What is your background?
I am an international student from Ghana. I am currently a PhD Materials Engineering and Material Design student at the University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to this, I studied MSc Advanced Materials at the University of Nottingham and completed in 2020.
My journey into engineering started when I was a child. Yet, little did I know I was doing engineering when I was busy enjoying my childhood playtimes by making flashlights, fixing broken toys, and transforming “waste” items into playful objects like burst balloons into balls, until my mum told me I would be an engineer. Significantly, it was her explanation that the stone amongst the charcoal we used for cooking did not burn to ash because it was a different material, that provoked my interest in properties of materials although I was in class two. This inspired me to study General Science at Kumasi High School and BSc Materials Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
After my first degree, I worked with multinational construction companies in Ghana. The interest in material properties always nudged me to search for the cause of failure, whenever our work failed before the estimated end of service. I was not getting enough support for these quests and also realised limitations in my knowledge. I reckoned that expanding my knowledge base and embarking on materials research work would give me the needed gratification. Hence my enrolment in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham.
What is your research about?
My research is on discovery and manufacture of new environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) and their performance. Under this topic, I am working to improve the performance of current environmental barrier coatings by enhancing the processing route. New materials would be discovered and used to produce EBCs with composition that differ from the known ones and have relatively superior performance.
Environmental barrier coatings are coatings that are deposited on the surfaces of the components within the hot sections of gas turbine engines to protect them from the debilitating conditions. The conditions such as high temperature (>1000 °C), steam, and molten salts (calcia-magnesia-alumina-silica, CMAS) cause corrosion and erosion of these components to promote their early failure. Gas turbine engines are necessary for the sustainable development of our IT era. Power plants rely on them to generate electricity and aircraft transportation is possible because of them. However, the scarcity of natural resources and rising public concern on global warming - which has prompted the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and net-zero carbon emission by 2050 - requires ingenuity measures for their accomplishment. Studies show that the aviation sector produces about 30% of the total carbon emitted by the transport industry. It has been realised that increasing the inlet gas temperature of gas turbine engines to about 1700°C can improve the thermal efficiency and reduce gas emission. However, the melting temperature (~1450 °C) of superalloys used in fabricating the components within the hot sections limits the increment.
Researchers have further discovered that silicon-carbide (SiC) based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have desirable mechanical properties, like the ability to maintain about 70% of their strength at these higher temperatures. They also have relatively lower weight to reduce fuel consumption if used to fabricate the hot-section components. SiC CMCs also have short lifespan within this environment and must be protected.
Why did you choose the University of Nottingham?
The state-of-the-art infrastructure, teaching and research staff who are experts in their field, talent enhancing modules, continuous push on the frontiers through cutting edge research, and unparalleled student support that transforms ideas into reality, make the University of Nottingham outstanding. It is a place where imaginations meet reality.
Having been at the University of Nottingham for the past three years, I believe I made the right choice to pursue my postgraduate studies here. Not only am I working with world-class engineers with some of the most advanced technologies, but I am also building network with leaders in the field both in academia and industry. The pristine environment of the University of Nottingham makes it an enjoyable place to live and do research.
What would you say to aspiring engineers?
If you can identify a problem, then you have an idea on how to solve it. Some may seem not to work instantly; however, it must not be discarded. Think through and remodel it as you brood over it. Even if it does not solve the challenge entirely, it will contribute to the ultimate solution. Every solution has scientific bases, and engineering is all about using scientific knowledge to solve problems.
I will also encourage aspiring engineers to find mentors as early as possible, for guidance and motivation to navigate through the different fields.