Andy Alderson

I have 25 years experience of highly collaborative interdisciplinary advanced materials research at the academia/industry interface. Prior to joining the Materials and Engineering Research Institute I was Director of the Institute for Materials Research and Innovation (IMRI), Head of Sciences (Faculty of Advanced Engineering and Sciences), and Professor of Materials Physics at the University of Bolton.

I have also worked in the Nuclear industry (BNFL, 1995-1998) and held Directorships with two companies: I-zone Incubation Ltd (2002-2004) and Auxetic Technologies Ltd (2004-2009). I have served on 6 EPSRC panels (including panel chair), have published over 100 papers, and am a co-inventor on 14 patent applications.

Public engagement activities include exhibiting my work in the Science Museum (London) and appearances on BBC2 TV 'Learning Zone' (2006) and BBC Radio 4 'The Material World' (2005) programmes. Awards for my research include the Kenneth Harris James prize of the Aerospace Industries Divisional Board of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2008) and the SET Young Engineers and Scientists De Montfort prize (House of Commons, 2001).

Most recently, I was asked to participate in a BBC2 programme 'Biomimetics - Designed by Nature' (Feb 2015), talking about the technology in this field and how myself and other pioneers are working on ways to interpret nature's biological mechanisms.