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The founding directors of HyProMag Ltd include the late Professor Emeritus Rex Harris, former Head of The Magnetic Materials Group (“MMG”) within the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham; Professor Allan Walton, current Head of the MMG; and two Honorary Fellows, Dr John Speight and Mr David Kennedy. They are all leading world experts in the field of rare earth magnetic materials, alloys and hydrogen technology, and have significant industry experience.
The founding directors of HyProMag Ltd include the late Professor Emeritus Rex Harris, former Head of The Magnetic Materials Group (“MMG”) within the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham; Professor Allan Walton, current Head of the MMG; and two Honorary Fellows, Dr John Speight and Mr David Kennedy. They are all leading world experts in the field of rare earth magnetic materials, alloys and hydrogen technology, and have significant industry experience.

David Kennedy

BSc, CEng, Founding Director

David Kennedy is a metallurgist with extensive experience in the rare earth supply chain. He previously founded and owned Less Common Metals (LCM) who produce rare earth alloys. He was also formerly a director of Great Western Minerals. David has extensive experience in separation of rare earth elements and in alloy processing. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham in the Magnetic Materials Group.

Dr John Speight

BSc, PhD, Founding Director

Following his B.Sc and PhD studies in the Department of Physical Metallurgy at the University of Birmingham, John Speight worked in the USA at the California Institute of Technology and Bell Laboratories. For over 20 years he held a variety of senior scientific positions at BT Research Laboratories culminating in being head of silicon integrated circuit technology. For 6 years he was Director of Manufacturing at BT&D, a BT/Dupont joint venture which became the world’s first large scale manufacturer of long wavelength semiconductor lasers. Since 1998 he has been an Honorary Research Fellow in the Magnetic Materials Group. In recent years John has been mapping supply chains for rare earth magnets.

Professor Allan Walton

BSc, PhD, Founding Director

Dr Walton is a Professor of Critical and Magnetic Materials. He is head of the Magnetic Materials Group (MMG) at the University of Birmingham and the former head of the UK Magnetics Society. Over the last ten years he has been developing technologies to sense, sort and extract rare earth magnets from end of life products. He has developed these technologies up to pilot scale within the University of Birmingham and it is these technologies which will be taken to a commercial scale by HyProMag.

Will Dawes

BSc, Director

William Dawes is a founding Director and CEO of AIM/TSXV listed Mkango Resources, and a Director of LeoMinEx and HyProMag. He has over 25 years’ experience in exploration, business development and investment banking. Having trained as a geologist in South Africa, he worked as a mining analyst based in London and then for Rio Tinto’s exploration division. Subsequently, he gained significant global mining transaction experience at Robert Fleming & Co, Chase Manhattan Bank and JPMorgan. He holds a BSc Geology from Bristol University and MSC Mineral Exploration with distinction from Royal School of Mines, Imperial College.

Nick Mann

B.Eng, Managing Director

Nick Mann B.Eng is a materials scientist with a history of non-ferrous production control and management roles. He has experience of processing reclaimed metallic scrap into value added end product as well as a variety of connections through Europe in metals processing. He gained his B.Eng at the University of Birmingham, School of Metallurgy and Materials.

Dr Rob Arnold

MEng, Technical Manager

Dr Rob Arnold has an MEng in Nuclear Engineering and a PhD in magnetostrictive materials. His background is in experimental science, having performed studies of processing parameters and fabrication methods of rare-earth transition metal magnets. Dr Arnold has a wide array of training, particularly for use on equipment focused on fabrication and characterisation of samples, while also being versed in statistical and critical analysis.

Abeshaa Mahendran

MEng, Metallurgist

Abeshaa Mahendran is a metallurgist specialising in the field of Materials Science and Engineering, and completed her MEng at the University of Birmingham in 2022. Building on the knowledge gained in her degree, at HyProMag she has expanded her skills in the extraction of magnets from end-of-life applications, and their transformation into new magnets through innovative recycling methods.

Jovey Farthing

MEng, Metallurgist

Jovey Farthing is a metallurgist who graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2022, gaining his MEng in Materials Science and Engineering. While studying Jovey gained experience in process optimisation during the primary production of samarium cobalt magnets. Since joining HyProMag, Jovey has developed skills in recycling and reprocessing of NdFeB magnets, with his proficiency spanning production and processing of powder, sintering as well as magnet characterization.

Carmel Verboom

MA, ACMA Financial Controller

Carmel Verboom is a chartered management accountant with extensive expertise in financial analysis and business development across diverse industries. In her current role within the HyProMag team, she is involved with project management and financial reporting.

Sallie-Ann Barnett

BA Hons, Commercial Manager

Sallie-Ann Barnett joined the team as Commercial Manager with over 25 years’ experience of international commerce within a variety of manufacturing industries. With 15 years’ experience in the Aerospace and Defence markets, she is familiar with complex transactions, exacting requirements and the practicalities of international export and import activities. Her remaining experience was within both ferrous and non-ferrous metal manufacturing industries with a rolling mill/slitting centre and subsequently a laser profiling division.

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