Sam Harris was born in Wolverhampton and subsequently moved with his family to Crewe where he attended Crewe Grammar School. Success at school led to him qualifying for entry to Manchester University to study Metallurgy where he duly gained BSc and Masters Degrees. Working from the main building, he then had a spell supervising undergraduates who were in a nearby converted Mill, acquiring the managerial skills needed to bridge the rivalries between the two sites. In 1962, Sam joined the Department of Metallurgy at the University of Nottingham where he was awarded a PhD in 1965. At the time, the Department was led by Joe Cuthbertson who was succeeded by Stuart Leach and then John Wood in 1989. One of John and Sam’s first tasks was to stave off the threat of closure following a countrywide review of Materials’ departments. Sam, as Deputy Head of Department, helped steer the Department into new waters, linking materials with design and developing joint courses with the Medical School and Archaeology Department, which resulted in the formation of the Department of Materials, Design and Engineering.
Sam pursued his research interests in two main fields: Surface Engineering and Engineering Alloys. The former was divided between thermal spraying where Nottingham became the leading academic centre in High Velocity Oxy-Fuel spraying and electroplating in areas such as zinc alloy coatings. Sam’s work on aluminium alloys found a number of applications within the automotive industry, including bake-hardenable alloys; this sector also led to research in new steel alloys suitable for con-rod manufacture by a laser notching and fracture splitting technique. For many years, Sam and Peter Gregson at Southampton were involved in organising many international Aluminium-Lithium and Aluminium Alloy conferences. Sam was also an active member of the IOM3 Surface Engineering Division Board and East Midlands Metallurgical Society, he also wrote papers for publication in Transactions of the IMF.
Alongside his work as a researcher in surface engineering, Sam had a passion for education in that field and worked tirelessly on developing and promoting an EPSRC-funded Integrated Graduate Development Scheme Masters course in the subject. This was highly innovative for its time. Partners from several universities were involved in a joint degree awarding programme which was run on a part-time intensive study basis designed specifically to enhance the skills of those already working in the industry.
During his academic career, Sam was instrumental not just in his research and teaching activities but also in the financial operations of the new department and much is owed to Sam, along with John, in making it the success that it became. Part of this business-oriented thinking manifested itself in 1994 when Sam and John persuaded the University to become shareholders in M4 Technologies Ltd., along with one of Sam’s ex-students, Laurence Archibald. This company was focused on attracting industry–university collaborative research projects gaining funding from both UK and EC agencies and Sam continued to make contributions to the company’s operation up to the end of 2022.
Sam was a true gentleman, a dedicated academic and source of wisdom to colleagues and students alike. Sam will be remembered always by his wife Catherine, children Nick and Nia, his grand-children, by his colleagues in the Faculty of Engineering and his friends on the University cricket (where his propensity for running out fellow batsmen was renowned) and football playing fields.
Sam, you will be sorely missed.