Dr Lijia Yi
Materials Scientist Consultant Dr Lijia Yi specialises in materials testing, characterisation and analysis, with particular expertise in advanced imaging techniques. She joined nC2 Engineering Consultancy in 2025 having completed a PhD in mechanical engineering.
What are your areas of expertise at nC2 Engineering Consultancy?
I have technical, imaging and analytical skills across a range of materials science areas. My expertise includes scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for high-resolution surface imaging, and identifying the exact elemental composition of materials using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).
Beyond imaging, I also design and run electrochemical corrosion tests to simulate material performance in different kinds of in-service environments, such as salt water or acidic solutions, and I perform tribology-related tests to understand friction and wear behaviours. By analysing results from these various techniques, I can map a material’s composition to identify contaminants, understand behaviour, or determine the root cause of a failure.
What do you enjoy about your role?
I genuinely enjoy the materials detective role, taking clients’ real-world problems into the lab and using different techniques to find out what is wrong. That’s really satisfying.
For example, if a client comes to us with a component failure issue, I use SEM to locate fatigue cracks and EDS to reveal if corrosive elements are present. I enjoy connecting the different pieces of microscopic evidence to provide an explanation of what caused the failure – we can then recommend how to fix it.
What’s it like being part of the nC2 team?
There’s a real culture of teamwork here – everybody is expert in a certain area and they tackle problems together to get the best result for the client. I feel like I’m constantly learning from my colleagues but also trusted to bring my own specialist skills.
Lijia using the TE77 for tribological testing
What makes nC2’s Engineering Consultancy’s services distinctive?
nC2 bridges the gap between fundamental academic science and practical industrial applications. There are many companies that can run standard tests and give you a spreadsheet of data, but we have the research knowledge to provide more in-depth insights and analysis.
For example, instead of just reporting on a material’s corrosion rate, we can explain the specific mechanisms of corrosion, such as pitting or cavitation. That’s important because the engineering solution for each one is very different.
Also, because nC2 is based within the University of Southampton, if a client’s problem is outside our area of expertise, we can ask academics with specialist knowledge to help.
Why did you choose a career in science and engineering?
I was fascinated by physics and chemistry at school, so I chose materials science and engineering for my undergraduate studies. It was the perfect field where physics and chemistry meet to solve real-world problems.
I find surface engineering incredible and that’s what drew me into this career. You can take common materials and apply coatings that are microns or nanometres thick and change their properties, for example to resist corrosion, to withstand friction, or for biocompatibility. I find it so interesting that you can engineer materials at the micro level to achieve dramatic macro level performance.
How does your academic background inform your work?
My undergraduate degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was focused on materials science, giving me a broad foundation in everything from metals and alloys to polymers and organic materials.
Later I came to the University of Southampton to do my PhD. My doctoral research was highly applied, focusing on developing and characterising functional anticorrosion coatings. This gave me a chance to learn more about electrochemistry, tribology and microstructure analysis, which I use day to day here at nC2.
