Dr Abigail Ackerman awarded June Wilson Award 2022

Dr Abigail Ackerman has been named the winner of the June Wilson award 2022.

The award recognises a female student or an early-stage female scientist who has demonstrated excellence in any relevant area of materials science and engineering. It has a prize of up to £3000 and honours the pioneering contributions made to the field of biomedical materials by June Wilson.

Dr Abigail Ackerman is a Research Associate in the Department of Materials, working on corrosion in steel and nickel with Dr Stella Pedrazzini and Prof Mary Ryan, and hydrogen in titanium alloys with Prof Baptiste Gault, building bespoke equipment to investigate industrial processes.

Commenting on the award, Dr Ackerman said: "It is an honour to receive an award whose namesake was a pioneer for female materials scientists. I look forward to using the award for researching new frontiers in iron reduction, and improving the world through materials science, just as June Wilson did."

Research into corrosion

Dr Ackerman's research involves the study of materials development and electrochemistry for more sustainable manufacturing processes, particularly in the extraction of iron for steel making.

It is an honour to receive an award whose namesake was a pioneer for female materials scientists. Dr Abigail Ackerman

She was recently awarded the Head of Department's fund for postdoctoral research to build an electrolysis set-up to replicate low-temperature iron extraction and develop and test corrosion-resistant electrode materials to extract pure iron from ore. 

This setup will support the understanding of electrode corrosion in iron extraction and inform further research towards new materials in low carbon iron extraction for use in the steel industry.