IOM3 appoints new Chair of Natural Materials Group

The Institute is pleased to appoint Dr Parvez Alam CEng FIMMM as the new Chair of the IOM3 Natural Materials Group.

Speaking about the appointment, Dr Alam said ‘I am honoured to have been appointed as Chair of the IOM3 Natural Materials Group (NMG) having essentially grown up with the Institute since 1996 when I was an undergraduate studying materials science and engineering at the University of Bath, UK. I have always had a fascination with natural materials, especially in terms of the interrelation between structure, properties, and behaviour. Over recent years, I have become more involved in Institute activities and take this new role as an opportunity to broaden NMG activities and to diversify its outreach.’

‘The UK government’s 25 Year Environment Plan discusses the importance of maximising benefit from natural resources as well as minimising waste, with bold objectives stated in the policy paper including doubled resource productivity and zero avoidable waste by 2050. Natural materials are central to achieving both objectives and thus an aim with the NMG is to unite specialists across the breadth of natural materials in terms of R&D, utility, reuse and policy development.’

‘Since the youngsters of today will become future leaders in this area, we will also reach out to and inspire youth from primary to tertiary levels of education. We will develop stronger connections to them by inviting them to contribute to the NMG through social media development, outreach programmes, and through competitions. Finally, the NMG team will work together with other learned societies that have associated interests in natural materials, as this will extend the reach, scope and value of NMG.’

Dr Alam has a wide range of research interests and has been working with natural materials of various kinds and in numerous countries since the late 1990s. Dr Alam is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, a Fellow of IOM3, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is author of the book ‘Composites Engineering: an A-Z Guide’ and his current job is as a Reader in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, UK.