Robert Hadfield

Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield (born November 28, 1858, Sheffield; died September 30, 1940, Surrey) was an English metallurgist, noted for his 1882 discovery of manganese steel, one of the first steel alloys. He also invented silicon steel which is important in electrical applications.

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Hadfield's father, also named Robert Hadfield, owned Hadfield's Steel Foundry in Sheffield and was one of the first manufacturers of steel castings. The younger Hadfield took over the business in 1888 and built the firm into one of the largest foundries in the world. He published over 200 papers on his metallurgical research.

Hadfield was knighted in 1908 and made a baronet in 1917. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1909. He was awarded the John Fritz Medal in 1921 and the Albert Medal (RSA) in 1935, both for his contributions to metallurgy.

He is commemorated in the Sir Robert Hadfield Building at the University of Sheffield, which contains the Department of Engineering Materials. There is also a wing at the Northern General Hospital named after him.