Dr Phylis Makurunje
Post-Doctoral Research Officer
Phylis joined the Nuclear Futures Institute in mid-2020, bringing a wealth of ceramic materials manufacture knowledge and experience to the group. She completed her PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa in 2020, working with ceramics for aerospace applications. Before that she completed a Masters in Materials Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand and a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering at National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
Her main responsibilities at Bangor University will be to work with the National Nuclear Laboratory on the BEIS funded Advanced Fuel Cycle Programme related to new fuel manufacture and design.
Phylis sits on the President’s Council of Advisors for the American Ceramic Society (2016-present) and is an Executive Member – Space Generation Advisory Council (2019-present).
1. Makurunje, P., Monteverde, F. & Sigalas, I. Self-generating oxidation protective high temperature glass-ceramic coatings for Cf/C‐SiC‐TiC‐TaC UHTC matrix composites.
J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 37, 3227–3239 (2017).
2. Nanospheres and nanodiscs on boron nitride coating for carbon fibres. Accepted by the Journal of Nanomaterials (2020).
Patents
1. Makurunje, P.S., Sigalas, I. & Hermann, M. Ceramic composite and method to prepare the composite. US20170166486A1 (2017) & US10040724B2 (2018).
2. Makurunje, P.S., & Sigalas I. Method for producing boron nitride coated fibres. South Africa – Provisional Patent Application No. 2017/00576.