To email any of the following consultants please use our online enquiry form and select Materials Information Service from the contact category menu.

Stuart Preston

As Manager of Information Services, Stuart Preston looks after the team that is responsible for the various information and library services, technical advice via helplines, materials advice, Industrial Affiliates and technical community support. Stuart's specialist areas are steel and heat treatment, metallurgical failure analysis, materials selection, aerospace materials, and mining and quarrying materials. He also has expertise in hard metals, forging and casting, and joining processes.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)1924 403521

Fax: +44 (0)1924 403521

Steve Harmer

Eur Ing Stephen Harmer CEng FIMMM is Materials Advisor, Industry Specialist and Surface Engineering Co-ordinator with the Materials Information Service.

Contact details:

Tel/fax: +44 (0)1799 524581

Jackie Butterfield

Jackie Butterfield BEng CEng MIMMM is a Materials Advisor and Industry Co-ordinator for the Institute. She studied metallurgy at Sheffield University before joining (then) British Steel as a Process Metallurgist. She spent 12 years in the steel industry mainly in a process role and joined the Institute in 2000. Her main area of responsibility is management of the Materials KTN web portal and the administration of some of the Institute's technical communities including the Iron & Steel Society.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)1302 380906

Fax: +44 (0)1302 380900

Brian Knott

Brian has a dual role within the Institute dealing both with corporate members of the Industrial Affiliate Scheme and individual members as the Regional Consultant for the South East. He provides technical advice and guidance through the Materials Information Service. Brian's expertise is in metallurgical failure investigation, materials selection, wear, corrosion, scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis, and surface engineering. He also has expertise in joining techniques, ceramics, powder metallurgy, stainless steels, weld testing, and polymers.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)1494 528718

Frances Perry

Frances's main responsibility is to produce the IMMAGE database and IMM Abstracts. She is also involved with the areas covered by the minerals and mining section of the library and also secretary to the Applied Earth Science technical community board and divisional co-ordinator for the Mineral Processing & Extractive Metallurgy community board.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 7324

Fax: +44 (0)20 7451 7406

Hilda Kaune

Hilda is responsible for the running of the David West Library, which includes all the various library collections of the Institute. She administers related services such as IMMAGE database and runs the Materials Information helpline. Hilda also guides the Plastics Historical Society in the catalogue and running of their library.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 7360

Fax: +44 (0)20 7451 7406

Matthew Thornton

Dr Matthew Thornton is an Industry Co-ordinator whose primary responsibility is the administration of the British Composites Society and the Polymer Society. Matthew is also the Project Manager for the Polymer Innovation Network - a node of the Materials KTN. Matthew graduated from the University of Huddersfield with a degree in Chemistry with Chemical Engineering and studied for a PhD in Materials Engineering at the University of Nottingham. His specialist areas are carbon-carbon composites, catalysis and nanomaterials.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)1302 380905

Fax: +44 (0)1302 380900

Jan Czerski

Jan Czerski is a qualified polymer technologist with over 30 years' experience in marketing/product/business development and staff training in the polymer industry. An expert in polymer materials, design, processing and environmental concerns, Jan has extensive knowledge of, and contacts in, the UK and continental European polymer industry.

Fluent in English, Polish and German.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0)161 969 6355

Sumeet Bellara

Sumeet Bellara is a Materials Advisor for the Institute and represents the Institute within the Materials and Design Exchange (MADE) group of the Materials KTN. Sumeet studied and completed his PhD in Material Science and Engineering at the University of Surrey. He has worked in merchandise sourcing and designing, as a merchandiser, working with non-technical fabrics, plastics, metals and ceramics. Prior to his appointment at the Institute, Sumeet worked in Nottingham for Scott Wilson Ltd as a Materials Consultant. His expertise is in fibre reinforced plastics, tile and sanitary ware glazes, pavement and construction materials including recycled and secondary materials, chemical analysis of materials, assessment of non-metallic materials in harsh environments, bioremediation, waste minimisation, and alternative technologies for road surveying. His main duties include writing for MADE magazine and he is the curator of the MADE Materials Resource Centre at 1 Carlton House Terrace.

Contact details:

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7451 7315

Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 1702