Professor John Francis

John joined The University of Manchester as a Senior Lecturer in 2011 and was promoted to a Readership, and subsequently a Chair in Materials Welding and Joining. John is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and is accredited as a European/International Welding Engineer (EWE/IWE). John has been working with welding and cladding technologies for more than 20 years, having started his career with CSIRO in Australia, where he spent 7 years developing welding procedures to solve issues in the aerospace, power generation and minerals processing sectors.

John’s research focuses on understanding the evolution of microstructures and stresses in joints during welding, as well as during post-weld heat treatment and in service. John uses this understanding to identify alloys, welding procedures and heat treatment schedules that can mitigate cracking and deliver either improvements in productivity or through-life structural performance. He has particular interests in developing and evaluating new approaches for the fabrication of large steel components, in optimising the toughness of steel welds, and in joining dissimilar materials.