Materials expert awarded William Penney Fellowship
Professor Julie Yeomans has been awarded a highly regarded William Penney Fellowship in recognition of her international leadership in materials research and the wider partnership between Surrey and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).
Professor Julie Yeomans.
The William Penney Fellowship is awarded to leading academics at UK universities who specialise in disciplines of interest to AWE, a global leader in strategic weaponry, national defence and nuclear threat reduction.
Professor Yeomans, Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, is a materials engineer specialising in ceramics and has longstanding experience of the characterisation of materials in demanding environments. Based in Surrey’s Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, she is only the second woman to have ever been awarded the Fellowship. She follows in the footsteps of several academics at Surrey to have been awarded the Fellowship including Dr Paul Stevenson, Head of the Nuclear Theory Group in the Department of Physics.
Professor Yeoman’s Fellowship consolidates Surrey’s position as a long-term partner of AWE which saw the launch, in April 2021, of the AWE-University of Surrey Centre of Excellence in Materials Ageing, Performance and Lifetime Prediction.
Professor Yeomans said: “I was delighted to be awarded a William Penney Fellowship. That AWE chose to partner with Surrey to form a Centre of Excellence in Materials Ageing, Performance and Lifetime Prediction, and thereby bestow the Fellowship, is testament to the strength and breadth of the materials research across the University. It is a privilege to join the ranks of current and previous William Penney Fellows, including several colleagues from the Department of Physics at Surrey.
“As well as enabling me to increase my ambassadorial role, I hope that my appointment will encourage a greater diversity of scientists to work with AWE – I believe that I am only the second women to be granted such a Fellowship and I certainly hope that I won’t be the last.”
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