Future Materials Conference 2021
The conference is intended to be a forum for early career materials, minerals and mining scientists and engineers from across the UK to come together and present their research on the materials they are developing and working with, with the hope of improving presentation and poster skills, along with initiating collaboration between research groups, and between industry and academia.
It is also a way of helping researchers and industry workers see how their work fits into the bigger picture of future materials, minerals and mining research and technology across the UK.
This will also be the closing of IOM3 'Sustainable Future' series of events, podcasts and editorial content.
Programme
10.00 Registration/Coffee
10.30 Welcome
Dr Ilija Rasovic MIMMM, Conference Chair
Session 1
10.40 KEYNOTE Neofossils: Bio-based plastics to sequester CO2
Professor Anthony J Ryan OBE
Director, The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, The University of Sheffield
11.10 Using bridging flocculation for the development of a polymer-based point of care diagnostic for targeted detection of bacterial DNA
Elisabeth Trinh* & Lee Fielding (University of Manchester)
11.25 Man-made crystals for jewellery
Sofie Boons (University of West England)
11.40 The use of interleaved films to optimise the production of all-cellulose composites using textile waste
Ashley Victoria MEng, MSc (University of Leeds)
11.55 BREAK
Session 2
12.05 KEYNOTE Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE): Helping to Commercialise Metamaterials
Dr Robert Quarshie
KTN Head of Materials & MaDE Chairman
12.35 Exploiting the elastic properties of metallic glasses
Osama Shahin Elzoubi PhD*, Martin Stiehler & Konstantinos Georgarakis (Cranfield University)
12.50 DFT exploration of the family of 2D metal organic frameworks M(C4N2H4)C12
Andrea Iliceto (University of Birmingham)
13.05 Artificial neural networks for high throughput material discovery
Jordan Dorrell* & Andrew Morris (University of Birmingham)
13.20 Modelling amorphous zirconia using density functional theory
Christopher Owen MEng (University of Birmingham)
13.35 LUNCH
Session 3
15.00 Making the most of your IOM3 Membership
Mrs Sarah Boad
Membership Development Manager, IOM3
15.30 KEYNOTE You never know until you ask
Dr James Perkins CPhys
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School
16.00 Improving sustainability in the aluminium industry
Dr Michael Kenyon MPhys, PhD (Innoval Technology)
16.15 Understanding local microstructural evolution in tool steel processed by laser powder bed infusion additive manufacturing
Anna Tholen*, Rebecca Higginson, Lewis Jones, John Tyler & Nick Jones (Loughborough University)
16.30 Importance of electronic correlations for the magnetic properties of 2-dimensional ferromagnets
Dr Hrishit Banerjee* & Marcus Aichhorn (University of Cambridge)
16.45 Multi-scale in situ studies of deformation mechanism of L-PBF 316L stainless steels
Wanxuan Teng* & Biao Cai (University of Birmingham)
17.00 Closing remarks
Dr Ilija Rasovic MIMMM, Conference Chair
Martyn Jones CEng MIMMM, SECC Chair
17.15 End
Keynote Speakers
Chair, SECC
Dr Ilija Rasovic MIMMM
Prof Anthony J Ryan OBE
Professor Tony Ryan is The Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Sheffield and the founding Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.
Tony focuses on the global challenge of the food, water, and energy nexus; feeding a growing world population; reducing the impacts of agriculture and food production that account for 30% of green house gas emissions and 70% of water use; and harnessing the power of the sun for renewable energy. He leads the University of Sheffield's programme in sustainability research, integrating across traditional boundaries in the pure and applied sciences, engineering, medicine, and social sciences.
Tony is active in translational research, disseminating evidence-based science to both experts and non-experts, and has been a regular contributor to TV, Radio, National Press and at learned societies from The Royal Society of Chemistry to Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. He presented evidence at the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris in 2015 and returned to COP22 in Marrakech in 2016.
His research covers sustainable synthesis, structure, processing, and applications of polymers using advanced analytical and measurement techniques. Recent research projects included renewable sources for polyurethane synthesis, organic photovoltaics, maximising the properties of polymers and biopolymers through flow-induced crystallisation, formulation of home and personal care products and polymer foams for high intensity urban agriculture. The emphasis throughout is on understanding the fundamental science & technology in order to minimise resource use.
He has co-authored more than 350 papers and patents and 2 books. His text book, "Polymer Processing and Structure Development" with Arthur Wilkinson, is used in Universities world-wide. His sustainability book, “The Solar Revolution”, co-authored with Steve McKevitt, a social scientist, has had great reviews; it puts into context how we come to live on a planet supporting 7 billion people and what we have to do make sure in remains inhabitable (and prosperous) for the foreseeable future.
Tony holds a BSc and PhD from the University of Manchester and a DSc from UMIST. He held a NATO Research Fellowship at the University of Minnesota, was a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader in Materials Science at The University of Manchester and was seconded to the Synchrotron Radiation Source at Daresbury. In 1997 he moved to Sheffield and served as Head of Chemistry before becoming the Pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Science in 2008, a role which he fulfilled until 2016.
In 2002 he delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures and was awarded an OBE in 2006 for 'Services to Science'.
Dr Robert Quarshie
Robert Quarshie is currently the Head of Materials at KTN. He holds a PhD in Electrochemistry (Development of High Energy Density Batteries) and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Steel Metallurgy. Worked in various senior management roles in the steel industry, including R&D, Manufacturing, Commercial and Corporate strategy. He was an Industrial Secondee to DTI and BEIS before moving on to become Director for the Materials KTN. He is the current Chair of the MaDE Partnership Board.
Dr James Perkins CPhys
James is head of science at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham, UK. He was previously physics teacher at St Paul's school, Barnes, London. James started his science career with a masters and PhD in physics at Warwick university and then spent several years in research in the department of materials Imperial College London where he ran and trained users on the Aberration corrected, monochromated scanning transmission electron microscope as well as working on a variety of research projects. As a teacher James continues to be interested in research and spreading the message of materials science more generally, especially the ability to undertake research in a school setting.
James was the 2016 recipient of the Sir Colin Humphreys Education Award for services to materials science education and sits on both the worshipful company of armourers and braziers materials science committee and the Royal microscopy society's outreach and education committee. James was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 and travelled extensively in USA, Canada and Germany to research best practice in science research undertaken in schools. On the back of this James has worked with Hitachi USA and Dr Alex Ball at the Natural History Museum, London to provide tabletop scanning electron microscopes to UK schools.
Chair, SECC
Dr Ilija Rasovic MIMMM
University of Birmingham
Ilija is Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham. He earned his MEng in Materials Science from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, followed by a DPhil in Materials from St Cross College, Oxford. His primary research interests focus on fullerenes and supramolecular systems with particular application in biomedical contexts.
Ilija is an award-winning science communicator, having won IOM3’s international Literature Review Prize in 2016 and finishing second in the Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition in 2017, amongst receiving other best talk prizes at international conferences and scientific meetings. He is also currently Advanced Materials Engineer at P1 Graphene Solutions, having previously worked on placement at Jaguar Land Rover and as a CNC miller for Lesk Engineers.
Ilija is involved in numerous outreach and engagement activities as a STEM ambassador and is committed to both championing Materials Science as a subject and inspiring students of all backgrounds to pursue further study at university. He is a trustee of the newly formed charity, Break Off Labs, whose aim is to widen participation in STEM research.
Sponsored by
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce pioneers cutting-edge technologies that deliver clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs
Our Vision
Power is vital to the success of a growing and increasingly connected world.
At Rolls-Royce we believe in the transforming potential of technology. Our focus is on pioneering the power that matters for the needs of tomorrow as well as today.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to use that power to connect, power and protect society.
Our Commitment
Few companies are better placed than us to help society transition to a low-carbon economy and this will drive our competitive advantage in the long term.
We are determined to use our position as a global power group to play a role in creating a resilient, inclusive, net zero carbon future.
We are tightly focused into three core operating businesses:
- Civil Aerospace
Civil Aerospace is a major manufacturer of aero engines for the large commercial aircraft, regional jet and business aviation markets.
The business uses its engineering expertise, in-depth knowledge and capabilities to provide through-life support solutions for its customers.
- Power Systems
Power Systems is a leading provider of high-speed reciprocating engines, complete propulsion systems and distributed energy solutions.
- Defence
Defence is a market leader in aero engines for military transport and patrol aircraft with strong positions in combat and helicopter applications.
It has significant scale in naval and is the technical authority for through-life support of the nuclear power plant for the Royal Navy's submarine fleet.
Henry Royce Institute
The Henry Royce Institute is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. Royce was established to ensure the UK can exploit its world-leading expertise in advanced materials and accelerate innovation from discovery to application. With investment of over £330 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Royce is ensuring that both the UK academic and industrial materials community have access to world-class research capabilities, infrastructure, expertise, and skills development.
From future cities and their energy supplies, to computing, manufacturing and medicine, the research and innovation facilitated by Royce has the potential to significantly impact peoples’ lives. With its Hub in Manchester and with capability distributed across nine founding Partners, Royce works collaboratively to create real solutions and make a fundamental difference to the UK economy.
Through a variety of access grants, Royce offers students, academics, and industry world-class equipment, expertise and training, to support their advanced materials research.
MIDAS
THE MIDAS PROGRAMME…
…benefits from a unique set of industrially-relevant materials irradiated in a research reactor to very high fluence levels, which were contributed to the research team by Westinghouse and the international Nuclear Fuel Industry Research (NFIR) programme. Due to their unique nature these samples have significant worth, which, alongside core funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) industrial commitments, bring the total value of the programme to around £25 million.
The assembly materials studied are those used as protective cladding for the highly radioactive fuel used in a nuclear reactor. Due to the need to operate reactors as safely as possible, fuel is often removed well before it is spent (i.e. before all the energy is extracted) because not enough is currently known about these cladding materials, so plant operators must adopt a highly cautious, safety-first approach. This reduces the cost-efficiency of nuclear power as an energy option, as well as meaning that the fuel assembly prematurely becomes additional waste, which must be safely handled and stored over the long term.
Reactor safety, however, remains paramount, so MIDAS also has a dedicated work package, within Key Challenge 4, on better understanding fuel cladding behaviour in accident scenarios. The aim of this is to ensure that reactors remain safe in the event of an incident such as Fukushima, as well as including work on the development of accident-tolerant fuels.
A further key theme of MIDAS is to explore the use of zirconium alloys in critical components for future fusion reactors. The UK has a leading position in defining the materials that will be chosen for the ITER and DEMO international fusion projects, and this theme will contribute to maintaining the UK's reputation as a centre of excellence in fusion research.
Central to the programme is the use of UK facilities at which work on active samples may be undertaken. These include National Nuclear User Facility sites at the National Nuclear Laboratory, Materials Research Facility and The University of Manchester's Dalton Cumbrian Facility, as well as new capabilities made available through the Henry Royce Institute. These have received significant investment from the UK government, and MIDAS is a key beneficiary of this investment, as well as being a trailblazing project to showcase what research is possible at these new and enhanced facilities.
The ultimate goal of MIDAS is to help the UK, and other countries, meet carbon reduction targets, and achieve an energy mix that produces less CO2. The MIDAS team is therefore working closely with a range of UK and international industrial partners and stakeholders in addressing this challenge and translate fundamental research into real-world impact.
The Student & Early Career Group represents the views of student, younger and early career members to the Institute's Executive Boards and Advisory Council. We aim to represent the diverse range of members by ensuring Council representatives cover the different disciplines, regions and career pathways of student and early career members.