Materials Characterisation & Properties Group

Ben Bin Xu FRSC, FIMMM, FRSA, FSCI

Professor (Chair) of Materials and Energy, Northumbria University

Ben Bin Xu (FRSC, FIMMM, FRSA, FSCI) is a Professor (Chair) of Materials and Energy at Northumbria University, UK. Ben’s research interests cover Materials, Surface, Sustainability, Energy, Biomedical engineering and micro-engineering. He has published 260+ journal articles (h=59), 10 books/chapters, 7 patents, given 100+ invited talks and won multiple awards (Stanford/Elsevier World Top 2% Scientist (2024), AIChE Excellence in Research-Mid-Career Investigator Award in the ‘composites’ area (2023), 2016 Young investigator award from the International Polymer Networks Group, etc.). Ben chairs the Materials Characterisation & Properties Group in the IoM³ and the Composites area in the AICHE (US).

Materials & Manufacturing

Simon Hogg FIMMM

Reader in Metallurgy, Materials Department at Loughborough University

Simon is a Fellow of the IOM3 and a Reader in Metallurgy in the Materials Department at Loughborough University.  He obtained his PhD from The University of Sheffield, Department of Engineering Materials. He held a postdoctoral appointment at Oxford University working on Al-Li alloys for airframe applications. His research is centred on the use of advanced processing and characterisation techniques to understand microstructural development and properties in complex, novel alloys. Presently, the focus of research includes sustainable metallurgy, use of x-ray imaging to understand solidification, and microstructure and texture development in industrially processed light alloys. As well as holding a Strategic Advisor position, he is a member of the leadership team for the IOM3 Nonferrous and Light Metals Group and Past President and current Treasurer for the East Midlands Materials Society.

Materials Characterisation & Properties Group

A network to share knowledge and best practice related to the understanding of material properties and how they affect materials selection and use

Materials Processing & Manufacturing Group

Provides a forum for professionals to gain an understanding of all areas of materials processing, manufacture and related technologies across all material types

Davide De Focatiis

Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham

Dr Davide De Focatiis is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham. His research expertise is in the development of novel characterisation methods and constitutive models for polymers, elastomers, composites and biological tissues. He has been awarded >£4m in research funding, and has published over 60 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and over 80 conference papers, as well as one patent. He has developed a novel mechanism for the biaxial testing of elastomers, and has a special interest in elastomer testing for constitutive modellling. He has been on the leadership team of the Elastomer group since 2009, and also sits on the leadership team of the Materials Characterisation and Properties group

Professor Giuseppe Tronci

Professor of Healthcare Materials, University of Leeds

Prof. Tronci is Professor of Healthcare Materials at the University of Leeds, where he holds a joint appointment between the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) and Leeds School of Dentistry.

His expertise lies at the interface of biopolymers, healthcare and sustainability. His research is devoted to developing advanced material-based concepts to improve human health, with focus on oral care, wound healing and infection control.

He currently serves as the Deputy Director of the CCTMIH and is academic founder and Chief Scientific Officer of HYFACOL Ltd, a University of Leeds spin out company developing a new collagen manufacturing technology (HyFaCol) for wound dressings and dentistry applications.

Prof. Tronci joined the University of Leeds in 2011 as a Research Fellow within the WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering. During this appointment, he led the development of HyFaCol, which was later patented in the US and Europe. He became Lecturer in 2016 and was promoted to Professor in 2023.

Hamdi Torun

Professor in Electrical Engineering , Northumbria University

Hamdi is a professor in electrical engineering at Northumbria University. Before joining the university in 2017, he was an associate professor at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and affiliated with the Center for Life Sciences and Technologies at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. He is a co-founder and a board member of GlakoLens, a biomedical spinoff company. His research interests are in micro/nanotechnology especially for sensing technologies.

He received his B.S. degree from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 2003, his M.S. degree from Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005, and his Ph.D. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA in 2009, all in electrical engineering. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology during 2009-2010.

He received the Medical Design Award of Create the Future Design Contest in 2024; Medical Technology Award from Elginkan Foundation, Turkey in 2016; Young Scientist Award from The Science Academy, Turkey in 2016; Innovator Under 35 Award from MIT Tech Review in 2014 and Marie Curie Fellowship (MC-IRG Grant) in 2011.