Norman Percy Allen (5 June 1903 – 23 February 1972) was a British metallurgist.

Early life

He was born in Wrexham, North Wales, the son of accountant Sidney Edward Allen and educated at Burton-on-Trent Boys' Grammar School and

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

, where he obtained an honours degree in metallurgy.

Career

He stayed on at Sheffield to carry out research into copper die-casting alloys, but in 1925 moved to

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

to work for three years on the porosity of copper and copper alloys, moving again in 1929 to

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

to continue the work. He was awarded a D.Sc. by Birmingham University in 1934. In 1933 he left the university to join

Mond Nickel Company The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839–1909) ...

at their Birmingham research laboratory under Dr Leonard Bessemer Pfeil, where he stayed until 1945. During that time he worked on the development of highly alloyed nickel base materials

Nimonic Nimonic is now a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation that refers to a family of nickel-based high-temperature low creep superalloys. Nimonic alloys typically consist of more than 50% nickel and 20% chromium with additives such as t ...

having high strength and high oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures which served a key role in the use of such alloys in the new jet engines. In 1945, he joined the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) as Superintendent of the Metallurgy Division, where he stayed until his retirement in 1969. A major project there concerned the development of superconductors, their manufacture, use and ongoing development. Other projects involved the development of physical methods of analysis such as spectrographic analysis, chromatography, colorimetry, X-ray fluorescence and absorption spectrometry. In 1966 he was appointed Deputy Director of the NPL.

Honours and awards

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1956 and elected President of the Institution of Metallurgists for 1961/62. He was invested as a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) in the 1966 Birthday Honours.

Private life

He died in 1972. He had married in 1929 Olive Williams, with whom he had 2 sons and a daughter,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Norman Percy 1903 births 1972 deaths People from Wrexham Alumni of the University of Sheffield British metallurgists Academics of the University of Birmingham Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)