Catherine Mary Fiona Rae is a Professor of

Superalloy A superalloy, or high-performance alloy, is an alloy with the ability to operate at a high fraction of its melting point. Key characteristics of a superalloy include mechanical strength, thermal creep deformation resistance, surface stability, ...

s in the Department of Materials at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Rae is the Director of the

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

UTC in Cambridge. She is known for her expertise in

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

and the behaviour of materials in

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

applications.

Education

Rae became interested in science when accompanying her father on field work visits to sub-Saharan Africa and the space race between the US and USSR. This motivated her application to University, where Rae was one of the first female students to study in St Catherine's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(as it was previously an all-male college) and was a college scholar. In 1974, she completed her degree and received a First in Metallurgy and the Science of Materials. Rae completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree on

grain boundary In materials science, a grain boundary is the interface between two grains, or crystallites, in a polycrystalline material. Grain boundaries are two-dimensional defects in the crystal structure, and tend to decrease the electrical and thermal c ...

migration supervised by David A Smith and Peter Hazeldine.

Research and career

After her studies in the University of Oxford, Rae moved to

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

to become a Rolls-Royce

Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

. This began her association with

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and dist ...

and her work in superalloys. In 1972, Rae received a University Fellowship sponsored by Rolls-Royce which she used to fund her research full-time for three years and part-time for two years after the birth of her son. Rae took time out of research for the birth of, and to raise, her first daughter, and this was extended by the birth of her second daughter and the recession. In this period, Rae taught for the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and developed a Science Foundation course at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(UEA) which was established to enable those with

GCE Advanced Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

qualifications to gain entry to University. After this eight-year break, Rae rejoined the University of Cambridge and earned a lectureship position in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy and a

teaching fellow A teaching fellow (sometimes referred to as a TF) is an individual at a higher education institution, including universities, whose work involves teaching and potentially pedagogic research. The work done by teaching fellows can vary significantl ...

ship at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

in 2002. In 2009, Rae was awarded an Industrial Fellowship hosted by Rolls-Royce plc and provided her with direct view of the workings of the company. Rae is well known for her work on superalloys, including understanding the mechanical properties and microstructure formation, as well as the development of single crystal superalloy blade systems including the application of the thermal barrier coating. She is an expert in

transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

. Rae holds multiple patents for significant advances in materials for gas turbine engines.

Professional service

In 2014, Rae was on the Programme Committee for EuroSuperalloys 2014, a major conference in superalloys research. Rae has served on the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Committee for Science, Industry and Translation. She is Director of the Rolls-Royce Strategic Training Partnership which was nominated for the

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

Awards in 2017 for the "Most Innovative Contribution to Business-University Collaboration". Rae is also serves as a member of the "Structure and Properties of Materials Committee" for the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining 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 ...

. In 2018 she led the Rolls-Royce UTC's presentation of "Engineering Atoms" at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition. Rae acts as Senior Advisor for the start-up "OxMet" founded by Roger Reed.

Public service

In the

2021 United Kingdom local elections The 2021 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 6 May 2021. More than 145 English local councils, around 5,000 councillor seats (including by-elections), thirteen directly elected mayors in England, and 39 police and crime co ...

Rae was elected as a Labour Party councilor for

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

, representing the

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

ward in Cambridge. Previously, in 2018 Rae had unsuccessfully run for councillor for the

Fen Ditton Fen Ditton is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, on the northeast edge of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 the parish had a population of 760. The parish covers an area of . Fen Ditton lies on the eas ...

and

Fulbourn Fulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, with evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times. The village was probably established under its current name by 1200. The waterfowl-frequented stream after which it was named lies i ...

Ward of South Cambridgeshire District Council as a Labour Party Councillor.

Selected Academic Publications

* Rae, Catherine MF, and Roger C. Reed. "The precipitation of topologically close-packed phases in rhenium-containing superalloys."

Acta materialia ''Acta Materialia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published twenty times per year by Elsevier on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. The editor-in-chief is Gregory S. Rohrer. The journal covers research on all aspects of materials science and p ...

49.19 (2001): 4113-4125. * Freund, Lisa P., et al. "Segregation assisted microtwinning during creep of a polycrystalline L12-hardened Co-base superalloy." Acta Materialia 123 (2017): 295-304. * Bensch, Matthias, et al. "Influence of oxidation on near-surface γ′ fraction and resulting creep behaviour of single crystal Ni-base superalloy M247LC SX." '' Materials Science and Engineering: A'' 577 (2013): 179-188. * Pang, Hon Tong, et al. "Solution heat treatment optimization of fourth-generation single-crystal nickel-base superalloys." '' Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A'' 43.9 (2012): 3264-3282.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Catherine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford British metallurgists Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Place of birth missing (living people) Women materials scientists and engineers Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Members of Cambridgeshire County Council Labour Party (UK) councillors