2018 M. Grace Burke

Prof. M. Grace Burke is the Director of the Materials Performance Centre at the University of Manchester, where she leads investigations of materials’ behavior in nuclear power systems, with particular emphasis on the role of microstructure. In addition to her MPC role, she was also Director of the Electron Microscopy Centre at the University of Manchester from 2012 through 2016. Prior to joining the University in late 2011, she acquired extensive experience in materials for power generation during a her career in the US nuclear industry with research positions at the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center, and the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in Pittsburgh, where she was the Consultant Scientist in Materials Technology. Including prior research experience at the US Steel Research Laboratory, she has over 35 years of expertise in steels, materials of construction for nuclear power plants, irradiation damage, SCC, and hydrogen embrittlement of structural alloys. She is particularly known for her application of advanced microscopy/microanalysis techniques to nuclear materials research, and to the microstructural characterisation of complex materials. Her research into irradiation damage using AP-FIM provided the first evidence of the complex solute-enriched clusters responsible for the irradiation-induced hardening/degradation of welds in PWRs. Her current research continues to involve the application of advanced analytical TEM and in situ ATEM in liquids and gases to study the nanoscale phenomena leading to environment-sensitive degradation of structural alloys. Grace is a recognized expert in numerous international nuclear science and technology organisations including NUGENIA, ICG-EAC, and IGRDM. Grace is a Fellow of ASM International, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK), the Microscopy Society of America, and the Royal Microscopical Society.