Rate My Professor Hong Dong

Hongbiao Dong FREng is Professor of Materials Engineering and Deputy Head of the School of Engineering at the University of Leicester, where he directs the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Transformation of Metals Industry (DigitalMetal CDT). He holds a BEng and MEng in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing (1989 and 1992) and a DPhil in Materials Science from the University of Oxford (2000). His career encompasses the 125th Anniversary Chair and Professor of Materials Engineering at the University of Birmingham, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair sponsored by TWI (2016-2023), and Royal Society Industry Fellow hosted by Rolls-Royce Plc (2006-2008). Dong's research specializations include digital manufacturing, AI applications in materials manufacturing, data-driven modelling of metallurgical processes, alloy solidification modelling with focus on columnar-to-equiaxed transition, arc welding, casting defect reduction, and additive manufacturing. He led the EU-FP7 MintWeld project on advanced welding modelling, chaired the STFC-ISIS Engineering User Committee (2013-2018), and developed surface passivation solutions for reducing casting defects in single-crystal gas turbine blades, protected by patents EU EP2166133B1 and US8192564B2.

Dong has published influential works including 'Using deep neural network with small dataset to predict material defects' (Materials & Design, 2019), 'Simulation of the columnar-to-equiaxed transition in directionally solidified Al–Cu alloys' (Acta Materialia, 2005), 'Revealing internal flow behaviour in arc welding and additive manufacturing of metals' (Nature Communications, 2018), and 'Microscale simulation of stray grain formation in investment cast turbine blades' (Materials Science and Engineering: A, 2004). His honors comprise Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng, 2022), Fellowship of IOM3 (FIMMM), Senior Fellowship of the Chinese Society for Metals, and the Metrology for World Class Manufacturing award (2000). He serves as Vice Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (since 2020) and Associate Editor of Materials Genome Engineering Advances (since 2023), alongside roles on the European Materials Modelling Council steering committee and various review panels. Dong's contributions have advanced sustainable manufacturing in aerospace (Rolls-Royce), energy (TWI), and steel (NISCO, Materials Processing Institute) sectors.