Work with thought leaders and academic experts in materials science

Dr. John Ormerod graduated from the University of Manchester, UK with a BSc, MSc and PhD in Metallurgy in 1975, 1976 and 1978 respectively. He has over forty years of research, product development, and manufacturing experience in the area of permanent magnets and magnetic materials. He has published and presented numerous papers in the field of magnetic materials. He has spent time in Europe working for Phillips and in the USA working for SPS Technologies (Arnold Engineering) in their magnetic materials businesses. In 2002 John was named President of Res Manufacturing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Res is a manufacturer of stamped metal components, assemblies and value added services serving diversified industries. They are a major supplier of components and assemblies to Tesla Motors for their Model S and future Model X electric vehicle platforms. He provided expert testimony on issues of invalidity during the recent rare earth magnet ITC investigation No. 337-TA-855 and is currently a technical consultant evaluating prior art for the Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Industry Alliance. In 2015 John founded JOC LLC a consultancy specializing in the magnetics and metals-related industries. He serves on the Advisory Board of Bunting Magnetics Company and is Senior Technology Advisor to Magnet Applications Inc.

Hello, I am Sakshi Kabra Malpani, with 10+ years of experience as a green, organic chemist and lecturer. My overarching research interests revolve around solid waste management, utilization of industrial and natural wastes in the development of heterogeneous catalysts, and their further utilization in different industrially viable organic transformations, extraction of various useful metal oxides like silica, alumina from such wastes. I favor interdisciplinary approaches to solve the aforesaid issues and have incorporated synthetic green chemistry as well as material science and conventional organic chemistry approaches in my research. Post Ph.D., I continued my research work at my workplaces in the form of different student projects at college and postgraduate levels. I also describe my interest and activities in science communication. Three of my designed catalysts have been patented on my name, my research work got published in peer-reviewed journals and books, also I presented my results at different international and national conferences. My father was a College Lecturer, so, from the early stages of my life, I want to become a teacher, saying teaching is in my DNA. Stepping to freelance consulting job, I would like to use my novel training as both an organic and environmental chemist, to investigate environmental processes on a range of temporal and spatial scales. I understand being a scientist or researcher does not mean just being successful in research. At the same time, one should be excellent in his/her interactions with the community and the students, in his/her role to lead the academic society, and in responsibilities to transform the community and society. To this end, I have been engaged in several volunteer activities, such as a volunteer in National Service Scheme and Teach For India movement, guiding and encouraging students to apply for further studies, research fellowships, competitive exams.

I am a consultant specializing in laser damage resistant optical coatings. I have extensive experience as a physicist and optical engineer, with BS and PhD degrees in physics, SPIE and Optica (formerly Optical Society of America) senior memberships, and 50+ scientific publications.  My expertise in laser damage resistant optical coatings is based on my experience at Sandia National Laboratories where, from 2004 to 2017, I designed and produced optical coatings for the meter-size optics of Sandia’s petawatt-class Z-Backlighter high energy lasers. I was a distributor for OptiLayer Thin Film Software from 2017 to 2022.

I am a highly motivated individual with expertise in various artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). Over the course of my academic and professional career, I have developed a strong skill set in these areas, and have applied them to various domains, including mental health. At Clarigent Health, I have played a key role in developing and improving machine learning models that analyze patient speech to identify mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. In addition, I have been the principal investigator on a NIMH SBIR grant investigating machine learning model performance across different patient characteristics and settings. Moreover, I have experience in developing and implementing customer-facing dashboards using tools like PowerBI, which enable clients to interact with and derive insights from complex data sets. Through my work at Clarigent Health, I have been able to leverage my expertise in ML, NLP, and other AI-related tools to drive innovation and improve mental health outcomes through data-driven solutions.

I have over 20 years of engineering and R&D experience in sensors and MEMS including physical modeling, transduction, design, optimization, fabrication, characterization/test, and algorithm development, as well as 10 years of technical management/executive experience in operations, product development, R&D, business development, marketing and technical sales. I have a track record of success in taking early stage R&D concepts through to full products, and developing and growing businesses based on those products. I hold a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, where I focused on sensor and instrumentation development, leading to 20 years of academic/industry experience in research, modeling, optimization, microfabrication, and testing of scientific instruments that requires in-depth knowledge of multidisciplinary physical systems (mechanical, electrical, acoustic, fluidic, thermal, and optical). I am well versed in MATLAB and LabVIEW, as well as first-principles development of lumped element modeling (LEM) for physical systems of all kinds. As the former CEO of an innovation-driven startup, my most important roles were defining the long-term vision and strategy, and building the teams and the people to make it all happen.

Michael Hickner is an accomplished researcher and educator with an extensive background in chemical engineering. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2003. For the past 15 years, Hickner has been a Rogerson Endowed Professor at Michigan State University, where he has conducted highly acclaimed research in the areas of sustainable energy technologies and nanomanufacturing. Previous to this appointment, Hickner was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, where he conducted post-doctoral research in the fields of materials science, nanotechnology, and catalysis. Given his diverse skill set and supportive leadership style, Michigan State students look to Hickner to provide them with the guidance, mentorship, and educational tools necessary to excel in the field of chemical engineering.

Katie Barr is a bioinformatician with a strong background in computer science. She received her Ph.D in Quantum Information from the University of Leeds in 2013. She also holds an MSc in Mathematical logic and the theory of computation from the University of Manchester, and a BSc in Physics and Philosophy with study in Continental Europe from the University of Bristol. Katie has extensive experience working in the fields of bioinformatics and software development. She has worked as a scientific programmer at the Earlham Institute, a postdoctoral bioinformatician in the Nanomedicine group at the University of Manchester, and is now an Associate Principal Scientist in Bioinformatics at Kromek. Katie is passionate about using her knowledge and skills to improve the lives of others and she is dedicated to the advancement of science and technology. She believes in the power of collaboration and works to create meaningful partnerships between industry and academia.