Prof Martin Birkett

Professor

Department: Mechanical and Construction Engineering

Professor Birkett joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Northumbria University in 2011. Prior to this he worked in the manufacturing industry for sixteen years, where he completed a Craft Apprenticeship before moving on to work as a Manufacturing Engineer and then a Senior Research and Development Engineer, primarily working on the development of new thin film materials and processes. During this period, he also studied on a part-time basis for a BEng (Hons) degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and a PhD degree in the area of thin film materials and coatings.

Professor Birkett currently leads the Engineering Materials and Mechanics Group (EM²G) and he mainly teaches on the Mechanical Engineering degree programmes in the areas of materials and manufacturing technology and systems. His research is focussed on the development of new thin film materials and coatings for mechanical, electrical and biomedical applications and has been funded by the European Commission, The Leverhulme Trust, EPSRC, The British Academy, The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and several industrial collaborators.

Professor Birkett is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a member of the EPSRC, UKRI FLF/Talent and Leverhulme Trust Peer Review Colleges.

Recent Research Projects:

Advanced Thin Film Sputtering Fabrication Facility (TF-FAB)
Martin Birkett (Co Investigator)
EPSRC / 2023 – 2026 / £971,032
Wear Performance of Ti3Au Coatings for Biomedical Implants
Martin Birkett (Co Investigator)
RIS Internal Funding / 2023 / £8,400
High-Performance Biocompatible Ag-DLC Coatings - Precise and Localized Silver Doping Through Novel Helium Pulse Injections
Martin Birkett (Principal Investigator)
European Commission / 2021 – 2023 / £191,270
Advanced Bioactive Diamond-like Carbon-based Coatings for Next Generation Orthopaedic Implants
Martin Birkett (Principal Investigator)
British Academy / 2021 – 2022 / £9,892
Super Hard Biocompatible Coatings of Beta Ti3Au
Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator)
The Leverhulme Trust / 2019 – 2022 / £224,630
Development of Advanced Polymers for Subsea Applications
Martin Birkett (Principal Investigator)
Technip Umbilical Systems (TUS) / 2018 – 2021 / £141,811
Development of Ultra-Precision Thin Film Resistive materials
Martin Birkett (Principal Investigator)
TT Electronics PLC / 2014 – 2017 / £60,000
Cu-Al-Mo Thin Film Resistive materials
Martin Birkett (Principal Investigator)
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 / 2006 – 2009 / £73,000

Email Martin

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Nanomechanical and microstructural characterization of biocompatible Ti3Au thin films grown on glass and Ti6Al4V substrates, Birkett, M., Anestopoulos, I., Panayiotidis, M., Cherian Lukose, C. 9 Apr 2024, In: ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
Optimisation of Printing Parameters of Fused Filament Fabrication and Uniaxial Compression Failure Analysis for Four-Point Star-Shaped Structures, Wambua, J., Mwema, F., Akinlabi, S., Birkett, M., Xu, B., Woo, W., Taverne, M., Ho, D., Akinlabi, E. 20 Mar 2024, In: Rapid Prototyping Journal
Adatom controlled emergence of high hardness in biocompatible beta-Ti3Au intermetallic thin film surfaces, Cherian Lukose, C., Anestopoulos, I., Bowen, L., Panayiotidis, M., Birkett, M. 1 Aug 2023, In: Surfaces and Interfaces
Biocompatible Ti3Au–Ag/Cu thin film coatings with enhanced mechanical and antimicrobial functionality, Cherian Lukose, C., Anestopoulos, I., Panagiotidis, I., Zoppi, G., Black, A., Dover, L., Bowen, L., Serrano‐Aroca, Á., Liu, T., Mendola, L., Morrone, D., Panayiotidis, M., Birkett, M. 25 Sep 2023, In: Biomaterials Research
Biomechanical Characteristics of Silver Enriched Diamond-like Carbon Coatings for Medical Applications, Zia, A., Anestopoulos, I., Panagiotidis, M., Bowen, L., Birkett, M. 5 Oct 2023, In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Characterisation of Print Path Deviation in 3D Printed Continuous Carbon Fibre Composites, Sherugar, S., Birkett, M., Blacklock, M. Aug 2023, Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Composite Materials, Belfast, Queens's University Belfast
Characterisation of print path deviation in material extrusion, Blacklock, M., Sherugar, S., Birkett, M. 9 Sep 2023, In: Progress in Additive Manufacturing
Multi-functional bioactive silver- and copper-doped diamond-like carbon coatings for medical implants, Birkett, M., Zia, A., Devarajan, D., Soni, B., Panayiotidis, M., Joyce, T., Tambuwala, M., Serrano-Aroca, A. 1 Sep 2023, In: Acta Biomaterialia
Pressure Driven Adsorption Cycle Integrated with Thermal Desalination, Shahzad, M., Ybyraiymkul, D., Qian, C., Burhan, M., Kumja, M., Ng, K., Birkett, M., Feng, H., Ahmad Jamil, M., Imtiaz, N., Xu, B. 1 Jan 2023, In: Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Soft diamond-like carbon coatings with superior biocompatibility for medical applications, Zia, A., Anestopoulos, I., Panayiotidis, M., Birkett, M. 1 Jun 2023, In: Ceramics International

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Advanced Bioactive Diamond-like Carbon-based Coatings for Next Generation Orthopaedic Implants, Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator), British Academy, 23/12/21 - 17/03/22, £9,892.00
High-Performance Biocompatible Ag-DLC Coatings - Precise and Localized Silver Doping Through Novel Helium Pulse Injections, Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator), European Commission, 01/10/20 - 30/09/22, £191,270.00
Super Hard Biocompatible Coatings of Beta Ti3Au, Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator), The Leverhulme Trust, 01/03/19 - 28/02/22, £224,630.00
Development of Advanced Polymers for Subsea Applications, Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator), Technip Umbilical Systems (TUS), 01/02/18 - 31/01/21, £141,811.00
Development of Ultra-Precision Thin Film Resistive materials, Birkett, M. (Principal Investigator), TT electronics plc, 02/03/14 - 02/03/17, £37,250.00

PGR Supervision

Maria Alafogianni An investigation of varying laser trim pattern characteristics on the performance and reliability of discrete resistive components Start Date: 01/10/2014 End Date: 07/11/2018
Mohamed Abduelmula An investigation into the barriers to lean implementation in Libyan manufacturing companies and development of a framework for its utilisation Start Date: 05/11/2014 End Date: 26/07/2019
Siti Nabilah Misti Development of a Precision Trimming Process for Manganin Shunt Resistors Start Date: 15/10/2012 End Date: 15/06/2017
Cecil Cherian Lukose An investigative study of Manganese-based Antiperovskite structures as a thin film resistive material system Start Date: 02/04/2014 End Date: 10/10/2018
Darkam Al Janabi An Investigation into the Relationship Between Organisational Culture and Maintenance Implementation in Iraqi Power Plants Start Date: 09/12/2013 End Date: 27/02/2017
Raja Muhamad Hafiz Raja Adzhar Investigation into the effect of varying aluminium surface pre-treatments on the mechanical properties of hybrid aluminium-carbon fibre reinforced plastic joints Start Date: 01/03/2020
Chinyere Okolo Investigation of Thermal Conductivity and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Urea Nanocomposites for Bend Stiffener Application Start Date: 01/08/2018
Osama Elgadi Investigation into the Barriers to Six Sigma in Libyan Manufacturing Companies and Development of a Framework for its Implementation Start Date: 03/02/2014 End Date: 10/10/2018

Qualifications

Manufacturing Systems BEng (Hons)
Engineering PhD
Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE)
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

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