Dr Brian McKay

Co-Investigator
Lecturer in BCAST, Brunel University London

Address: BCAST, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK
Email: brian.mckay@brunel.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0)1895 266409
Website: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/bcast

Dr Brian McKay is a newly appointed lecturer in BCAST at Brunel University. Prior to this he was a university assistant at the Institute of Casting Research (ICR), University of Leoben, Austria (2003-2009) and a research fellow at UMIST (2003). He obtained his DPhil from Oxford University, MSc from The Queens University of Belfast and BEng from the University of Ulster. He has over 10 years experience in solidification research and has published over 20 papers, mainly in internationally peer-reviewed journals. His research interests have been centred on understanding heterogeneous nucleation during solidification, which has included the characterisation of Al/TiB2 interfaces by transmission electron microscopy and the development of ZrB2 based grain refiners for Mg-Al based alloys. In 2006, Brian as a co-author received the TMS Magnesium Application Award for a paper entitled Preliminary investigation on the grain refinement behaviour of ZrB2 particles in Mg-Al alloys. During his 6 years as a university assistant in Leoben, he helped steer the solidification research activities at the ICR and developed many links with the metal casting industry. This has allowed him to obtain extensive knowledge of, and wider skills in, various casting processes.

Research Interests: Heterogeneous nucleation during solidification. Grain refinement. Casting practices. Electron microscopy.