Lecturer in the Engineering department.
Outside of UCM you'll find me enjoying a wide range of outdoor activities - walking, cycling, kayaking and gardening; the Isle of Man is the perfect place for all these hobbies.
What attracted you to Engineering?
From a young age Sarah had always had an interest in engineering, initially planning to follow in her dad’s footsteps as a Motor Vehicle Engineer, but gradually found an interest in another area after a school project.
“I was so completely engaged by a project on rust as a 13-year-old in Chemistry class, that I switched my allegiance to metallurgy. Whilst a career in metallurgy was rare, a degree in metallurgy at the time was even rarer so I ended up studying Materials Science, a very close relative.”
Educational Journey
Before joining UCM, Sarah completed a BEng (Hons) degree at the University of Bath, then progressing to an Engineering Doctorate at the University of Wales, where she was based at Port Talbot steelworks, looking at the effect of different process variables on the properties of a specific type of steel.
Following this, Sarah began a three-year position as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Advanced Materials and Composites, part of the University of Oxford. Whilst in Oxford, Sarah was researching a new way to make tools and dies for the automotive industry using electric arc spray guns.
Favourite thing about working in Engineering
“To be honest there are too many to choose from! I have been fortunate in being able to work with some of the cleverest minds in the country and learn from them.
"Every day at UCM is different, I get to apply problem solving skills, which I enjoy. In my particular area of expertise there is a good balance between practical and academic work. Engineers are some of the best and quirkiest people you could ever have the pleasure of meeting, and they are always interesting to talk to!”
Advice to those considering studying Engineering
“Engineers shape society. The engineering field is diverse and there is something for everyone. If at the end of it all you decide you don’t want to be an engineer, then engineering has allowed you to develop a set of skills that can be transferred to just about any other career!”.
Background
- Sarah graduated from the University of Bath in 1996 with a Degree in Materials Science and Engineering.
- Combining academic research in an industrial context Sarah then undertook a four year Engineering Doctorate with the University of Wales – Swansea, working directly with British Steel (now Tata Steel UK Ltd) at the Welsh Technology Centre in Port Talbot to develop extra deep drawing quality steel for automotive applications.
- Finding job satisfaction in the innovation and development of industrial products and processes, Sarah joined the University of Oxford’s Centre for Advanced Materials and Composites as a post-doctoral research fellow specialising in Sprayform tooling for the rapid manufacture of moulds and dies.
- After moving to the Isle of Man, Sarah worked as a product development specialist at a privately owned company before joining UCM as a lecturer in Engineering in 2016.
- Sarah joined the team delivering the Certificate of Education in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector in 2021.
Professional and Scholarly Activity
S. Hoile, Processing and properties of mild interstitial free steels, October 2000, Materials Science and Technology, 16(10):1079-1093, DOI: 10.1179/026708300101506902
S. Hoile, T. Rayment, P.S. Grant, A.D. Roche, Oxide formation in the Sprayform Tool Process, Materials Science and Engineering: A, Volume 383, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 50-57, ISSN 0921-5093, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2004.02.068.
T. Rayment, S. Hoile, P.S. Grant, Phase transformations and control of residual stresses in thick spray-formed steel shells, December 2004, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B 35(6):1113-1122, DOI: 10.1007/s11663-004-0067-8