PE-CDT Students Present their Research at Annual Symposium

On 14 September 2017, PE-CDT students presented their research to staff, students, external academics, and PE-CDT alumni.

Invited Speakers

Two PE-CDT Alumni from Cohort 3 gave talks about their CDT experience and careers since graduating. Dr Abby Casey (Technologist at Infinium) talked about "My experience transitioning from academia to industry", while Dr Jorge Costa (Postdoc at CNRS) talked about "Getting away from Plastic Electronics (but never very far)".

Guest talks were presented by two external academics who have connections to the PE-CDT.  Professor David Lidzey (University of Sheffield, and member of the PE-CDT/CPE Advisory Board) talked about his experience of setting up a spin-out company.  Professor Henning Sirringhaus (University of Cambridge) discussed his research on charge transport physics of high mobility organic semiconductors.

Student Presentations

PE-CDT Cohort 6 students gave presentations on their research, and answered plenty of questions from their fellow students and the academics in the audience.  Students from Cohorts 5, 6 and 8 presented posters. 

Prizes

Prizes (sponsored by Blue Scientific) were presented for the best talks and posters:

• Best talk prize: Stefan Bachevillier (Materials Department, Imperial College)
• Runner-up talk prize: Adam Wright (Physics Department, Oxford University)
• Alumni Choice talk prize: Becky Kilmurray (Materials Department, Imperial College)
• Best poster prize: Madeleine Morris (Cohort 5; Chemistry Department, Imperial College)
• Runner-up poster prize: Nathan Cheetham (Cohort 5; Physics Department, Imperial College)

Congratulations to the prize winners, and to everyone who took part in the symposium for making it such a success!

Student Perspectives

Stefan Bachevillier

The CPE always gives us the opportunity to listen and discuss to world-class experts such as the 2 keynote speakers today. It is always inspiring to hear about outstanding research from PhD students and Academics from Imperial College and UK. Moreover, it was very enriching to exchange with former CPE members on their current career. This event was great for networking and identify potential collaborators for better research.

I feel very grateful to the CPE and the sponsor Blue Scientific for this talk prize on my recent work about Organic and Hybrid Photonic Devices. Many thanks to my supervisors Prof. Natalie Stingelin, Prof. Paul Stavrinou, BASF, my co-workers, especially Kevin Yuan for their crucial contributions.

Adam Wright

For me, the CDT symposium was a coming-of-age experience; it was sobering to see my peers in cohort 6 up at the front presenting to an attentive audience, while I was taken by surprise afterwards when people approached me with questions as if my talk had been meaningful to them! I particularly enjoyed Prof. David Lidzey's account of his role in creating a company based on his research, which provided the window on the wider world that I so value from the CDT.

Nathan Cheetham

I was really impressed by the range of projects being presented at this  year's PE-CDT symposium, the research areas have expanded a lot in the 4 years that I have been here. The new materials and techniques being developed and used by the other Centre for Doctoral Training students is very impressive, and the symposium provides an opportunity to develop collaborations across groups within the Centre for Plastic Electronics. It was extremely difficult to present my poster within allotted 3 minutes during the flash presentations, but I think I just about managed to cover the key points! As always, the CPE events are a great chance to practice transferrable skills such as explaining scientific concepts and public speaking.

First ever PE-CDT Alumni Event

The evening before the symposium, around 45 current students, staff and alumni gathered for the first ever PE-CDT Alumni Event, chaired by Dr Firat Güder (Bioengineering Department, and PE-CDT Mentor and PhD Director).  Alumni gave short talks about their PE-CDT experience and career since graduating, then took part in an open panel Q&A session.  This was followed by a BBQ mixer event for discussions to continue informally.