People
Nuclear expertise and academic capacity at Bangor University is expanding rapidly with the appointment of international research ‘stars’, plus their supporting research teams, funded by the Welsh Government’s Sêr Cymru programme and the European Regional Development Fund.
Director
Prof. Bill Lee FREng
Professor Bill Lee is the director of the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University. Bill is a Sêr Cymru professor of materials and extreme environments. Bill is also Co-Director of the Institute of Security Science and Technology (ISST) at Imperial College London, Chair in Ceramic Science and Engineering, and former President of the American Ceramic Society.
Materials Academics
Dr. Simon Middleburgh
Simon is a Reader in nuclear materials and joined Bangor in 2018 having previously held positions with Westinghouse and ANSTO.
Dr. Michael Rushton
Michael is senior lecturer with interests in the atomic scale modelling of materials.
Materials Postdoctoral Research Associates and Fellows
Dr. Phylis Makurunje
Phylis brings a wealth of experience in ceramic materials processing and is working on fuel manufacture and design.
Dr. Iuliia Ipatova
Sêr Cymru research fellow. Iuliia is an experimentalist with experience in the manufacture and characterisation materials for nuclear fission and fusion.
Reactor Design & Thermal Hydraulics Academics
Dr. Marcus Dahlfors
Marcus has a background of 23 years in the nuclear energy and closely related research. While in academia his research was focused on accelerator driven systems (sub-critical, source-driven fast reactors) for transmutation of nuclear waste,
Nuclear Medicine Academics
Dr. Lee J Evitts
Dr Lee J. Evitts was appointed as a Lecturer in Nuclear Medicine at the Nuclear Futures Institute in 2020, following on from a post-doctoral position within the same institution. Lee’s research interests are in novel applications of radionuclides for the diagnosis and therapuetic treatment of disease.
Honorary and Visiting Academics
Prof. John Idris Jones
John Idris Jones is an honorary professor in the group. He is Chair of the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone and was previously Engineering Manager at the Magnox station at Wylfa.
Dr. Antoine Claisse
Antoine is a senior engineer at Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB. He brings a wealth of knowledge related to advanced fuel modelling and commercialisation of materials.
Mattias Puide
Mattias is a principal engineer at Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB. He has a background in the advanced manufacture of ceramics and nuclear fuels.
Dr. Matthew Gilbert
Matt is a senior scientist in Nuclear Forensics at AWE. He brings extensive experience in the processing signatures of actinide materials to determine history and provenance.
Prof. Laurence Williams OBE FREng FIMechE FNucI
Laurence Williams is a visiting professor in the group. His interests lie in safety and regulation. Laurence was previously Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations.
Students
Corey Bevan
Corey recently graduated from Bangor University with first class MEng degree in Electronic Engineering. During his studies, he has participated in projects involving the design of optical sensor systems and Internet of Things wireless sensor network systems.
Mustafa Bolukbasi
Mustafa completed his Applied Metallurgical and Materials Engineering education in Turkey. During this time, he worked with a range of techniques including Non-Destructive testing of aviation materials in “Turkish Technic”. After this he worked in the architectural aluminium industry as a quality engineer.
Fabio Martini
In June 2019, Fabio joined the Nuclear Futures Institute as a PhD student sponsored by Westinghouse Electric and by the KESS 2 program. Fabio is now working on the development of novel composite nuclear fuels to be used in commercial power plants.
Megan Owen
Megan completed her degree in Electronic Engineering B.Eng at Bangor University before joining the Materials in Extreme Environments research group in August 2019 as a Ph.D. student. Her Ph.D. project focuses on the corrosion of zirconium alloys used within the nuclear industry and the possible role of alloying elements on grain boundary complexions.
Gareth Stephens
Gareth’s particular area of study is interested in the cladding that holds the fuel within the nuclear reactors. Gareth’s academic studies began in mid Wales at Aberystwyth University where he received a masters of materials physics in 2019. From there, He was granted the opportunity to study towards a PhD within the fantastic Nuclear Futures Bangor team.
Jack Wilson
Jack completed his integrated masters degree in Chemistry at Bangor University in 2019 working his final year in organometallic catalysis. Jack is supporting the development of accident tolerant fuel cladding as part of the Nuclear Energy Futures Centre for Doctoral Training. His project will highlight the potential use for high entropy alloys in water reactors and beyond.
Technical and Support Staff
Samuel Owen
Sam completed his integrated masters degree studying chemistry in Bangor University in 2019. Sam's final year project was a DFT based study of a boric acid dynamic combinatorial library, he also has experience with IoT systems. His role at NFI is to aid academics and students with IT.