A composites trailblazer who helped put the AMRC firmly on the map is standing down from her role as head of composites after almost a decade to take up a new position at a world-leading propeller manufacturer. 

Professor Clara Frias, who was the first female head of group at the University of Sheffield AMRC, is leaving her leadership position this week to join the composites team at Dowty Propellers, a GE Aerospace company, which is also an AMRC Tier 2 member. 

Clara said: “It’s been such a pleasure to work at the AMRC – a place which has such a unique ecosystem and culture with many multi-national, hardworking people within it who become family – and it’s very difficult to detach. 

“There’s no place like the AMRC, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work here and I will miss it very much.”

Clara heaped praise on her composites team, calling them ‘brilliant’ and ‘special’ and always up for challenge. She said: “Many of them are recognised for their talent and what they bring in terms of future developments in composites – not just nationally, but internationally as well. 

“They are a very special team who are always up for tackling the most difficult of challenges. And it’s these people, that even on those tough days, made me wake up with a smile on my face.”

Clara, who grew up in Portugal, completed a degree in mathematics but switched to engineering after encouragement from her academic tutor.  After she spent time in a composites team at a research and technology organisation in her home country, it was there that her love for composites began.

In the pursuit of gaining more experience in the composites industry, the UK was one of the countries at the top of her list. 

After working as a research engineer at Net Composites in Chesterfield and as a research programme manager at the University of Manchester, Clara was offered a technical lead position at the AMRC in 2016. Here she progressed her career and became the head of the composites team, a position she has held since 2019.

Clara said her most notable achievements at the AMRC included the development of a multi-functional materials research stream, an area of expertise she worked in for many years. Building up experience within her team, the group secured funding from the Materials for Smart Transport Industries (MASTRO) programme to develop self-responsive composites that aimed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and production costs in the aviation sector. It is a project recognised by the European Commission's Innovation Radar for showcasing excellent innovation. 

A major highlight is Composites at Speed and Scale (COMPASS), describing it as a huge moment for the wider AMRC, as it brought together many departments to bid and secure funding for the research  - alongside the creation of a dedicated facility - to advance manufacturing of composite aerostructures. 

Another technology win for Clara and her team was securing funding for a first-of-its-kind capability: developing novel fibre-reinforced  thermoplastic tapes, but it is an all-staff AMRC away day in 2023 that stands out as a personal pride point for her; an occasion where all staff from across South Yorkshire, north Wales and Lancashire came together in one place as one organisation for the first time. 

She said: “For me, what stood out from that day was when the whole composites team wanted a big picture of us all together and it’s an image I still look at with great pride.” 

Ben Morgan, interim CEO at the AMRC, said Clara has been a driving force behind the growth of composites at the AMRC for almost a decade.

“Her ambition, leadership and deep technical knowledge have put the AMRC firmly on the national and international stage and helped land major projects such as isothermic high-rate sustainable structures (IHSS) with Boeing,” he said.

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank Clara for her hard work and leadership on behalf of the whole of the AMRC. We wish you well in your next chapter.” 

Kevin Kerrigan, professor of composite manufacturing at the AMRC, has been appointed as interim head of group for the composites team following Clara’s departure.