Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou (Co-supervisor: Dr Lewis Owen)

Narcisa Pinzariu has been working within Integrated Manufacturing Group (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) since October 2017 after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a Master's in Chemical and Biological Engineering. 

During her time at AMRC, she established a transmission Laue X-ray diffraction method to detect internally presenting grain defects in single-crystal aerospace components. Her PhD thesis focuses on expanding the Laue diffraction method already created to include a qualitative determination of spatially resolved stress concentrations.  

Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou (Co-supervisor: Dr Matthew Brown, Dr Lewis Owen)

Jonah began studying Metallurgy at the University of Sheffield in 2018, graduating with a Master’s degree before joining the group as a PhD student in 2022.

His research aims to develop non-destructive evaluation methods to characterise surface deformation of high-performance Ni-based superalloys following machining. Jonah is working in collaboration with Sandvik, Seco Tools and Rolls-Royce plc, with the expectation that greater insight into deformation will enable more reliable predications for component life. 

Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou (Co-supervisor:  Professor Russell Goodall)

Martin joined the group as a Masters student in 2021 where he worked on a final year project in collaboration with Paralloy. It  focused on investigating the creep degradation mechanisms of a centrifugally casted nickel superalloy using a combination of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy techniques. 

Following his graduation, Martin is now continuing as a PhD student; his research focusses on accelerated alloy design for blue hydrogen steam reformer applications, running in collaboration with Paralloy. His work utilises a mix of advanced characterisation methods. thermodynamic simulations, and high-throughput experiments, drastically reducing the time required compared to traditional alloy design. 

Outside of research, he is an avid baker and houseplant enthusiast, and is also on a mission to transform the office into a botanical garden.

Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou (Co-supervisor: Professor Iain Todd)

Marie has been working for the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) since April 2018, specialising in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (LPBF) and working on projects for industries including space, aerospace, medical and nuclear. Her PhD is focusing on expanding the particle size range of the powder employed for LPBF in order to bring down the cost, increase production rates, reduce the energy consumption of the technology and maximise the use of the feedstock material, whilst maintaining excellent mechanical properties.

Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou

Milo is currently studying MRes in Materials Science and Engineering, working with Modern AlChEME and Rolls Royce for his Masters project.

 The project aims to explore the effects of powder morphology, size range and inoculation on the resulting microstructure and residual stress in IN713LC additive manufactured parts to enable production without residual stress cracking, further developing the implementation of IN713 in additive manufacture.

Supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou (Co-supervisor: Professor Russell Goodall and Dr Adrian Leyland)

Ciaran graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2021, obtaining an MChem in Chemistry with Study in Australasia. After a year of working as a science technician, he joined the Sheffield CDT cohort in September 2022. His research will focus on creating high entropic alloy-based coatings for the corrosion protection of automotive stamped steel. 

In his spare time, Ciaran enjoys watching and playing many sports, mainly rugby, Aussie rules football, American Football and F1. On a quieter day off he enjoys driving and cooking and baking dishes far beyond his skill level.

Supervisor: Dr Lewis Owen (Co-supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou)

Matt graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2022, obtaining an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering. Matt developed an interest in advanced alloys during his undergraduate and is now working on a PhD titled “Exploration of local structural environment in radiation damage tolerant materials”. 

This PhD aims to explore material properties in high entropy alloys through the use of total scattering techniques to look at the local structure of these materials, which will provide significant impacts in the nuclear industry. 

Supervisor: Professor Iain Todd (Co-supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou)

Karol graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2022, earning an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering. His final year project explored the topic of engineering nanotwin boundaries in magnesium alloys. Driven by a passion for metallurgy, Karol pursued a PhD at Sheffield, focusing on laser processing and additive manufacturing of eutectic in-situ composites. His research delves into understanding the rapid solidification behavior of these material systems and optimizing their additive manufacturing processing.

Supervisor: Professor Iain Todd (Co-supervisor: Professor Kathy Christofidou)

Karel graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2024 with a BEng in Aerospace Engineering. During Karel's final year, his project focused on porosity in additive manufacturing and gave him a taste of research, which he decided to pursue further.

He is now continuing his work, researching closed-loop control for use in laser powder bed fusion, to eliminate defects in aerospace components. His work is sponsored by GKN Aerospace.

Supervisor: Professor Iain Todd (Co-supervisor:  Professor Kathy Christofidou)

Henry graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2022, obtaining an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering. Having done his masters project on additive manufacturing, he is now continuing this work, researching into advanced process control with the aim of tailoring microstructures within a part.