In a wide-ranging interview with City St George's News, Professor Wood shares insights into his career in the field of tribology and the pressing issues facing STEM in the UK today.
On Wednesday 28 October, 2026, the School of Science & Technology at City St George's, University of London will honour four of its most outstanding alumni at its fifth, annual STEM Alumni Awards ceremony.
This year Professor Robert Wood (BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1982) will receive the Distinguished STEM Alumni Award.
In a wide-ranging interview with City St George's News, Professor Wood shares insights into his career in the field of tribology and the pressing issues facing STEM in the UK today.
About Professor Wood
He is Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology at the University of Southampton and has 30 years’ experience of tribology and surface engineering.
Tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion, focusing on the study and application of friction, wear, and lubrication.
Professor Wood studied for a BSc in Mechanical Engineering at what was then City University, London and completed a PhD funded by the Admiralty Research Establishment in Cavitation erosion-corrosion at the University of Southampton.
In 2008 his group was awarded £10M from EPSRC to create the National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS) and was awarded a further £3M by EPSRC for a platform grant for research into Green Tribology.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2016, and has been Associate Dean Research for eight years in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Southampton. He is currently funded by UKRI to seek to spin out a company called TriboAI. Professor Wood also mentors two RAEng Research Chairs; one at City St Georges (Professor Ahmed Kovacevic) and one at the University of Manchester (Prof Ping Xiao).
What were your motivations for studying at City St George’s?
RW:
"The University appeared to be embedded in real engineering challenges and had experienced staff from a variety of backgrounds, including industry and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). On the open day I attended, Professor John ‘Jack’ Levy FREng, Head of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, was very impressive."
What were the highlights and challenges of your BSc in Mechanical Engineering at City St George’s?
RW:
"It was a great experience underpinned by luck in my first year of being allocated a room in Northampton Hall on the 16th floor, which has a view over the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) ground on Bunhill Row — which hosted the Queen and who I was able to see. I was further lucky to be able to study archaeology as a general study, which I really enjoyed.
"This led to my first conference paper, with my supervisor, Dr Peter Lush, presenting the work at the Erosion by Liquid and Solid Impacts (ELSI) Conference at Cambridge University, with me attending it as my first conference. The conference was chaired by Professor David Tabor FRS, and one which I subsequently went on to present at, and guest edit special issues in the associated WEAR journal.
"As regards challenges, I faced rigorous technical hurdles; heavy workloads, with lots of lab reports and tutorial assignments; and the economic pressures, all without modern calculators and computing tools. All design and stress analyses required slide rules, mechanical calculators, or massive mainframe computer access via punch cards, making iterative design painfully slow.
"Rewarding moments included being taught by guest lecturers Professor Lionel Shrier (corrosion) and Professor Freddy Barwell (tribology) on a 3rd surface phenomena module which has ever since been the foundation of my research into Tribocorrosion."
How did your study at City St George’s assist you in charting your varied career to date?
RW:
"My studies afforded me a great foundation in mechanical engineering, including involvement in London based IMechE student committees. I have been an active member of The IMechE ever since, chairing their Tribology Group and supporting their events.
"My third-year project and supervisor, Dr Peter Lush, inspired me to embark on a career in cavitation research, with recommendation to study under Professor Stan Hutton at the University of Southampton on cavitation erosion corrosion. It laid the foundation for my time working at the BP Research at Sunbury-on-Thames and being the erosion expert and member of the oil and gas funded research programme at Tulsa University.
"The course content was useful when I was designing the new modules that I would teach in mechanical engineering programmes when I worked at the University of Southampton.
"The skills gained at City further enabled me to take on senior leadership roles such as the Associate Dean Research at Southampton, which is one of the largest Faculties of Engineering and Physical Sciences in the UK."
What have been your career highlights in the fields of tribology and surface engineering?
RW:
"My career highlights include being appointed a tribologist for four years at BP Research and promoted to a personal chair, becoming Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology at the University of Southampton in 2004, founding the National Centre for Advanced Tribology (nCATS) at Southampton in 2008 with 50 researchers and industry support, and being elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Engineering (FREng) in 2016.
"I was further delighted to win the IMechE Tribology Silver Trust Medal in 2018 and the Tom Bell Surface Engineering Medal in 2022, both for outstanding national contributions, and to be offered a EPSRC funded secondment to Rolls Royce working with the Director of Research &Technology, Professor Ric Parker, to develop their tribology strategy."
Why would you recommend City St George’s as a place to study STEM?
RW:
"The location is ideal, being close to the City of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, Islington, the Barbican Centre, Sadler’s Wells, London Museum and Central London, etc.
"The practical education with balanced theory to applied elements in modules and good career outcomes.
"The new City St George’s is an up-and-coming university, now merged with a major London hospital, and thus provides potential for biomedical teaching and research, so is highly ranked in important league tables."
What are the main issues facing the UK in terms of STEM from your perspective?
RW:
"The main STEM issues in the UK are a severe shortage of skilled workers, a persistent gender gap in engineering and technology, underfunded school and university laboratories, and regional funding disparities.
"Due to the huge growth of artificial intelligence (AI) tools there is also a diminished ability of students to think independently and creatively and also have research skills.
"STEM subjects are further seen by many universities to be expensive to teach and there are challenges in matching graduates’ skills to the fast-changing jobs markets in STEM."
Attend the awards and panel discussion
Register your attendance to the STEM Alumni Awards 2026, Wednesday 28 October at City St George's, University of London's Clerkenwell campus.