Brian Cantor

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Contact me

I am a materials scientist and engineer.  I have been a manager and a leader in executive and non-executive roles in the private and public sectors.  

I am currently a Professor of Materials at the University of Oxford and Brunel University London.

Achievements

Heslington East Campus
Between 2002 and 2013 I led the development of a $1 billion 250 acre expansion of the University of York campus, doubling its physical size, with more than 50 new buildings, new medical, law and media schools, expansion of many other departments, new indoor and outdoor sports facilities, new science and business parks, and accommodation for more than 10,000 additional students.
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The Ron Cooke Hub is one of the iconic lakeshore buildings on the Heslington East campus expansion. (University of York website)
Multicomponent High-Entropy Materials
In 1980 I invented the concept of multicomponent alloys and discovered the first high-entropy alloy, now known as the original Cantor alloy, an equiatomic mixture of 5 components, CrMnFeCoNi, with a near-ideal random mixture of the atoms on a single-phase fcc lattice. The 2004 paper reporting these results is cited more than 2,000 times a year, with a total citation count to date of almost 15,000.
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The original Cantor alloy after casting, rolling and annealing to produce a beautiful recrystallised equiaxed grain structure. (Won et. al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 2018)
The Equations of Materials
In 2020 Oxford University Press published the 1st edition of my undergraduate text book, based on three ideas: the most important fundamental equations of materials science are simple, are experimental, and were derived by scientists who led interesting lives. A second expanded edition of the book will be published later in 2026.
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The front cover of the 1st edition of The Equations of Materials, featuring a wheel representation of the irrational number pi.
UK International Centre of Excellence in Strategic Resource Management (UK ICE-SRM)
In 2024/5 I helped set up a UN and DEFRA supported research centre dedicated to developing a sustainable economy based on circular materials using repair, recycling and re-use.
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Begbroke Science Park
In 1998 I arranged the purchase of the Begbroke site to found and build the University of Oxford's first science park, launching new spin-out companies adjacent to academic departments and research centres in materials, manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, energy, environmental, computing and IT sectors.
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The iconic Hirsch Building on the Begbroke Science Park.
The Fundamentals of Multicomponent High-Entropy Materials
In 2024 Oxford University Press published my book summarising our understanding of multicomponent and high-entropy materials after nearly two decades of intensive investigation by thousands of scientists worldwide.
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The front cover of Fundamentals of Multicomponent High-Entropy Materials, featuring a schematic equiaxed grain structure.
Nucleation of Solidification
Between 1982 and 1995 my research colleagues and I used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on embedded nanoparticles to show that nucleation of solidification is always stimulated by impurities, the classical spherical cap theory of nucleation does not work, and nucleation takes place instead by the adsorption of solidifying atoms on the surfaces of impurity particles, often at temperatures above the melting point.
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TEM pictures showing: (a) adsorbed Al3P layer on Al nucleating solidification of Si; (b) adsorbed TiAl3 layer on TiB2 nucleating solidification of Al. (Cantor Proc Roy Soc 2002)
Rolls-Royce Aeroengines
Between 1996 and 2015 I was a consultant for Rolls-Royce Aeroengines, conducting and coordinating research programmes and technology audits, contributing to many developments, such as effective thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) on turbine blades, TiAl compressor blades, and Ti metal matrix composite (Ti MMC) turbine discs.
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Rolls-Royce Trent aeroengines on the production line. (Rolls-Royce website)
Progress in Materials Science
I was Editor or Chief Editor of PMS for 35 years, from 1988 to 2021, turning it round from near commercial failure in the mid-1980s to the most prestigious and successful review journal in materials science and engineering, with an impact factor of over 30 (now well over 40).
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Front cover of the review journal Progress in Materials Science.
National Science Learning Centre (now the National STEM Learning Centre)
Between 2002 and 2013 I helped found and build the NSLC, including several years as Chairman of the Board. It was launched as a collaboration of 3 Russell-group universities, 10 major technology companies, the Wellcome Trust, and the UK Government (DoE), delivering high-quality CPD and access to STEM resources to science teachers and teaching assistants from thousands of schools and colleges throughout the UK.
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The National STEM Learning Centre building on the University of York campus.
Science Museum Group
I was a Trustee of the UK national Science & Media Museum in Bradford between 2013 and 2019, and of the overarching UK national Science Museums Group between 2016 and 2024. The SMG runs four major national museums: the famous original Science Museum in Kensington, adjacent to Imperial College and the Royal Albert Hall, set up in the 19th century after the Great Exhibition of 1851; the National Railway Museum in York; the Science & Media Museum in Bradford; and the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester; as well as a smaller museum called Locomotion in Durham; and an enormous storage facility on its Science and Innovation Park near Swindon. The museums welcome omore than 5 million visitors each year, including more than 2.5 million schoolchildren.
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Tim Peake's Soyuz capsule on show at the Science & Media Museum in Bradford.
Oxford-Kobe Institute
I was a Director of the Oxford-Kobe Institute between 1995 and 2002. The Kobe Institute was a beautiful Arne Jacobsen-styled campus on the side of Rokko Mountain just outside Kobe City, owned by St. Catherine's College, Oxford (famously designed in the 1960s by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen), set up with an endowment from more than 100 industrial and public organisations across the Kansai region, and operated as a centre for high-level international workshops. During that period I organised an annual series of Oxford-Kobe Materials Seminars each with 20 or 30 hand-picked invited distinguished lecturers from all round the world. Oxford-Kobe Materials Texts of all the Seminars have been published by Taylor & Francis.
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St Catherine's College, Oxford.

Awards

Commander of the British Empire (CBE)

In 2013 I was awarded a CBE by the Queen for "services to higher education".

Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)

In 2024 I was elected to be an FRS for having "invented multicomponent high-entropy materials".

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng)

In 1998 I was elected to be an FREng for being "a world authority on materials manufacturing".

Spiers Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry

In 2025 I was awarded a Spiers Medal by the Royal Society of Chemistry for having made "an outstanding contribution to the field of multicomponent high-entropy Cantor alloys" at an RSC Faraday Discussion meeting in my honour.

Rosenhain Medal of the Institute of Materials

In 1993 I was awarded a Rosenhain Prize and Medal from the UK Institute of Materials for having made "an outstanding contribution to metallurgical science".

Platinum Medal of the Institute of Materials

In 2002 I was awarded a Platinum Medal from the UK Institute of Materials for having made "an outstanding contribution to materials".

Centenary Professorship of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

In 2013 I was awarded an IISc Centenary Distinguished Professorship in Bangalore as a "world-class researcher".

Liaoning Academy of Materials (LAM) Fellowship

In 2025 I was awarded a LAM Fellowship in Shenyang, China as a "world-class researcher". More than 10,000 scientists watched the internet live-stream of my acceptance lecture.

Member of Academia Europaea

In 1999 I was elected to be a Member in the Physics Section of Europe's Academy of Sciences

Member of Universal Scientific Education & Research Network (USERN)

In 2016 I was elected to be a Member of the Science Board of USERN, the worldwide academy of sciences

ISI Most Cited

In 2006 I was placed in the ISI top 100 most cited materials scientists researcher list. My seminal 2004 paper on the invention of multicomponent high-entropy alloys is cited more than 2,000 times a year, with a total citation count to date of almost 15,000

Ismanam Prize

In 1998 I was awarded an Ismanam Prize in Wollongong, Australia for excellence in studying metastable and nanocrystalline materials.

TMS (The Materials Society) Distinguished Scientist

In 2019 I was given a TMS Distinguished Scientist Award in San Diego, USA for my work on multicomponent high-entropy materials.

MRS (Materials Research Society) IMRC (International Materials Research Congress) Distinguished Scientist

In 2025 I was given an MRS IMRC Distinguished Scientist Award in Cancun, Mexico for my work on multicomponent high-entropy materials.

Thermec Prize

In 2025 I was awarded a Thermec Distinguished Scientist Prize in Tours, France for my work on multicomponent high-entropy materials at a special 4-day symposium in my honour.

Associated websites

Google Scholar

Google Scholar gives the total citation count to all my research papers as over 25,000, with an h-index of 60.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia describes me as "a world authority on materials manufacturing".

Grokipedia

Grokipedia describes me as "renowned for inventing the field of multicomponent high-entropy alloys and discovering the so-called Cantor alloys".

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford says that I "invented the field of multicomponent high-entropy materials and discovered the Cantor alloys".

Brunel University London

Brunel University also says that I "invented the field of multicomponent high-entropy materials and discovered the Cantor alloys".

Royal Society

The Royal Society says that I "made influential contributions in solidification, spray-forming, metal-matrix composites and amorphous alloys".

Research Gate

Research Gate identifies over 300 of my research papers, with almost 25,000 reads and 20,000 citations.

Who's Who

Who's Who gives details of my personal biography and major achievements.

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