SPEAKERS

David trained originally as a chemist, gaining a DPhil in Chemistry from the University of Sussex and subsequently spending 15 years as a senior research scientist in the chemical industry, working first on advanced ceramic materials and then on process technologies for the bulk chemicals business of ICI. He moved into Higher Education in a business development role at Keele University before joining the University of Manchester in 2003 where he managed the Engineering Doctorate Centre, training over 200 doctoral students in both manufacturing and nuclear engineering. He joined the Royce in 2018, taking on responsibility for the Institute’s training, skills and outreach agenda. This includes running training events, such as student sandpit workshops, and establishing a successful scheme to enable doctoral students to access the Royce’s world class facilities in support of their research.

Dr Jessica Shaw joined the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials as a Project Manager in 2019. During this time, she has been responsible for the management of a grant portfolio worth >£16M, and the successful submission of a bid to establish an EPSRC funded National Research Facility for Lab X-ray Computed Tomography (NXCT).

Prior to joining the Royce, Jessica completed an iCASE PhD sponsored by Merck Chemicals Ltd., titled “Ring Fused Conjugated Polymers for Use in Organic Electronics” under the supervision of Professor Martin Heeney at the Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London. During her PhD, she spent 6-months carrying out research at the Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University China, before moving to Boston University, USA for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship with Professor Malika Jeffries-EL.

Prof Valeska Ting is a Professor of Smart Nanomaterials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol, and has a background in materials synthesis, characterisation and physical properties testing. Her research into functional nanoporous materials involves using porous materials such as zeolites, porous carbons and metal-organic framework materials to address challenges in sustainable technologies. She leads a team of researchers interested in exploring the possibility of enhancing the storage capacity of existing nanoporous hydrogen storage materials, creating materials for selective storage and sequestration of gases such as carbon dioxide and designing multifunctional materials by combining properties of different sets of materials to produce hybrid systems that can perform several specialised functions. The group employs a large range of experimental materials characterization techniques including X-ray and neutron diffraction, electron microscopy, thermogravimetric and spectroscopic analysis, gas sorption testing and physical properties testing for design and development of new materials-based solutions. Professor Ting is also an accomplished STEM communicator, is a BAME Expert Voice for the BBC Academy, and has presented public lectures on composites for the Bristol Composites Institute, public webinars on energy storage for the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Nanomaterials Masterclasses for the IOM3 and video content on the laws of thermodynamics to support the 2016 Royal Institution Christmas lectures.

Professor Tony Ryan is The Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Sheffield and the founding Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.Tony focuses on the global challenge of the food, water, and energy nexus; feeding a growing world population; reducing the impacts of agriculture and food production that account for 30% of green house gas emissions and 70% of water use; and harnessing the power of the sun for renewable energy. He leads the University of Sheffield’s programme in sustainability research, integrating across traditional boundaries in the pure and applied sciences, engineering, medicine, and social sciences.

My research career started in Italy at the Scuola Superiore di Eccellenza and University of Catania. I spent part of my Master studies at Boston University and completed my PhD at Imperial College London. My recognition on an international scale in the plasmonic community led to several awards (CSWP Woman Physicist of the Month from the American Physical Society and the 2014 ABTA Doctoral Researcher Award). I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Cambridge and later on, after being awarded the prestigious Winton Advanced Research Fellowship in 2018, I became an independent group leader at the University of Cambridge, at the Cavendish Laboratory. I was appointed as Lecturer in Device Materials at the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, at the beginning of 2020. My research (https://www.dimartinolab.msm.cam.ac.uk) links the fields of low-energy nanoscale device engineering and plasmon-enhanced light-matter interactions by implementing optically-accessible memristive devices. My research group uses the ultra-concentration of light to develop innovative fast ways to study real-time movement of individual atoms that underpins this new generation of ultra-low energy memory nano-devices, thus overcoming the limitations of traditional investigation techniques and opening up new routes to sustainable future IT.

Dr Daniel Cogswell has recently started a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship at the University of Sheffield, researching how to standardise and take advantage of digital material property information in supporting better design, processing and materials selection for high integrity applications. Daniel spent the first stage of his career focussed on improving and estimating the mechanical properties of steels used in nuclear steam raising plants. Daniel has worked closely with UK metal suppliers on linking-up research activities, supporting studentships and joint programmes. Looking to add more weight to subjective judgements common in property estimation, Daniel also has an interest in Statistics.

Dr Domingos is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester. Before joining the University of Manchester (2014), he worked for two years (2010-2012) as an assistant researcher in additive manufacturing at the Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development – CDRSP (Portugal) and for 1 year (2013) at Dias de Sousa, SA (Portugal) in the field of medical imaging. He is currently a principal investigator at the Henry Royce Institute, where his group develops advanced biomaterials and biofabrication strategies for application in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TE&RM).

Having studied for an MSci in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK, Morgan returned to his Midlands roots to work at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in 2016. As part of the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, he spent time characterising the feedstocks used for metal powder bed printers. This led to a fascination with how powder, printing parameters and post-processing alter the behaviour of additively manufactured materials. Now a final year PhD student at the University of Birmingham, UK, Morgan’s research uses 3D printing to deliver antimicrobials from biomedical implants, hoping to tackle the increasing challenge of implant-associated infections. Engaging with science outreach since his undergraduate days, a highlight has been helping students become human 3D printers.

Bill Buxton is a relentless advocate for innovation, design, and – especially – the appropriate consideration of human values, capacity, and culture in the conception, implementation, and use of new products and technologies.  This is reflected in his research, teaching, talks, and writing – including his past column on design and innovation for BusinessWeek.com, and his 2007 book, Sketching User Experiences. He is a Partner Researcher at Microsoft Research, where he has been employed since December 2005. Prior to that, he was Principal of his own Toronto-based boutique design and consulting firm, Buxton Design. In 1995, Buxton became the third recipient of the Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society Award for contributions to research in computer graphics and human-computer interaction.  In 2000 he was given the New Media Visionary of the Year Award at the Canadian New Media Awards.  In 2001, The Hollywood Reporter named him one of the 10 most influential innovators in Hollywood.  In 2002, Time Magazine named him one of the top 5 designers in Canada.  Also in 2002, he was elected to the CHI Academy.  In October, 2005, he and Gord Kurtenbach received the “Lasting Impact Award”, from ACM UIST 2005, which was awarded for their 1991 paper, Issues in Combining Marking and Direct Manipulation Techniques.  In 2008 he became the 10th recipient of the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement Award, “for fundamental contributions to the field of Computer Human Interaction.”  In 2009 he was elected Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM, for his contributions to the field of human-computer interaction, and in 2011 he became the first recipient of the annual Grand Canadian Digital Media Pioneer Award.