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By Idha Valeur  It is 100 years ago since the Women’s Engineering Society formed and to mark the occasion, the group is launching a 100 years – 100 Women Engineers list as part of a project to celebrate and pay tribute to women’s achievements in various engineering fields. The aim is to let the spotlight shine bright on these extraordinary achievements that were accomplished in professional environments that were not women-friendly nor inclusive.  

The list was created via an online site open for nominations from the public, while a panel of judges consisting of Dawn Bonfield FIMMM, Nina Baker, Henrietta Heald, Anne Locker, Gordon Masterton and Will Whittow, edited the top 100 list. 

‘It has been inspiring to learn more about these magnificnet women who were pioneers in their field and had to contend with not only a legal system which prevented their participation, but an engineering profession which made it very difficult for women to succeed in the workplace. Depite these hostile conditions, many women did thrive, and that makes their stories even more compelling,’ Dawn Bonfield said. 

Included in the list are eight members of the Institute. These are: Cleone de Heveningham Benest (1880-1963), Marie Gayler (1891-1976), Monica Maurice (1908-1995), Marion McQuillan (1922-1998), Dorothy Pile (1902-1993), Jane Plant (1945-2016), Jean Taylor (1924-1999) and Constance Tipper (1894-1995). 

Two of these women were past IOM3 presidents. Materials World featured their bios in our anniversary issue earlier this year. And in light of the release of the list, we celebrate them and their achievements once again.

JANE ANN PLANT (1945-2016)

Credit: IOM3

Professor Jane Plant was the first female President of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) in 2000-2002, immediately before its merger with the Institute of Materials to form IOM3.

Plant graduated in geology from Liverpool University, UK, and subsequently worked for the British Geological Survey (BGS) developing methods for geochemical mapping of the UK. As she progressed through BGS, she was awarded a PhD in geochemistry and later took a sabbatical to work for Middleton Exploration in North America on mineral exploration programmes. She was promoted to Chief Scientist of the BGS in 2000. Among her other appointments, she was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Chair of the Government’s Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances, a visiting professor at Liverpool University and Joint Leader of the US Global Geochemical Baselines programme. Plant was a Fellow of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy and of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Freeman of the City of London. She was awarded a CBE in 1997 for services to geosciences and the minerals industry. In 2000 she published a book titled Your Life in Your Hands about her successful battle with breast cancer, which became a best seller.

JEAN MARION TAYLOR (1924-1999)

Credit: IOM3

Jean Taylor served as President of the Institute of Wood Science (IWSc) from 1986-1988 and was probably the first woman member of IWSc. Taylor served in the WRAF during WWII working on airframe maintenance and graduated from Cardiff University, UK, with a degree in Zoology. She joined the Forest Products Research Laboratory (FPRL) under R C Fisher in 1949 and was part of the post-war intake who spent much of their careers at FPRL and made major contributions to wood science. Taylor’s work was concerned with the development of laboratory testing technology and prediction of real-life performance. 20 years later she became Technical Director at Protim, where she stayed until retirement.

IWSc played a large part in Taylor’s life – she was elected a Fellow in 1962 and served on various committees before becoming President at a time of considerable change for the Institute. Her clear analytical approach and gift for enthusing people was put to good use during this time.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Featured on the list were also the unnamed women of the construction group that re-built Waterloo Bridge in London during WWII, now commonly known as the Ladies’ Bridge. Also featured were Rachel Parsons and Laura Annie Willson MBE who founded the Women’s Engineering Society and the developer of the ‘Lyon Shape’ which was adopted by both airship R101 and submarine USS Albacore, Hilda Lyon, amongst many others.

The list accompanies the release of the book Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines written by Henrietta Heald. The book tells the stories of several women in the engineering world and highlights their influence on the industry in a male-dominated profession. The title will also be listed in the October issue of Materials World and can be requested to review for the magazine. 

For more information on the celebration and Magnificent Women access their website here: https://bit.ly/2mnMAmo 

As 2019 is drawing to a close, the Materials World team wanted to highlight a couple of stories to end the year on a high note. On Wednesday we shared the news story that got the most clicks on our website in 2019.  Today, we are sharing the top feature. We hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas from the editorial team. 

15 UNDER 30

By: Idha Valeur 

IOM3 is looking to the future and celebrating young talent and ambition. Idha Valeur talks to the ones to watch in STEM.

Kyle Saltmarsh Age: 27 Job: Robotics Engineer at Woodside Energy. Education: PhD Engineering in Submarine Vibration and Acoustics, BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics, BME (Honours). Current project: Deployment of robotic technology onto Woodside’s oil and gas plant for surveillance, and performing tasks through robot manipulation. Achievements: Best honours thesis, several hackathon wins, top IBM 2018 graduate in Australia/New Zealand, 2018 Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition Winner, world’s largest bungee jumper, blogger and hosting a podcast to inspire people in technology. Ultimate goal: To positively impact the world through the power of technology.

Kyle Saltmarsh     Image credit: Brent Campbell 

Jennie Palmer Age: 26 Job: Research Engineer. Education: Undertaking an EngD in Structural Metals for Gas Turbine Applications, BEng in Aerospace Engineering, with a year in industry, Swansea University. Current project: I am researching the development of bespoke test facilities and fundamental understanding of thermo-mechanical fatigue crack growth behaviour in titanium alloys. Achievements: Graduating with a BEng in Aerospace Engineering with First-Class Honours, presenting my research at national and international conferences, having research published in an internationally recognised journal and a Green Belt Certificate in Lean Six Sigma. Ultimate goal: To become a well-established, technical expert in my engineering field.

Jennie Palmer     Image credit: Jemima Bond 

Ilija Rašović Age: 27 Job: Lecturer at University of Birmingham Education: MEng in Materials Science at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. DPhil in Materials at St Cross College, Oxford. Current project: The use of fullerenes — nanometre-sized balls of carbon — in biomedical applications. One of the methods I have devised, to make them soluble in water, helps in the formation of large self-assembled structures that hold great promise as multi-modal drug delivery vehicles. Achievements: The IOM3 international Literature Review Prize in 2016. Final of the IOM3 Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition in 2017. I joined the P1 Graphene Solutions as an advanced materials engineer and became a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. In 2019, I joined IOM3’s Younger Members’ Committee. Ultimate goal: To make a contribution to the wide deployment of transformative nanomedicine in a clinical setting within my lifetime. My broader vision is to continue to champion materials science and make more accessible the obfuscated world of academic research.

Ilija Rašović     

Amanda Field Age: 25 Job: Development Engineer. Education: BEng Materials Science and Technology, University of Birmingham. Current project: Trying to finish my PhD on additive manufacturing of tungsten for nuclear fusion reactors. It’s challenging but worthwhile because the success of nuclear fusion would go a long way to solving the energy crisis. I’m working in additive manufacturing. Achievements: I have presented my work at international conferences. I was involved with an experimental parabolic flight campaign for the European Space Agency where we used a demonstrator device to 3D print metal in zero gravity. I came second in the IOM3 Young Persons Lecture Competition. Ultimate Goal: To keep working in additive manufacturing. I’d like to stay in R&D as you get such variety in your role and you have the potential to make significant improvements to a product or a technology, or design new ones yourself.

Amanda Field    Image credit: Luke Carter 

Jack Saunders Age: 25 Job: PhD Student in Materials Chemistry. Education: MChem with a year in industry, University of Manchester. Undertaking a PhD in Materials Chemistry, University of Manchester, in collaboration with AkzoNobel. Current project: To analyse the impact of different polymers on the corrosion protection afforded by emulsion paints. I aim to achieve this by synthesising and testing polymer’s corrosion performance. This is to better understand how polymer chemistry can affect the corrosion protection offered by the dried paint. Achievements: A First Class Master’s degree in chemistry. My PhD at the School of Materials at The University of Manchester. Awarded the President’s Doctoral Scholar Award. Presented my work at conferences such as the RSC’s MacroGroup YRM, Dublin, 2018. Won the regional Young Persons’ Lecture Competition this year. Ultimate goal: To develop my research and management skills in order to have my own research group in the field of polymer chemistry and colloid science.

Jack Saunders    Image credit: University of Manchester  Megan McGregor Age: 25 Job: PhD Candidate at the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge. Education: MSci in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, specialising in Materials Science. Current project: A PhD project investigating a new intermetallic alloy for commercial gas turbine engines. Specifically, trying to develop a novel coating material required to attach abrasives onto the end of rotating turbine blades, in pursuit of a more efficient sealing system. Achievements: I enjoy teaching in the department, and was recently awarded the Departmental Demonstrator Prize. I talked at the Cambridge Science Festival and the inaugural Cambridge Soapbox Science event. I will be representing the South Eastern Region in the final of the IOM3 Young Persons’ Lecture Competition this year, selected for an RCUK Public Policy Internship at the Government Office for Science in 2018, where I got to contribute to government policy. Ultimate goal: To see the material I am working on make it into a commercial gas turbine engine. I want to take my expertise in this area into industry, and be able to contribute to the development of the hybrid-electric aircraft sector.

Megan McGregor    Image credit: Andrew Jeskins 

Abigail Georgia Robinson Age: 22 Job: Geology student. Education: MGeol in Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, graduating in 2020. Current project: I will co-lead an expedition to the Lofdal Complex, Namibia, which hosts a suite of carbonatitic and silicic igneous rocks, some of which are enriched in heavy rare earth elements. I aim to integrate geological field data with geochemical and isotopic datasets to model the petrogenesis of the scientifically interesting igneous rocks. Achievements: I was awarded the prestigious Laidlaw Scholarship in Research and Leadership in 2018. This supported my field campaign in Armenia, to investigate the interplay between climate change, hydrology and medieval irrigation systems. I did a research placement at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre where I learned to code in Python and used this to statistically investigate the geographical origin of lunar meteorites across the lunar surface. This work was included in Dr Marissa Tremblay’s published abstract and presentation at the 2019 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, USA. Ultimate goal: I plan to embark on a PhD on the tectonically imposed planet-wide cycling of the volatile elements. I plan to be an active communicator promoting an understanding of geoscience and the global scale problems that we, the geoscientists, can work to solve.

Abigail Robinson      Image credit: Evan Margerum 

Federica Rosaria Lisa Age: 24 Job: Technical Graduate at British Steel. Education: MChem Chemistry with Forensic Science with a year in industry, University of Leicester. Current project: A variety of research and development projects – one on understanding and reducing the factors that influence power and electrode consumption at the ladle arc furnaces in the secondary steelmaking process. Achievements: Graduated with a First Class Honours and secured a 12-month industrial placement and a place on a graduate programme. I succeeded in my secondary school exams after moving to a new continent and starting International School. Ultimate goal: To work for a sustainable discovery/development that will improve lives and I would like to lead a company. I would also like to promote the importance of education, support developing countries in the construction of more schools and strengthen the educational system.

Frederica Lisa    Image credit: Johnny Gallagher  Daniel Everington Age: 26 Job: Materials Technologist – Surface Engineering. Education: MEng Aerospace Engineering with a year in industry, University of Sheffield. Current project: Surface engineering at Rolls-Royce. I’m involved with different projects across the engine, including compressor sealing systems, hot end environmental protection and anti-seize coatings. Achievements: Developed a novel method to flow test ceramic filters used in the investment casting process. The technique contributed to a 3% improvement in casting yield and the reduced variation helps lower the amount of metal. Patents may be filed on the work. Ultimate goal: I’d like to work with academia to co-develop novel coatings/surface treatments. I enjoy the challenges that come with working on new technology as the answers can’t simply be found in a textbook.

Daniel Everington     Image credit: Alistair Coast-Smith 

Louise Gale Age: 28 Job: Materials Engineer at Rolls-Royce Plc. Education: MSci & MA in Natural Sciences, specialising in Materials Science, University of Cambridge. Current project: The development of ceramic matrix composites for introduction into aerospace gas turbine engines. My responsibilities include running mechanical testing programmes, supervising work at our university partners as well as the analysis and fractography of tested samples to elucidate damage mechanisms. Achievements: Completing the Rolls-Royce Graduate Scheme, including obtaining funding for an international placement in the Materials Testing Department in Berlin. I became Technical Lead of a £2.5mln project which was part of a government-funded programme to develop SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites. I developed the £7mln, three-year materials development component to the follow on project that was approved in late 2017. Ultimate goal: To become an expert on ceramic and composite materials systems.

Louise Gale      Image credit: Stephen Gale 

James Grant Age: 24 Job: EngD student with TATA Steel and M2A, Materials and Manufacturing Academy. Education: School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, College of Engineering, Swansea University. Current project: Development of novel coating solutions for the improvement of pre/post heat treatment of carbon steel conveyance tubes. My project aims to reduce high-temperature oxidation caused by the normalising process. Achievements: I developed a novel anodisation system for fabricating alumina masks in the molecular beam epitaxy application. In addition to this, my placement with Merck successfully optimised electrophoretic fluids to further enhance the E-ink display technology. I’ve been competing in the 2019 IOM3 Young Persons Lecture Competition. Having won the SWMA heat and the South West Regional, presenting at the national final in May. Ultimate goal: To educate and encourage the next generation of students to take up STEM subjects. I hope I can engage and excite a younger audience about materials science and demonstrate the opportunities available in engineering.

James Grant      Image credit: James Grant 

Vidya Chamundeswari Narasimhan Age: 28 years Job: Post-doctoral Research Fellow Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NTU. Education: PhD in Materials Engineering. Current project: Developing responsive nasogastric tubes for the elderly and using nature-derived biopolymers for biomedical applications. Achievements: Young Scientist Award conferred by VIWA in India, Title Winner of the IOM3 Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition 2017, Women in Engineering Travel Grant in 2018, Chair of the Young Scientists Forum at the European Materials Research Society conference in Poland 2018. Ultimate goal: To lead and manage a diverse team, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and offer R&D support for cutting edge research in the healthcare sector. I also want to contribute significantly towards mentoring the next generation of young girls towards pursuing exciting careers in STEM fields.

Vidya Chamundeswari     Image credit: Dr Rohit Satish  Frederick Cooper Age: 28 Job: Research Engineer and PhD student. Education: BEng with Honours, Swansea University. Current project: Microstructural and mechanical characterisation of flow formed F1E – a novel, maraging steel. Achievements: Used flow form to develop materials for detailed metallographic, micro-textural, and mechanical assessment. I run two small businesses, have an Associate Diploma from the National College of Music, and an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and was appointed as a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers. Ultimate goal: To complete my current project and transfer a comprehensive mechanical property database detailing static and fatigue performance to a major engineering sponsor – to enable novel component manufacture. Further, I would like to use my experience to develop a career in public engagement or education.

Frederick Cooper    Image credit: Lauren Ednie Photography 

Robert Hoye Age: 28 Job: Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow. Education: PhD, Cambridge University, BE(Hons). Current project: I am looking at two areas that could accelerate the scale of photovoltaics. This makes an attractive technology for producing clean energy, especially in remote regions. Achievements: Developed a recombination contact to couple a metal-halide perovskite top-cell with an n-type silicon bottom cell, which lead to new design rules to identify promising classes of materials that could tolerate defects, and an all-inorganic device structure that led to 80% external quantum efficiency in solar cells. This went on display in the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden, Germany. 2018 Young Engineer of the Year Award by the Royal Academy of Engineering, which also awarded me £500,000 to start an independent group at the University of Cambridge. European Forbes 30 under 30 list. Ultimate goal: To create new classes of defect-tolerant semiconductors that can be used as low-cost and efficient top-cells in tandem with silicon.

Robert Hoye      Image credit: Zoe Chung 

Matthew Wadge Age: 24 Job: PhD Researcher. Education: BSc(Hons) Biomedical Materials Science & PhD (ongoing), University Of Nottingham. Current project: Exploring novel formation and ion-exchange reactions of titanate surfaces for biomedical applications. Achievements: Achieved eight awards during my undergraduate degree including the Best Student Prize, Best Project Prize, and The Armourers and Brasiers’ Best Student Prize for achieving the highest project mark within the faculty. I have since won the Armourers and Brasiers’/TWI Best BSc/BEng Student of the Year Award, Best Oral Presentation Prize from the UK Society for Biomaterials Conference in 2018. Published my first journal paper during the first year of my PhD. I am one of the Nottingham coordinators for this year’s Pint of Science festival. Ultimate goal: To try and improve a patient’s quality of life, from improving fixation of hip stems for improved longevity, through to antibacterial surfaces for minimising infections. I aim to continue on into academia post PhD to share my experiences, and hopefully train the next generation of bioengineers and biomaterial scientists.

By Idha Valeur 

International Women in Engineering Day is this year on Sunday 23 June 2019 and IOM3 and Women in Materials group are celebrating on Friday 21 June with an event. 

The one-day event, International Women in Engineering Day 2019 Event, will be hosted at IOM3 headquarters on 297 Euston Road, London. 

The event is free to attend, with registration opening at 1.30 pm. The programme includes a keynote talk from IOM3 President and Professor of Materials Science at Cambridge University, Serena Best. As well as a keynote the day will host a career case study by Synvina, Netherlands, Project Leader, Elizabeth Eaves and a panel Q&A discussion. As well as the Friday event, IOM3 has also found and framed portraits of women in materials that will be hung up on the wall in the HQ staircase as a celebration. 

Who these historical women are can be read in the 150th-anniversary issue of Materials World here: bit.ly/30jlrAr

Read more news and analysis from Materials World on the IOM3 website, here:https://www.iom3.org/materials-world-magazine

Winners of the International Science and Engineering Fair 2017

By Shardell Joseph

Campaigning for #BalanceforBetter – this year International Women’s day is focusing on the commitment to building a gender balanced world – noticing its absence and celebrating its presence. And it’s no different for women in STEM.

As the stubborn gender gap in STEM has become glaringly obvious over past years, females accounting for only 10% of roles and 14% of engineering university places in the UK, it has become an imperative to promote and facilitate closing the gap in this field.

The number of women in STEM in the UK has been slowly increasing over the last few years - between 2017 and 2018 the number of female employees in the field rose from 864,000 to 908,000. However, the UK is still far off from the goal of a critical mass of 30%, and has the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe.

Considering that increasing women in STEM is forecast to increase the UK’s labour value by at least £2bn, it has become vital to tackle the social and environmental barriers – including unconscious stereotyping, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and schools.

A key way of moving towards a better-balanced STEM is changing the dialogue – not focusing on meeting quotas but rather the positive contributions that a gender-balanced workforce can provide.

Gender-balance should be a fundamental goal for all workplaces, yet there is significant research and studies that present ways in which increasing the amount of females can flourish STEM workforces in more ways than one.

Innovation

There is an inherently strong correlation between diversity and innovation. Research presented in Lu Hong and Scott E. Page’s publication Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers, demonstrated that diverse groups were able to outperform the ‘high-ability’ groups by drawing on their diverse backgrounds and experiences to approach problems differently – which could devise more creative and ground-breaking solutions.

Without more women being present in the process of decision-making innovation in STEM, progression and discoveries are limited. The fact that 51% of the population in the UK are female, innovation cannot reach its full potential if the needs of half of the population are not taken into consideration.

The economy

As mentioned earlier, it is forecast that increasing the number of women in STEM can significantly increase the UK’s labour value. According to The institution of Engineering and Technology report Women in STEM: Statistics and facts, Women-led SMEs add around £70bln to the economy, yet only one in ten STEM business owners are women.

In addition to this, Forbes found that close to 85% of large global enterprises believe that workforce diversity is critical in driving innovation, and teams with equal numbers of men and women generate on average 41% more revenue for their taxpayer.

The talent pool

According to the Stem Skills Indicator, 89% of STEM businesses have found it difficult to hire staff with the required skills between 2017 and 2018 – leading to a shortfall of over 173,000 workers in the field. The result of this shortage not only hinders innovation, but has been reported to cost businesses £1.5bln a year in recruitment, temporary staffing, inflated salaries and additional training costs.

Increasing the number of women in STEM will directly increase the quantity within the talent pool – a bigger pool to choose from would naturally increase the quality.

IOM3 and women in STEM

IOM3 recognises the value of having a balanced STEM workforce, and are committed to facilitating the necessary bridges in closing the gender gap. Already the institute has the highest in proportion of women members of all the Professional Engineering Institutions at 19% - and plans to continue the work to increase this number. 

‘We have many examples in the Institute of highly successful women at all stages of their career. By being a Member or a Fellow of IOM3, career- and personal progression can be demonstrated beyond qualifications. Passing on our knowledge and experience, through mentoring and volunteering, is an excellent way to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers’ says IOM3 President Professor Serena Best.

Credit: Materials World  By Idha Valeur 

By Khai Trung Le

We typically don’t report on research conducted by other institutes, but this feels like a bi-partisan issue, so to speak. A study from IMechE, ‘Never Too Late: Profiling Female Engineering Apprentices’, suggests that there need to be more avenues to help women to be ‘converted’ to engineering during their school careers.

Specifically, engineering careers initiatives should broaden their targeting to women aged 15-25. Lead author Peter Finegold said, ‘Female engineering apprentices are something of a rarity, but there’s no evidence that they are a “breed apart”. The UK school population may include many more young women who could be attracted to this career route, given the right opportunities.’

IOM3 launched the Women in Materials Group, pictured, in 2012 to provide a focus for women members within the Institute and help support them in their careers. Several successful events have taken place around the UK which have attracted women members at all stages of their career and provided networking opportunities and support for women.

Check out the trailer for the May 2018 edition of Materials World magazine.

This month, editor Ines Nastai looks at the peculiar architecture of the Lou Ruvo Centre for Brain Health. Outgoing features editor Gary Peters presents smart textiles, with an article by Dr Veronika Kapsali discussing the value of IOT and digital connectivity to smart clothing.

News editor Khai Trung Le talks to ethical hackers on the danger of greater connectivity as UK industry pushes towards cyber physical systems of the fourth industrial revolution, and staff writer Ellis Davies looks at the land use cost of renewable energy.

A lot of people mix up school success with work success. IOM3 membership looks at both. A degree isn't a replacement for good time on the job. At the same time, long work history doesn't always equal academic ability. Both need to be there.