Boron carbide is a strategic material, finding applications in nuclear industry, armour for personnel and vehicle safety, rocket propellant, etc. Its high hardness makes it suitable for grinding and cutting tools, ceramic bearing, wire drawing dies, etc. Boron carbide is commercially produced either by carbothermic reduction of boric acid in electric furnaces or by magnesiothermy in presence of carbon. Since many specialty applications of boron carbide require dense bodies, its densification is of great importance. Hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing are the main processes employed for densification. In the recent past, various researchers have made attempts to improve the existing methods and also invent new processes for synthesis and consolidation of boron carbide. All the techniques on synthesis and consolidation of boron carbide are discussed in detail and critically reviewed.

April 1 st 2019 he was also the Deputy Head of the College of Engineering & Physical Sciences. He has been active in ceramics processing research since 1981 and has published ~220 refereed papers, as well as editing or contributing to 19 books and holding 7 patents with an 8 th recently submitted. He has attracted 129 research grants to date, totalling ~£16.5M, this includes a current portfolio of about £1.9M. The focus of his research is the generation of both the necessary scientific understanding and the required engineering solutions for the design and development of materials and process routes that display technical and/or economic advantages over existing approaches. The range of products worked on ranges from nanostructured to traditional ceramics, interpenetrating composites to ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites. He has worked closely with industry to translate key developments, e.g. through the creation of a spin-out company to develop a ceramic sensor for measuring soil matric potential (1991), or via licensing, e.g. manufacturing routes for producing engineering ceramic foams (1995) and nanostructured ceramics (2012). He has supervised 35 Ph.D. students and 2 M.Phil. students to successful completion and 38 postdoctoral researchers. A further 7 Ph.D. students and 6 postdoctoral researchers are currently being supervised with more positions currently advertised. His research has received both national and international recognition; he has given ~65 keynotes, plenary and invited talks at international conferences, whilst the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining has awarded him the Holliday Prize (1995), Ivor Jenkins Medal

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