Toby Reid - 2nd place
Midlands
Toby is a Non-Metallic Materials Engineer at Rolls-Royce Aerospace, specialising in elastomeric, sealing, and composite materials where he focuses on operational support for the delivery of Roll-Royce Civil engines as well as research and development into future sealing solutions for the next generation of Aerospace technologies.
Prior to this he spent 5 years at Loughborough University where he did a Master’s degree in Materials Engineering with specialisation and research into novel elastomer nanomaterial composites. While at university, he spent a year in industry researching and prototyping new materials for Parker Meggitt Aerospace where he developed a novel patent pending elastomer composite material with unique fireproof properties.
Outside of work Toby enjoys multiple sporting activities including rowing, cycling, sailing, and running alongside hobbies like woodworking and photography.
Row row row your boat: A look at the history and materials used in high performance rowing boats
Rowing has come a long way, as one of the oldest sports in the world starting as far back as 3000BC, to London water taxis racing along the Thames in the 1900s through to the elite level of the modern Olympic games. Rowing has seen some of the most dramatic changes in materials composition, development, testing and modelling as any sport or industry in modern times.
From master carpenters constructing long ships through to the first composite boats made from papier-mâché in 1870 and beyond into the high-performance aerospace grade composites and metals used in modern racing shells today. In a sport where medals are won and lost my millimetres, materials have played a crucial role as athletes and manufactures look to maximise all aspects of performance.
This presentation will look at the past, present and future of materials, the development of new manufacturing methods and how materials can make a boat the length of a bus carrying over 1 tonne of rowers weigh less than 100kg.