STFC

STFC is a world-leading multi-disciplinary science organisation, and our goal is to deliver economic, societal, scientific and international benefits to the UK and its people – and more broadly to the world. Our strength comes from our distinct but interrelated functions:

  • Universities: we support university-based research, innovation and skills development in astronomy, particle physics, nuclear physics, and space science
  • Scientific Facilities: we provide access to world-leading, large-scale facilities across a range of physical and life sciences, enabling research, innovation and skills training in these areas
  • National Campuses: we work with partners to build National Science and Innovation Campuses based around our National Laboratories to promote academic and industrial collaboration and translation of our research to market through direct interaction with industry
  • Inspiring and Involving: we help ensure a future pipeline of skilled and enthusiastic young people by using the excitement of our sciences to encourage wider take-up of STEM subjects in school and future life (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)

We support an academic community of around 1,700 in particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy including space science, who work at more than 50 universities and research institutes in the UK, Europe, Japan and the United States, including a rolling cohort of more than 900 PhD students.

STFC-funded universities produce physics postgraduates with outstanding high-end scientific, analytic and technical skills who on graduation enjoy almost full employment. Roughly half of our PhD students continue in research, sustaining national capability and creating the bedrock of the UK’s scientific excellence. The remainder - much valued for their numerical, problem solving and project management skills - choose equally important industrial, commercial or government careers.

Our large-scale scientific facilities in the UK and Europe are used by more than 3,500 users each year, carrying out more than 2,000 experiments and generating around 900 publications. The facilities provide a range of research techniques using neutrons, muons, lasers and x-rays, and high performance computing and complex analysis of large data sets.

They are used by scientists across a huge variety of science disciplines ranging from the physical and heritage sciences to medicine, biosciences, the environment, energy, and more. These facilities provide a massive productivity boost for UK science, as well as unique capabilities for UK industry.

Our two Campuses are based around our Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell in Oxfordshire, and our Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire – each of which offers a different cluster of technological expertise that underpins and ties together diverse research fields.

The Composites and Materials Testing Group is based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Role: 

WP4.2 Materials Properties Task Leader, Simon Canfer

Over 20 year experience of composite materials, and materials testing, in connection with superconducting magnets.

Relevant Projects: 

ITER

Development of a filled resin system for the TF coils of ITER, 2011-15,  ITER-funded Simon Canfer

NED

Insulation Development for the Next European Dipole 2004-8, EU FP6, Simon Canfer

MIRI

Thermal conductivity measurement below 40K of the CFRP tubes for the Mid-Infrared Instrument mounting struts, 2007, ESA, B.M Shaughnessy (RAL Space)

Additional Information
Infrastructure

Composite materials lab including epoxy vacuum impregnation facilities for sample production. Low temperature materials testing facility including physical materials testing and integrated thermal contraction to 4K, thermal conductivity testing to 3K. Thermal analysis lab including DMA, TGA, DSC and FT-IR. In the wider STFC labs we have access to further equipment including e.g. SEM-EDX.

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