{"id":7713,"date":"2026-03-26T16:35:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/?page_id=7713"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:53:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:53:48","slug":"ethan-sumner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/ethan-sumner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethan\u00a0Sumner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Bio:<\/strong> Ethan started his PhD in the group in September 2025, having previously graduated from the University of Birmingham with an MEng in Nuclear Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, he completed a summer internship at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and carried out a final-year research project on isotopically modified molybdenum for low-activation divertors. He has since shifted his research focus to fission and is now exploring advanced zirconium alloys for Generation IV nuclear power systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside the lab, Ethan volunteers with a local conservation group; mostly driving minibuses and getting in the way. He is also a Beaver Scout leader, where he entertains small children and builds irresponsibly large bonfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>PhD Project:<\/strong> <strong>High Temperature Zirconium Alloys for Nuclear Fusion and Generation IV Fission Reactors<br><\/strong>Ethan&#8217;s research focuses on the development of advanced zirconium alloys with enhanced high-temperature performance, using titanium metallurgy as an analogy for alloy design. His work combines computational and empirical alloy development, advanced characterisation techniques, mechanical testing, and irradiation campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ethan&#8217;s PhD is co-sponsored with UKNNL co-supervised by Dr Helen Swan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Techniques used: Arc melting, FIB, SEM, TEM, EBSD, XRD, mechanical testing, irradiation, FISPACT, STRIM, Spectra-PKA, OpenMC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/03\/0-Ethan-2-810x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7720\" style=\"width:370px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/03\/0-Ethan-2-810x1024.png 810w, https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/03\/0-Ethan-2-237x300.png 237w, https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/03\/0-Ethan-2-768x971.png 768w, https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/03\/0-Ethan-2.png 1016w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bio: Ethan started his PhD in the group in September 2025, having previously graduated from the University of Birmingham with an MEng in Nuclear Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, he completed a summer internship at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and carried out a final-year research project on isotopically modified molybdenum for low-activation divertors. &#8230; <a title=\"Ethan\u00a0Sumner\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/ethan-sumner\/\" aria-label=\"More on Ethan\u00a0Sumner\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7713","page","type-page","status-publish"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","ab-block-post-grid-landscape":"","ab-block-post-grid-square":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>Bio: Ethan started his PhD in the group in September 2025, having previously graduated from the University of Birmingham with an MEng in Nuclear Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, he completed a summer internship at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and carried out a final-year research project on isotopically modified molybdenum for low-activation divertors. He has since shifted his research focus to fission and is now exploring advanced zirconium alloys for Generation IV nuclear power systems. Outside the lab, Ethan volunteers with a local conservation group; mostly driving minibuses and getting in the way. He is also a Beaver&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"","author_info_v2":{"name":"Alexander Knowles","url":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/author\/knowleaj\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7713"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7725,"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7713\/revisions\/7725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/M4X\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}