Professor Allan Matthews, University of Manchester Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology in the Department of Materials, and affiliated to the Henry Royce Institute, joins eighty outstanding researchers, innovators and communicators from around the world who have been elected as the newest Fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence.
Allan join the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Dorothy Hodgkin.
Professor Allan Matthews has been selected as a Fellow for his substantial contribution to the advancement of science, with the Royal Society stating that his ground-breaking research into surface engineering has been “agenda-setting, prolific and pivotal since the 1980s.”
Professor Philip Withers, Chief Scientist, Henry Royce Institute said:
‘I am delighted that Allan has been elected a Fellow. His work on the development and fundamental understanding of advanced coatings, particularly for materials and components operating under demanding environments is world leading academically as well as being of great industrial impact.
‘Coatings are a key focus area for the Henry Royce Institute and Allan is moving the selection of appropriate coatings from a post-production sticking plaster art-form to a systematic and digitised process that is integral to the whole product design process.’
Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society said: “I am delighted to welcome our newest cohort of Fellows.
‘These individuals have pushed forward the boundaries of their respective fields and had a beneficial influence on the world beyond.
‘This year’s intake have already achieved incredible things, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so. I look forward to meeting them and following their contributions in future.’
Allan Matthews is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology in the Department of Materials and Director of the EPSRC NetworkPlus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing. Until June 2020, he served a 4 year term as Director of the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials (ICAM). He spent his early career in the UK aerospace industry with Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, then British Aerospace Dynamics Group, before returning to academia and completing a PhD at the University of Salford in advanced plasma-based coating processes for the deposition of ceramic coatings for industrial applications.
