Surface Technologies Group

Prof Ping Xiao CEng FIMMM

Chair of IOM3 Surface Technologies Group, Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Coating Technology, University of Manchester, Department of Materials and Henry Royce Institute

Ping Xiao received his DPhil in Materials Science from Oxford University in 1993. He has been on the academic staff at The University of Manchester, UK, since 2001 and became a professor of materials science in 2008. His research includes study of thermal barrier coatings and environmental barrier coatings for aero-engine applications, developing coatings for corrosion in oil industry and manufacture of ceramics coatings and ceramic composites for applications in nuclear industry. He has published ~300 peer-reviewed articles, and is among the top 2% list of the most cited researchers in the world based on a study in 2020 led by Stanford University.

Saqlain Ali

Technical & Process Development Director, Permastore Limited

Saqlain Ali is the Technical & Process Development Director of Permastore Limited.  After completing his BEng (Hons) Degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Leeds, he gained a Fellowship of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.  Saqlain has developed his career within manufacturing environments across a broad and diverse range of business sectors over the past 20 years.  He is an experienced industry leader in vitreous and porcelain enamel technology and Standards and is recognised in the industry as a global expert in these areas.  Saqlain has also gained qualifications in Company Direction through the Institute of Directors.

Dr Gyaneshwara Brewster CEng MIMMM

Technologist - Surface Engineering, Rolls-Royce plc.

Gyn is currently working as a Technologist in the Surface Engineering team within Rolls-Royce plc. His first degree was in Aeromechanical Systems Engineering at Cranfield University, after which he pursued his interest in Materials Science, next going to Cambridge University to undertake an MPhil in Materials Modelling followed by a Rolls-Royce sponsored EngD on single crystal nickel base superalloy manufacturing. Gyn joined Rolls-Royce in 2008, and since this has led projects spanning manufacturing, service support and capability acquisition across a wide range of technical areas. A significant proportion of his role is now focussed towards research & development of new coatings technology, specifically focussing on thermal barrier coatings and environmental degradation. As part of this role he is involved in collaborative programmes with the UK research network, as well as international academic and industrial research partners and suppliers.

David Elliott FIMMM CEnv

Chief Executive – Surface Engineering Association, President – CETS, European Committee for Surface Treatments, Chairman – SELF, Surface Engineering Leadership Forum

David Elliott is a Chartered Environmentalist and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining who graduated from the University of Wolverhampton, UK as a Materials Engineer. He has over 45 years of experience in the surface engineering sector, is currently President of CETS – The European Committee for Surface Treatments and is a member of the Technical Working Group that produced the BREF – Best Available Techniques Reference Document for the Surface Treatment of Metals at the European IIPC Bureau in Seville. He is also Chairman of SELF – the Surface Engineering Leadership Forum that aims to help the surface engineering sector in the UK to become world class and embrace digitalisation. He is actively involved in the development of legislation and best practice guides and has participated in many breakfast meetings at the European Parliament, House of Lords UK and with many EU & UK Government Departments. He is currently working with the UK HSE to produce guidance on reporting and monitoring requirements under the REACH Regulations.

Dr Tony Horner CEng FIMMM

Specialist – Corrosion & Environmentally Assisted Cracking, Rolls-Royce plc.

Tony is a Technical Specialist in the field of corrosion and environmental degradation/cracking of materials with over 30 years’ experience in the nuclear industry. He has led a wide range of multidiscipline teams and programmes supporting the design and operation of nuclear plant, including civil aerospace gas turbine engines. He has also been responsible for setting the strategic direction and leading research and technology programmes for Rolls-Royce and in collaboration with external organisations and universities concerning corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking for a wide range of structural alloys and weldments. In his current role Tony is leading a programme to develop nuclear power and propulsion systems for future human space exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

Professor Tanvir Hussain, CEng, FIMMM, FASM

EPSRC Research Fellow and Professor of Coatings and Surface Engineering, University of Nottingham, University of Nottingham

Tanvir has over 15+ years of experience in thermal and cold sprayed coatings providing innovative solutions to the thermal spray sector. He works closely with Industry finding and aligning students to help solve their issues  He has a strong track record track record in data-driven approaches to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at a national level and strongly believes that a diverse team will do the best science. His vision is to embed diversity and inclusion across the entire surface engineering sector.

Mark Gee FIMMM

Fellow, National Physical Laboratory

Mark is an NPL Fellow in the Advanced Engineering Materials Group in the Department for Engineering at the National Physical Laboratory. He is visiting Professor at the University of Southampton, the University of Manchester and Beijing University of Technology. He was awarded the Donald Julius Groen Prize for Tribology in 1992, and the IMechE Tribology Trust Silver Medal for Tribology in 2003. He has published over 300 papers and reports. 

Mark leads projects that are concerned with the development of an improved metrology for surface engineering and tribology (friction and wear). Particular research interests are the mechanisms of abrasive and erosive wear for ceramics and other hard materials, and the development of in situ real-time measurement techniques. Through his membership and support of Surfaces and Coatings within IOM3 he is passionate about showing how better metrology can improve the benefits to industry and society that surface engineering can bring. 

Allan Matthews

Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology , University of Manchester, Department of Materials and the Henry Royce Institute

Keen to improve Academia:Industry links and to help ECRs progress their careers. Also want to encourage digitalisation in the surface engineering sector.

Andy Williams FIMMM CEng

Senior Technical Fellow, Chromalloy Global Engineering

Andy graduated from University College Cardiff in Metallurgy and Materials Science in 1983. He has held a number of posts within the Gas Turbine Component Repair and coatings industry throughout his career and is considered an Industry expert in the field. He is guest lecturer at five UK Universities and sits on the Industrial Advisory Board of both Nottingham and City University. He is a Fellow of the IOM3 and a Mentor for the IMechE. He is also a Board Member for the European Turbine Network bringing together the total supply chain within the Industrial Gas Turbine community. Andy has presented numerous papers at International conferences and authored chapters on repair technology within recognised text books. He brings to the board over 38 yrs of Industrial knowledge within the surface engineering community.

Professor Robert J K Wood CEng FIMMM

Associate Dean Research for faculty of Engineering and the Environment, National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS), University of Southampton

Robert Wood is Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology and has 30 years’ experience of tribology and surface engineering. He has spent 4 years at BP before returning to Southampton to re-establish surface engineering/tribology research. His group was awarded £10M from EPSRC in 2008 to create the National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS) and was awarded a further £3M for research into Green Tribology. He is Chair of UK Tribology and is Editor-in-chief  since Jan 2016 of the IoP Journal: Surface Topography - metrology and properties. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2016. He was awarded the Annual Donald Julius Groen Prize in 2011 and the Tribology Trust Silver medal in 2018 for his outstanding achievements in tribology. For the IOM3 Surface engineering board, Robert represents Tribology and UK Tribology community. 

Christopher Berndt

Director of the Australian Research Council Training Centre, Swinburne University of Technology

Christopher C Berndt is a Distinguished Professor with Swinburne University of Technology, where he is the Director of the Australian Research Council Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM). He has been with Swinburne since 2007 and is the founding Professor of Surface Science and Interface Engineering. Chris’ major discipline areas are “Materials Engineering” and “Manufacturing Engineering” with a sub-disciplinary expertise in the topics of ceramics, biomaterials, thick coatings, and thermal spray technology. He is considered a world authority in thermal spray technology. Chris is the Foundation Editor and now Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology. He has more than 550 publications, with an ‘H-index’ of 70 and more than 12,000 citations to his work. Chris’s employment history includes Monash University, Stony Brook University, where he remains an Adjunct Professor. He is also an honorary Adjunct Professor with the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, India and was appointed Distinguished Professor with both the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and IIT Madras, India. Chris has received numerous accolades for his work including an “Honorary membership” for demonstrated professional commitment and long-life learning by ASM International, in 2022. Chris is especially proud of his students and postdoctoral fellows who have achieved professional prominence and earned good lives over the past 35 years.

Justyna Kulczyk-Malecka

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University

Senior Lecturer, Surface Engineering Group, Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University

Justyna Kulczyk-Malecka is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University. She was awarded her PhD in Surface Engineering from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2012 and then spent few years working on self-healing thermal barrier coatings at the University of Manchester. She has over 10 years of experience in developing functional thin films via the magnetron sputtering technique. Her cross-disciplinary research is conducted in the Surface Engineering Group and Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre where she leads the development of advanced functional coatings for solid oxide cell components for power and hydrogen generation and barrier coating for hostile environments, namely corrosion and oxidation resistance and diffusion barrier coatings. Kulczyk-Malecka is working closely with the nuclear industry sector, for whom she is developing advanced materials to serve as corrosion and diffusion barriers for products at TRLs 1-5. Justyna’s most recent research interests are directed towards hydrogen tribology of materials especially under hostile environments, such as cryogenics.