Saiful Islam (professor)
M Saiful Islam FRSC[1] is a British materials chemist. He is Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Bath and recipient of a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award (2013-2018).[2]
His research uses advanced computer modelling techniques to gain atomic-scale insights into new materials for clean energy applications including lithium-ion batteries, solid oxide fuel cells and perovskite solar cells.
Early life and education
Saiful grew up in Crouch End, London and went to Stationers Comprehensive School. He received both a BSc degree in chemistry and a PhD (1988) from University College London, where he studied under Professor Richard Catlow FRS. Subsequently, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Eastman Kodak laboratories in Rochester, New York, US, working on oxide superconductors.[1]
Career
Saiful returned to the UK in 1990 to become Lecturer, then Reader, at the University of Surrey. In January 2006 he was appointed Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Bath.[3]
His research interests lie in the field of clean energy materials, especially new oxide materials for next generations of lithium batteries and solid oxide fuel cells. His group applies computational methods combined with structural techniques. He has presented more than 60 invited talks at international conferences, and has around 180 publications.
Saiful is a member of the Royal Society's Diversity committee.[1] He has been a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Materials Chemistry, and sits at present on the Advisory Board of the RSC journal Energy and Environmental Science.[4]
He will be presenting the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on BBC TV on the theme of Energy. The three-part series, 'Supercharged: Fuelling the Future', will be aired on BBC Four in late December 2016.
Personal life
Outside academia, he enjoy films, indie music (The Smiths et al.) and reading novels. As an atheist (humanist), he reads the writings of Polly Toynbee and Richard Dawkins.[5] He is a member of the British Humanist Association(BHA).[1] He is married and has two young children.[4]
Awards and honours
- Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013-2018)[2]
- RSC Sustainable Energy Award (2013) [6]
- RSC Materials Chemistry Division Lecturer Award (2011)
- RSC Francis Bacon Medal (2008)[7]
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry[1]
Saiful Islam will present the 2016 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures ‘Supercharged: Fuelling the future[8]’, a commemorative lecture series for BBC Four which will celebrate 80 years since the Christmas Lectures[9] were first broadcast on television in 1936.[10]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Professor Saiful Islam". Royal Society. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- 1 2 http://royalsociety.org/news/2013/new-wolfson-research-merit-awards/
- ↑ http://people.bath.ac.uk/msi20/index.shtml
- 1 2 "Sustainable Energy Award 2013 Winner". RSC. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ↑ "M. Saiful Islam" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ↑ http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/SustainableEnergyAward/2013-winner-sustainable-energy.asp
- ↑ http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/Archive/FuelCellScienceandTechnologyAward/FuelCellScienceAward.asp
- ↑ "Supercharged: Fuelling the future | The Royal Institution: Science Lives Here". www.rigb.org. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ↑ Channel, Ri. "Collections : Ri Channel". richannel.org. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ↑ Sample, Ian (2016-08-19). "Chemistry professor to leave audience in dark at Christmas lectures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-10-20.