Ed Brightman has won first prize at the 3rd World Materials Research Institutes Forum (WMRIF) Workshop for 'Young Scientists' held from 28-30 August 2012 at the National Metal and Materials Technology Centre (MTEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ed will now choose from nine member organisations to spend two weeks, fully funded, working at two of the participating WMRIF institutes as his prize. The presentation was entitled 'In-situ measurement of fuel cell degradation mechanisms' and co-authored with Gareth Hinds.

29 early career scientists competed, with Ed being one of those most recently completing their PhDs. The conference covered four themes, with keynote presentations being given by senior scientists from the WMRIF member organisations:

• Material challenges for biomedical applications
• Material challenges in mobility systems
• Material challenges in mitigation and adaptation to climate change
• Reliable manufacturing with advanced materials

NPL also won the first prize at the previous contest in 2010 through Andy Wain, also a member of the Electrochemistry Group in the Materials Division. Andy visited Inmetro, Brazil, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA.

For more information, please contact Graham Sims