PEOPLE WATCH
MPI makes three senior management appointments
L-R : Dr . Lucy Smith , Dr . Richard Birley and Professor John Fernie .
The Materials Processing Institute in the UK announced appointments to three key senior management roles in October this year .
It has appointed Professor John Fernie to the newly created role of Chief Materials Scientist to support the delivery of multimillion-pound decarbonisation projects , including the development of new materials and processes required for future technologies .
With more than 30 years ’ experience of managing research and development teams , Professor Fernie joined the Teesside-based Materials Processing Institute in March 2020 as Group Manager – Advanced Materials . Before joining the Institute , he worked for TWI ( The Welding Institute ) in Cambridge , the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston and has acted as a freelance technical consultant .
Dr . Richard Birley takes up the role as Group Manager , Advanced Materials , whilst Dr Lucy Smith takes up the role of Group Manager , Circular Economy , at the Institute .
In November , EWI engineers Jerry Gould and Lindsey Lindamood received the A . F . Davis Silver Medal Award for their paper “ Capacitor Discharge Spot Welding of Aluminum , Part 2 : Electrode Life Assessments .” The award is given annually to works published the previous calendar year that “ represent the best contributions to the progress of welding in specific categories .”
The paper , published in the AWS Welding Journal November 2021 issue , won for the “ Machine Design ” category . The A . F . Davis Silver Medal Award was presented to the authors during the AWS Awards Recognition Ceremony at FABTECH in Atlanta , USA , on 8 November 2022 .
A major challenge for high-volume resistance spot welding of aluminium is the limited lifespan of the electrodes . This issue
“ Dr . Richard Birley is an experienced and dynamic engineering and environmental manager , who rose to become a senior engineer within the RAF , working in a variety of challenging environments around the world . On leaving the military , he became a project manager for a research intelligence company , before becoming Fuel Efficiency Manager at First Group . He also spent more than five years as a researcher at the University of Leeds , examining methods of reducing emissions from the power production industry , before joining the Institute in 2021 as a Principal Researcher specialising in industrial decarbonisation ,” said MPI .
As Group Manager , Advanced Materials , he will be responsible for delivering several large projects , both European and UK-based . These include the Advanced Materials Characterisation Centre , and the Advanced Materials Development Centre .
Dr . Lucy Smith joined the Institute in 2020 as a Principal Researcher , later becoming
Award for spot welding paper
Jerry Gould and Lindsey Lindamood , EWI engineers . is related to the use of medium-frequency direct current power ( MFDC ) which produces excessive heat and accelerates wear rates . To address these factors , EWI ’ s R & D team introduced capacitor discharge ( CD ) technology for spot welding . The results demonstrated that CD welding would not only produce robust welds , but that its use could also double electrode life .
In addition , the developed technology was seen to dramatically increase the efficiency of the resistance spot-welding process . This greatly benefits the technology ’ s environmental , social and governance ( ESG ) footprint , said EWI .
Jerry Gould is Senior Technology Leader at EWI . His work focuses on resistance and solid-state processes including new variants of the technology . He is the author of more than 175 technical papers and articles on resistance welding , solid-state welding and welding metallurgy , and holds eight patents .
Lindsey Lindamood , Applications Engineer , is a cross-disciplinary specialist at EWI whose work covers a broad range of technologies . In addition to her work in advancing and expanding the capabilities of resistance welding , she is involved in non-destructive testing and weld monitoring . n
Technical Collaboration Lead before moving to the senior management position . As Group Manager , Circular Economy , she will lead the development of innovations maximising resource efficiency through manufacturing and process optimisation . She was a doctoral Fellow at the University of Sheffield , where her work focused on the sustainability of materials and products .
The Group also conducts research into extracting value from waste , identifying technologies and recovering materials that reduce resource consumption and waste generation . It currently works with a range of partners to develop , scale-up and commercialise technologies and processes that support the development of a circular economy . n
Promotion for Beth Percival
AIDA-America , a metal stamping press manufacturer in Dayton , OH ( USA ) recently promoted Beth Percival to Senior Director of Finance .
“ Beth has been part of the AIDA-America team for over 17 years . During her tenure , she has worked as a general accountant ; senior accountant ; project controller and controller . In her new role , Beth develops , controls and maintains an integrated plan for the effective control of all financial operations at AIDA-America , while also ensuring all financial programmes meet corporate and regulatory requirements ,” said AIDA-America .
AIDA is a global specialist in the design ; manufacture ; sales ; service and support ; refurbishment and modernisation of metal stamping presses and metalforming automation equipment . With a worldwide network of sales and service locations in nearly 40 cities across 20 countries , its press installations exceed 80,000 units in over 60 countries . n
. aida-global . com
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ismr . net | ISMR December 2022 / January 2023