Allan Matthews (1952) is professor of surface engineering and tribology at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and director of the Digitalised Surfaces Manufacturing Network.

Education

Matthews attended Upholland Grammar School and completed his

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Salford University The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

studying environmentally-friendly plasma-based processes, especially their use for coating industrial tools.

Career

Matthews spent his early career in the UK

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industry, first with

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and then British Aerospace Dynamics Group. He is known as an early pioneer of the discipline of surface engineering, having founded a laboratory to research that subject at Hull University in 1982, where he established and directed the Research Centre in Surface Engineering. He and his research group led significant breakthroughs in plasma-assisted processes for surface treatment and coatings, in particular in thermionically-enhanced plasma processes for nitrogen and carbon-diffusion treatments of steels and titanium alloys, as well as oxide and nitride coatings to act as wear and heat-resisting barriers on cutting tools and aero-engine parts. In 2002, he was invited to join the department of engineering materials at the

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

. There he continued research in plasma-based surface engineering and helped establish (and was executive director of) the Leonardo Centre for

Tribology Tribology is the science and engineering of understanding friction, lubrication and wear phenomena for interacting surfaces in relative Motion (physics), motion. It is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on many academic fields, including physics, c ...

and Surface Technology, which was made possible through a benefaction by Dr.

Peter Jost (Hans) Peter Israel Jost, Companion of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (25 January 1921 – 7 June 2016) was a British mechanical engineer. He was the founder of the discipline of tribology, the science and engineering of interacting surface ...

. In 2007 Matthews became head of department of materials science and engineering at the University of Sheffield. In 2016, Matthews joined the academic staff in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester. Later that year Matthews was appointed Director of the International Centre for Advanced Materials (bp-ICAM)], which is a $100 million collaboration between BP,

The University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the

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. In his tenure as Director, Matthews worked closely with the bp-ICAM Executive Director, Vernon Gibson CB FRS. During his time at The University of Manchester, Matthews has been an ambassador for Advanced Materials, facilitating networking between academia and industry, with a focus on the

sub-theme. Matthews has co-authored many peer-reviewed publications; most notably, Coatings Tribology: Properties, Mechanisms, Techniques and Applications in Surface Engineering, with Kenneth Holmberg.

Awards and honours

He has held positions with many Learned and Professional societies, including the

British Vacuum Council The British Vacuum Council (BVC) is the link between scientists and engineers within the UK and the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA). The Council supports education activities that develop the understand ...

, the Society of Vacuum Coaters, the AVS Advanced Surface Engineering Division (AVS-ASED) and the Surface Engineering Divisional Board of the IoM3. Matthews was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 2012. He was elected as 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 2023. In 2011, Matthews was awarded The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Gold Medal for his "significant contribution to the industrial application of materials". In 2018, Matthews was awarded the

IOM3 The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British engineering institution with activities including promotion of the development of materials science. It has been a registered charity governed by a royal charter and a member ...

Tom Bell Surface Engineering Medal in recognition of his work in the field, as well as the AVS-ASED R. F. Bunshah Award and Honorary ICMCTF lectureship for "pioneering contributions to the science of surface engineering". He was also the recipient of the Donald Julius Groen Prize in 2005, and the

IMechE The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 membe ...

Bronze Tribology Award in 1981 In 1987, Matthews became an Editor of the

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Surface and Coatings Technology journal, becoming

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

in 2013. His research has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the European Union (EU), European Research Council (ERC) and other governmental and industrial sources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Allan 1960 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of Manchester 20th-century English engineers 21st-century British engineers Engineering academics Alumni of the University of Salford Academics of the University of Sheffield People from Wigan British academic journal editors English mechanical engineers Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Date of birth missing (living people) Tribologists Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining