The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

institution with activities including promotion of the development of

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

. It has been a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

governed by a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

and a member of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Science Council The Science Council is a UK organisation that was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applie ...

, since 2002. In 2019, the IOM3 celebrated the 150-year

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

of the establishment of the

Iron and Steel Institute The Iron and Steel Institute was a British association originally organized by the iron trade of the north of England. Its object was the discussion of practical and scientific questions connected with the manufacture of iron and steel. History The ...

which the IOM3 now encompasses. In 2022, it had a

gross income For households and individuals, gross income is the sum of all wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings, before any deductions or taxes. It is opposed to net income, defined as the gross income minus taxes ...

of £3.99 million.

Structure

Having resided at

Carlton House Terrace Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces, the Western and Eastern terraces, of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of ...

off Pall Mall in

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

in central London since 2002, the institute moved to 297 Euston Road on 30 June 2015. The organization has its membership, education, sales, and

knowledge transfer Knowledge transfer refers to transferring an awareness of facts or practical skills from one entity to another.Kjell Arne Røvik (2016). "Knowledge Transfer as Translation: Review and Elements of an Instrumental Theory." ''International Journa ...

office in

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

. Members qualify for different grades of membership, ranging from Affiliate to Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), depending on academic qualifications and professional experience. IOM3 has an individual membership of 15,000, and represents a combination of scientific, technical and

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

Affiliated Local Societies

Approximately 25 UK 'local societies' are affiliated with the institute, covering a wide range of disciplines such as ceramics, composites, mining, packaging, polymers, and metallurgy, and organizing events throughout the year.

Technical Communities

Since April 2022 IOM3 has 22 Technical Community groups representing the breadth of disciplines covered and the materials cycle. These groups previously known as Divisions are now termed as the "IOM3 XXXXX Group" with a common identity and branding/logo.

History

The institute's roots go back to the

. In 1869,

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a larg ...

William Menelaus convened and chaired a meeting at the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

's Queen's Hotel in

Birmingham, West Midlands Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, which led to the founding of the Iron and Steel Institute, which received its

s in 1899. Menelaus was its president from 1875 to 1877, and in 1881 was awarded the

Bessemer Gold Medal The Bessemer Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) "for outstanding services to the steel industry, to the inventor or designer of any significant innovation in the process employed in the manufact ...

. In 1974, the Iron and Steel Institute merged into the Institute of Metals. The Institute of Metals then merged in 1993, with The Institute of Ceramics and The Plastics and Rubber Institute (PRI) to form the Institute of Materials (IoM). The PRI was itself a merger of The Plastics Institute and the Institution of the Rubber Industry (known as the IRI) during the 1980s, a reflection of the declining UK rubber manufacturing industry during this period. IOM3 was formed from the merger of the Institute of Materials and the

Institution of Mining and Metallurgy The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) was a British research institution, founded in 1892. Members of the Institution used the post-nominals MIMM. In 2002, it merged with The Institute of Materials (IOM) to form the Institute of Materials, ...

(IMM) in June 2002. More recent mergers include the Institute of Packaging (2005), the Institute of Clay Technology (2006) the Institute of Wood Science (2009) and the Institute of Vitreous Enamellers (2010).

List of presidents

Source:

Function

The institute ensures that courses in materials, minerals, mining technology and engineering conform to the standards for professional registration with the

Engineering Council UK The Engineering Council (formerly Engineering Council UK; colloquially known as EngC) is the UK's regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and engineering technician. The Engineering Council holds the natio ...

which establishes codes of practice and monitors legislative matters affecting members' professional interests. The professional development program run by the institute contributes to members' careers towards senior grades of membership and

Chartered Scientist Chartered Scientist (CSci) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom that is awarded by the Science Council through its licensed member organisations. Holders of this qualification can use the post-nominal letters CSci. Chartered sci ...

(CSci) and

Chartered Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

(CEng) status. Members receive reduced rates for the institute's many books, journals and

conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and from access to the institute's Information Services. These include extensive library resources as well as a team of materials experts who provide consultancy services to Institute members, and to companies who have joined the institute's Business Partner Program.

Fellows

Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM) is an award granted to individuals that the IOM3 judges to have made "significant contribution or established a record of achievement in the materials,

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

". Applications for

fellowships A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

are open to both members and non-members of the IOM3. Applications must be supported by two

letters of recommendation Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

from current fellows of the IOM3 and have known the applicant for a minimum of 2 years. Examples of fellows include Harshad Bhadeshia, Rachel Thomson, Derek Fray, Robert Baker, Jason WA Robinson,

Serena Best Serena Michelle Best , is a British academic, and the Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge. Best has a BSc from the University of Surrey, and a PhD from the University of London. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Academ ...

, Ruth Cameron, Graham Cooley and Allan Matthews. Honorary fellows include

Mark Miodownik Mark Andrew Miodownik () is a British materials scientist, engineer, broadcaster and writer at University College London. Previously, he was the head of the Materials Research Group at King's College London, and a co-founder of Materials Libra ...

and Sue Ion. Fellows are entitled to use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

FIMMM.

Activities

The institute's educational activities aim to promote the materials discipline to younger generations by allowing access, through the Schools Affiliate Scheme, to a range of educational resources and materials. The institute has close links with schools and colleges and is responsible for accrediting university and college courses and industrial training schemes. The Education & Outreach Trust, which incorporated the institute's existing education activities and was granted charitable status in 2022, offers teachers courses and teaching resources on materials, as well as careers advice for students. Institute publications such as definitive textbooks are available to students at reduced prices. The institute also offers a series of

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

and

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

to encourage students and organizes events such as the Young Persons' Lecture Competition.

Publications

The trading subsidiary of the institute, IOM Communications Ltd, is responsible for producing any related journals. To expand, these include the members' journals (magazines) '' Materials World magazine'' and ''Clay Technology''.

Sage Publishing Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American Independent business, independent Academic publishing, academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park, California, ...

produces a range of learned journals for the institute, including the ''Ironmaking and Steelmaking'' journal, ''Surface Engineering'', ''Powder Metallurgy'', ''Corrosion Engineering'', ''International Materials Reviews'' and ''Materials Science and Technology''.. The institute also publishes ICON, incorporating IMMAGE (Information on Mining, Metallurgy and Geological Exploration), a reference database of abstracts and citations of scientific and engineering literature for the international minerals industry, and it has links to OneMine, a database of mining publications.

Materials World

''Materials World'' is the member's magazine of the institute, specifically devoted to the engineering materials cycle, from

and extraction, through processing and

application Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

, to

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

and recovery. Editorially, it embraces the whole spectrum of materials and minerals –

metals A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. These properties are all associated with having electrons available at the Fermi level, as against no ...

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials composed primarily of polymers. Their defining characteristic, plasticity, allows them to be molded, extruded, or pressed into a diverse range of solid forms. This adaptab ...

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

and

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

es – with particular emphasis on advanced technologies, latest developments and new applications, giving prominence to the topics that are of fundamental importance to those in the

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

Advice

The Materials Information Service is a service of the institute which has been giving advice to industry on the selection and use of materials since 1988. This is now part of the institute's Information Services which includes technical inquiry and library services for the materials, minerals and mining sectors, an information help desk, regionally based advisors, and related services. Companies can gain access to the institute's information resources by joining its Business Partner Program Scheme.

Conferences

The institute's Conference Department organizes conferences, events, and exhibitions with the institute's technical committees to help keep members and other delegates informed of the latest developments within the materials, minerals, and mining arena.

Awards

The IOM3 grants several awards including: * Bessemer Gold Medal 1904

The

is an annual prize awarded by the institute for "outstanding services to the steel industry". It was established and endowed by Sir Henry Bessemer in 1874. It was first awarded to

Isaac Lowthian Bell Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, 1st Baronet, FRS (18 February 1816 – 20 December 1904) was a British ironmaster and Liberal Party politician from Washington, County Durham. He was described as being "as famous in his day as Isambard Kingdom Brunel". ...

in 1874. The 2016 award was to Alan Cramb. * The Silver Medal is awarded annually to a young scientist (under the age of 35) designated as "outstanding" in recognition of a crucial contribution to a field of interest. In addition, the institute has many other significant awards for Personal Achievement and Published Works covering materials, minerals and mining. In particular, there are awards covering surface engineering, biomedical materials, ceramics, rubber and plastics, iron and steel, and automotive areas. There are also awards covering education and local societies.

Youth

On 10 November 2016, the institute launched an Engineering Extravaganza event to encourage people aged 12 to 14 to consider careers in engineering as part of .

References

External links

''Materials World'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Materials, Minerals And Mining 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom Bessemer Gold Medal Charities based in London ECUK Licensed Members Engineering societies based in the United Kingdom Geology organizations Materials science organizations Mining in the United Kingdom Mining organizations Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Organizations established in 2002