Michael Farries Ashby (born 20 November 1935) is a

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metallurgical engineer Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the s ...

. He served as

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Research Professor, and a

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(PI) at the Engineering Design Centre at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He is known for his contributions in Materials Science in the field of

material selection Material selection is a step in the process of designing any physical object. In the context of product design, the main goal of material selection is to minimize cost while meeting product performance goals. Systematic selection of the best materi ...

. In 1990, Ashby was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

for outstanding contributions to the understanding of mechanical behavior of materials and for development of formats useful for design.

Education

Ashby is the son of the leading

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and educator Lord Ashby. He was educated at

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

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and the

where he studied the

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as a student of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. He received his

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degree in

Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

in 1957 (First Class Honours); his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1959 and his

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in 1961.

Career and research

By conducting numerous studies on the active deformation mechanisms under different temperature conditions, M.F. Ashby developed a graphical approach for determining these mechanisms. He generalizes this approach to the broader field of material selection by developing the software CMS(Cambridge Materials Selector)in collaboration with David Cebon, with whom he co-founded Granta Design Limited. He also collaborated extensively with Yves Bréchet (CNRS Silver Medal). He continued to work on the software to improve its pedagogical value across Materials Education ( CES EduPack – used at more than 1000 universities worldwide and value to industry (CES Selector). This software is currently available from the company Granta Design, of which he is the chairman. Ashby has revolutionized the approach to the selection of materials to take into account four aspects: feature, material, geometry, and processes; moreover, he worked with the division in classes and subclasses. In doing so he has developed a comprehensive approach that associates to the expected mechanical functions of an object a performance index that has to be optimized. These indices allow to better take into account all the properties required of a material, such as specific stiffness (ratio between the elastic modulus and density) instead of single elastic module. His approach allows one to rationally choose the most suitable materials for each application. In practice, this approach firstly asks to identify the performance index starting from the expected function and geometry. Then it is possible to select thresholds for certain properties in order to select the most useful materials from those present in a database that has some 80,000 materials. The division into classes allows pre-selecting representative materials and therefore working only with certain classes of materials. Finally, the selected materials are shown in a 2-dimensional chart, called the Ashby diagram, in order to view those with the highest performance index. These diagrams often contain also nanostructured materials and composites. * Materials Selection for Mechanical Design – standard text used around the world. * Materials and Design – book – Aesthetic attributes as well as technical attributes of materials, making products delightful as well as functional. * Materials Processing Science and Design- introductory textbook – trying to motivate engineers to learn about materials by starting with design. In more recent years he has concentrated on materials and the environment and sustainability, writing award-winning textbooks and pioneering teaching methods to get this complex topic across to engineering students. He has been honored by the

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by having a teaching prize named after him. Ashby has achieved a innovative work in the areas of materials, design, and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

as well as in that of pedagogy. His works on materials are comparable to those of Carrega and Colombié. His former doctoral students include Lorna Gibson.

Publications

*Ashby, Michael F. 'Materials and Sustainable Development', Butterworth Heinemann, 2015 *Ashby, Michael F. 'Materials and the Environment: Eco-informed Material Choice', Butterworth Heinemann, 2009. 2nd Edition 2012 *Ashby, Michael F., Shercliff, Hugh and Cebon, David 'Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing, and Design'. Butterworth Heinemann, 2007. 3rd Edition 2013 *Ashby, Mike and Johnson, Kara 'Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Materials Selection in Product Design' Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2002 *Ashby, M.F. 'How to Write a Paper', 7th Edition 2011 *Ashby, M.F. 'Materials Selection and Process in Mechanical Design', Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1999 *Ashby, M.F. and Cebon, D. 'Case studies in Materials Selection', First Edition, Granta Design Ltd, Cambridge, 1996 *Ashby, M.F. and Gibson, L.J. 'Cellular Solids Structure and Properties', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997 *Asbhy, M.F. and Jones, D.R.H. 'Engineering Materials 1, Second Edition', Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, 1996 *Ashby, M.F. and Jones, D.R.H. 'Engineering Materials 2, Second Edition', Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, 1998 *Ashby, M.F. and Waterman, N.A. 'The Chapman and Hall Material Selector', Chapman and Hall, London, Volumes 1-3, 1996 *Ashby, M.F. and Frost H.J. 'Deformation-mechanism maps: the plasticity and creep of metals and ceramics', Pergamon, 1982 *Michael F. Ashby 'Materials Selection in Mechanical Design Pergamon Press 1992 (2nd edition 1999 3rd edition 2005 4th edition 2010)

Honours and awards

Ashby's awards and honours include: * elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1979 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: *received the

A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize The A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in commemoration of Alan Arnold Griffith. History The award was established by the Materials Science Club of Great Britain in 1965, two year ...

in 1981 * elected a member of the

in 1990 * awarded the European Materials Medal of the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS) in 1993 *elected a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK and from aroun ...

(FREng) in 1993 * appointed CBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours * nominated a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1993 * awarded the

Eringen Medal The A. C. Eringen Medal or Eringen Medal is an award given annually bthe Society of Engineering Science(SES) to an individual "in recognition of sustained outstanding achievements in Engineering Science". This award was established in 1976. The ...

in 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby, Michael Farries 1935 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People educated at Campbell College Engineers from Belfast British materials scientists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Place of birth missing (living people) British metallurgists Sons of life peers Professors of engineering (Cambridge)