Guillaume Colas

I joined FEMTO-ST institute as CNRS researcher in 2018. After my predoctoral studies at both the Engineering Institute ENSMM and the University of Franche-Comté, I passed my PhD at LaMCoS, INSA Lyon, where I worked on the tribology of thin coatings for space application. After my PhD, in 2013, I kept working on space tribology at LaMCoS as a Postdoc. Then, in 2014, I joined the NMML research group in the MIE Department of the University of Toronto (Canada) to work on the nanotribology, nano-/micro-mechanics, and nanocharacterization of surface properties of various materials (nanostructured thin coatings, 2D materials, carbon nanotubes fibers). In 2018, I joined the Femto-St Institute to pursue my research work on tribology and on the multiphysics characterization of tribological materials accross the scales. Since 2009, I hence developed major skills in the research areas of multiscale and multi-environnements tribology, tribochemistry, and multiscale mechanics. I have been developing a strong expertise in space tribology working closely with agencies, industrial dealing with severe, demanding applications.

My current research concerns the robustness of tribological materials towards environmental variations, with emphasis on the synergy between the mechano-chemistry phenomena occurring in real interfaces and the mechanical properties of those very interfaces. It aims at (i) predicting the friction and wear behaviour of the materials based on their response to environmental changes through the creation of experimentally based predictive model, and (ii) designing new tribological materials. Tribological studies are conducted in multiple environments (from ultrahigh vacuum to atmospheric pressure, in dry and humid atmosphere) and micro-characterization of materials (mechanics and physic-chemistry). The overarching goal aims at tackling the biggest challenge in tribology: “the complexity of direct measurements and inseparability of various multiphysical mechanisms in real interfaces”. Ultimately, the objective is to reduce the environmental footprint, and industrial costs of friction and wear. 

You can find the list of my publications on my Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Guillaume_Colas , on my ORCID profile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7738-5725 , or on my google scholar