Mary Patricia Ryan is a Professor of Materials Science at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and a Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

Education

Ryan completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. Her PhD was on using "''in-situ'' ECSTM to study the formation of ultra-thin surface oxides on base metals", and she managed to show for the first time that these surface oxides have crystalline phases. She spent three years at

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

, New York, where she developed ''in situ'' electrochemical systems using synchrotron radiation-based techniques.

Career and research

Ryan is an expert in

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

and interfacial material science. Ryan joined

as a lecturer in 1998. Her research group explore the mechanism of corrosion, new protective materials and materials with thermal management capabilities. She studies the process of electrochemical deposition, the stabilities of metals and the formation processes of metal and oxide nanostructures. She pioneered the use of synchrotron X-rays to study reactive electrochemical systems, including the stability of nanostructures. In 2002, she published the seminal paper "Why stainless steel corrodes" in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

''. In 2012, she joined Amy Cruickshank to advise on how to preserve the

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...

('The Flying Pencil'), which was discovered in

Goodwin Sands Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...

. She also contributed to the 2016

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

, where she discussed how nano-composite materials could use heat from a vehicle's engine to power air conditioning. Her recent work focusses on how nanomaterials interact with biological systems, including the toxicity of nanoparticles and development of plasmonic materials for biosensing. She works with the heritage sector to develop new materials and conservation techniques. She has worked with the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

, the

Royal Air Force Museum London The Royal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as the RAF Museum) is located on the former Hendon Aerodrome. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It is part of the Royal Air Forc ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. She collaborates extensively with Dr Eleanor Schofield, Head of Conservation and Collections Care at the

Mary Rose Trust The Mary Rose Trust is a limited charitable trust based in Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Its primary aims are to preserve, display and spread knowledge about the 16th century warship ''Mary Rose'' which sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 and ...

. In 2017, she was appointed Vice Dean of Research for the Faculty of Engineering at

. She is the Director of the Imperial-Shell University Technology Centre in Advanced Interfacial Materials Science. Ryan is a member of the

London Centre for Nanotechnology The London Centre for Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary research centre in physical and biomedical nanotechnology in London, United Kingdom. It brings together three institutions that are world leaders in nanotechnology, University College ...

. She is an editor for

's Materials Degradation Journal. She was elected a Fellow of the

in 2015. She is a Fellow of the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicatio ...

. She is a member of the Strategic Advisory Network of the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...

. She is a Trustee of the Heritage science forum. Ryan was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

for services to education and materials science and engineering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Mary Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British materials scientists Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of Imperial College London Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering 21st-century women engineers Women materials scientists and engineers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Electrochemists Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining