Academic staff

Ian Underwood carried out pioneering research and development in the field of liquid crystal microdisplays between 1983 and 1999.

His early career achievements were recognized by:

• Fulbright Fellowship (1991) held at The University of Colorado
• Photonics Spectra Circle of Excellence Award (1994) with Boulder Nonlinear Systems
• British Telecom Summer Fellowship (1997)
• Ben Sturgeon Award of the UK Chapter of the SID (1999)

In the late 1990's he contributed to the formation of Micropix Technologies (now Forth Dimension Displays) and consulted with them to design their first generation product line.

He is a co-founder of MicroEmissive Displays (MED) founded in 1998 and co-inventor of its P-OLED microdisplay technology. He served as Product Development Director, Director of Strategic Marketing then CTO.

MED's distinctions include:

• 2004 Guinness World Record for the world's smallest colour tv screen
• European Semiconductor Start-up Award (2004)
• the inaugural IEE Innovation in Engineering Award for Emerging Technology (2005)

MED raised in excess of 40M GBP Sterling and at its peak employed around 70 staff. MED went into administration in late 2008, an early victim of the global financial crisis, shortly after beginning to ship product for its first major order.

In 2005, while with MED, Ian was appointed in absentia to the Chair of Electronic Displays at The University of Edinburgh.

Recent personal recognition includes:

• Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, Scotland (2003)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2004)
• Gannochy Medal for Innovation winner (2004)
• Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2008)
• Fellow of the Institute of Physics (2008)

In late 2007 he took up the Chair, becoming Head of the Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) while remaining part-time at MED as Chief Scientific Adviser.

Until recently he sat on the Council of the Scottish Optoelectronics Association and the Steering Committee of ADRIA (Europe's Network in Advanced Displays).

He is known worldwide as an authority on microdisplay technology, systems and applications and is co-author of a recently released book entitled Introduction to Microdisplays (Wiley, 2006).

In late 2008 he was appointed to the Scottish Science Advisory Council the body that offers strategic advice on science and related matters to the Scottish Government.

Today he is employed by the University of Edinburgh for four days per week, seeking gainful employment on the fifth day as adviser, consultant, or non-executive director with pre-spin-out technology projects and early stage technology companies.

He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the SID and sits on the technical program committee of the International Solid State Circuits Conference, the International Displays Research Conference and the Society for Information Display's Annual International Symposium.

In recent years he has made invited presentations and tutorials on microdisplays and related topics at major conferences and events throughout the world including:

• Eurodisplay 2005 and 2009
• IMID Korea 2006
• SID USA 2007 and 2009
• IEEE ISSCC USA 2009

Contact Ian by email at i.underwood@ed.ac.uk.

• 2008 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, FREng
• 2004 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE

Dr. Dipa Roy joined School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, in January 2017 as Lecturer in Composite Materials and Processing.

She obtained her B.Sc degree (Chemistry Honours), B.Tech and M.Tech degree in Polymer Science and Technology from University of Calcutta, India. She completed her PhD from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Jadavpur University, India, in 2002. Between 2003 and 2005 she worked as Research Associate with Government of India fellowship at IACS.

She started her job as Lecturer in the Department of Polymer Science and Technology, University of Calcutta in 2005 and continued in that position till September 2011. She received Young Scientist Award from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in 2006 and Career Award for Young Teachers from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Government of India, in 2007. She successfully completed seven Government of India funded research projects as Principal Investigator during this tenure. In 2011 she joined Irish Centre for Composites Research (IComp) at University of Limerick, Ireland, as Research Fellow (2011-2016). At IComp she conducted industry focused research in the area of polymer composites.

In her career, she has published over 80 peer reviewed journal papers and 14 book chapters. She has edited a book on biocomposites with Elsevier. She has an EU patent on Dielectric heating of polymers in 2016.

She is currently supervising 3 PhD students as the Principal Supervisor, 4 PhD students as Co-Supervisor and 3 Post Doctoral researchers at the University of Edinburgh.

She is the Fellow of the Institute of Materials, MInerals and Mining (IOM3).

Dr Dipa Roy is the recipient of “The 2021 Top 50 Women in Engineering: Engineering Heroes (WE50)” award in 2021.

• Fellow of the Institute of Materials, MInerals and Mining (IOM3).FIMMM
• Member of Society for Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE)
• Member of The Society for Polymer Science, India
• Member of Indian Physical Society

PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan MSc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan BSc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Cincinnati

Synthetic Biology

The bottom-up approach to synthetic biology aims to create life-like artificial cells from non-living components. Our group specialises in creating synthetic cells that contain multiple sub-compartments (analogous to eukaryotic cell organelles). To do this, we use droplet microfluidics and giant lipid vesicles (or GUVs). Once created, we can setup multi-step enzymatic reaction cascades between the compartments.These synthetic cells can shed light on natural biological cell functions but can also be used for industrial applications like biofuel production or in biomedical applications for drug delivery.

Lipid Membranes

Cell membranes need to be structurally complex in order to perform a multitude of cellular functions. Studying individual components, like biomembranes, is typically performed using real cells. However, isolating biomembranes from the rest of the cell can be difficult or impossible. Therefore, as an alternative, our lab uses model membranes. Here, different aspects of the membrane, such as lipid composition, permeability, and membrane proteins can be studied in isolated under controlled conditions, free from other cellular influences. Different types of lipid membranes serve as our models including GUVs on the micron-scale, and nano-sized lipid vesicles down to 100 nm. In addition, we also use these model membranes systems to study membrane fusion as well as ligand-membrane interactions. Key to our success is the development of our cutting-edge lipid vesicle formation methods including microfluidics and bulk emulsions.

Microfluidics

Microfluidic technology is used throughout the different research topics in the Robinson lab. We current focus on using microfluidics for the following applications:

• Single cell handling and analysis (including cancer cells, and active swimmers).
• High-throughput production of monodisperse lipid vesicles (via double emulsion templating).
• Advanced handling, manipulation (flow, compression, electrofusion), and analysis of lipid vesicles.

Designing, fabricating, and testing novel microfluidic systems for new applications also makes up its own unique line of research.

• Microfluidics.
• Bottom-up synthetic biology.
• Lipid vesicles.
• Membrane fusion.
• Advanced microscopy: including FLIM, confocal, multiphoton, and high-speed capture.
• Single cell handling and analysis.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6442-082X

My research focuses on the development of miniature bioelectronic interfaces for applications in synthetic biology and biomedical engineering. I lead a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research group in these areas at the Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) within the School of Engineering.

Recent work developed a miniature implantable oxygen sensor, which has been extensively tested in vivo for its potential use in cancer radiotherapy treatment and for post-operative tissue monitoring. Currently, a UoE/NHS consortium is further developing this sensor with the aim of clinical application.

We also have a strong interest in the technology that supports synthetic biological biosensor systems. Specifically, we are developing an electrochemical platform, designed to enable multi-channel data readouts from cell-free systems.

• MSc Sensor and Imaging Systems, University of Glasgow, 2016 (Distinction & Class Prize)
• PhD Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, 2011
• BA Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, 2005

• WCSIM (Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers): Beloe Fellowship, 2018
• IEEE: Member
• Biochemical Society: Early Career Member

• Microelectronics 2 (ELEE08020): lecturing on microfabrication, assisting at tutorials, and student assessment
• MSc Electronics project (PGEE11065) and MSc Sensor and Imaging Systems project (PGEE11135): student supervision
• Analogue Mixed Signal Laboratory 3 (ELEE09032): teaching assistant
• BioSensors and Instrumentation (PGEE11040), Applications of Sensor & Imaging Systems (PGEE11136), and Edinburgh Summer Schools for Beihang University and University of North Carolina: Research guest lecturer

Tom has been Chancellor's Fellow, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Civil Engineering at the University of Edinburgh since June 2017. Previously, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universities of Bath and Cambridge, and in engineering consultancy with White Young Green and Adams Kara Taylor, involved in civil and structural engineering design for projects ranging from a new sea lock in Swansea to the Masdar Institute building with Foster and Partners in Abu Dhabi. He studied for his PhD at the University of Bath in the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials. He then worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Leverhulme Trust sponsored Natural Material Innovation project at the University of Cambridge. Tom has been a chartered member of the Institution of Civil Engineers since 2010.

MEng Engineering Science (First Class), University of Oxford 2005

PhD University of Bath 2013

PGCert Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Cambridge 2017

Tom has been a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers since 2010

Tom teaches structural mechanics, engineering materials and design courses.

Tom researches the use of wood and bamboo in structures, structural sensing and structural dynamics.

In wood and bamboo, he is interested in connection performance, including the stiffness and strength of dowel-type timber connections, and carpentry connections, including those made by computer numerical control (CNC) fabrication.

In structural sensing and structural dynamics, Tom is interested in what designers can learn by putting sensors on structures and measuring how they move under everyday loads.

Rory Hadden holds a Personal Chair in Fire Science. Previously he was the Rushbrook Senior Lecturer in Fire Investigation. Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh he held positions at University of Western Ontario and Imperial College London.

His research interests include pyrolysis, ignition, flammability and flame spread with application to the built and natural environments. Rory specialises in experimental work ranging from laboratory scale studies to field scale measurements of fire phenomena with novel sensing methods.

PhD Engineering - University of Edinburgh - 2011

MEng (1st Class) Chemical Engineering - University of Edinburgh - 2007

CIVE09023 Fire Safety Engineering 3

CIVE10011 Fire Science and Fire Dynamics 4

PGEE11243 Fire Science Lab

• Material flammability.
• Flame spread.
• Fire emissions.
• Wildfire ignition, spread, emissions and risk assessment.
• Fire investigation.

Investigation of fires and wildfires.

I am always interested to talk to anyone with an interest in fire science, fire engineering and how we understand fires and their impacts. Feel free to get in touch.

Dr Zakary Campbell-Lochrie is a Lecturer in Fire Science. He teaches in the Mechanical Engineering discipline and conducts research as part of the Institute for Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on the combustion and fire behaviour of bio-based materials with a particular interest in the fundamental physical processes controlling flame spread, particularly in the context of wildland fires.

This involves theoretical and experimental work across multiple scales in both laboratory and field environments and the development and deployment of multi-scale fire science instrumentation.

• PhD - Engineering (Infrastructure & Environment), The University of Edinburgh
• MEng - Mechanical Engineering, The University of Edinburgh

Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy

Principles of the Fire Laboratory 5/ Principles of the Fire Laboratory (MSc)

Mechanical Engineering 2

Electrical & Mechanical Engineering 2

Cohort Lead: 3rd Year Mechanical Engineering