UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
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Dr Alan Begg FREng is currently the Chief Executive of the Automobile Academy, which is heavily involved in training and skill development for the UK automotive industry. Previously he was Director of Group Technology at Morgan Crucible plc, the billion pound advanced materials group. After graduating with a degree and a PhD in Natural Sciences from St John's College, Cambridge, Alan joined BP Research Centre. His group developed innovative new alloys, which he took through to full commercialisation as the Chief Executive of BP Metal Composites (now trading as AMC Ltd). He joined the automotive industry in 1993 as Managing Director of T&N Technology. |
| In 1998, when T&N was acquired by Federal-Mogul, he moved to Detroit to be Vice-President, Technology of the combined group. Alan returned to the UK in 2001 and led technology and strategic development for Morgan Crucible. Part of his work involved universities and research institutions in multi-million pound collaborative partnerships with key customers. | |
Metallurgy and Materials Science. (Natural Sciences at Cambridge ending up as this)
I actually went to school in Scotland, so did not strictly speaking do A levels – I did Scottish Certificates of 6th Year Studies in Maths, Physics and Chemistry
Cambridge Natural Science Course forces you to do 4 subjects in 1st year – I took up Materials then because Jim Charles was my Director of Studies and gently pushed me in that direction – then got inspired by the teaching of, amongst others, Graeme Davies!
I liked the dynamic people who were teaching the subject in Cambridge at the time (in contrast to the other subjects I did) I liked the mix of practical and theoretical nature of the subject and the fact that I could relate theory to things I could observe and understand.
Analytical skills, general scientific approach, research techniques.
I did a PhD, then worked for a couple of years in TI Research before moving on to BP Research Centre in the times when they were diversifying away from oil – advanced materials was an opportunity that we were able to get BP really excited about.
I would choose a very different PhD subject, but I do not have any complaints on the content and skills base that my first degree left me with.
If I were looking for a career in Advanced Materials, I would caution that there are limited opportunities in structural materials in this country – much less than in my day. Companies in this country are broadly not patient enough to see developments through for the long timescales it takes to take structural materials to market. If I had my time again, I would focus more on functional materials (Incidentally my own younger son is just starting his second year at Cambridge doing Natural Sciences with Materials as one of his subjects).
Yes, it is a good general grounding spanning a range of science and engineering. I see Materials Science as a meeting point between physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, electronics etc, etc .
Bright, but lazy! I enjoyed doing things other than academic work, rowing, drinking etc! Materials Science was good for me – it forced me into a set number of lectures and practicals etc.
On the academic front, the infectious enthusiasm of the Materials Science teaching. On the non academic front, the friends I made at college and in the department, many of whom I still meet regularly. My single ‘best’ memory is driving to India with 3 friends from college – a real bonding experience – I still see them regularly – we are off at the end of the month for a ‘team reunion’ in Istanbul with our respective wives.
I always liked Maths/Science. Partly inspired I guess by some good teachers, but also probably the way my mind works naturally.
Look first for a good training in a large ‘blue chip’ company, then go for an interesting opportunity in a new start business.
I’d like to see Science not just as a provider of answers in isolation, but as a route to wealth creation for the UK. I think in the UK, we tend to divorce the two.
When I was 10, we started ‘Science’ at school. The first day’s experiment was to choose 2 bottles from a collection the teacher had on the desk and to mix the liquids together and see what happened. Each child in the class chose different combinations. We found some did nothing, and some reacted (some quite violently from what I can remember!). I think most of my generation were attracted to science with practicals, (smells and bangs or whatever) – when I contrast this with my own son’s school teaching, there are much fewer opportunities to do the hands on stuff. Whether this is because of health and safety concerns, I do not know. (Maybe justifiable – I still have the scars on my leg from where someone poured hot acid on me in Chemistry at about age 11!)
Gosh – lots of them. Getting to the moon? (Lots of good materials stuff involved here).
How small a community of professionals we are in materials. I rarely go anywhere to a materials gathering without knowing a large percentage of the gathering.
