Materials Discovery & Prototyping
Materials Discovery and Prototyping is a key research activity for the Henry Royce Institute.
Materials Discovery & Prototyping
Through our world-leading facilities - Royce Discovery Centre and Royce Translational Centre - we are able to capture all stages of discovery and prototyping.
Alloy development is where traditional industries and researchers alike look to new materials to meet the challenges posed in the transition to zero carbon, sustainable manufacture, and fostering a circular economy.
Over two purpose-built sites our dynamic team supports all stages of discovery and prototyping from:
- Production, through to
- Processing,
- Testing, and
- Characterisation.
These have been successfully used in the production of most engineering alloys and development materials, including steels, high temperature super alloys, and refractory metal alloys, as well as high purity Ti powder, and their powders.
Previously inaccessible methodologies for accelerated alloy development are unlocked through close synergy with the Near-Net Shape Manufacturing platform. Manufacturing routes can be optimised through collaboration with the Thermomechanical Processing platform. Novel sustainability and recycling protocols are also explored by considering a holistic approach to cross-industry alloy development.
Technology Platform Lead: Dr Kathy Christofidou
Kathy (Katerina) Christofidou joined the department in 2019 as a Lecturer in Metallurgy, where she leads the Modern AlChEME group. She is currently the departmental UCAS admissions tutor and leads the Materials Discovery and Prototyping technology platform for the Henry Royce Institute.
Prior to this, she held roles at The University of Cambridge, as part of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre, and The University of Manchester, where she also worked in close collaboration with the Henry Royce Institute.
She holds a PhD in Metallurgy from The University of Cambridge and an MEng in Aerospace Materials Engineering from Imperial College London.
Professor Kathy Christofidou
Chair in Digital and Sustainable MetallurgySchool of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Alloy development |Physical metallurgy (non-ferrous systems) |Machine learning and high throughput experimentation towards materials discovery | Advanced metals manufacture
- Email address
-
k.christofidou@sheffield.ac.uk
AMP Engineering Lead (Materials Discovery & Prototyping): Dr Yunus Azakli
Yunus Azakli joined the Henry Royce Institute in January 2019. He specialises in advanced metals processing via melting, casting, and thermomechanical treatments.
Yunus has worked on alloy preparation and development since 2012 and has a PhD degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Gebze Technical University.
