Samuel Douglas
Final Year PhD student
Sam is in the final year of his PhD under the supervision of Dr Caroline Knapp. He studied his undergraduate MSci Chemistry degree at UCL where he gained the Nyholm award for most distinguished work in Inorganic Chemistry. As a postgraduate student he was awarded an Inorganic/Materials sectional award (Gillespie Scholarship), as well as the prize for best progressing graduate (Tufnell Scholarship). Sam’s research is currently centred on the synthesis of reactive Al compounds as precursors to conductive metal coatings. Sam’s hobbies outside of chemistry include his undying love for Arsenal FC, city breaks and going for long countryside walks with his Cocker Spaniels Sid and Willow.
Kristian Mears
Final Year PhD student
Kristian obtained his MSci from UCL in 2017 working jointly in the groups of Prof. Claire Carmalt and Dr Caroline Knapp, on precursor synthesis for solar-cell absorber layers. He started his PhD the same year, investigating new routes to bespoke precursors containing group 11, 13 and 14 metals for optoelectronic applications. In his third year, funded by a competitive RSC Researcher Mobility grant, Kristian spent six months in the laboratory of Prof. Phil P. Power FRS (UC Davis) working on Sn chemistry, metal-metal bonding and synthesising interesting new molecules.
Harry Tinker
Final Year PhD student
Harry undertook a Chemistry undergraduate degree in Liverpool, before pursuing a masters in biomedical research, with a focus on cancer research. From there, he returned to London to begin a PhD in materials and inorganic chemistry with Prof. Xiao Guo in Supercapacitors design. At the end of his first year, he moved to Dr Knapp’s group where his research involves the combination of graphitic materials with inorganic precursors, to design electrochemical carbon composites for fuel cells catalysts and supercapacitors electrodes. He enjoys watching and playing rugby, cricket and football and if the opportunity arises, a weekend off sailing around the Isle of Wight.
Malavika Bhide
3rd Year PhD student
Malavika completed her MSci degree at UCL, graduating with a first and earning a place on the faculty’s Dean’s list. Her fourth year project was on the AACVD of metal films and she is continuing this into her PhD, which involves the synthesis and AACVD of precursors for thin film photovoltaics, jointly supervised by Dr Caroline Knapp and Prof. Claire Carmalt. More recently, she has been investigating the reactivity of organometallic Zn complexes.
Katie Hobson
3rd Year PhD student
Katie received her MSci in Chemistry from University College London in 2018 where her project focused on the development of n-type transparent conducting oxides. Katie is an adopted member of the Knapp group, primarily being supervised by Prof. Claire Carmalt and Dr Clare Bakewell. She works closely with members of the Knapp group, aiming to collaborate at the interface between precursor design and low temperature deposition of Al metal.
Salma Saeed
Masters student
Salma is a fourth year MSci student at UCL undertaking her masters project on Al metal-organic decomposition precursors.