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EPSRC CDT in Sensor Technologies for a Healthy and Sustainable Future

 

The Sensor CDT course is managed by a number of dedicated people, organised into groups with specific responsibilities as shown in the diagram. You can find more detailed information about the members in each group further down.

Senior Management

Director

Clemens Kaminski is the Director of the Sensor CDT. He is a Professor of Chemical Physics, Head of Department, and leads the Laser Analytics Group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. He specialises in the development of photonic sensor systems for the study of dynamic chemical processes ranging from single molecule studies in living cells to chemical reactions in the atmosphere. He was awarded the Hinshelwood (2004); Gaydon (2004); Leverhulme (2005) prizes and is recipient of the international SAOT award in optics (2008). He is co-founder of the Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre (CAIC), and the Openlabtools initiative, and serves on the management boards of both. He is also founder and Director of CamBridgeSens, the Strategic Network of sensor research at Cambridge University.

Co-directors

Lorenzo Di Michele is the Co-director of the Sensor CDT (MRes). He is an Assistant Professor of Biotechnology in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. His research applies the toolkit of nucleic acid nanotechnology to design advanced biomimetic systems, applicable as biophysical models or tackling challenges in biomedicine.

Tijmen Euser is the Co-director of the Sensor CDT (PhD). He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics. His research interests are nanoscale light-matter interactions, including optical-, thermal-, and fluidic forces.

Yan Yan Shery Huang is the Co-director of the Sensor CDT (Industry). She is a Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Engineering. Her research interests are driven by translational bioengineering research, focusing on 3D bioprinting and biofabrication for sustainability and healthcare. She is a recipient of the prestigious ERC Starting grant, and an elected fellow of the Institute of Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Róisín M Owens  is the Co-Director of the Sensor CDT (Sensor CDT Equality and Diversity Champion). She is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and leads the Bioelectronic Systems Technologies Group. Her research encompasses biological models development integrated with electronic devices for monitoring or modulation. Her group actively work on the interface of biological materials with transducers, on the development of 3D models with integrated fluidics and electronics, and use of 3D in vitro systems to answer specific questions related to human pathology. She has been internationally recognised with the European Research Council starting grant in 2011, proof of concept grant in 2014, consolidator grant in 2016, a Marie Curie fellowship, and an EMBO fellowship. She became principle editor for biomaterials for MRS communications (Cambridge University Press (2014) and she is a member of the advisory board of Advanced BioSystems and Journal of Applied Polymer Science (Wiley).

Operations Team

Programme Manager

Samuel McDermott has a PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering. In his research he develops low-cost, open-source devices such as the OpenFlexure Microscope and autohaem blood preparation devices. He works with the Directors to design and run the academic programme.

Course Coordinator

Yuqi Zang has an MSc in Management and six years' experience working within education and online/social media marketing. She supports the Sensor CDT with course administration.

External Advisory Board

Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley (Chair) is Director of Innovations and Impact at the British Antarctic Survey. Her background is in fundamental and applied research as a protein biochemist, and she has experience of commercialisation through involvement in a spin-out company developing algae- and moss-based biophotovoltaic devices.

Diane Hatton is the Executive Director of Cell Line Development and Engineering at AstraZeneca.  She leads a team who are responsible for the construction and characterisation of high-yielding stable cell lines that are suitable for large-scale production of clinical grade recombinant proteins; developing and evaluating associated enabling expression technologies and process improvements, and supporting regulatory submissions.

Elena Gaura is a Professor in Pervasive Computing and Associate Dean at Coventry, but with a focus and passion on deployment in developing countries.

Hannah Minter is our EPSRC representative. He is a Portfolio Manager for engineering at EPSRC.

Iain Williams is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the National Environment Research Council (NERC).  He was formerly the Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor for DEFRA.

Krikor Ozanyan is a Professor of Photonic Sensors & Systems at the University of Manchester.  He specialises in semiconductors, sensors, spectroscopy, solid-state, nano-structures, surfaces, optics, as well as photonics, imaging, tomography and electronics.

Lee Smith is an ARM Fellow and one of the founders of the company. His experience ranges from product design and technical development to management, consultancy and legal aspects of R&D.

Michelle Peckham is a Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Leeds.  Her interests lie in molecular motors (myosins and kinesins), how their activity is regulated, and how they carry out their cellular functions.

Will Gompertz is the lead for benefits realisation activities on UKRI’s Low Cost Nuclear Challenge, working in partnership with Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor to develop a low cost, low carbon energy solution.

Steering Committee

A Steering Committee of senior academics from across Cambridge University supports the Management Team in the shaping of the Sensor CDT. The research interests and expertise among the members of the Management Team and Steering Committee cover the whole range of sensor related research, from technology, via middleware, to applications.

Current members of the Steering Committee are:

Aga Iwasiewicz-Wabnig is Director of Partnership Development at the Maxwell Centre. A physicist by training, who in her current role delivers a broad programme of industry-academia interactions and collaborations involving Physical Sciences and Technology research at the University of Cambridge.

Axel Zeitler is Professor of Microstructure Engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and leads the Terahertz Applications Group. His expertise lies in terahertz spectroscopy and imaging as well as materials characterisation, non-destructive imaging, industrial sensor applications.

Ian Wassell is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Technology.  He is course director for the MPhil in Advanced Computer Science (ACS) and for Part III of the Computer Science Tripos (CST). He has broad interests in the area of wireless communication, including radio propagation, the physical layer and applications such as sensor networks and the Internet of Things. He also conducts investigations concerning sparse data representation (e.g., compressive sampling) and image classification.

Lara Allen is CEO of the Centre for Global Equality, a civil society organisation that evolves innovative solutions to global challenges through inclusive innovation. She also leads the Inclusive Innovation Programme at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge. She is an experienced international development practitioner who has worked as a consultant, employee and volunteer with grassroots Community Based Organisations and national and international NGOs in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ireland and the UK..

Ljiljana Fruk is a Reader in BioNano Engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. Her research lies in Enzyme-inspried cataysis, drug nanocarriers for pancreatic cancer, theanostic probes for senescent cells, biopolymer nanocomposites, multifunctional linker sytems for nanomaterial (bio)functionalisation.

Phillip Stanley-Marbell is Professor of Physical Computation in the Department of Engineering. His research exploits information about the physical world to make more efficient computing systems that interact with nature and involves equal parts of equations, proofs, circuits, and hardware prototypes

Pietro Cicuta is Professor at the Department of Physics, Head of Biological and Soft Systems and Chair of IOP Biological Physics group. His current research interests revolve around three main areas of funding: regulation of gene expression in bacteria; understanding synchronisation of motile cilia in biological tissues; controlling the self assembly of lipid based systems, aiming for new functionality.

Raquel Costa is the Course Manager for the MPhil in Biotechnology at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. With a background in Chemical Engineering (PhD, University of Cambridge, 2008), Raquel has worked on research and lecturing capacities before joining the MPhil in Biotechnology. She has a longstanding interest in the interface between universities and the labour market, and she has also worked as an analyst in a Higher Education setting supporting the development of new programmes.

Viv Lindo is Senior Director in the Analytical Sciences function in Biopharmaceutical Development at AstraZeneca.  His major interest is in physiochemical and structural characterisation of complex biologic molecules, mass spectrometry, protein chemisty and proteomics.

Student Representatives

Mohammed Alawami (2019 cohort) has a background in Biology, Biophysics and Nanotechnology. He is interested in diagnostics and single molecule sensing. He is doing his PhD in solid state nanopore sensing in the Keyser Lab at the Cavendish laboratory. His research focus on detecting nucleic acids and proteins, and mapping single-stranded DNA damage using nanopore sensing.

Anne-Pia Marty (2020 cohort) has a background in Natural Sciences (biology, physics, maths, data analysis and chemistry), and public policy. She is currently in the 3rd year of her PhD.

Eleni Papafilippou (2022 cohort) has a background in Biomedical Engineering and is currently in the first year of her PhD

Juliana Ferraro (2023 cohort) comes from a background in Chemical Engineering and is currently pursuing her MRes.