Background
Dr Kate Tomlinson graduated from the University of Derby with a BSc in Mathematics (1st class) in 2017 and completed her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2022. Her PhD was sponsored by Network Rail and concerned the life extension of railway track components through additive manufacturing.
Kate was first appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Railway Engineering Management at Sheffield Hallam University in 2021. She then returned to the University of Sheffield to complete post-doctoral research before being appointed as a Lecturer in Rail and Tribology in 2023. In this role she was the Faculty Advisor for Sheffield Formula Racing and was the Design and Manufacturing teaching group lead. Kate is also the vice chair for the IMechE Tribology group Committee.
She joined the Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering at Loughborough University in April 2026 as a Senior Lecturer in Tribology.
Qualifications and Awards
- 2025 - PGCert Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, School of Education, University of Sheffield
- 2022 – PhD Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield
- 2017 – BSc (Hons) Mathematics, First Class, Department of Mathematics, University of Derby
Kate’s research focuses on understanding and mitigating wear and its environmental impact, spanning the full lifecycle from fundamental wear mechanisms to practical engineering solutions that improve system performance and public health. Building on her PhD research into laser‑clad coatings for railway steels, she has developed this technique into a novel repair method for rail infrastructure. Through Innovate UK and Impact Acceleration funded projects she has demonstrated translation from laboratory research to real‑world field trials.
Kate’s expertise in tribology underpins a growing portfolio of research addressing rail durability, wear‑related damage mechanisms, and the generation of wear debris. This includes collaborative work with industry and national research centres to characterise white etching layers, rolling contact fatigue, and non‑exhaust particulate emissions using advanced in‑situ and microstructural techniques. Across all of her research, the overarching aim is to extend asset life, reduce emissions and maintenance costs, and contribute to safer, more sustainable engineering systems.
Research Interests
- Laser‑clad coatings for rail steel life extension and in‑situ repair
- Wear, rolling contact fatigue, and White Etching Layer (WEL) formation
- Particulate matter generation from tribological wear and air‑quality impacts
- High‑temperature wear and glaze formation in superalloys
- Rail adhesion, friction modification, and anti‑icing performance
- Data‑driven and machine‑learning approaches to friction estimation
- Tribology of bio‑interfaces and mechanically assisted skin damage
Grants and Contracts
- EPSRC - Working with Centres: Accelerating rail advancements through collaborative materials research, 2025 – 2026 (£96k) (PI)
- Network rail – Testing of anti-icer products in an environment chamber at the Laboratory for Verification and Validation (LVV), 2025 – 2026 (£293k) (PI)
- Innovate UK - In-situ capability for rail repair via additive manufacturing, 2025 (£42k) (PI)
- EPSRC Impact Acceleration - Rail steel repair method using additively manufactured laser cladding, 2024 - 2026 (£89k) (PI)
- EPSRC Impact Acceleration and Transport for London - Integration of an AI Friction Prediction Tool to a Transport for London Railhead Treatment Train, 2024 – 2026 (£82k) (Co-I)