Derby Group

Research Group

Professor

Brian Derby

Brian Derby graduated in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University in 1978 and obtained his PhD, also from Cambridge, in 1981. He spent 1 year working at the Centre d’Etudes Nucleaire de Grenoble as an ESA Fellow before spending 2 years in Cambridge University Engineering Department as a Research Fellow. He was in the University of Oxford, Department of Materials from 1983 -1998 as a Research Fellow, Lecturer and Reader in Materials Engineering, where he was Director of the Oxford Centre for Advanced Materials and Composites. He was appointed Professor in Materials Science at the Manchester Materials Science Centre in 1999. He was elected a member of the World Academy of Ceramics in 2004.

Brian Derby’s research interests span a wide range with a focus on the processing-structure-mechanical properties relation in ceramics, glasses and biomaterials. Recently he has been at the forefront of research into the development of inkjet printing as a manufacturing tool. He has particular interest in developing methods of characterising materials and processes in situ. Much of this work has been carried out collaborating with industry and other research groups across the world.

Research Staff

Riaz Akhtar

Riaz graduated from UMIST with an MEng (Hons) in Biomedical Materials Science, incorporating an industrial placement at Tyco Electronics UK Ltd. In 2007, he completed a PhD at The University of Manchester in ‘The micromechanical behaviour of bone’ under the supervision of Dr Paul Mummery. Following this, he undertook a post-doctoral position with Professor Brian Derby on an EPSRC-feasibility study using high-frequency acoustic methods to determine micromechanical properties of soft tissue. In July 2008, Riaz was awarded a British Heart Foundation research fellowship (`Quantifying arterial stiffness as a function of glucose tolerance: from the nano to macro scale’) working under the supervision of Professor Kennedy Cruickshank and Professor Brian Derby.

Nadja Nijenhuis

Nadja joined the Derby Group in January 2009 and is studying cell mechanics with scanning
acoustic microscopy on a BBSRC-funded project. She worked on the micromechanical
properties of the pericellular matrix with a focus on the macromolecule hyaluronan, as
part of her PhD at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2003-2007) and the Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany (2008). She graduated from the University of Amsterdam in Experimental Physics (MSc).

Rachel Saunders

Rachel graduated from The University of Manchester with an MEng (Hons) in Biomedical Materials Science, incorporating an industrial placement at DePuy CMW formulating novel bioactive bone cements. She completed her PhD with Professor Brian Derby researching the effect of inkjet printing on cell survival. Rachel is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher continuing her research in inkjet printing for tissue engineering applications.

Jonathan Stringer

Jonathan is currently a Research Associate in Manchester as part of the ‘Next Generation Inkjet Technology’ consortium involving a number of other universities and industrial collaboration. His research looks into the physics of ink jet printing, in particular the processes of droplet deposition, coalescence and phase change from printable ink to functional material. He was previously awarded an MEng in Materials Science from the University of Manchester in 2003, and a PhD in Materials Science in 2007, also from the University of Manchester.

TianMing Wang

Tianming graduated in Non-Ferrous Metallurgical Engineering from Northeastern University, China in 1990 and obtained his Masters Degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1993. He worked as a lecturer in the same university until 1997. He obtained his PhD from Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan in 2001. He is currently working on inkjet printing of: i) ceramics suspensions to fabricate 3D objects, ii) reactive polymers, iii) glucose oxidase for biosensor use, and iv) living cells for tissue engineering.

Steven Wilkinson

Steven graduated from Heriot-Watt University with a BSc (Hons) in Optoelectronics and Laser Engineering in 1993. In 2002, he was awarded a PhD at Aberdeen University in Biomedical Physics (`Semi-automated analysis of X-ray diffraction patterns with an application to the uterine cervix during pregnancy’) under the supervision of Prof. D. W. L. Hukins. During and following the 3 years research period of his PhD, Steve gained experience in many different imaging and research areas. He also worked at the Osteoporosis Research Unit in Aberdeen from 1998 to 2002. In 2003, he took a position working on small angle diffraction imaging of connective tissue being supervised by Professor K. D. Rogers but based at the synchrotron radiation source (SRS), Daresbury Laboratory under the co-supervision of Dr. C. Hall. In December 2008 he joined Professor Derby’s group to work on developing acoustic microscopy methods for determining mechanical properties of soft biological tissues.

Xuegen Zhao

Xuegen is currently working as Research Associate on a Wellcome Trust funded project, developing techniques for mechanical characterisation of biological tissues using scanning acoustic microscopy. Before joining the Derby group, he was working on the characterisation and application of functional magnetic materials, especially magnetostrictive materials at the University of Salford since 1996. Previously, he was based at the Institute of Physics in Beijing where he was also awarded a PhD in Physics in 1993. He completed his Bsc and Msc in Physics at Shandong University, China, in 1987 and 1990 respectively.

MD Candidate

Eason Sivayoham

Eason graduated from Universities of St. Andrews and Manchester with BSc. MBChB. 2002 and completed Basic Surgical Training obtaining Membership of Royal College of Surgeons. He Commenced as a Facial Plastics Research Fellow at Manchester Royal Infirmary in October 2008. Eason is currently undertaking an MD at the University of Manchester as a member of Professor Derby’s group, investigating ink-jet printing of keratinocyte monolayer culture.

PhD Candidates

Christopher Cook (EngD student)

Chris graduated from Manchester University in 2005 with an MEng in Biomedical Materials Science with industrial experience. Having spent his year in industry at Johnson and Johnson in Gargrave he decided to remain in the University to study for an Engineering Doctorate. He is currently in his final year of his research assessing the use of the inkjet printing platform as a method for rapid prototyping of glucose sensors in conjunction with several industrial companies.

Manuela Di-Biase

Manuela graduated from the University of Bologna (Italy) with a Masters degree in Industrial Chemistry after completing a project with Dr. Leonardo Setti for the development of biosensors using thermal ink-jet printing. She is currently finishing her PhD in manufacturing a cell-containing scaffold made of Pluronic F127 diacrylate gel using a piezoelectric ink-jet printer.

 

Rui Dou

Rui Dou graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics with a BEng in Environment Engineering in 2003. Then he was awarded an MSc in Materials and Business from Queen Mary, University of London in 2005. He is now a final year PhD student at the University of Manchester working under the supervision of Professor Brian Derby. His current work includes the fabrication process of metal nanowires and nanoporous metal foams, the measurement of their mechanical properties by uniaxial compression, the investigation of their plastic deformation mechanisms and the development of a model for the plastic deformation of metal nanowire and nanoporous metal foam.

Alastair Selby

Alastair graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSC (Hons) in Biomedical Materials Science in 2008. His final year project involved a novel approach to the measurement of mechanical properties of hydrated, soft contact lenses by nanoindentation. He is nominated for the RH Craven award for polymer science for this project. Ali has now started a PhD under the supervision of Professor Brian Derby and Dr. Carole Maldonado-Codina, from the Optometry department, with the intention of expanding the work started during his undergraduate studies.

Bojun Xu

Bojun graduated from Fudan University, China in 2005 and gained his MSc in Advanced Engineering Materials from University of Manchester in 2006. His MSc dissertation concerned the extrusion of chitosan and alginate gel for biomedical applications. He decided to continue his research in rapid prototyping at the University of Manchester to study for a PhD. He is currently in his second year researching in the field of inkjet printing and direct writing of electronics.

Technical Staff

Andy Forrest

Andy Wallwork (Experimental Officer)