Academic Staff Academic Staff overview Howard Stone Nick Jones David Collins Nicole Church Rob Thompson Academic Staff The group is led by four members of academic staff: Professor Howard Stone, Professor Nick Jones, Dr David Collins, and Dr Nicole Church. Current Academic Staff: Professor Howard Stone Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy Director of the Rolls-Royce UTC Professor Nick Jones Professor of Metallurgy Deputy Head of Department (Infrastructure and Health & Safety) Dr David Collins Mike Ashby University Associate Professor of Materials Science Dr Nicole Church University Assistant Professor Dr Rob Thompson Teaching Associate