Our team

I graduated with a PhD degree from The University of Hong Kong in 2012, with the research topic in electrochemical engineering. My academic career in the UK started in 2014, when I took up a Lectureship in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. I was appointed as the Associate Director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) at Heriot-Watt in 2017. I joined Loughborough University in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer, was promoted to Professor/Personal Chair in Low Carbon Processes in 2019 and became the Head of Department of Chemical Engineering in 2020. In 2022,… [Read more]

The overall goal of our research is to develop safe, economically and environmentally sustainable chemical and biological processes through the synergistic use of advanced computational modelling and optimisation methods and process data. Our vision of process systems engineering has a strong focus on rigorous computation to predict the performance at scale of both existing and novel technology and empower decision-making, and we work in close collaboration with experimentalists. We furthermore develop software tools that implement these methods to ensure their dissemination (https://github.com/omega-icl). [Read more]

I lead a research team that develops and studies catalysts for the sustainable production of fuels. Recent work has focused on the chemistry of carbon dioxide utilisation with programmes exploring how solar energy can be used to drive the production of useful fuels from only carbon dioxide and water. I completed my PhD in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham (2007) on the study of inorganic reaction mechanisms with transient spectroscopy and postdoctoral positions at Nottingham developing catalysts for the reduction of carbon dioxide and Imperial College London to study photoelectrochemical water splitting. I was appointed to a Lectureship in… [Read more]

Shadine joined CircularChem in 2021 as the centre administrator and managed the centre through its final year. She has worked within higher education since 2017 having previously worked as a student support administrator at Loughborough University. Shadine manages the day-to-day operational aspects of the centre including the finances, marketing and outreach events. [Read more]

Lucy leads the CircularChem Research Programme at the University of Surrey, Guildford, coordinating efforts with seven partner institutes. She manages both the operational and financial dimensions of the programme. Lucy began her career as a researcher, gaining valuable experience in both academic and industrial settings. After a career break, she has spent the past five years in research support, working with charities, funders and universities. [Read more]

Libby is a Professor of Energy Materials at Newcastle University. Research in the Energy Materials group focuses on developing materials and devices for sustainable power, fuel and feedstocks. This includes solar cell and solar fuel devices that function at a molecular level and challenge the conventional solid-state photovoltaic technologies. It also involves extracting value from waste. Her team's research involves materials development, device assembly and characterization of the underpinning photophysics and electrochemistry. Her current roles include being the academic lead for the Northern Net Zero Accelerator PB-IAA, the  EPSRC Northeast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy & Microscopy Facility, Institution Director of the… [Read more]

In 2010 the physical-chemistry department at the University Rovira i Virgili awarded me with a PhD which received the recognition of the Best Thesis in Computational Chemistry in 2011. I moved to University College London as the computational lead in EPSRC funded programmes investigating carbon dioxide reduction catalysed by iron sulfides and oxide surfaces in direct collaboration with experimental groups. This successful research activity was recognised in 2012 when I was awarded the Ramsay Memorial Fellowship Trust allowing me to develop further in the field of materials and catalytic chemistry. I was appointed a University Research Fellow (URF) in 2015,… [Read more]

Peter is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Chartered Engineer. He is also a former Head of Department of Chemistry at Sheffield. Peter’s research considers a wholistic approach to the circular economy, drawing on catalysis, synthesis, reactor and process design as well as life cycle analysis (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) together with policy development and social justice. This covers waste management, carbon dioxide utilisation and air quality improvement. Peter is involved in a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups in Westminster and was a recipient of a Royal… [Read more]

I joined Loughborough as Lecturer in Chemical Engineering in 2018, with a background in thermochemical biomass conversion, catalytic bio-oil upgrading and algae process development and scale-up. My current research is focused on the production of sustainable chemicals and fuels from biomass and wastes, by combining and integrating biological, thermochemical and catalytic processes to develop optimal conversion pathways. [Read more]

I hold a MA(Hons) in Business Studies & Accounting and a PhD in Management both from the University of Edinburgh. I am an Associate Professor of Finance in the Edinburgh Business School at the Heriot-Watt University. My research focuses on banking and investment analytics by modelling the impact of uncertainty (e.g., macroeconomic and policy uncertainties, climate-risks) on banks’/firms’ performance, lending/investment and risk-taking behaviours. I am also interested in the design of multidimensional frameworks (e.g., DEA, multi-criteria decision-making analysis-based approaches) to evaluate energy strategies and prediction models. She also has works related to energy economics around modelling/forecasting oil prices, and studying the dynamic impact of energy market uncertainty on the economy. I am… [Read more]

Eileen joined Loughborough in 2020 from Newcastle University and she holds a Chair of Electrochemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering. After obtaining her PhD from Newcastle University pioneering the development of direct methanol alkaline fuel cells, she worked as a research fellow at Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Germany, before returning to Newcastle University to take a prestigious EPSRC Research Fellowship (Life Science Interface). She has a wide range of experience and interests in various fields in electrochemical and bioelectrochemical systems for energy, carbon dioxide utilization, environmental and biomedical applications. [Read more]

S. Akpotu is a Research Associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University (LU), hosted by Dr. J. Wagner. His research at LU is focused on the development of catalysts for hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass, plastic wastes and bio-oil upgrade to produce important chemical feedstock/platform chemicals. He obtained a PhD in Chemistry from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and has carried out postdoctoral research in South Africa (NRF fellowship), Germany (DFG, Georg-Forster fellowship) and the United Kingdom. His primary research is in the synthesis, characterisation and application of porous materials as sorbent/catalysts for wastewater treatment, energy storage and… [Read more]

Andrea is a PDRA at the Sargent Centre for Process System Engineering, Imperial College London. As a member of the UKRI National Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, his research focuses on techno-economic and life-cycle environmental assessment of enabling technologies for a UK circular chemical economy. Andrea received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Padova in 2015 and in 2017 he joined Imperial College. He contributed to different research projects, including the EPSRC funded initiatives Future Targeted Healthcare Manufacturing HUB, and Flexible Routes to Liquid Fuels from CO2 by Advanced Catalysis and Engineering. Prior to joining Imperial… [Read more]

Umit Bititci is a Professor of Business Performance and the Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. He has a background that blends engineering, management consulting and academic research. He has authored several papers and books some of which have been widely cited. He has also led several large research and development projects at the UK and European scale in collaboration with industry partners across Europe. His research is underpinned with a whole systems approach to understanding how organisations measure and manage performance where he uses industry as his research laboratory through collaborative consultancy, KE… [Read more]

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Professor Buckley completed his degree in Manchester working with Dr Julia Dickinson and Professor Ian J. S. Fairlamb on the synthesis of alpha pyrone mimics and then moved to Loughborough to carry out a PhD with Professor Philip C. B. Page in the area of organocatalytic asymmetric epoxidation sponsored by the EPSRC and Avecia (with Professor John Blacker as Industrial Supervisor). Following this Prof Buckley worked as a PDRA with Professor Philip. C. B. Page for a further year working on the synthesis of N-Heterocyclic carbene ligands with Professor Steven D. R. Christie. In 2004 he was appointed as a university research fellow, working on projects with Professor… [Read more]

After obtaining his degree and PhD from St John's College, Oxford University, he held his first academic position at University College London (UCL). Since then, he has held many senior academic positions including the Director of the Royal Institution, Chair of Chemistry and Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences also at UCL. He has won many awards and accolades, being awarded the Solid State Chemistry, Interdisciplinary, Liversidge and Faraday awards of The Royal Society of Chemistry. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society, Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and of the Leopoldina – the… [Read more]

Ben’s background is in Materials Engineering having graduated from Swansea University in 2019 with an MSc by research in collaboration with industry. His EngD continued a collaborative approach to research and specialised in advanced manufacturing, polymer science, and circular economy principles. In 2020, he worked with the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy division at the Welsh Government to develop strategic plans and assessments for a sustainable recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He recently joined the University of Surrey as a Research Fellow, where he works in the department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. His industry driven research focus… [Read more]

I am a research associate in the group of Prof Peter Styring in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) at the University of Sheffield, aiming to develop evidence-based policies for a circular economy of essential chemicals, especially via non-fossil fuel routes. More broadly, my research interests have spanned high-density polyethylene (HDPE) melt processing, crystallisation and thermomechanical characterisation, carbon fibre-epoxy aerospace composites and synthetic chemistry for novel drug pre-cursors. I have particular interest and expertise in polymer melt rheology and the application of novel time-resolved techniques. Prior to joining the centre, I held a research associate post at the… [Read more]

Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Finance, Mengfei worked on policy, society, and finance for a UK circular chemical economy in the UKRI NICER Programme, based at Heriot-Watt University. Mengfei holds a PhD in carbon finance from the University of Edinburgh. She was involved in several research projects, including the UKRI VaCoBD project, BHP CCS in China's Iron and Steel Sector project, Carbon Emission Modelling of Energy Systems for Retrofit sponsored by the SFC and RGC, Developing a Linkage Readiness Carbon Market in China funded by the World Bank Group, and Enabling the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Large-scale CCUS… [Read more]