Staff Profiles
Please see below for our current staff profiles:
Director - Dr Iain Todd
Iain Todd joined The University of Sheffield in 2003 from the National Centre for Metals Research (CENIM) in Madrid, Spain. He obtained both his BEng and PhD at Sheffield and has held postdoctoral appointments at Sheffield, the Netherlands Institute for Metals Research (NIMR) at TU-Delft and CENIM in Madrid.
Dr Todd´s current research interests centre on non-equilibrium processing, the development of novel and conventional metallic materials and processing technologies for their manufacture. A key aspect of his research is its collaborative and industrially relevant nature with much of his group´s research being conducted with industrial partners ranging from the Renault Formula 1 Team to TWI and Rolls-Royce.
Design Engineer - Dr Michael Blackmore
After completing a MEng degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2003 Mike remained at the university to continue research within the IMMPETUS research group. This took the form of a PhD in the Department of Engineering Materials and concentrated on combined finite element modeling and hot deformation testing to investigate the effects of closed die forging on the microstructural evolution of high temperature titanium alloy Timetal®834.
After completion of his PhD, Mike was offered the position of design engineer in the newly founded IMPC group. Mike holds this position to date, and is responsible for the operation and R&D of the powder bed deposition systems within IMPC.
Mike’s current research interests in additive layer manufacture include;
- Component design for additive layer manufacture.
- Microstructural evolution, control and manipulation.
- Materials selection and melt theme development.
- Understanding and improving as deposited surface.
- Post processing.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate - Dr Alfred Sidambe
Dr. Alfred Sidambe joined the IMPC/AMRC at the University of Sheffield in December 2006 to work as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. His tasks involve developing improved processing routes to Titanium alloys, with emphasis on Metal Injection Moulding.
Dr Sidambe obtained his PhD in 2006 for Cranfield University UK in injection moulding of polymer bonded magnets. His work allowed him to developed extensive knowledge in the Extrusion, Mixing, Rheological and Injection moulding techniques of polymer materials as well as Finite Elements Analysis and magnetic properties of materials.
His first degree was in Special Applied Physics with Electronics which he obtained with honours in the First Class from The University of Hull, UK, in 1997. In his undergraduate days, Dr. Sidambe was awarded the Idwal Jones Prize in Experimental Physics for his excellence in experimentation.
Dr Sidambe has also worked in industry within the Photoelectronics and Information Technology sectors.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate - Dr Ignacio A. Figueroa (Nacho)
Ignacio A. Figueroa (Nacho) joined the IMPC/AMRC at the University of Sheffield in October 2007 to work as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. He obtained his first degree in Materials Engineering in 2001, his master degree (M.Sc) in Metallurgical and Materials Science in 2003 and his PhD in Engineering Materials from the University of Sheffield in 2008. His major research interests include:
- Nonequilibrium processing of multicomponent metastable alloys and alloy development.
- Casting and solidification.
- Deformation and fracture behaviour of nanostructured metallic material, bulk metallic glasses and their composites.
- Metal injection moulding (Stainless steels and Ti alloys)
- Metallic foams
Ignacio is an author or coauthor of more than 20 peer review and conference papers.
Researcher - Dr Wufei Zhang (Fay)
Fay got her Bachelor degree in material science and engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, China in 2003. Then she started her PhD study in Nottingham University, UK, working on laser welding of titanium alloys (Rolls-Royce project).
In the year 2007, Fay got her PhD degree and started her first job working as an engineer in Bradken UK Ltd. At the end of year 2008, she joined IMPC as a researcher, focusing on additive layer manufacturing. Her research interest is also in looking at the metallurgical aspects of Cobalt Chromium alloys, Nickel alloys and Titanium alloys.
PhD Student - Sinan Al-Bermani
Sinan completed a Masters degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2005. Upon completion, Sinan took up the role of Development Metallurgist at Firth Rixson plc where he was responsible for forging, rolling and process route development and approval. After two years, Sinan rejoined the University to undertake a PhD in the microstructural evolution of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V which is currently ongoing.
In his research Sinan is currently investigating:
- Microstructural evolution as a result of phase transformations
- Finite element modelling
PhD Student - Robert Deffley
Robert completed a Masters degree in Materials Science and Engineering at The University Of Sheffield in 2005 gaining First Class Honours. During his degree Robert enjoyed industrial experience in the steel making and processing, and float glass industries before specialising in process metallurgy, specifically, rapid solidification of rear-earth alloys for magnetic applications.
Having developed an interest in novel processing techniques, Robert went on to start a PhD in laser deposition of nickel based superalloys in blown powder and powder-bed ALM processes jointly with The University Of Sheffield in the IMMPETUS research group and TWI: The Welding Institute. The project involved microstructural investigations to determine the effect of processing parameters on material response, as well as process modelling.
Robert is currently working on:
- Process development and optimisation of ALM
- Materials selection and melt theme development of new metallic alloys
- Mechanical properties of ALM materials
- Surface tolerance and geometry control
- Existing part customisation/alteration