I joined the University in 2010, and I am currently a Reader in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering.  I received a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University (ASU), graduating summa cum laude in 1988.  During that time, I received several awards, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' (AIChE) Annual Chapter Award for Scholastic Achievement (1987), the American Institute of Chemists' Student Research and Recognition Foundation Student Award Certificate (1988), and the ASU College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Distinguished Senior Award for the Chemical, Bio, and Materials Engineering Department (1988).  In 1994, I gained a PhD from MIT in the Department of Chemical Engineering, holding a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship.

In 1995, I was awarded a two year research fellowship from the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California at Berkeley, working closely with Prof. J. M. Prausnitz in the department of Chemical Engineering.  In 1998, I won a US National Research Council (a branch of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering) postdoctoral fellowship to continue research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO.

Before arriving at the University of Strathclyde, I worked as a Lecturer and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at the University of Manchester (previously UMIST) for 10 years.

My main areas of research are modelling solution thermodynamics (e.g., developing mathematical descriptions phase behaviour), transport phenomena (e.g., heat and mass transfer calculations), and statistical mechanics (relating the bulk behaviour of a system to the structure and interactions of its constituent molecules).  The range of projects that I have been involved with are quite broad, ranging from the fluid mechanics of vented runaway reactors (supported by the European Commission, contract no. C1RD-CT-2001-00499), and thermodynamic modelling of produced-water/crude-oil mixtures (supported by Shell and STATOIL), to developing and studying surfactant specific electrodes (EPSRC, GR/R41965/01) and modelling the fundamental behaviour of polyelectrolyte fluids and the influence of membranes on protein stability (BBSRC, GR/B17005).

Currently I am leading a KTP project with Pentagon Chemicals Ltd on developing a new process for the production of an intermediate feedstock chemical.  This encompasses the full spectrum of process development from laboratory work characterising catalyst performance to designing for production on an industrial scale.

I have taught a broad range of modules across the Chemical Engineering curriculum, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.  My main teaching duties have been focused on the "core" of Chemical Engineering: transport phenomena, chemical and process thermodynamics, and design.

Currently taught modules:

• CP204/208 Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer
• CP407 Chemical Engineering Design
• CP535 Molecular and Interface Science
• 18530 Chemical Engineering Project

Previously taught modules

• Ethics and Sustainability
• Nanotechnology
• Problem Solving
• Chemical Engineering Practice 1
• Programming and Optimisation
• Chemical Thermodynamics
• Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer
• Modelling and Simulation