CMatP Profile: Dr Jeff Gates

companies such as Bradken, Trelleborg and Molycop and by collaborative government funding schemes such as Innovation Connections and Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships.

What inspired you to choose a career in materials science and engineering?

Jeff Gates is an Honorary Senior Fellow in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at The University of Queensland. From 1998 to 2019 he was Principal of UQ Materials Performance, a professional consultancy service within the University. His technical expertise covers: (1) Microstructure, properties, performance & failure of ferrous alloys and competing materials, especially for abrasion-resistant products; (2) Engineering failure investigation.

Where do you work?

Describe your job.

I work in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at The University of Queensland. Although I’ve been at UQ since my post-doctoral years, I’ve had a diversity of roles — from research & lecturing, to founding & operating a consultancy business, and now back to research. In the late 1990s I effectively changed careers (from academic to fulltime engineering consultant) without changing offices! Currently my focus is R&D projects funded by manufacturing

Late in my first year at Monash University (1976), two of our Physics lecturers gave a presentation about a second-year subject called “Materials Science 205”. They were Bill Rachinger (1927-2023) and Paul Clark. Using benchtop demonstrations they compellingly illustrated diverse material properties, such as thermal conductivity. I and some of my classmates thought “that sounds cool” — and we were right! Virtually every day of my career, I apply some principle or piece of knowledge that I gained there in 1977.

Who or what has influenced you most professionally?

Two people who have inspired me are Ian Polmear and Andrej Atrens. At Monash, Prof Polmear taught us a variety of topics within our materials courses, but two that stood out were Phase Transformations, and Micromechanics of Deformation & Fracture — topics that have informed both my research and my consultancy over the decades since. Ian is one of those exceptional people who combine intellectual brilliance with outstanding personal warmth & integrity.

During my Postdoc at UQ, Andy Atrens taught me many lessons. One was the simple trick of roughly plotting a data trend while standing in a lab, armed with nothing more than pen and paper. Without any formal tools like graph paper & ruler (in those old days) or computers, or even a desk to sit at, hand-sketching a graph enabled us to visualise and understand the kind of effect that parameter X might have on variable Y. By his consistent example, Andy demonstrated the value of giving written feedback on a draft report — something I’ve endeavoured to emulate when mentoring my own students and staff.

What has been the most challenging job or project you've worked on to date and why?

Serving as an expert witness in the Victorian Bushfires litigation in 20112013 tested me in numerous ways. Obviously it put my expertise under the spotlight, and it certainly tested my stamina — 5 weeks full-time in the Victorian Supreme Court is no picnic. But more than that, it tested my integrity — whether I was really committed to the expert witness code of conduct which states that an expert’s principal obligation is to the court, not to their client. So for example when I was asked in court whether I or the opposition’s expert had stronger expertise in fracture mechanics, I was happy to say it was the other guy. But I also saw that this strict independence is actually in the client’s interest; that my demonstrable integrity & impartiality are perhaps my client’s biggest asset.

What does being a CMatP mean to you?

Being a Certified Materials Professional (and also Chartered Professional Engineer) has meant more to me in my career than the specific job titles I’ve held. The term “professional” holds a great deal of significance to me. At one level, a professional is someone with training & experience in a given field that are certified by authorities in that field as qualifying the person to perform analysis and make judgements which the community can rely on. At another level, I remember someone saying to me that

“an employee works till knock-off time; a professional works until the job is done”. That philosophy can be problematic, since it’s not right to sacrifice family for the sake of work. But the key attitude is to take responsibility; not to dismiss the matter as “someone else’s problem”.

What gives you the most satisfaction at work?

Submitting a project report or scientific article which systematically sets out the question that was asked, the methods by which that question was investigated, the observations made, rigorous interpretation of those observations, and finally the answer to the question. Such a report tells a story — one that is factual, but also intelligible and compelling.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Pursue a career not in the field that has the most jobs on offer, or which you think will make you the most money, but in a field you enjoy and are good at (these two usually being the same). Your best chance of landing a good job is when you’re good at it.

What have been your greatest professional and personal achievements?

Personal: That’s easy to answer — meeting and growing a life-long partnership with my wife of 33 years. She is by far the best friend I ever had, and I have tremendous admiration for her integrity, intellect and expertise in her field (medicine & preventive health). When it comes to diagnostic logic & evidence, there’s a lot of overlap between medicine and engineering failure analysis (including preventive maintenance!).

Professional: My greatest achievement professionally was establishing the UQ Materials Performance consultancy business (registered in 1998), and then leading & developing it to become the thriving & authoritative entity (and harmonious & fun workplace) that it is today.

What are you optimistic about?

Lifelong learning. You learn something new every day, and learning new things is satisfying.

What are the top three things on your “bucket list”?

• See widespread acceptance of our new suite of industrially realistic wear & fracture tests (ICAT, BMAT, BMECT), which are unique in their ability to measure the properties that actually determine service performance in the target industries.

• Close the loop regarding the relationship between a material’s resistance to body-fracture and its resistance to microfracture wear mechanisms.

• Swim with dolphins.