13 August 2008

Physics bright sparks make international impact

Two Physics graduates from the University of Dundee are taking their honours projects to international audiences this month after their work was recognised by two of the biggest events in their field.

Matt Mullan and Pauline Axford both graduated from the University earlier this summer and are now looking forward to crossing the Atlantic to present details of their project work at major events in North America.

Matt (32), a former Army signaller from Plymouth, has been asked to present a paper at the 30th annual international conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, being staged in Vancouver in August.

Pauline (23), from Dundee, is heading to San Diego to deliver a presentation at the Society for Optical Engineering’s conference, the largest optical sciences and technology meeting in North America.

Both conferences are major events on the international physics calendar and for students to be presenting their work alongside academics and professionals in the field is a considerable achievement.

'This is a fantastic bonus at the end of my course and I’m really looking forward to it, even though it is a bit daunting,' said Pauline, who is set to move on to Strathclyde University later this year to study for a PhD.

'This is the real icing on the cake after four very good years for me at Dundee,' said Matt, who is set to take up a job with engineering company Thales in Somerset.

Both Matt and Pauline’s projects are based around ultrasound-activated drug delivery, developing tools and processes which may help lead to new, non-invasive treatments for cancer.

'Developing ultrasound based techniques for drug delivery is an exciting concept and one in which we have already made some pioneering inroads right here at Dundee,' said Dr Paul Campbell, Reader in Physics at the University, and who supervised both the students’ projects.

'The work that Pauline and Matt have done as part of their degrees has been absolutely first-class and not only adds to Dundee’s reputation in this field, but gives it a refreshing and highly innovative new dimension. They thoroughly deserve the attention they are getting.'

NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information on Physics at the University of Dundee see: www.dundee.ac.uk/elecengphysics/.

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