in NiTi and Ti
using synchrotron X-ray diffraction.
Email: david.dye@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/david.dye
» Professor of Materials Theory and Simulation
» Director of Thomas Young Centre
Mike has over 35 years experience and 5000
citations in the field of theory and simulation of
materials. His main research interest is in what is
sometimes referred to as multiscale modelling,
exploring the links between electronic structure
of materials, the positions and dynamics of their
atoms and the evolution of microstructure. His
joint appointment in January 2006, between
the Departments of Physics and of Materials is
appropriate to the nature of this research. He won
the Born Medal in 2005 for contributions to the
understanding of interatomic forces and making
links between atomic scale modelling and the
structure and thermodynamics of interfaces.
Recent and current projects include:
• Understanding the structures of grain
boundaries and multilayers in oxides
• Use of metadynamics and Wang-Landau theory
in interface science, e.g., calculation of solidliquid
interfacial free energy
• Explaining the anomalous rates of diffusion
observed in alumina
• Understanding the hardening of Ni-based
superalloys by impurities
He is a reviewer for EPSRC and the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft, a member of the
Scientific Advisory Board of the MPI für
Eisenforschung, Düsseldorf, and he served on the
Physics subpanel for RAE 2008. He is a founder
member and current Director of the Thomas Young
Centre – London Centre for Materials Theory and
Simulation.
Email: m.finnis@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/people/m.finnis
90 Department of Materials Research in Progress 2009–10 www.imperial.ac.uk/materials www.imperial.ac.uk/materials Department of Materials Research in Progress 2009–10 91
Dr David Dye
MA | PhD
* Joint with Physics
Professor Mike W Finnis *
BA | PhD | FInstP | CPhys