Engineering & Physical Sciences
The Engineering and Physical Sciences section is dedicated to serving the interests of the wide-ranging community of physical scientists and engineers who apply microscopic and focused beam techniques to the study of: atomic and nanoscale phenomena; matters and the properties of matter; physical and chemical processes; the fabrications of devices and products.
The Engineering & Physical Sciences Section is an interdisciplinary committee of the RMS which promotes the interests of the global community of scientists and engineers in different fields who apply microscopy, spectroscopy and focused beam techniques in their research or industrial tests.
Our Mission:
The use of microscopy is now integral to many smart emerging engineering and technological advancements that already affect our daily lives, and will continue to positively impact our future, particularly as materials are already designed at the nano-levels nowadays.
The continued expansion of smart technologies, as well as further rapid development of enabling nanotechnologies, demonstrates a real need in development of new high-end microscopy methodologies as well as redesign and adaptation of classic approaches in microscopy.
The EPS Section:
The use of Modern Microscopy and Micro-spectroscopy from the fundamental research and development of nano-materials, to in-situ characterisation and testing in research lab and industrial fab environment.
Committee:
We are driven by the principle of truly interdisciplinary collaboration in the microscopy and micro spectroscopy studies for physical sciences, life sciences and engineering. Our committee members are from different disciplines of Physical Sciences and Engineering, career levels in academia and industry with experience using a host of analytical tools including light, electron and scanning microscopies.
Events:
Each year we organise meetings, workshops, courses and conferences in support of our mission.
Scientists and engineers working in the multidisciplinary field of the EPS section are very welcome to contact the Chair or Deputy Chair with suggestions for future conferences or meetings that the section could organise or be involved in. Please email Amanda Jarman in the first instance who will forward your request to the Chair and Deputy Chair.
Outreach Activities:
The EPS section is also active in the organisation of outreach activities for young people, and RMS members with an enthusiastic interest in microscopy for physical sciences or engineering are encouraged to contact the Committee and assist in our activities.
Download the Engineering & Physical Sciences Section Handbook
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Professor Roland Kröger
Engineering & Physical Sciences Section Chair
University of York
Roland is a Professor at the Department of Physics at the University of York concentrating on Nano- and Biomaterials using electron microscopy as well as various spectroscopy tools including Raman microscopy and X-ray techniques. He obtained his PhD from the University of Hamburg/Germany and the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Science and Technology in Braunschweig/Germany. Roland has since built a large expertise in Materials Physics and Materials Science covering diamond thin films, metal/semiconductor nanostructures, nitride based light-emitting devices, metal nanoparticles for biomedical applications and biominerals using focused ion beam as a key method for sample preparation and analysis. Besides his interest in multi-lengthscale material characterization in 3D he is particularly focussing on in situ techniques to study mineralisation processes in liquid environments. -
Dr Anna Baldycheva
Engineering & Physical Sciences Section Deputy Chair
University of Exeter
Anna is an Assistant Professor in 2D Optoelectronic materials in Engineering at the University of Exeter. Dr. Baldycheva’s research group works in the areas of 2D Materials, Si Photonics and Microfluidics. The research interests span from the development of new 2D material based layered and liquid crystal nanocomposites to the engineering of integrated 2D material-Si hybrid electronic-photonic devices for application in communications, energy harvesting, and bio-chemical sensing. Since 2010, Dr. Baldycheva authored and co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings. -
Dr Trevor Almeida
CEA-LETI Technology Research Institute, France
Trevor is a Research Scientist at the CEA-LETI Technology Research Institute in Grenoble, France. He obtained his PhD in Material Science and held a 1-year fellowship at the University of Nottingham on the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of metal oxide nanoparticles. Trevor then spent 4 years at Imperial College London, which included extended visits to the Centre for Electron Nanoscopy in Denmark and the Ernst-Ruska Centre in Jülich, Germany, where he combined in-situ TEM experiments with electron holography to visualise changes in magnetisation in magnetic minerals. Trevor then decided to expand his research further to include visualising magnetism in technology-based thin films and bi-magnetic nanostructures, using a range of Lorentz microscopy techniques at the University of Glasgow for 5 years. His current research focuses on combining in-situ TEM with a range of magnetic imaging techniques to visualise directly dynamic magnetic processes in MRAM devices. -
Dr Dan Haspel
University of Plymouth
Since the beginning of 2017 Dan has been a Technical Specialist in the Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre at the University of Plymouth, primarily in charge of the FIB-SEM and is the lab’s specialist for Materials and Engineering. Dan graduated with his PhD in 2018 from Loughborough University which looked at developing a dual-layer system for the mitigation of tin whisker growth. Prior to this, Dan obtained his MEng, also from Loughborough University, in Automotive Materials Engineering. Dan still studies tin whiskers but now with the addition of 3D analytics using FIB-SEM. Being within a central unit, he is heavily involved with a broad range of subject areas using FIB-SEM, creating and analysing 3D datasets. Dan is also highly interested in finding novel samples to use advance analytical techniques with, such as EBSD and TKD (transmission-EBSD) of teeth. More recently, Dan, along with other Plymouth EM colleagues, have been successfully using 3D printing to create bespoke sample holders for use in electron microscopes. -
Professor Igor Meglinski
Aston University
Igor is a Professor in Biomedical Engineering & Biophotonics at the School of Engineering & Applied Science and School of Life & Health Sciences in Aston University (UK). He is a Chartered Physicist (CPhys), Chartered Engineer (CEng), Fellow of Institute of Physics, Senior Member of IEEE and Fellow of SPIE. His work is focused on the examination of interaction of photonic quantum vortexes with biological tissues, and their components, including cells, cell’s organelles, collagen, etc. He is developing an advanced optical-microscopy biopsy, optical tweezers for cells diagnosis and quantitative polarization-based hyperspectral imaging technique for tissue characterization. His particular interest is an integrating of new developing technologies with currently available microsocopy systems. -
Dr Duncan Muir
Cardiff University
Duncan is the Senior Electron Microbeam Technician in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Cardiff University. His work focuses primarily on scanning electron microscope imaging and microanalysis of geological samples. Duncan studied Geology and gained a PhD at the University of Bristol researching subduction zone volcanism and magma processes. Prior to his postdoctoral studies he worked in the applied fields of Mineral Exploration and Offshore Geotechnics gaining a broad experience of Geosciences. -
Dr Fabio Nudelman
University of Edinburgh
Fabio is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh. Fabio obtained his PhD at the Weizmann institute of Science, Israel, and then moved to the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands as a postdoc before joining the University of Edinburgh as a Chancellor’s Fellow. Fabio’s current research is in biomineralisation, investigating the formation and the structure of mineralized biological materials such as bone, teeth and shells. This is an exciting area at the interface between materials sciences, chemistry, crystal growth and biology. Cryo-electron microscopy techniques, including cryoTEM, cryoSEM and cryoFIB-SEM play a central role in Fabio’s research, and in the last years he has also been interested in soft matter, electron crystallography and Ptychographic X-ray tomography as a 3D imaging technique. -
Dr Julia Parker
Diamond Light Source
Julia is an X-ray microscopist at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron facility. Julia is responsible for the operation of the hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline, supporting nanoscale spectroscopy, diffraction and imaging experiments across the life and physical sciences. Julia joined Diamond in 2007 after completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge. Julia’s current research interests lie in the area of biomineralisation, using synchrotron techniques to unveil details of the structure of calcium carbonates formed by organisms such as shells and studying the crystallisation and formation pathways of calcium carbonates. -
Ms Jane Woolrich
Rolls Royce
Jane is Materials Engineer and a senior member of the Service Investigation team for Civil Aerospace at Rolls-Royce plc. Her prime role involves the use of both optical and electron microscopy techniques for fractographic analysis, using both established techniques and applying new modalities to further a deeper level of understanding. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Having previously obtained a Masters in Gas Turbine Materials from Swansea University she is currently studying part-time for a PhD in single crystal materials at Cambridge University. -
Ms Xiangli Zhong
University of Manchester
Xiangli is a Senior Experimental Officer in the School of Materials, University of Manchester. Xiangli obtained her BEng in Metrology Instrumentation and MEng in Materials Science and Engineering. She has registered her PhD since 2006 in National University of Singapore. Before joining University of Manchester, Xiangli worked in EM labs of National University of Singapore, Schimadzu, Westen Digital and ImageTransform. Her current research interest is on focused ion beam (FIB) damage studies and FIB technical development based on her broad experience in EM/IM on various types of materials -
Mr Ian Belding
Carl Zeiss Ltd
Ian is Regional Sales Manager at Carl Zeiss Ltd and Business Development Manager for Electron and X-ray Microscopy. Ian joined ZEISS in 2004 as an Electron Microscopy product specialist and has since worked in a variety of roles across the full spectrum of ZEISS microscopy products. Prior to that Ian gained a degree in Physics from Leeds University and worked in a range of industries working on analytical instrumentation. -
Mr Paul Bennett-Hughes
Sandberg LLP
Paul works for Sandberg LLP, based in Clapham, as a Senior Associate and is involved in construction materials related investigations, such as compositional analysis, staining issues, ASR/DEF assessments, fire-damage assessments and general condition analysis. As part of these investigations, Paul frequently conducts petrographic examinations of natural and man-made materials using optical and electron microscopy techniques. Paul is a European Geologist, Chartered Geologist and member of The Geological Society of London’s Applied Petrography Group (APG)..
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Mr Owen Green
University of Oxford
Owen has worked in the Earth Science Department at the University of Oxford since 1989. He initially, trained and worked in London Colleges as a Geological Technician and Curator of Geological Collections. He is currently a member of both the Engineering and Physical Sciences and Outreach Committees, and has been a co-convenor of the Geo-materials meeting (September 2014), and organised Outreach events on volcanos and mountain building. He has been a member of the Learning Zone team at mmc and an occasional contributor to infocus. His research interests include sample preparation techniques, particularly those involving applications in light and scanning electron microscopy. He is currently undertaking a 2nd edition of A manual of Practical Laboratory and Field Techniques in Palaeobiology (2001, published by Kluwer, now Springer). Other micropalaeontological research includes a study of the last shallow marine carbonate-platform foraminifera of the Tethyan Ocean recorded in rocks from the NW Himalayas 50.5 million years ago as India crashed into Asia, Neoproterozoic agglutinated foraminifera from NW Europe (Avalonia and Baltica), and contextual studies on the world’s oldest (3.5 billion years old) putative microfossils from Western Australia. -
Professor Beverley Inkson
University of Sheffield
Beverley is Professor of Nanomaterials in The Dept of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Sheffield, where she leads the NanoLAB Centre. Beverley joined the RMS as a PhD student in Electron Microscopy at Cambridge University, and served on the RMS EM section committee while a Royal Society University Research Fellow. She set up the UK NanoFIB network in 2001, and has run numerous Focused Ion Beam scientific meetings joint with the RMS. Beverley’s research interests focus on the use of electron and ion microscopies to quantify the nanomechanical and functional properties of 3D nanomaterials, including developing novel in-situ SPM-TEM and tomographic characterisation methods. -
Ms Nyree Manoukian
Engineering and Physical Sciences Early Career Representative
University of Oxford
Nyree studied archaeology for her undergraduate degree at University of Toronto, and subsequently moved to the UK for her MSc degree in technology and analysis of archaeological materials. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Oxford in archaeological science. Her research interests include the analysis of ceramics using scanning electron microscopy and polarised light microscopy, in order to reverse-engineer the production and use of such materials in the past. Her fieldwork activities focus on the Caucasus region. Research areas include raw materials acquisition, manufacturing techniques, firing regimen, and the use/function of archaeological pottery. Nyree is the EPS Early Career Representative and is keen on organising archaeological science workshops, which integrate various scientific fields explored within RMS.
The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Section of the Royal Microscopical Society will take place virtually on 14 October 2021, as part of the Microscopy: Advances, Innovation, Impact 2021 - incorporating the RMS AGM & Section AGMs. The event will also include a number of scientific talks, and further information will be available soon.
All the Society’s AGMs are free to attend for both members and non-members.
If you are interested in joining any of the committees in the future, please contact Allison Winton.
