Professor Tom Slatter

Pronouns: He/him
  • Professor of Wear of Materials
Portrait photo of Tom Slatter

Background

Professor Tom Slatter graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2004 with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering and in 2010 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. As an undergraduate he did placements at the Ford Motor Company in both powertrain CAE and diesel engine engineering. His PhD was then sponsored by Ford’s Advanced Research and Materials Group in Aachen, Germany and concerned the wear of automotive valvetrain components. 

In 2007, Tom joined the academic staff in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Sheffield as a University Teaching Associate. He was then appointed Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering in 2011, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018, and to Professor of Wear of Materials in January 2022.  

Whilst at Sheffield he held a variety of leadership roles (including Deputy/Acting Director of Teaching for Mechanical Engineering, Y3/Y4 Tutor for General Engineering, Alumni Board Member, Member of Senate, Academic Team Leader) and teaching responsibilities (manufacturing, powertrain, tribology, design). He also founded, and was the Faculty Advisor of, Sheffield Formula Racing (Formula Student UK Champions 2021). 

He joined the Wolfson School at 天堂视频 in February 2024, also as Professor of Wear of Materials.

Qualifications and prizes

  • 2015 - PGCert Teaching & Learning in HE, School of Education, The University of Sheffield.
  • 2010 - PhD Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield.
  • 2004 - MEng Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield.
  • 22nd Int. Conference on Wear of Materials - 2nd Prize Best Paper (2019)
  • University of Sheffield - PhD supervision ‘Supervisionary’ award (2018)
  • University of Sheffield - Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (2012) 

Research interests

Tom continues to be involved in automotive tribology research; continuing work on valvetrain wear with a number of automotive OEMs, investigating the wear of other powertrain components (e.g. chains, crankshafts, piston rings), the damage caused by sooty oil, the life of engine lubricants and assessing the performance of environmentally acceptable lubricants. 

Recent research and consultancy work in these areas has included projects with companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Caterpillar, Jacobs Vehicle Systems, and several F1 teams and other top-tier motorsport organisations 

Tom’s research interests also include tribology in manufacturing with projects investigating the design, performance and instrumentation of manufacturing machines, processes and tooling with organisations such as Sandvik Coromant, Collins Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, Kennametal, HVM Catapults (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC)), and a number of specialist engineering SMEs. 

Outside of these applied areas, Tom works at a more fundamental level investigating topics including: friction, the role of surfaces in contact transmission to prevent infection, impact wear and the cryogenic treatment of metals. 

Tom currently supervises 5 PhD students as primary supervisor and has supervised to successful completion a total of 14 PhD students as primary supervisor, with a further 9 as secondary supervisor, all of whom have gone on to work in industry and academia. 

Grants and contracts

  • DSTL – Surface Texture Parameters for Contact Transmission (2022) (£14k) (PI)
  • Caterpillar – Characterisation of powertrain lubricants (2022-2025) (£201k) (PI)
  • EPSRC (Metrology Hub) – In-Situ Ultrasonic Sensors for Monitoring Tool and Workpiece During Grinding Processes (2020) (£50k) (CoI).
  • Jaguar Land Rover – Valvetrain Tribology (2019-20) (£53k) (PI).
  • InnovateUK (KTP) – Online inspection and monitoring of production processes (2019-2022) (£249k) (PI).
  • Rolls-Royce plc – Impact Wear (2019-20) (£40k) (PI).
  • EPSRC (Programme Grant) – Friction – the Tribology Enigma, (2017-23) (£5.3M) (CoI). 

Teaching responsibilities

  • WSB403 – Design of Machine Elements (Module Leader, Lecturer, Tutor)
  • Undergraduate Part C Individual Projects

Administrative responsibilities

  • Head of Mechanical Engineering Academic Community 

External Collaborations

  • Visiting Professor - Leonardo Centre for Tribology, The University of Sheffield (2024-date)
  • Secretary (2024-date) & Voting Member (2020-date) - ASTM Standards Committee ‘G02 Wear & Erosion’ (responsible for many of the primary testing standards used in tribology). 
  • ASTM G65 (Abrasion Using the Dry Sand/Rubber Wheel Apparatus)
  • ASTM G99 (Wear Testing with a Pin-on-Disk Apparatus) 
  • ASTM G115 (Guide for Measuring and Reporting Friction Coefficients) (TS is Technical Lead)
  • ASTM G133 (Linearly Reciprocating Ball-on-Flat Sliding Wear) (TS is Technical Lead)
  • Various roles (Young Member to Trustee Board, Commercial Board, Young Members Board, Tribology Group Committee, Automobile Division Yorkshire Branch) - Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2006-19).