Building Next Generation Materials

What do red blood cells, vitamin B12, leaves, cancer therapy and visualising aerodynamics all have in common? The most amazing molecules you have never heard of … Porphyrins! Porphyrins are extremely important glow in the dark (luminescent) chemicals that are essential to all life on earth. Recently, porphyrins have begun to revolutionise the field of aerospace engineering due to their unique ability to visualise and quantify the aerodynamics of aircraft in wind tunnels. This talk explores research at the University of Manchester in using porphyrins to help design new aerospace vehicles.

Quantum computers promise to solve problems that would make today’s computers burst into flames —but what are they actually made of? In this talk, we’ll take a tour from ordinary silicon-based computers we have today to some of the stranger materials physicists can plug in. We’ll explore why quantum machines have to be absurdly cold, why defects can be useful, and why building a quantum computer is less like coding an app and more like taming a very fussy cat. Weird science, real hardware, and a few good pints along the way.

Imagine printing electronics like a newspaper—onto paper, plastic, or even skin-like films. That’s the promise of 2-Dimensional (2D) materials: atom-thin sheets that can conduct better than metal, switch like semicoductors, or insulate like plastic, and can be made into inks. In this talk, I will show how we create safe and water-based inks of 2D materials. Using a molecular approach, we can peel the sheets apart and design them to interact well with the real world. I will give examples of photodetectors, transistors and wearable devices able to sense subtle differences in our breathing.