Leadership Team
Dr Benjamin Robinson
Interim Director of Materials Science Lancaster
Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Physics and interim Director of Materials Science Lancaster (MSL) centre at Lancaster University. His research group is focused on experimental quantum nanotechnology, they are particularly interested in exploiting room temperature quantum effects in ultra-thin films comprised of well-ordered organic molecular films, quantum dots and 2D materials. To achieve this, the group have a track record in developing and exploiting novel scanning probe methodologies for nanoscale characterisation of electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. From 2015-2020 Ben held a highly competitive 50th anniversary lectureship in Physics from Lancaster University. He has authored or co-authored on more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles and he is a past winner of Royal Society of Chemistry, Philip Lynn Adams memorial prize.
View Ben's profile for further information about his research interests.
Professor Manus Hayne
Deputy Director of Materials Science Lancaster
Professor Hayne studied in Southampton and did a PhD and a postdoc in Exeter, before moving to the European mainland. He briefly worked in Paris, and then at the KU Leuven, Belgium for nearly 10 years, where he investigated semiconductor nanostructures in very high magnetic fields (up to 50 T). In 2006, he joined the Physics Department in Lancaster, where he is currently Director of Research and Deputy Head of Department. His research interests are in the growth and characterisation of compound semiconductor materials, and in their exploitation in the development of novel electronic and optoelectronic devices. He collaborates widely with UK and European universities and international companies. He is holder of several patents and co-founder of Lancaster Material Analysis.
Professor Andrew Kennedy
Deputy Director of Materials Science Lancaster
Andrew joined the Department of Engineering at Lancaster in 2017. A graduate of Imperial College and Cambridge University, prior to coming to Lancaster he was an academic in the Faculty of Engineering at Nottingham University. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed journal papers, multiple book chapters and holds 2 patents.
The main theme of his research is the development and optimisation of novel manufacturing methods for materials. This activity is underpinned by process development, material characterisation and property measurement, supported in most aspects by numerical modelling. The typical focus for such projects might include material or cost reduction in manufacturing processes, material performance enhancement, process optimisation for multiple constraints, or development of completely new approaches to manufacturing with new materials.
Professor Pedro Rivera Diaz Del Castillo
Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair
Appointed in September 2017, Professor Pedro Rivera is the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair at Lancaster University. From 2009 to 2017 he was Assistant Director of Research at the Steel Technology Centre at University of Cambridge, where he taught and led a research group mainly focusing on ultra-high strength steels, but also working on titanium, magnesium and high entropy alloys. His research has resulted in a variety of novel steel grades leading to three international patents and over 170 articles in international journals (h index = 42). Several modelling approaches have been produced by his group; some of these have been implemented in commercial software. At present, his new group at Lancaster University focuses on ‘Alloy and microstructure design for additive layer manufacturing’.
Professor Ihtesham Rehman
Chair in Bioengineering
Ihtesham is Professor of Bioengineering at Lancaster University. Prior to that, he has authored over 250 scientific articles, and has four patents to his name. He has a h-index of 53 with 13576 citataion.
Ihtesham has a diverse research career, spanning over 30 years and has led strong teams in research, teaching and management. He has given over 100 plenary and keynote lectures in the fields of biomaterials / bioengineering / biospectroscopy. In addition to authoring several book chapters, he has also authored a book, Title: Vibrational Spectroscopy for Tissue Analysis, Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, CRC Press; A Taylor and Francis Book, ISBN 978-1-439-3608-8, October 2012.
Professor Paul O'Shea
Chair in Biomedicine
Prof. Paul O'Shea is the director of Research in the Faculty of Health & Medicine at Lancaster University. Following 18 years at the University of Nottingham at which he established the Institute of Biophysics, Imaging & Optical Science, Paul moved to Lancaster in 2019. His research interests are in understanding the physical basis of how the totality of molecular interactions underlie virtually every aspect of cell and molecular physiology. More specifically, these are directed towards the biophysics of membranes and precision & systems medicine particularly utilising spectroscopic and imaging tools. Paul has pioneered the development and implementation of a number of spectroscopic tools for the ultra-sensitive measurement of molecular interactions with living cells and model membrane systems. As well as ligand-protein interactions in soluble proteins systems. As part of these studies and within a broader research program directed at biomolecular interactions, Paul has developed a comprehensive panel of spectroscopic and imaging-based technologies that illuminate molecular interactions with many kinds of biological surfaces using for example, plasmonics, optical scattering techniques and fluorescence. These tools can also aid identification of the spatial location of the molecular interactions on the surface of living cells and with model membrane surfaces.
Dr Alex Robson
Senior Research Associate & Innovation Fellow
Alex is a Senior Research Associate & Innovation Fellow working on the ERDF Greater Innovation for Smarter Materials Optimisation (GISMO) programme, based in the Department of Chemistry & Materials Science at Lancaster University. His research concentrates on the development of thin film coatings via plasma polymerisation, with applications in anti-microbial/anti-viral spaces, and the analysis of materials, devices and coatings via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cross-sectional scanning probe microscopy. His role on the GISMO programme facilities business engagement activities with companies in the Cheshire and Warrington region, aiding businesses with research and development in the surfaces and coatings research space.
View Alex's profile for more information about his research.
Gizem Acar
Gizem was born in Ankara, Turkey. She holds a BSc degree in Physics from Middle East Technical University in Turkey. She attended advanced courses that included high-level optics literature design, computer networks, and digital electronics during her education career. After graduation, she received a 100% merit-based scholarship from Sabanci University (SU) in Istanbul, Turkey, where she completed her thesis for her MSc in Electronics Engineering while working as a teaching assistant. As a member of the SU-MEMS group, she worked on developing portable, low power embedded systems for mHealth applications and cell separation using microfluidics. After graduation, she studied organic optoelectronic devices for biomedical applications at Durham University, UK. She assembled organic light-emitting transistors (OLET) and characterized them for biomedical applications. In July 2021 she joined Lancaster University, UK, where she is working within the EU Innovative Training Network QUANTIMONY (PhD programme) towards her PhD in the Quantum Nanotechnology group (Prof. Manus Hayne). Her research is on telecoms-wavelength GaSb quantum ring single-photon LEDs
Dr Odette Dewhurst
Senior Research Development Manager
Odette joined Lancaster in December 2015 from the University of Leeds, where she had worked for 16 years.
Her research background is in cancer cell biology, although for the past 10 years, she has worked with academics across a range of disciplines; initially working in the area of researcher development and later in the area of research funding development.
Odette has extensive experience of working with academics and clinical academics during the development of research funding applications to UK Research Councils and charities. Her focus here at Lancaster is working to help the University increase its research income by working with individuals and teams during the development of large, collaborative and/or strategically key applications, predominantly across the health, medicine and life science areas. The main funders I focus on include MRC, BBSRC, NIHR and the larger medical charities, particularly the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK.
Michael Entwistle
Partnerships and Business Engagement Manager
Mike is a Partnerships and Business Engagement Manager within the Faculty of Science and Technology, working to broker industry partnerships and other research collaborations across the Physical Sciences and Engineering disciplines. Having originally joined the University in 2003 to manage environmental and eco-innovation programmes from the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), he has since worked across a number of Knowledge Exchange initiatives including establishment of Graduate Consultancy capabilities in LEC, the management of a state of the art new build facility for Chemistry and more recently, leading a number of business engagement projects from Lancaster University Management School. Current endeavours focus on building external relationships to exploit contract and collaborative research opportunities, facilitiating consultancy and facilities access requirements and supporting the co-location of companies on the Lancaster campus. Mike has a background in Environmental Management and Protection and is a Practitioner of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (PIEMA).
