Light Alloys

Ian Polmear is a graduate in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Melbourne. After some brief experience in local industry, he joined the former Aeronauitcal Reseach Laboratories in Melbourne where he later became a Principal Research Scientist and Leader of the Aircraft Materials Group. Shortly after Monash University was established in 1961, he was appointed Professor of Materials Science and was Foundation Chairman of the Department of Materials Engineering. Before retiring in 1992, he served four years as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. His research interests have focused on precipitation phenomena in aluminium alloys, trace element effects, relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties, and the development of high strength aluminium alloys for aircraft. He has had visiting appointments in England, Switzerland and Japan and was the author of the first four editions of Light Alloys which were published between 1981 and 2006. Emeritus Professor Polmear is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Professor StJohn is a graduate of The University of Queensland (UQ) with a BSc(Hons) and PhD in Physical Metallurgy. He has held appointments in Canada, RMIT University and CRA-Advanced Technical Development in Perth as well as a long association with UQ. From 1994 to 2008 he was with the CAST Cooperative Research Centre becoming CEO from August 2002 until 2008. He led the successful bid for the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) in 2008 and initiated the Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) at UQ in 2009. He also successfully led an application to the Queensland State Government to fund a new building to house AMPAM which led to a further application to the Australian Federal Government for additional funding to construct the Advanced Engineering Building (AEB). He was then Chair of the Project Control Group for the construction of the AEB which was completed in 2013. Prof StJohn is currently Emeritus Professor at UQ.

He has over 300 publications in journals and conference proceedings with research interests covering a broad range of topics including grain refinement and the formation of defects in castings of Al, Mg and Ti alloys. Prof StJohn was awarded the John Campbell Medal in 2014, the Materials Australia Silver Medal in 2011, the Amercian Society of Metals Henry Marion Howe Medal in 2006 and the Magnesium Technology Award by TMS in 2003.

Professor Nie obtained his PhD from Monash University. After two years of postdoc fellowships in The University of Queensland and former CSIRO Division of Materials Technology, he returned to Monash to continue his research career. His research interests include design and development of light alloys including magnesium and aluminium, precipitation and hardening, processing-microstructure-property relationships and applications of advanced electron microscopy techniques. He is editor of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, and Chair of National Events Committee of Materials Australia. He was awarded ASM International Marcus A Grossmann Young Authors Award in 2006, Monash University Inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Innovation and Collaboration in Research with Industry in 2008, and TMS AIME Champion H. Mathewson Medal Award in 2015.

Dr. Qian’s research activities have been largely focused on physical metallurgy of light alloys (Ti, Mg and Al). Since 2008 he has been leading a research team comprised of researchers from four Australian universities to focus on the development of Low Cost Powder Metallurgy Titanium Alloys, supported by the Australian Research Council through the Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals. He initiated the first international conference on Powder Processing, Consolidation and Metallurgy of Titanium (4-7 Dec 2011, Brisbane, Australia), co-sponsored by Materials Australia, Titanium Industrial Development Association (TiDA) New Zealand, Japan Society of Powder and Powder Metallurgy (JSPM), The Mineral, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), and Chinese Society for Metals (CSM). As the lead organiser, he organised the TMS symposium of “Novel Synthesis and Consolidation of Powder Materials” at the 142nd TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition (3-7 March 2013 San Antonio, USA). He is currently on the editorial/review boards of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Powder Metallurgy, and International Journal of Powder Metallurgy (liaison committee). He is also a board member of the Asian Powder Metallurgy Association (APMA).