Prof Andy Bushby
BSc(Eng), PhD, FIMMM, FRMS, MInstPhys

 

Research Overview

Interests

Prof Bushby’s research is centred on the micro- and nano-mechanics of materials and structures. He is a leading expert in the technique of nanoindentation for small-scale mechanical property measurement and contributes to ISO Standards working groups for instrumented indentation. Major research themes include the development of methods using spherical indenters, electromechanical properties of ferroelectric thin films, visco-elastic and composites materials, structure-properties relationships in calcified biological tissues and nano-structured crystalline materials.  Fundamental research has focused on the origin of size effects in mechanical properties and has led to new understanding of the strength of nano-structured materials. These size effects are now being exploited in novel high-strength, lightweight materials through ‘length-scale engineering’ of their microstructure in Queen Mary spin-out company Ultima-Forma Ltd

Prof Bushby is also the creator and director of Queen Mary’s NanoVision Centre for advanced microscopy. The Centre encourages overlap between different high-resolution microscopy techniques and between scientists from different disciplines. He has developed ‘volume electron microscopy’ techniques for 3D imaging of biological tissues in collaboration with leading biological imaging groups in the UK. This work has been extended to study aqueous suspended particle matter (or flocs) in environmental science.