Dr Desmond Klenam

Dr Desmond Klenam is a registered professional engineer and researcher interested in rational alloy design and the physical metallurgy of low lightweight (Al and Ti), structural steels and complex, concentrated alloys. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Materials, University of Oxford, as part of the Africa Oxford Visiting Fellowship Programme.    

Desmond is also a research fellow in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He is a visiting scientist at the Soboyejo Research Lab at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA, and a Junior Principal Investigator at the Research Response Group of Academic City University in Ghana. Desmond is also the Postgraduate Student Coordinator with the Academic Development Unit of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Wits.   

His research interests include; rational alloy design (Computational & Experimental), the Corrosion behaviour of metallic alloys, Physical Metallurgy of Dilute (Ti, Steels, Mg and Al alloys) and Concentrated complex Alloys.   Desmond was named among the Top 100 promising young minds in Africa by Barclay Africa and in 2021 the Hatch Advisory Business Unit awarded Desmond the Operational Excellence Award.   

While at the University of Oxford, Desmond‘s research project, “Microstructural Design of Next-Generation Complex Concentrated Alloys for Nuclear Energy Applications Supporting a Green Future and Circular Economy”, will explore opportunities for a new paradigm in alloy design- the concept of complex, concentrated alloys. Nuclear power plant operates in harsh environments – high temperatures and pressures, high irradiation dose and high corrosion rate of reactor components. To mitigate this, advanced materials must possess excellent thermal stability with low void swelling, 

excellent combination of strength and ductility, creep, fatigue, fracture toughness, low stress corrosion cracking and low irradiation-induced hardening, embrittlement and defect clusters.  This collaboration between Oxford and Wits will leverage expertise and experimental capabilities to develop new structural alloys which have increased radiation resistance, swelling and self-healing behavior. 

D.E.P. Klenam & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 00406 : Fatigue of Biomaterials and Biomedical Systems, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College)). Online : https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00045-1

D.E.P. Klenam, J.E. Oghenevweta & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 00411 : Fatigue of Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) Thin Films, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College)). Online : https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00080-3

D.E.P. Klenam & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 00412 : Fatigue of Thermo-structural Alloys, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College)). Online : https://doi.org/10.1016/B978- 0-12-822944-6.00092-X

D.E.P. Klenam, J.E. Oghenevweta & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 00710 : Fracture and Toughening of Intermetallics, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College)). Publisher : Online : https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00070-0

D.E.P. Klenam, J.E. Oghenevweta & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 00711 : Fatigue of Single/Multiple Semi-Elliptical Cracks, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College)). Online : https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00084-0

D.E.P. Klenam, N. Rahbar & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 01005 : Mechanical Properties of Medium and High Entropy Alloys, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi (Imperial College)).

M. Vandadi, D.E.P. Klenam, N. Rahbar & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 01008 : Advances in the Structural Integrity of Cold Sprayed Metal Alloys - A Critical Review of Process Models and Mechanical Properties, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi(Imperial College))

D.E.P. Klenam, N. Rahbar & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 01013 : Complex Concentrated Alloys : Factors hindering Scalability, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W.O. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi (Imperial College)). Online - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00051-7

D.E.P. Klenam, N. Rahbar & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 01017 : Complex Concentrated Alloys : Limitation of Equiatomic Composition Alloying Strategy, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W.O. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi (Imperial College)). Under Production

D.E.P. Klenam, G. Egowan, M.O. Bodunrin, J.W. van der Merwe, N. Rahbar & W. Soboyejo, Chapter 01018 : Complex Concentrated Alloys : A Cornucopia of Possible Structural and Functional Applications, In : Comprehensive Structural Integrity, 2nd Edn., (Editors : W.O. Soboyejo (WPI) & F.M.H. Aliabadi (Imperial College)). Online - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822944-6.00056-6