Surface Technologies Group Webinar Series: Energy

Prof Nigel Brandon FREng FRS FIMMM

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy, Imperial College London

Professor Nigel Brandon OBE FREng FRS is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy. He was previously the Faculty’s Vice Dean (Research), Founding Director of the Sustainable Gas Institute, and Founding Director of the Energy Futures Lab. He is a founder of Ceres Power, a FTSE listed fuel cell company spun out from Imperial College in 2000, RFC Power, a flow battery company spun out from Imperial College in 2018, and M-SPIN, a company developing & manufacturing low cost high surface area materials for electrolysers, fuel cells and batteries, in 2024. Measures of esteem include: Castner Medal, Society of Chemical Industry (2024); Christian Friedrich Schönbein Gold Medal of Honour (2024); Horizon Prize , Royal Society of Chemistry (2023); Freedom of the City of London (2021); Francis Bacon Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2014); Baker Medal, Institute of Civil Engineering (2011); Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal (2007). Professor Brandon received an OBE in 2011 for services to UK-China science and is a fellow of the following institutions: the Royal Society (2021); Royal Academy of Engineering (2008); City and Guilds of London Institute (2008); Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (2006); Energy Institute (2006). He was recognised as an International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2022.

Prof Ping Xiao CEng FIMMM

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair, Advanced Coating Technology at The University of Manchester

Prof. Ping Xiao currently holds the Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Coating Technology. He joined University of Manchester, Materials Science Centre as a Lecturer in 2001, then became Senior Lecturer in 2003, Reader in 2005, and Professor in 2008. Ping Xiao did his undergraduate and postgraduate study of Chemistry in Jilin University, P. R. China. He went to Oxford University to study Materials Science for DPhil since 1989, and  became a postdoctoral research fellow in Oxford since 1993. Then he joined Brunel University as a Lecturer since 1996, and became a Senior Lecturer in 2000.

Ping Xiao's research area covers both fundamental study of degradation mechanisms of ceramic coatings and novel manufacture of ceramics and ceramic coatings. The research covers developing novel techniques to produce ceramic matrix composites and ceramic coatings,  understanding degradation mechanisms of ceramics and coatings, which involves characterisation of microstructure, mechanical property, and residual stresses in ceramic coatings. Ping Xiao's research has generated  300+ publications in peer-reviewed journals and he is among the top 2% list of the most cited researchers in the world identified in a study in 2020 by Stanford University (https://static.asminternational.org/amp/202105/54/).

His work has garnered international recognition, with features in The Economist and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers website. In 2017, he was interviewed by the Canada Business Network. Appointed by the UK Government's BEIS in 2019, Xiao serves as the UK representative on ceramics for the Generation IV Nuclear Reactor International Forum (GIF), interacting with representatives from the USA, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, and the UK. Since 2020, Xiao is Chair of the Surface Engineering Division of the Institute of Materials, Mining, and Minerals (IOM3) in the UK. In 2022, he became an editor of Journal European Ceramic Society. In 2024, he has been awarded the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) Tom Bell Surface Engineering Medal in recognition of excellence and outstanding contribution in surface engineering.

The group is well funded and is currently looking for PhD students including oversea students starting in 2024 or later including studentships shown below:

(https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/development-of-ceramic-thermal-and-environmental-barrier-coatings-for-high-temperature-applications/?p156910).