Materials consultancy

Citation

(2000), "Materials consultancy", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 47 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2000.12847eab.007

Materials consultancy

Materials consultancy

Keywords University of Greenwich, Engineering, Materials, Consultancy, Problem solving

"Materials solutions" is a new service in forensic engineering being offered by the University of Greenwich's Wolfson Centre (Tel: 020 8331 8646). It focuses on solving industry's problems in the field of materials failure, which range from the catastrophic, such as the disaster at the Flixborough chemical plant in 1974 where 28 people were killed, to the more mundane, but costly, corrosion problems that afflict production and manufacturing.

The venture is the brainchild of Charles May, lecturer in materials in the Medway School of Engineering at the university, who saw the commercial potential for his expertise and the extensive testing facilities of the school after receiving many requests from industry to investigate materials' problems.

Charles is confident there will be a demand for the service, since most companies no longer employ their own materials engineers and need to seek outside help when problems arise. "It's a sad development that the number of materials science and engineering graduates is continuing to decline", he says. "However, this does not mean that there is no longer a demand for materials engineers or the special skills they offer."