At the SIMS 22 International Conference in Kyoto in Oct 2019, Nick was elected by delegates onto the International Committee. The next conference, SIMS 23 will be held in Minneapolis, USA in 2021.
Author Archives: Nick Lockyer
SIMS 22: Kyoto, Japan
The group were well-represented at the 22nd International Conference on SIMS in Kyoto. Danielle, John Medland, Alex and Nick gave presentations.
Welcome Matija
We welcome a new PhD student, Matija Lagator from Serbia. Matija will work on the new J105-SIMS instrument. His project is entitled ‘Development of Novel High Energy Cluster Ion Beam Methodology for Molecular Analysis and Imaging’.
New Funding for Battery Characterisation
UKRI/The Faraday Institution have funded a project led by Dr Robert Weatherup (Diamond Manchester Research Fellow)
“What lies beneath? – new multimodal platforms for operando characterisation of buried interfaces in working batteries.”
The principal goal of this proposal is to develop new in-situ and operando platforms including ToF-SIMS, NAPXPS and HAXPES that will enable characterisation of buried interfaces in working batteries.
New funding for plant cell SIMS
A BBSRC Flexible Talent Mobility Award to Dr Jolanda van Munster (School of Chemistry & MIB) and Dr Sadia Sheraz (School of Materials) will allow us to extend our SIMS research into plant matter. The project entitled “Correlative mass-spectrometry imaging for nanoscale structural insight into plant biomass for food and biotechnology” is in collaboration with Dr Katie Moore (School of Materials), Prof Richard Ward (University of São Paulo-Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) and Rothamsted Research Ltd.
New project funded
| New Developments in Quantitative 3D Chemical Imaging
A major new EPSRC grant of £844k will allow us to explore further the 3D imaging SIMS capabilities of reactive cluster projectile using a new high-energy ion beam. Project partners include Prof Ian Gilmore at the National Physical Laboratory and Prof Arnaud Delcorte at the Universite catholique de Louvain. The funding, togther with investment from the Henry Royce Institute allows us to replace our prototype Ionoptika J105 SIMS with the latest model, including a 70 keV water cluster beam. This comes 10 y after the installation of the first J105 instrument in Manchester. |
New Collaboration in Biofuel Biotechnology
Funding from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation “FAPESP” and the University of Manchester for a new collaboration with Dr Jolanda van Munster, BBSRC research fellow in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) and Prof. Richard John Ward, group leader of the Protein Biochemistry and Biophysics Laboratory, University of São Paulo-Ribeirão Preto.
The aim is to bring together expertise in protein engineering and polysaccharide mass spectrometry to enhance understanding of cell wall architecture at the micrometer scale to guide enzymatic deconstruction of lignocellulose for enhanced biofuel production.
Dr Huriyyah Alturaifi
Congratulations to Huriyyah on the award of her PhD! Her thesis is entitled ‘New Capabilities for Molecular Surface and in-depth Analysis with Cluster Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry’. The project was co-supervised by Prof Mike Turner at the Organic Materials Innovation Centre.
Dr Giles Edwards
Congratulations to Giles on the award of his PhD entitled ‘Advances in Bioanalytical Laser Ionisation Mass Spectrometry’.
Dr Afnan Alnajeebi
Congratulations to Afnan on the award of her PhD entitled ‘Comparison of cluster primary ion beams for quantitative biomolecular SIMS analysis’.
Visitor from University of Karachi
This month we welcome Dr. Syed Ghulam Musharraf, Associate Professor from H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry and International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at the University of Karachi, Pakistan (http://www.iccs.edu). Musharraf will discuss collaborative opportunities between his institution and the University of Manchester and share his own research interests with our group and others in the MIB. His visit is funded through a Charles Wallace Visiting Fellowship.
Welcome to John
We welcome John Medland to the group as a PDRA on the new multiplexed ToF-SIMS project. John joins us from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
MPhil for Andres
Congratulations to Andres on the award of his MPhil degree. We look forward to welcoming him back to Manchester very soon to study for a PhD. Hasta la vista, Andres!
New project funded
August sees the start of a new EPSRC-funded project entitled ‘Development of Multiplexed ToF-SIMS Instrumentation‘ which represents a completely new paradigm for ToF-SIMS and builds of the group’s reputation for innovation in instrument development. The 3-year, £0.5M project involves collaborators in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Ionoptika Ltd.
Jo’s Graduation
A typically sunny day in Manchester!