Norman Percy Allen (5 June 1903 – 23 February 1972) was a British metallurgist.

Early life

He was born in Wrexham, North Wales, the son of accountant Sidney Edward Allen and educated at Burton-on-Trent Boys' Grammar School and

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, where he obtained an honours degree in metallurgy.

Career

He stayed on at Sheffield to carry out research into copper die-casting alloys, but in 1925 moved to

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

to work for three years on the porosity of copper and copper alloys, moving again in 1929 to

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

to continue the work. He was awarded a D.Sc. by Birmingham University in 1934. In 1933 he left the university to join

Mond Nickel Company The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) to ...

at their Birmingham research laboratory under Dr

Leonard Bessemer Pfeil Dr Leonard Bessemer Pfeil (13 March 1898 – 16 February 1969) was a British metallurgist. Early life Leonard Pfeil was born in London, the son of accountant Leopold Pfeil, and educated at St Dunstan's College, Catford and the Royal School of ...

, where he stayed until 1945. During that time he worked on the development of highly alloyed nickel base materials

Nimonic Nimonic is a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation that refers to a family of nickel-based high-temperature low creep superalloys. Nimonic alloys typically consist of more than 50% nickel and 20% chromium with additives such as titani ...

having high strength and high oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures which served a key role in the use of such alloys in the new jet engines. In 1945, he joined the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) as Superintendent of the Metallurgy Division, where he stayed until his retirement in 1969. A major project there concerned the development of superconductors, their manufacture, use and ongoing development. Other projects involved the development of physical methods of analysis such as spectrographic analysis, chromatography, colorimetry, X-ray fluorescence and absorption spectrometry. In 1966 he was appointed Deputy Director of the NPL.

Honours and awards

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1956 and elected President of the

Institution of Metallurgists The Institution of Metallurgists was a British professional association for metallurgists, largely involved in the iron and steel industry. History It was founded in 1945. The inaugural meeting was held on 28 November 1945; the organization was for ...

for 1961/62. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the

1966 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1966 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

Private life

He died in 1972. He had married in 1929 Olive Williams, with whom he had 2 sons and a daughter,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Norman Percy 1903 births 1972 deaths People from Wrexham Alumni of the University of Sheffield British metallurgists Academics of the University of Birmingham Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)