Following 10 years with Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd. (now Corus) engaged mainly on research into sheet steel products destined for the automotive industry, a further 35 years was spent on materials technology focused on the car body. This included spells at The Pressed Steel Company, Austin-Morris, BL Technology, Rover and finally BMW UK. Experience included all aspects of material selection raging from sheet steel to aluminium and polymers together with a detailed knowlege of most processing aspects such as pressing, painting and welding. Corrosion prevention was a major feature of recent years and collaborative work with Oxford University helped optimise the use of zinc coated steels… on current bodywork.
Thomas R. Gilbert has a BS in chemistry from Clarkson and a PhD in analytical chemistry from MIT. After 10 years with the Research Department of the New England Aquarium in Boston, he joined the faculty of Northeastern University, where he is currently associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology. His research interests are in chemical and science education. He teaches general chemistry and science education courses and conducts professional development workshops for K-12 teachers. He has won Northeastern's Excellence in Teaching Award and Outstanding Teacher of First-Year Engineering Students Award. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and in 2012 was elected to the ACS… Board of Directors.
Rein V. Kirss received both a BS in chemistry and a BA in history as well as an MA in chemistry from SUNY Buffalo. He received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where the seeds for this textbook were undoubtedly planted. After two years of postdoctoral study at the University of Rochester, he spent a year at Advanced Technology Materials, Inc., before returning to academics at Northeastern University in 1989. He is an associate professor of chemistry with an active research interest in organometallic chemistry.