TLT: How long have you worked in a lubrication-related field, and how did you decide to pursue a career in the lubricants industry?
Egberts: I have been working in a lubrication field since 2011 when I started measuring friction of graphene films, so approximately 12 years now. In my doctoral work, I spent most of my time examining plasticity and wear, which may or may not be considered lubricants related.

When I was working toward my master of applied science degree at the University of Toronto, I worked on nanocrystalline metals. In my research project, I had the opportunity to try out a bunch of different microscopy techniques. I really enjoyed scanning probe, and at this time, a new faculty member joined the department with a background in the area. He suggested I apply to the physics department at McGill University, where there were a significant number of excellent researchers who focused on scanning probe techniques, so I applied. I had a very funny interview on the phone with a professor who would become my doctoral advisor shortly after I applied. I was writing my thesis, marking finals, supporting an undergraduate project and was involved in a bunch of extracurricular activities at this time, and I ran out of time for sleep. I just remember telling my would-be supervisor not to ask me to make any decisions for a few weeks as I had not slept in about four weeks with all of these activities happening at the same time. Anyway, the rest is history—I went to McGill and started my career in scanning probe microscopy and thinking about friction. I think I continued working in this field because I had such a great time with the other students at McGill and subsequently in Germany at the Leibniz Institute for New Materials with very supportive advisors.

TLT: Please describe a particularly interesting or challenging project you have worked on in your field.
Egberts: Most currently, I have been working with an excellent colleague at the University of Calgary trying to better understand nanoparticle enhanced lubricants. Coming from the perspective of 2D material lubrication and scanning probe microscopy, the focus on fundamental science, bridging the gap between experimental work and simulation, I had found the work on nanoparticle enhanced lubricants to be super interesting and relevant but also a bit of a black box. Over many coffees and beers, I worked with Dr. Milana Trifkovic on trying to figure out what we were going to look at in this area, which grants would fund work and what new perspective we would have. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to get our foot in the door and get started on this project with a few grants we cobbled together. The work has been very interesting and has helped me learn much more about soft matter than I thought I would have at the onset of the project. Given the number of applications to the lubricants industry that nanoparticle enhanced lubricants will have in the upcoming years, I hope we can continue pushing this field forward and providing some fundamental scientific understanding to this critical technology that we use every day on our way to work.

TLT: What has been your most rewarding accomplishment throughout your career in the lubricants industry?
Egberts: My biggest accomplishment to date is the students I have trained. I have not had the biggest research group since becoming a faculty member at the University of Calgary, but I really enjoy catching up with my students after they have finished and seeing what they are doing. It’s also great, when I have time, to go to the lab and have the time to really work with my students on fixing some broken part or looking at some data analysis. I hope that I have left them with the skills and training to make them successful in whichever career they wish to have and that they had some fun while working in my group. Hopefully a few of them will work in the lubricants industry, but I think it’s also okay if they work in other fields and bring awareness to others about the lubricants industry and the important role it plays in everyone’s life.

TLT: In your opinion, what are some of the key challenges facing researchers in the field of nanotribology today?
Egberts: When I was working on my bachelor’s degree studies, nanotechnology had so much buzz and excitement around it. So many new things were promised by the technology, and many things have come about because of it. When I was working on my doctorate degree and postdoc, I enjoyed the satisfaction that experiments could be conducted that gave real answers in models and simulations. But the application of nanotechnology in the lubricants industry has been slower than in other industries. I think that we will start to see more and more applications of nanotechnology in real consumer products you can get at the hardware store as the field of nanotribology becomes more mature, the technology works better than conventional lubricants and it becomes cheap enough that everyone can buy it. As researchers in the field, we need to figure out where these areas are, how we can support the industry and of course, how we can do it responsibly and with an idea of how it will impact the environment in the future.

TLT: What advice would you give to aspiring researchers interested in pursuing a career in your field?
Egberts: My biggest piece of advice to aspiring researchers is to make sure you are enjoying your work and the people you work with. As a researcher in the field, the people and the work do not change that quickly, your colleagues will be your best supporters (and the reviewers of your grants/papers), and the same problems come up with your students that you had. Make sure you enjoy this life and not the ideals it may promise. The lab is supposed to be the place you go to have some fun, make something new and try out new ideas.

TLT: What is the one thing you wish you would have learned earlier in your career?
Egberts: I will give you two things. I wish I learned computer programming a bit earlier. A friend of mine taught me during my doctoral work that if I learned computer programming, there would be more time for coffee breaks. He was so right. It took me a long time to program sufficiently well to have more coffee breaks. The second thing was to learn how to read the instructions on grant/scholarship applications. This is still something I struggle with, as I often take liberty with writing what I feel instructions ask for, not really answering the questions they want. My goal in the upcoming years is to work on improving this skill.

You can reach Philip Egberts at philip.egberts@ucalgary.ca.