Committee Members
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Colloids Committee Vice-Chair
Dr Christopher Blanford (University of Manchester)
Dr Blanford studies and engineers the interface between conductors and biomacromolecules. He received a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1995. Five years later he was awarded a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities under the joint supervision of Profs Andreas Stein and C. Barry Carter. His thesis work in the synthesis and electron microscopy of ordered porous materials led him to post-doctoral appointments at the University of Oxford’s Department of Chemistry. He researched the formation of three-dimensional photonic crystals by laser holography under the supervision of Prof. R.G. Denning, then protein electrochemistry with Prof. F.A. Armstrong. In 2008, he was awarded a Career Acceleration Fellowship from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop enzyme-based fuel cell cathodes. He joined the University of Manchester’s School of Materials in 2011. Since 2009, he has served as an editor of the Journal of Materials Science. He is also on the editorial board of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. |
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Colloids Committee Vice-Secretary
Dr. Pete Shaw graduated with a BSc Joint honours in Chemistry and Polymer Science & Technology from Loughborough University of Technology, he remained at Loughborough where obtained his PhD in ‘substituted Biphenyl acrylic polymers and Copolymers’. Pete joined The Harlow Chemical Company (Harco) as a Chemist in 1983; working on water-based emulsion polymerisation, and then specialising in both the R&D and industrial-scale manufacture of polyvinyl alcohols, especially in their use as the protective colloid in PVC manufacture worldwide. In 2002 Harco was assimilated into Synthomer Ltd, and Pete was appointed to the position of Technical Manager, Auxiliary Polymers in 2003, Head of Research and Analytical in 2007 and in 2010 he was appointed as the Chief Scientist Synthomer Europe. This role provided research leadership in emerging & innovative technologies, as well as initiating & monitoring Synthomer’s academic programme and coordinating the IP process. Pete retired from Synthomer in 2020, and is keen to maintain his association with Polymers and Polymer Colloids. |
Colloids Committee RSC Treasurer
Prof Alex Routh (University of Cambridge)
Joint appointment between Department of Chemical Engineering and BP Institute for multiphase flow. Alex graduated in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University and then did a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Princeton University in America. There he started working in colloids and continued this with a post-doc position in Bristol. He was appointed at Cambridge in 2006 where he is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College. |
Colloids Committee SCI TreasurerDr Fiona Hatton (Loughborough University)
Fiona obtained her MChem degree in Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology from the University of Liverpool in 2010 and remained there for her PhD studies in Polymer Chemistry (2014). Following her PhD she joined the Division of Coating Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm as a postdoctoral researcher. During this time, she worked primarily on cellulose modification with bio- and synthetic polymers. In 2016, she returned to the UK to work as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield, preparing functional polymer colloids by polymerization-induced self-assembly. |
SCI Colloid and Surface Chemistry Group
Dr Nick Ainger (Unilever Research & Development)
Nick Ainger has worked with personal care products for over 18 years. He completed his PhD in physical organic chemistry at the University of Liverpool (Chemistry, 1999), writing up after taking a position at Unilever R&D at Port Sunlight. He has worked primarily in the area of hair care but has taken an active interest in external collaborations with various institutions whilst applying colloid science expertise to develop new technologies and products. |
Dr Olivier Cayre (University of Leeds) Olivier obtained his PhD from the colloid and surfactant group at the University of Hull and after two research positions at North Carolina State University and the University of Leeds, he was appointed a lecturer in Leeds in 2012 in the School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering. His research focuses on the design of functional/complex particulate systems and the study of interfacial adsorption phenomena of colloidal and polymer systems. He works regularly with industrial partners in this area to solve formulation challenges for particulate products, including electrophoretic displays, drilling fluids, cosmetics and personal home care products. |
Breanndan obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge in 2015. His dissertation focused on applying modern statistical mechanics to describe transport, mechanical response and thermal properties in various soft matter systems relevant for new sustainable technologies. Next, he worked as an industrial postdoctoral researcher at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg for two years. Funded by Bayer A.G., Breanndan managed two industrial projects modelling the aggregation of biomolecules in shear flows as well as the ageing of weakly bound colloidal gels. Breanndan took up the position of Research Staff Member at IBM Research in 2017, where he leads research programmes in the areas of formulation rheology and surface science. His expertise lies in harnessing the latest state-of-the-art High Performance Computing (HPC) hardware to guide industrial chemical research and development activity with data-driven in-silico counterparts to laboratory experiments performed by wet-lab scientists. |
David graduated with a degree in Chemistry/Biology and a PhD in Chemistry in collaboration with Nobel Industries Sweden. This was followed by a Post-Doc in Stockholm, and that 1 year extended into a ten year stay in Sweden, the later five years in the surfactant business of Nobel (now Nouryon). David returned to the UK in 1994 and have spent the last 26 years developing the use of surfactants and polymers to improve agricultural applications of plant protection and nutritional products. David is the Chair of the United Kingdom Adjuvant Association and the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group and also the Vice-President of the International Symposium on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals and elected Chairman of the 2021 Conference (ISAA2021.org) to be held in Toulouse 17-21 May, 2021 |
Dr. Darton gained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry at Leeds University in 1998 where he developed a new method for synthesizing amyloid in vitro. He took his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Cambridge University in 2003 working on improving a phage-display based HIV vaccine by protein engineering. After working in industry for Healthcare Market Research Worldwide and Abcam he began his first postdoctoral research associate position in 2006 building up the Biomagnetics research group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge. Following establishment of this group he began a second BBSRC-industry sponsored post doctorate in 2009 developing a novel chromatographic substrate in collaboration with Medimmune, Lonza and Recipharm Cobra. He worked for 7 years as Technical Lead-Formulation at Arecor Ltd., responsible for estabilishing and leading internal and external collaborative biopharmaceutical formulation development programs. Now Dr. Darton is a Principal Scientist in the Early Stage Formulation Sciences team at AstraZeneca. |
Dr Richard Greenwood FRSC C.Chem (University of Birmingham) Richard is currently the Deputy Director of Engineering Doctorate in Formulation Engineering at the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. As of 1 st July 2015 he will be seconded to the Centre for Process Innovation to help establish the National Formulation Centre. He graduated from Bristol University in 1991 with a BSc in Chemistry and obtained a PhD from Chemical Engineering Department at Imperial College in 1995. He has previously chaired the IChemE Particle Technology Special Interest Group and sat on the RSC Formulation Science and Technology Subject Group, where he organised numerous national and international conferences. |
Awards Coordinator
Joseph (Joe) Keddie obtained a PhD in Materials Science from Cornell University (USA) in 1992 and then was a research fellow in the Polymer and Colloids Group at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. In 1995 he moved to the University of Surrey, where he was later promoted to Professor of Soft Matter Physics. He was awarded the Paterson Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics and named a Fellow in 2001, and his research group has won several awards. With Alex Routh, he co-wrote a book entitled Fundamentals of Latex Film Formation: Processes and Properties, published in 2010. In September 2011, he was elected the Chair of the Polymer Physics Group of the Institute of Physics. He delivered the 2017 Thomas Graham Award Lecture presented by the SCI/RSC Joint Colloids Group. |
Nacho obtained a PhD in polymer nanostructures in 2013 at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Spain. Then, he held a postdoctoral position at Joe Keddie's Lab at the University of Surrey working on the FP7 BARRIERPLUS project developing novel barrier coatings for steel. Afterwards, he took up a Vice-Chancellor's Fellowship at Loughborough University in 2016, developing new antibacterial and abrasion resistant colloidal coatings. In 2020, he was awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship from UKRI, which will fund a 7-year program for research to develop the next-generation of paints and coatings. Further to this, he is also interested in the development and formulation of adhesives, inks, and other soft materials. |
RSC Colloid & Interface Science Group
Dr Carlos Avendano (University of Manchester) |
Dr Shakiela Begum (University of Coventry)
Shakiela is a chemist/materials scientist that conducted research in colloidal science during her PhD at the University of Birmingham (School of Chemistry, 2009). She also has an MRes in Materials Science/Engineering (University of Birmingham, 2004) and an MSc in Molecular Analytical Science (Warwick University, 2017), she completed her BSc (Hons) in Chemistry at Aston University (2003). The focus of her PhD research was on the modification of surface chemistry of hollow silica microspheres and mesoporous silica particles. She also synthesized/characterised gold nanopartcles. After graduating from the University of Birmingham Shakiela interned in research and development departments of various companies before finding employment as a Research Fellow in the Functional Materials Group at Coventry University (IFTC). She is presently building a profile of an early career researcher and aiming to eventually lead her own research studies. Shakiela joined the CISG committee to gain committee experience and meet other scientists. Publications that Shakiela has contributed to are available from Orcid: orcid.org/0000-0002-1276-1769 |
Beatrice obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bristol in 2012 under the supervision of Terence Cosgrove. She then joined Peter Griffiths’ group at the University of Greenwich as a postdoctoral research associate working on a large collaborative project (Mucus Permeating Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Systems). She applied techniques such as diffusion NMR and small angle neutron scattering to characterize the solution conformation of novel polymers & particles, and quantified their interaction with mucus gels and related extracellular materials. Beatrice subsequently joined Infineum in 2016, she is currently a technologist in the Product Innovation and Engineering group. Her role focuses on delivering solutions for wear protection and fuel economy applications for the automotive industry; a significant amount of this research is carried out in collaboration with academia and central facilities. |
Dr Dionísia Jesus obtained her PhD in Colloid and Interface Science from Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Michael Spiro. Her thesis entitled “Microparticle Catalysis in Microemulsions” focused on the study of the extent and mechanism of catalysis of redox reactions by colloidal metals (nanoparticles) in microemulsions. The research project involved the synthesis, characterisation and application of nanoparticles (colloidal metal particles). The nanoparticles were characterized using a wide range of techniques with particular focus on high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Redox reactions relevant to the photographic process had an important role in this project. After her PhD, she has been developing other projects in the area of Colloid and Surface Science as a Research Scientist. Currently, she is also a Physical Chemistry Tutor at University level (undergraduate and postgraduate courses) and an Educational Consultant.
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Gemma-Louise graduated from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) with a Degree in Natural Sciences (Mod. Chemistry) and remained there to undertake a PhD in Inorganic and Materials Chemistry, which she was awarded in 2011. Following a brief industry-supported Postdoctoral position in Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), Gemma-Louise moved to the University of Oxford as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, staying there for 2 years before she was awarded a Global Research Fellowship from the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick, where she began her independent career in 2013. She joined the Department of Chemistry at University College London as a Lecturer in Materials in July 2017. Gemma-Louise’s research focusses on the design and development of nanostructured materials for three main applications: i) to understand and solve current healthcare challenges, with a focus on MRI contrast agents; ii) to overcome obstacles in important industrial processes, through the exploration of novel functional nanostructures; and iii) to assess the fate of commercial nanomaterials in the environment. Her work is highly interdisciplinary, collaborating with academics in Engineering, Physics, Life Sciences and Medicine as well as clinicians; she also engages with industrial partners to explore commercialisation of aspects of her work. |
Shirin Alexander received her PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Bristol in 2012. Her principal research interest is in colloids, surface chemistry, materials, and polymers. Shirin took a postdoctoral research position after her PhD in the Surfactant Research group at the University of Bristol, developing a range of Low Surface Energy Surfactants. Her current research in Swansea University is mainly focused on material chemistry, where she combines the Low Surface Energy Materials (LSEMs) with metal oxide nanoparticles to obtain novel green (fluorine-free) superhydrophobic (waterproof) surfaces. The applications of LSEMs vary from protective and anti-fouling coatings to environmental and biomedical applications. |
Dr Sarah Rogers (ISIS-RAL)
Sarah Rogers has been the ISIS-STFC SANS Team Leader since September 2015 and the Instrument Responsible for Sans2d beamline since May 2010. She has been a facilities scientist on small-angle beamlines since August 2006, firstly as a junior beamline scientist on I22 at Diamond Light Source (DLS) Ltd and later joining ISIS as a member of the SANS team in February 2008. Before arriving at Diamond she was at the University of Bristol in the School of Chemistry, where she was undertaking an EPSRC funded PDRA position in the lab of Professor Julian Eastoe, studying the formation of gold nanoparticles in supercritical carbon dioxide. Prior to this she completed her PhD in the same lab in 2005. Sarah also obtained her MSci in Chemistry from the University of Bristol in 2002. In addition to her duties as an instrument scientist, Sarah has an active research program in the areas of surfactant chemistry, nanoparticle synthesis, ionic-liquids and supercritical carbon dioxide. |
Dr Fielding obtained an MChem in Chemistry from The University of Sheffield in 2008, which was followed by a PhD in 2012 from the same institution under the supervision of Professor Steven P. Armes FRS. He worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the same group until 2015, when he was appointed as a lecturer in the School of Materials at The University of Manchester. His research has primarily focussed on the synthesis, characterisation and applications of colloidal nanocomposite particles as well as the preparation of bespoke colloidal particles via RAFT dispersion polymerisation. His current research themes include the development of novel materials for use in the fields of waterborne paints and biomedical diagnostics. |