Personal information
Biography
Professor Nicholas P Lavery’s research interests are largely defined by a varied career at the interface between industry and academia, evolving from a modelling background (degree in Mathematics/PhD in computational fluid dynamics) through to post-doctoral positions in engineering (simulation of manufacturing processes including powder compaction and casting). A transformative 5-year period as Exploitation Expert at the European Space Agency in Holland on the FP6 IMPRESS project (Intermetallic titanium aluminide alloys for aero-engines and nickel aluminide gas atomised powder for catalytic applications) propelled him into the area of materials engineering. During this period, he contributed to successfully funded FP7 proposals such as AMAZE (Additive Manufacturing for Zero Waste) and Accelerated Metallurgy (Rapid Alloy Prototyping).
On returning to Swansea University in 2013 and joining academic staff in the College of Engineering, he has focussed on materials research, setting up laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment such as the MACH1 centre for Advanced Materials Characterisation, with a £0.75M grant from the Welsh Government. Work in these labs has led to more recent grants such as the £1.4M COMET (Combinatorial Metallurgy) and £7M PROSPERITY EPSRC projects developing Rapid Alloy Prototyping methods.
In addition to this he leads the Additive Manufacturing Research Group, contributing to the AMAZE project until its completion in 2017 and successfully supervising post-graduates with companies such as Renishaw, Sandvik-Osprey, ESI Group and Qioptiq – often combining computational modelling, materials characterisation and alloy development, particularly for laser powder bed fusion.