Francesco Fanicchia, Cranfield University
Francesco Fanicchia received his M.Sc. in Materials Science from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Ph.D. on ceramic Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) design for aerospace gas turbines from The University of Nottingham (UK). From 2018 to 2021 he was senior project leader at TWI Ltd (Cambridge, UK), where he coordinated large research programs on design and corrosion performance optimisation of novel coatings for industrial decarbonisation. In 2022 he joined Cranfield University as Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Surface Engineering and further appointed Research Area Lead in Materials Systems for Demanding Environments (MS4DE) by the Henry Royce Institute. His research focuses on design of coatings and alloys for the hydrogen economy, including hydrogen embrittlement, hydrogen permeation and oxidation in high water vapour environments.
Vicki Wilkes, Darvick Ltd
With a BEng (Hons) in Materials Science and Engineering Vicki’s career has been focussed in and around the world of Materials Testing Technology. In 2003 Vicki and her husband, Darren, established Phoenix Materials testing Ltd, designing and supporting bespoke materials testing machines for customers around the world. Phoenix was sold in 2018, after a brief interim adventure setting up and running a Live Entertainment Venue, Vicki and Darren returned to materials testing in Dec 2020 with the establishment of Darvick Ltd. Based in Brierley Hill, Darvick specialises in developing equipment and services for mechanical testing under extreme environments, supporting R&D of product and materials technology in sectors such as Aerospace, Automotive, Pharmaceutical and Nuclear. Vicki is passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and the UK manufacturing supply chain as a whole.
Louise Gale, Rolls-Royce
Louise Gale is a Materials Specialist at Rolls-Royce in the Future Technologies team and a fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining. The focus of her work at Rolls-Royce has been on the development and validation of new materials for future aerospace applications – including ceramic matrix composites and electrical materials. She is currently the materials lead for Rolls-Royce’s hydrogen burning gas turbine engine demonstrator program.
Khurram Amjad – UK Atomic Energy Authority
Dr Khurram Amjad earned his PhD from the University of Liverpool in 2017 and spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher on aerospace industry projects. Since 2022, he has been with the UK Atomic Energy Authority, leading the development of full-field mechanical testing at cryogenic temperatures. His work focuses on characterising advanced structural materials in extreme environments using techniques such as digital image correlation and infrared thermography.
Richard Doyle – JCB
Richard has worked within academic and commercial materials testing and consultancy for 20+ years. Richard’s expertise is in environmentally assisted cracking mechanisms of metallic alloys in the presence of hydrogen. Industrial experience ranges from Aerospace, Automotive and Defence, to Energy generation, Nuclear and the Oil & Gas sectors. For the last 3 & a half years Richard has supported JCB on materials selection and validation in the development of a hydrogen fuelled combustion engine.
Charlie Hutchings, Frazer-Nash Consultancy
Charlie is a Senior Materials Performance Engineer at Frazer-Nash Consultancy, working in asset integrity with a focus on the material compatibility of new and existing infrastructure with hydrogen. Charlie is currently completing an industry applied engineering doctorate (EngD) at the University of Surrey, he leads a number of industrial research projects alongside supervising PhD projects at Oxford University and Cranfield University, where his research focuses upon developing an insight into the effects of hydrogen embrittlement, and its mitigation. He is a graduate of Imperial College London and holds a master’s in Materials Engineering (MEng).
Alfredo Zafra – University of Oxford
Dr. Alfredo Zafra is a senior postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where he is in charge of the Hydrogen Embrittlement Lab in the Department of Engineering Science. He previously worked as a research associate at Imperial College London and has a strong background in the mechanical behaviour of metals. His current research focuses on developing hydrogen-resistant alloys using advanced manufacturing techniques, including additive manufacturing and nanofabrication.
Fran Synnott – Aerospace Technology Institute
Fran is a Technologist at the Aerospace Technology Institute within the Structures, Manufacturing, and Materials team, where she supports the ATI Technology team in enabling cross-sector collaboration to deliver the strategic goals outlined in the Destination Zero roadmap to achieve net zero aviation by 2050. Her previous doctoral and postdoctoral research spanned both space and aerospace projects, with a focus on high-temperature materials.