Simon P. Ringer is a materials engineer specialising in the relationships between the microstructure of materials and their properties and processing. His research is focused on the atomic-scale design of microstructure and his work spans the development of structural alloys, and functional materials. His fundamental materials science research has been translated into materials engineering via industrial partnerships in the areas of advanced steels, aluminium alloys and hard metals. Besides his own patents for materials processing, his published research is cited extensively in the patent literature. His approach to materials science involves electron microscopy, atom probe microscopy, and computational materials simulations using density functional theory. He likes to think about microstructure as a 'palette' comprising many attributes and length-scales, from solute clustering to grain texturing. His main research contributions involve using the above approaches to help achieve novel microstructural designs and/or methodological advances in microscopy. He has held appointments in Australia, Sweden, Japan and the USA, and led the establishment of a number of major research institutes and research facilities that now support global academic and industrial engagements. He is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Sydney and serves as the University’s Academic Director for Core Research Facilities. In 2020, he was elected to Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.