Newport & Cardiff Materials Society (NCMS)

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24 Nov 2026, 6.00pm - 7.30pm Talk/Lecture

Self healing concrete - Dr Ana Blanco Alvarez (Loughborough University)

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Cardiff University School of Engineering and online

Self healing concrete - Dr Ana Blanco Alvarez (Loughborough University)

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Riccardo Maddelena

President

Riccardo Maddelena

President

Dr Riccardo Maddalena (MIMMM) is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Civil Engineering at Cardiff University, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv). He is the President of the IOM3-affiliated Newport and Cardiff Materials Society (NCMS). He leads multidisciplinary applied research with a focus on resilient infrastructure materials, including self-healing and biomimetic materials, low-carbon concrete, and life-cycle assessment of sustainable engineering solutions. Dr Maddalena has experience in industry, consultancy, and academia, and his recent project on the re-use of waste foundry sand in concrete was shortlisted for the 2024 Sustainable Future Awards (IOM3).

He is Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the School of Engineering, a proud member of the LGBTQ+ STEMM community.

Nick Webb

Secretary

Nick Webb

Secretary

Mark Cichuta

Secretary

Mark Cichuta

Secretary

Having joining the steel industry in 1979 as a technical apprentice at the Llanwern Works, Mark graduated in 1986 with a first class honours degree in Metallurgy and Micro-structural and has had career spanning 40 years in the South Wales steel industry in a number of technical and management roles. Now mark is a Visiting professor at the University of South Wales and runs his own technology consulting business supporting a number of manufacturing clients.

Mark has been associated with the Newport and Cardiff Materials Society and its predecessors for over 35 years has held a number of committee rolls including President and currently Secretary. Mark is passionate about innovation and in his current roles continues to seek out and exploit new opportunities using an extensive network of like-minded passionate innovators.

Tony Jones

Treasurer

Tony Jones

Treasurer

Tony Jones retired in 2010 after 36 years of working in the steel industry. He worked for British Steel, Corus and Tata Steel and held a range of senior technical management positions in the UK and the Netherlands. He has a degree in Metallurgy from Cambridge University, is a Fellow of IOM3, awarded the IOM3 Thomas Medal in 2012 and is also a Chartered Engineer

He has had a long association with the Newport & Cardiff Materials Society and has held a number of committee positions since 1990. He is currently treasurer and has been president twice as well as organising the lecture programme for ten years or so.

Email:: [email protected]

Sam Evans

Vice President

Sam Evans

Vice President

Sam Evans is a professor and former Head of the School of Engineering at Cardiff University, as well as a former President of the Society. He graduated from the University of Southampton with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Engineering Materials, and he has worked ever since on various aspects of the mechanics of materials, in applications as diverse as brain surgery, steelmaking, orthopaedic implants, tree roots and archaeology.

Fiona Robinson

Programme Organisor

Fiona Robinson

Programme Organisor

Dr Fiona C J Robinson is currently Faculty Support Manager for the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science at the University of South Wales and is also active in research and development of electrical steels for electric motor applications. Since joining USW in 2020, Fiona has performed research to develop advanced materials for EV motors, electric motor design, simulation, build and performance testing. She has over 20 research publications in the fields of advanced materials, materials characterisation, and industrial process technology. Fiona worked in the steel industry for 28 years in a variety of roles including RD&T, Product and Process Development and Process Technology. Fiona spent nine years at Cogent Power Ltd developing GO and NGO electrical steel products and processes with particular emphasis on magnetic and metallurgical properties. Fiona has expertise and experience in steel industry through process and product data analytics including external collaborations with many industrial and academic institutions.

Fiona has a BSc(Eng.) in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Imperial College, a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Liverpool, and a specialist Technology Management MBA from the Open University. Dr Robinson is a Fellow FIMMM of the Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials (IOM3), lecture secretary of NCMS and a member of two IOM3 professional committees including the Board of the Energy Materials Group (EMG). The EMG is a specialist cross cutting technical group providing a focus on the materials issues in energy supply and optimisation including all forms of energy generation and advanced materials to facilitate the electrification of transport such as materials for batteries, electric vehicles and charging

Marina Kovaleva

Young Person in Education

Marina Kovaleva

Young Person in Education

Marina is a PhD student at Cardiff University, studying the design and materials for the development of ammonia/hydrogen combustors. During her year in industry, she worked in quality department of Special Metals, Hereford, looking at process improvement for the manufacture of nickel superalloys. She was also awarded the MEXT and Fulbright Scholarships to conduct research placements in the US and Japan on the design, modelling and emissions characteristics of ammonia and hydrogen-based fuel blends.

As a new member of the Newport and Cardiff Materials Society, she is looking to expand her knowledge in the development of materials for alternative fuels and to meet engineers and scientists working in similar topics.

Aimee Goodall

Young Person in Industry

Aimee Goodall

Young Person in Industry

Aimee works as a Process Technology Specialist at Tata Steel in Llanwern, South Wales. Her work is focused on the ZODIAC galvanising line.

Aimee studied for a Forensic Science undergraduate degree at De Montfort University, Leicester. She realised she was interested in material science, confirmed by a 3-month summer placement at Tata Steel, Corby. She then completed a PhD in the Phase Transformation and Microstructural Modelling Group at the University of Birmingham looking at the heat treatment of high strength low alloyed steel.

In her spare time, Aimee is a keen gardener and reader.

Alan Coombs

Committee Member

Alan Coombs

Committee Member

Alan Coombs retired in 2004 from his position as Director, Technical Research and Development for Cogent Power Ltd after working in the steel industry for 42 years. He was appointed Manager Technical at Orb Works in the mid-1980s and was head of research and technical for European Electrical Steels from 1996 to 2000.

Alan took his Institution of Metallurgists examinations with the Newport and Monmouthshire College of Technology in the 1960s, qualified with an Associateship of the Institution of Metallurgists and later became a Fellow of IOM3 and a chartered engineer.

He has been a member of the Newport and Cardiff Materials Society for very many years and has been a committee member since the late 1990s. On his retirement, he was appointed honorary treasurer, a role he has since held for 17 years. As a committee member, he is now assisting the new treasurer, Tony Jones.

Alan has given a few talks at the society technical meetings over the years starting from the time he was a student and finally giving a talk on the history of electrical steels and Orb Works to mark the re-opening of the W R Lysaght Institute in 2012. He has a number of interests and hobbies one of which has resulted in his writing a manuscript entitled ‘A History of the Lysaght Group and Orb Works from 1857 to 2019.’

Relations with IOM3 Affiliated Societies are managed by the IOM3 Local Affairs Committee, which reports to the IOM3 Members' Board. The IOM3 Advisory Council has 7 members elected to represent each of our Regions.

Chris Yeomans

NCMS series of talks

Metallurgical Myths and Other Misapprehensions of the Jet Engine and Jet Aircraft Era

Membership benefits

IOM3 policy & influence

INFORM Series

Materials World

Education & Outreach Trust

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Newport & Cardiff Materials Society (NCMS)

Self healing concrete - Dr Ana Blanco Alvarez (Loughborough University)

Attachments

Other local societies in the SW & Wales Region

South Wales Materials Association (SWMA)

West of England Metals & Materials Association (WEMMA)

Birmingham Metallurgical Association (BMetA)