The Biophotonics Future
20th April
2005
Teacher Building (IEE)
St Enoch Square,
Glasgow
Registration from
13.30
SPEAKERS
Dr John Girkin, Associate Director, Institute of Photonics
John joined the Institute in July 1996. His main
responsibility is in the development of the Institute's applications-based
activities. He obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton, before
working in industry, developing commercial diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers.
Immediately prior to joining the Institute, John worked for Keeler Ltd,
producing novel instruments for the treatment and diagnosis of a range of
ophthalmic diseases, including the first commercial diode laser ophthalmic
photocoagulator. These systems are now being sold worldwide. His research
interests are primarily into the use of photonics in the biotechnology arena,
including the application and development of femtosecond lasers for multiphoton
imaging.
Professor Anthony P F
Turner, PhD, DSc, FRSC, Head of Cranfield University at Silsoe
Tony Turner is one of the world's principal figures in
analytical biotechnology and blends active research with consultancy,
management and developing business for the University and its clients. As Head
of Cranfield University at Silsoe he is responsible for the National Soil
Resources Institute, the Institute of Water and Environment, the Institute of
BioScience and Technology and is Chairman of Cranfield Postgraduate Medical
School. His design and development work has been applied to many commercial
devices including the world's most successful biosensor to date, the Medisense
home blood glucose monitor. He has over 500 publications and patent
applications. The vast number of contacts gained from many years as a
consultant, expert witness or on secondment to governments, international
companies and universities means that he has an unmatched overview of the life
sciences and their industrial implications.
Current research interests include design and fabrication of
diagnostic devices, biosensors, chemical sensors, biomimetic sensors, enzyme
electrodes, immunosensors, DNA chips, electrochemistry, optics, bioinformatics,
electronic noses, supramolecular technology, molecular imprinting,
combinatorial chemistry, molecular modelling, capillary electrophoresis,
environmental diagnostics, medical diagnostics and rapid detection of infection
and infectious agents.
·
Professor of
Biosensor Technology and Head of Cranfield University at Silsoe.
·
Editor-in-Chief,
international journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics,
·
Author of
>500 publications including the principal text Biosensors: Fundamentals
and Applications.
·
Winner of
a number of prizes and awards including the Mid-Bedfordshire Innovation Award,
National Physical Laboratory Award for Measurement, the ATB Milano Award and
the Hewlett Packard Instrumentation Prize.
·
Managing Director
of Silsoe Ventures Ltd., a company wholly owned by Cranfield University.
·
Director and
Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, Pelikan Technologies Inc, USA.
- Press release - Nov 04
·
Served as an
expert witness in patent litigations on three continents.
·
Chair of the
World Congress on Biosensors and Programme Chair of the World Congress on
Synthetic Receptors.
Dr Wolfgang Becker
Becker & Hickl GmbH, Nahmitzer Damm 30, 12277 Berlin, Germany
Michael MacDonald
Optical Trapping Group, University of St Andrews
Mike gained a BSc in Laser Physics and Optoelectronics from
Strathclyde University in 1996 before moving to Berne University where he did a
MSc (1996) and a PhD (2000) specialising in high power solid state lasers. He
has worked as a Research Fellow in the Optical Trapping Group since 2000. His
research interests include, optical tweezing, biological applications of
optical manipulation and solid state laser systems.
The research of the Optical Trapping Group covers a range of
both pure and applied physics. They are primarily concerned with the
application of laser beams to trap and manipulate particles and atoms. Their
work includes laser cooling of atoms and atomic guiding, optical tweezers and
optical manipulation with applications in biophotonics, studies of novel light
beams (including Bessel beams and Laguerre-Gaussian beams) and the development
of laser diode systems for internal use and in new sensing and metrology
applications.
The group is headed by Professor Dholakia and currently
contains 8 postdoctoral researchers and 12 PhD students. Their work is funded
by a number of sources, including the EPSRC, the MRC, the NERC, the Leverhulme
Trust, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the ESF, Scottish Enterprise, SHEFC and
the Royal Society.
CASE STUDIES
·
COSMIC,
Trevor Whittley
Collaborative
Optical Spectroscopy, Micromanipulation and Imaging Centre. COSMIC is a highly
cross-disciplinary centre for optical characterisation, control and imaging of
complex materials. The centre is committed to providing leadership in research
services to industry and training based on the development and use of optical
techniques for innovative applications in the physical and life sciences.
·
Pro2Kem,
Dr Roger White
Pro2Kem
specialises in the design and development of high performance, low cost tools
for the global bioanalysis market.
Advances
centre on the development of novel micro-engineered (“Lab-on-a-chip”)
separators and laser light scattering detectors, designed to enable rapid
biopolymer analysis for the determination of molecular mass, size and
conformation distributions.