Professor Glen McHale, Chair of Interfacial Science & Engineering and Director of Discipline
I became Professor of Interfacial Science & Engineering and Director of Chemical Engineering in Edinburgh in 2020 after eight years at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle where I was first Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Environment and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (REF). Prior to that I spent twenty two years as as an academic at Nottingham Trent University where I was a Professor and Head of the Research & Graduate School (Science & Technology) in the College of Arts & Science and formerly Head of Physics & Mathematics. In my earlier career I held a Royal Society European Fellowship at the University of Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie) and both gained a PhD in Applied Mathematics and was awarded a BSc (Hons) First Class in Mathematical Physics by the University of Nottingham.
My research involves wetting, interfacial science and engineering and is undertaken as part of the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids. It has attracted many funding awards including over twenty RCUK/EPSRC grants, mainly as Principal Investigator, and including both an EPSRC Platform Grant (awarded only to world-leading groups) and an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training. I have published over 180 refereed journal papers, which are cited ca. 1200 times annually (Google Scholar), and have been awarded seven patents. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academic (FHEA), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (F.Inst.P) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (SMIEE). I am a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and lead a UK Fluids Network Special Interest Group. I have previously been a Board Member of the Award Winning BIM Academy Enterprises Ltd, an Editorial Board member of Advances in Colloid & Interface Science, a UK Management Committee representative on COST Actions, and I was a member of sub-panel 13 for "Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials" for the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF2014).
Dr Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar, Reader in Surfaces and Wetting
Dr Gary G Wells, Reader in Surfaces and Wetting
Hernán Barrio-Zhang, Research Associate in Chemical Engineering
Born in Mexico City from Spanish & Chinese migrant family, I am a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh. I am a Physicist/Engineer with interest and specialist knowledge in wetting, capillarity and triple phase interactions, focusing on slippery surfaces. I have experience in both experimental and theoretical approaches. I am able to design and develop objective driven experiments and implement/develop methods to retrieve and analyze image data. I am familiar in the implementation of computational and numerical methods for physical problems involving the phase field model. I have extensive interdisciplinary experience in research and wish to apply this wide perspective to my own research.
Huiling Ong , Research Associate in Chemical Engineering
Hailed from Singapore, I am a Post-doctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh. I received my MSc in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering from Loughborough University in 2021 and obtained my PhD with a thesis titled 'Transparent Surface Acoustic Wave Technologies on Glass to tackle soiling, icing, and fouling issues' from the University of Northumbria in 2024. My current research at the University of Edinburgh involves in experimental fluid dynamics and surface engineering, particularly in the fabrication and in the study of transport and adhesion of droplets on surfaces.
Lucile Bisquert, PhD Research Student
Born in Paris, France, I am first year PhD research student at the University of Edinburgh. I did my Bachelors in Physics and Masters in Fluid mechanics at Sorbonne University Pierre and Marie, Paris, France.
During my studies, I did an internship at Polytechnique Montréal, Canada, 2020, in CFD simulations of turbulent flow in channels and a second one at EDF Renewables, France, 2021, in the evaluation of the wake effect in wind farms.
My interests include fluid mechanics, modelling and theory. My current work explores droplet condensation on engineered surfaces using mesoscopic numerical solvers, such as the Lattice Boltzmann method.
Callum Williams, PhD Research Student
I started my higher education at Nottingham Trent University, where I completed both a BSc (2018) and an MSc (2021) in Physics.
My masters research project was focused in SOFT matter, studying the upward flow of liquids within elasto-capillaries. For my PhD, I’m researching how the effects of dielectrophoresis and dielectrowetting can be used to create new microfluidic systems with reconfigurable, programmable walls
Rita Hu, PhD Research Student
Originally from China, I began my PhD in Chemical Engineering in January 2024. My research focuses on the behavior of fluids on patterned surfaces, particularly exploring phenomena related to contact angle hysteresis, droplet motion. I have a strong interest in fluid dynamics and interfacial phenomena.
George Bonnay, PhD Research student
Born in the northwest of the U.K. I received an integrated masters degree in Chemistry from the University of Bristol. My masters work involved the 3D printing of conductive polymers for human interacting devices. Before starting my PhD, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a year.
My current work is an i-Case PhD studentship in conjunction with DSTL and involves the creation of hierarchal nano-composite coatings for protection from chemical and biological weapons.
Ahlam Abdaljalil , PhD Research Student
I was born in Palestine. I earned my bachelor’s degree in physics from Birzeit University, where I also completed my master’s degree in the same field. My master’s project focused on non-Newtonian fluids, specifically preparing magnetorheological fluids and studying their rheological properties. My PhD research focuses on exploring the relationship between adhesion and friction of droplets on surfaces, by investigating how strongly water droplets attach to surfaces and how the surface translates that to contact line pinning.
Anagha Sunil, PhD Research student
I am a first-year PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh, where my research focuses on creating bespoke liquid-like surfaces with controlled wetting chemistry to mitigate scaling. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, and went on to pursue a MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
My masters project investigated, new strategies for developing anti-adhesive and anti-fouling surfaces, which laid the foundation for my current research. My PhD is supported by the Jack Ponton PhD Scholarship, awarded by the School of Engineering, the University of Edinburgh.
Yaofeng Wang, PhD Research student
Born in Luoyang, China, I am a first-year PhD research student at the University of Edinburgh. I did my Bachelor in Power and Energy Engineering at Donghua University and completed my master degree at Guangxi university.
My research is including surface charging, dynamic motion of droplet and triboelectric nanogenerator. I'm strongly interested in interfacial phenomena under varying electrostatic conditions.
