Former Group Members

Edward was born in Obudu, Nigeria. He studied Chemistry (BSc) at the University of Calabar in Nigeria and Polymer Materials Science (MSc) at Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. He conducted his PhD research at the Adolphe Merkle Institute of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland where he worked on the development of force responsive block copolymers, amphiphilic conetworks and polymersomes.

He was awarded a postdoctoral research grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and joined the Howdle group in August, 2019 to work on the development of biorenewable and biodegradable polymers from plant sources.

Ryan graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2017 with an MSci in chemistry. During his undergraduate degree he worked within the Howdle group to complete a Master’s project on the synthesis of hierarchically structured metal oxides using amphiphilic block copolymers.

He re-joined the Howdle group later in 2017. Working in conjunction with the nanoscale and microscale research centre, his research focusses on the synthesis of block copolymer nanostructures in supercritical CO₂.

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ana gained a degree in Chemistry from University of Sao Paulo in 2015. She was granted with two scholarships from Santander Ibero-American to study in University of Porto and Science Without Borders Brazilian program to study at University of York. At this last, she worked under the supervision of Dr Andrew Hunt and Dr Rob McElroy in the development of novel green solvents at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence. Afterwards, she gained her degree in Green Chemistry and Sustainable Industrial Technology at University of York with a master project in solvent selection for agrochemical formulations, in a partnership with SME iFormulate.

Ana joined the group in 2017. Her project is part of SINCHEM programme in partnership with Univeristy of Lyon and Kaneka, and aims to investigate industrial applications of CO₂-philic macro-RAFT agents for polymerisation in scCO₂.

Originally from Buckingham, Sam obtained his BSc in Natural Sciences from Lancaster University in 2014, followed by his MSc in Polymer Chemistry form the University of Leeds in 2015, where he worked on the synthesis and characterisation of hydrogels.

Working in conjunction with the Howdle group and the Additive Manufacturing department, his research focuses on exploiting the synthesis and processing techniques associated with scCO₂ to produce polymers for 3d printing applications.

Rachel comes from south Wales, she got her Chemistry MSci form the University of Bristol 2016 where she studied supramolecular polymers for her final year project.

She joined the Howdle group in 2016 to study the controlled polymerisation of monomers from terpenes

Born in Bolgna, Ulysse studied industrial chemistry at the University of Bologna, gaining his degree in 2015, where he studies the synthesis of lignin model compounds.

He joined the Howdle group in 2016 to research modification and synthesis of polymers from renewable terpene sources.

 

Domenico was born in Maddaloni, Italy. He obtained his Bsc and Msc in Biotechnology in Naples. Continuing his study in Copenhagen, he completed his PhD in “Investigation of GMO and ancient grains for bioplastic and food applications”. He was awarded with a postdoctoral grant from the Danish council of research in 2018 and joined the Howdle group to work on the synthesis of polymers from renewable resources in supercritical CO2.

Ambra Vestri was born in Pistoia (Italy). After having gained her Bachelor’s and Master's degree in Molecular Biotechnology  from Florence (Italy), she completed in Verona (Italy) her PhD focused on “MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED NANOPARTICLES FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF THE IRON REGULATOR HORMONE HEPCIDIN IN SERUM SAMPLES”. She joined the Howdle group in August 2019 to carry out a project on the synthesis of polymers for drug delivery purposes.

From London, Olivia gained a BSc in forensic Chemistry from the University of Kent in 2012. She continued her studies at the Univeristy of Kent by pursuing a PhD in polymer chemistry with Dr Simon Holder, culminating in her thesis: "Controlling the functionality of block copolymer bicontinuous nanospheres".

Olivia joined the group in May 2016 on an EPSRC grant to investigate the polymerisation of terpene derived monomers to produce renewably sourced polymers. Her research interests include controlled radical polymerisations and colloidal systems.

Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Tom attended the University of Queensland where he obtained his Masters degree in Chemistry in 2011. He then went on to study for a PhD at the same university in "Self assembly and structure-property relationships of block copolymer-ionic liquid composites".

He joined the Howdle group in 2016 working with block copolymer microparticles.

Andrea is originally from Germany, where she obtained her Diplom in Chemistry in 2012 from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Subsequently she pursued a PhD in Polymer Chemistry at the same university, investigating the synthesis of cellulose copolymers in ionic liquids. In 2016, she joined the Polymer Chemistry Research Group in Ghent, Belgium as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on polycondensates from renewable building blocks. She joined the Howdle group in 2018 working on the synthesis of polymers from renewable sources in sustainable solvents.

Rabea is from Berlin (Germany) and joined the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine in 2015. A project placement during her Bachelor’s degree at The University of Nottingham (UK) working on kidney regeneration inspired her to do a PhD in the area of tissue engineering. Her PhD project is using an interdisciplinary approach that combines chemistry and biomolecular science to develop a new, non-toxic decellularization technology with particular focus on the utilization of supercritical carbon dioxide. She joined the Howdle Group in 2016. 

Alice is from Kennilworth near Warwick, she is a keen ice hockey player who gained her MChem from Southampton University in 2014, where her final project investigated the growth of copper nanowires.

Her project is in conjunction with Kaneka, and involves the scaling up of scCO₂ reactions to the 1L scale. 

Alba is originally from Gijon, Spain. She obtained her MSc in Chemistry and Sustainable Development from the University of Oviedo. Her master project was on the catalytic synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles. Alba joined the group in September 2014. Her PhD project is part of the  SINCHEM programme and she investigated new scCO₂ soluble hydrocarbon stabilisers.   

Mariana is born in Castelo Branco (Portugal), has a bachelor in Biochemistry and a master in Biotechnology from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology – New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL). During her final master year, she worked under the supervision of Dr. Alexandre Paiva and Prof. Pedro Simões (FCT-UNL) on the optimisation of the continuous production of biodiesel, from a renewable feedstock, combining biocatalysis and supercritical fluids. Afterwards, she was granted with two scholarships by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to work with supercritical fluids and renewable feedstocks. In 2014 she began her PhD as part of the EPSRC CDT-SusChem (Centre of Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemistry) at the University of Nottingham. Mariana joined the group in May 2015 and she worked on the synthesis of biopolymers using green solvents and enzymes.

Payal is originally from Surat in the state of Gujarat, India, she gained a degree in Chemistry from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Insititute of Technology, Suart. She undertook a Masters project studying the synthesis of poly (glycerol sebacate).

Her work at Nottingham involved the green synthesis of multiarmed suractants, using enzymatic catalysts.

Katie graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2013 with an MSci in Chemistry. During her undergraduate degree she undertook a year in industry working at Unilever in Bedford. Katie has always had a strong interest in medical based research which lead her to look for opportunities in this field; eventually resulting in her role at  Critical Pharmaceuticals as a product development/analytical scientist. Her work at Critical looked at drug delivery systems exploiting the ability to encapsulate drug molecules and peptides in polymers, therefore allowing manipulation of the delivery of drugs into the body.

In August 2014 Katie joined the the Howdle group working in collaboriation with Critical Pharmaceuticals.

Guping was born in Guilin, China. She obtained her BSc from Jilin University in 2007. She then went on to study a Masters (2007-2010) at Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Jiwen Hu on the subject “Preparation of Superhydrophobic Surface by Fluoro Block Copolymers Based on Lotus Effect”. In Feb. 2011, she started her PhD study under the supervisor of Prof. Brigitte Voit and Dr. Doris Pospiech in Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany investigating “Modified AuNPs on the Morphology and Nanostructure Orientation of PPMA-b-PMMA block copolymer thin films”. She was a Postdoc in Prof. Howdle's group from 2014 to 2017.

Mohammad is originally from Indonesia. He obtained both his Bachelor and Master of Chemistry in Indonesia at Gadjah Mada University and Institut Teknologi Bandung. Mohammad joined the group in January 2013. He studied block copolymer synthesis by dispersion RAFT polymerisation in scCO₂ and the self-assembly behavior of the resulting microparticles.

Jeremy, originally from Manchester, studied chemistry at the University of Nottingham and did his 4^th year research project in the Howdle group. His PhD project was conducted with Prof. Howdle and Dr. Irvine as supervisors and was focused on the production of poly(vinyl acetate) via a combination of RAFT poltmerisation and microwave heating.

Born in Derby, Tom graduated from the University of Nottingham with an MChem (Hons) in 2011. Tom then spent two years working as an analyst for the Environment Agency monitoring pollution levels in the UK water ways. In September 2013, Tom joined the Howdle group working in collaboration with Merck. Tom’s research focused on dispersion polymerisation and functionalised particle synthesis in scCO₂.

Simon is originally from the Wirral (near Liverpool). He graduated from the University of York in 2010 with an MChem (Hons) degree, including a final year industrial placement at Infineum. Simon joined the group in October 2010 as a PhD student. His research included controlled polymer synthesis and the investigation of stereo-selective ring-opening polymerisation in scCO₂. In collaboration with DUBBLE at ESRF in Grenoble, he was involved in implementing a novel high pressure autoclave containing diamond windows for monitoring polymerisations in situ with small and wide angle X-ray scattering. He subsequently took a postdoc position within the group, before moving to industry.  

Originally from Chichester, Harry studied for his degree in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham graduating in 2011. He began his PhD working for Prof. Howdle and Dr. Irvine in September 2011 and is now in his third year of study. Funded by a CASE award Harry worked on the clean synthesis of cross-linked  polymers in scCO₂ and the effect of the CO­₂ on the structure. 

Amy is originally from Porsgrunn, Norway. She obtained her BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry from the University of York before joining Croda's graduate development programme. In 2012 she began her PhD as part of the  REFINE network hosted by Croda and the University of Nottingham. She investigated the synthesis of novel surfactants using renewable building blocks and sustainable processes and techniques.  

Marina originates from Santander, Spain and obtained her MSc in Chemical Synthesis and Reactivity from the University of Oviedo. Her master's thesis was on the synthesis of phosphorylated organic compounds as substrates for alkaline phosphates. Marina joined the  REFINE network in September 2012 and she investigated the synthesis of new polymeric materials using terpenes. 

Silvio originates from Cosenza (Italy). He obtained his Laurea Magistrale in Materials Science from the University of Milano-Bicocca working on the preparation of polymer nanocomposites for controlled light diffusion (March 2012).  Silvio joined the group in September 2012. His PhD project was part of the  REFINE network and he investigated the use of scCO₂ for renewable polymeric materials synthesis and materials processing. 

Teresa is originally from L’Aquila (Italy). She obtained her BSc and MSc in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry from “Sapienza” University of Rome. She worked on the synthesis of flavonoids by Pd-catalysed cross-coupling reactions (2007) and, then, on the synthesis of berberine skeleton alkaloids as anticancer compounds (2009). In Oct 2009, she started her PhD working for Prof. Cameron Alexander, at The University of Nottingham (School of Pharmacy). Her research included the synthesis of pH-responsive block co-polymers to deliver nucleic acids.

In Jan 2014, she joined Prof Howdle’s group, after she was awarded the EPSRC doctoral prize 2013. She is currently working to generate a new range of bioresponsive polymers, synthesised via “clean” and sustainable routes (scCO₂) to deliver small oligonucleotides/drugs to hypoxic regions of cancer cells.

Chris was seconded to the Howdle group from 2013-2015, working on developing traditional thermal-mechanical analytical techniques for use at high pressure, specifically using scCO₂. This project was funded by knowledge transfer initiatives.

Young, originally from Shanghai (China), joined Prof. Steve Howdle's group from January 2014 to January 2015. His research involved the synthesis of copolymers (including polycarbonates), using epoxides, scCO₂ and varying catalyst systems, in collaboration with Prof. Boping Liu's group at ECUST.

Antonio studied for his degree in Chemistry at the University of Cadiz (Spain). He finished his PhD entitled “Microparticles precipitation of ß lactam antibiotic and ethylcellulose by SAS process using Supercritical CO₂” in March 2012 supervised by Prof. Clara Pereyra and Dr. Dolores Gordillo in the same university. During his PhD he carried out research stays in ITQB, in Oeiras, Lisbon (Portugal) supervised by Prof. Catarina Duarte from April to June 2010 and in Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Research Nürnberg (Germany) from September to December 2011 supervised by Prof. Ulrich Teipel.

He joined the Howdle group in January 2014 as a PostDoc, investigating the effect of CO₂ on the viscosity of polymer and protein blends. In August 2014, Antonio returned to the university of Cadiz to continue his research.