AFRC’s CORE Research Programme Technical Lead and chair of the Technical Board

As a Head of Materials Group, I lead research and knowledge exchange programmes focused on developing the centre's knowledge base on metallic materials behaviour and residual stress during, and as a result of, manufacturing processes, especially forging and forming, whilst reporting to the AFRC's Director.Among my notable accomplishments, I:• Lead a multi-disciplined team of 24 scientists, comprising post-docs, engineers, and technicians, across five engineering themes, including Materials Science, Materials Testing and Characterisations, Residual Stress, Computational Materials and Process Modelling, and Welding and Joining.• Minimised spending by tracking financial reporting and controlling budgets, including expenditure authorisation.• Identified and acquired new sources of industrial and government funding.• Managed PhD and EngD students as a primary supervisor in line with the defined vision.• Successfully created multiple consortia and contributed to the submission of several multi-million-pound project proposals to different funding bodies, including EPSRC and Innovate UK.

Led the AFRC's research and development programme focused on modelling and management of microstructure and residual stress during forging and forming operations, while reporting to the Chief Technical Officer.Below listed are a few of my key achievements:• Directed a multi-disciplined team of over 20 scientists, featuring post-docs, engineers and technicians, effectively utilising resources for the efficient delivery of multi-million pounds projects.• Led the operation of four testing laboratories, whilst ensuring compliances to ISO17025 standard.• Supervised experimental setup, data evaluation, modelling and simulation of manufacturing processes.• Led the preparation and development of tender documents for procuring over £5M high value equipment for materials characterisations and residual stress measurements.• Published research findings in leading peer reviewed journals, on a sustained basis, and made presentations at national and international conferences.• Supervised over 10 PhD and EngD students as the primary or second supervisor.• Delivered over £12M research and development projects directly funded by industry through expert-level management of £5M spending on specialised equipment.• Boosted total portfolio of the team and created over 15 new jobs.• Achieved ISO17025 accreditation for materials testing laboratories.• Published over 60 articles in high quality journals, as well as in engineering trade magazines.• Elected as a fellow of the institute of materials, minerals and mining (IOM3) for my distinct contribution to industrial metallurgy.

As a Residual Stress Team Lead, I steered the establishment and development of the centre's research programme on measurement, modelling and control of residual stress and distortions during manufacturing processes of metal forging and forming, additive layer manufacturing, and machining operations, whilst reporting to the Engineering Director.A small section of my noteworthy accomplishments include:• Developed a multi-disciplined team of eight scientists, modellers and engineers, and established a laboratory for residual stress measurements across different lengths scales from micro- to meter-scale.• Led a diverse team to orchestrate research and development project worth over £3M.• Steered the creation of the UK's leading source of residual stress measurement for industrial purposes and as a platform for ongoing translational research.• Piloted the centre's certification to ISO17025 for x-ray diffraction (XRD) and hole-drilling methods of residual stress measurements.

Research Associate working with a number of industrial stakeholders, including Rolls-Royce, TIMET, Aubert & Duval, Boeing, Mettis Aerospace and etc. Project Focus: Advanced characterisations of the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of engineering materials and alloys during forming and forging operations.• Investigated the effect of forging process parameters on globularisation in Ti64 under industrial scale forging conditions.• Investigated the effect of heat treatment and cooling rates during manufacturing (i.e., forging process) on the nucleation and growth of precipitations in a number of nickel based superalloys.• Conducted novel laboratory procedures to simulate forging conditions by means of laboratory equipment.• Carried out advanced microstructural characterisations and analysis of forged parts using Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy based techniques (TEM, EBSD).• Provided detailed reports and gave presentations to senior technical fellow from different industrial stakeholders highlighting the most efficient manufacturing procedure based on experimental findings.• Attended the industrial stakeholders sites to translate the knowledge and best practices obtained from the research projects to their production lines.

Working primarily on oil and gas projects, I was involved with both the Consultancy and Materials Testing parts of the business.Responsible for all aspects of project management on individual consultancy and testing projects, from inception through to completion including all financial aspects from writing / costing proposals, through purchasing of equipment to final billing.Successfully contributed to a number of projects some of which included:• Carried out Fit For Purpose investigations into existing pipelines considered for use in challenging field conditions.• Carried out a project on H2S management investigating the consequence of very high H2S levels on flexible lines nearing the end of their design life.• Carried out material selection studies including materials used in subsea CO2 storage, high H2S gas fields and flexible line materials.• Involved in a large Corrosion Fatigue testing programs for a flexible flowline manufacturer.• Development of Compatibility Testing and Acceptance Criteria documents detailing acceptable limits for material degradation following exposure testing.

My role in the Materials Performance Centre was a fixed term contract which involved developing a novel methodology for in-situ 3D characterisation of corrosion pit’s growth in type 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel by using high energy x-ray tomography, in collaboration with National Nuclear Laboratory. The main aspects of the role included:• Experimental set-up and maintaining the long-running experiments (i.e., over 6 months), ensuring that all elements of the trials including corrosion facilitates and x-ray equipment are running to the agreed plan.• Image processing and reconstruction of 3D features obtain by x-ray tomography.• Carrying out post-mortem failure investigations of specimens using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Optical Microscopy, metallurgical preparation techniques and electrochemical techniques .• Training students in the use of characterisations, digital image correlations, and corrosion facilities.• Liaising with the industrial sponsor and collaborating with UK and International academic institutions, including presentation of work and results at conferences both within the UK and internationally.• Supervision of final year master student’s projects