supercurricular lecture

We were delighted yesterday evening to welcome University of Sheffield PhD student Sophie Barwick to our theatre to deliver the latest in our series of supercurricular lectures on Materials Science and Engineering, Sophie's area of research.

It was great to see so many of our students from across the year groups, parents, carers, staff and wider community in attendance, and Sophie gave us a fascinating insight into the field, starting with her own journey from A levels and an EPQ through to studying for a Masters degree in Engineering (Materials), incorporating a year in industry in Canada.

Sophie guided us through the many and varied facets of the sector, including: the history of materials; materials engineering vs materials science; structures; the Ashby diagram and the properties that determine application; the standardisation of material properties; examples of performance failure such as the Titan submarine disaster; and the wealth of research currently taking place into how and why materials fail.

Sophie then shared the focus of her current research into nuclear fusion, including STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), which is due to be built in the UK in 2040.

Before fielding questions, Sophie concluded by observing that Materials Science is currently a really exciting field in which to work and shared the many professional routes that study of the area opens up, including: metallurgy, additive manufacturing, electric vehicles, nuclear fusion, biopolymers, renewable energy and medical devices.

This is the last of our lectures for this academic year, but the programme will relaunch in September. As lecture coordinator Mrs McNally observed, the lectures are not only invaluable for students who aspire to study at university and optimise their applications for degrees in their areas of interest, but they inspire them to broaden their scope of interest and to channel their thoughts, energy and drive towards further research. And they are, of course, hugely fascinating and enjoyable for all who come along!

With huge thanks to Sophie for giving her time to travel from Sheffield to inspire us all, to all who attended, and to Mrs McNally for organising these wonderful enrichment opportunities for our students and the wider UGS community.