Congratulations to Dr Joao Cabral on receiving the 2016 McBain Medal

Dr Joao Cabral has been awarded the McBain Medal by a joint committee of the RSC & SCI for contributions to the field of colloid & interface science.

Established in 2006, the McBain Medal is an annual award presented to a scientist in the early stages of their research career, typically within the first 15 years after their doctorate. It was instituted to recognise those who have made exceptional contributions to colloid and interface sciences by applying those principles to a broad spectrum of areas such as physics, engineering, biological and polymer sciences.

The medal is named after James William McBain, a Canadian colloid chemist whose research was focused on soap solutions. During his time at the University of Bristol, he postulated the existence of “colloidal ions”, now known as micelles, to explain the good electrolytic conductivity of soap solutions. He also created the McBain-Bakr spring balance to record ‘sorption’, a generic term for the adsorption of gases by solids. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1923 and won the Davy Medal in 1939.

Dr João Cabral was chosen for the award by the Joint Colloids Group Committee made up members from the Royal Society of Chemistry (Colloid and Interface Science Group) and the Society of Chemical Industry (Colloid and Surface Chemistry Group). He is a Reader in the Department of Chemical Engineering and works in the Polymers and Microfluidics Research Group and his research interests are in the field of soft condensed matter. In addition to receiving the Medal, the McBain Medal symposium will be held in his honour later in 2016.

Please join us in congratulating Dr João Cabral on winning this prestigious award and we wish him all the best for a promising future career.