Material Science can open doors and opportunities in the mining sector or a number of other STEM sectors. On this International Women’s Day let’s celebrate all Women in Materials alongside all Women in Mining. May many more girls follow in their footsteps
The 8 March 2015 marks International Women’s Day. Here, we highlight some of our members who are flying the flag for women in STEM careers.
Dr Irene Turner FIMMM is Head of Biomaterials within the Centre for Orthopaedic Biomechanics at the University of Bath and is a highly respected member of the Biomaterials Community. She was a founding member of the Biomedical Applications Division within IOM3 and has contributed to seminars and conference sessions organised by the Committee and IOM3. Irene established the Women in Materials Group within IOM3 and is passionate about promoting Materials Science as a subject and a profession to a new generation of young scientists.
Anna Ploszjaski won the 2014 James S Walker Award for her paper ‘Polymer Hydride Nanocomposites for Hydrogen Storage Applications’. The paper examines the development of advanced polymers and was recommended for nomination by the examiners following submission of Anna’s dissertation for her Part II Materials Course at Oxford University. She also won the RH Craven Award in 2013.
Losini Amarasan came third in the 2014 Young Persons’ Lecture Competition held in California. She was one of only two women who made it to the final. Losini is a final year undergraduate of Electronics Engineering majoring in Telecommunications in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University (MMU) of Malaysia. She conducted her research on silica fibre as her final year project and plans to further her studies with a Master’s degree in engineering.
Kate Thornton becomes one of the joint women Chairs of the Younger Members’ Committee. She is a Research Scientist for Croda International and studied Biomedical Material Science at the University of Manchester. On completing her degree she went on to complete a PhD, also at Manchester, studying self-assembled peptide hydrogels and trying to determine if they were a suitable culture medium for embryonic stem cells.
Rachael Ambury will become the second joint Chair of the Younger Members’ Committee. She is a Senior Scientist working for Element Six, within their Oil and Gas division. She completed a PhD at the University of Manchester in the School of Materials’ Biomaterials group and prior to that gained an MEng degree in Biomedical Materials Science with industrial experience at Smith & Nephew developing bioresorbable polymers. She is a fully registered Chartered Engineer and Chartered Scientist.
Professsor Serena Best is Chair of the IOM3 Biomedical Applications Division and co-directs the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (CCMM), within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy (MSM), University of Cambridge. She has published more than 130 papers and is Editor of Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine. In 2011, Serena won the IOM3 Chapman Medal and the Kroll Medal.
IOM3, 04 Mar 2015