Name: Ian Major

Title: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Platform (AMMP) Manager

Qualifications: Graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a BEng in Chemical with Polymer Engineering (2001) and a PhD in Polymer Engineering (2005)

Areas of Interest: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing

Dr. Ian Major was a Research Fellow at QUB’s Polymer Processing Research Centre and School of Pharmacy before joining the newly formed Applied Polymer Technologies Technology Gateway at AIT (now TUS) in 2013. He is now the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Platform (AMMP) Manager at TUS, in charge of expanding the PRISM’s research in composites manufacturing and extrusion with advanced materials, and he is an expert in polymer processing and analysis. The research group he established at TUS focuses on novel manufacturing, and the results of this research is being disseminated in the form of journal publications and, more broadly, several news articles, including the Sunday Times (3D printers could create ‘magic’ polypill to cure all ills) and Silicon Republic (3D-printed pill forged at pharmacy could deliver drug cocktail in one go). 3D printing will be a key enabling technology for several industries, and his research is focused on overcoming the process’s main disadvantage – slow production rates – to aid in the adoption of this technology for a variety of applications. Using the mass-customization principle, his team created a hybrid manufacturing technique that combines 3D printing and injection moulding.   Research Overview Dr. Major’s research is based on novel manufacturing processes and the application of advanced materials in manufacturing. The work is interdisciplinary, with applications ranging from medicine to automotive, and it employs polymer materials and processing to create solutions. One recurring theme in his research is affordability, making a product or device less expensive and thus more accessible to the greatest number of people in society. This is made possible by advancements in both materials and manufacturing processes.   Links https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian-Major-2  https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=LKnVWaoAAAAJ  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmajorpolymers/