Our Principal Investigators (PIs)

Meet Our Principal Investigators

We have a team of internationally-recognised Principal Investigators with extensive research and mentoring experience, covering all of our research themes. More information about Call 1 and Call 2 supervisors can be found by clicking on the green arrows.

Call 2 is now open.

Prof. Gavin Walker (Call 1 & 2) Prof. Gavin Walker (Call 1 & 2) Contact: gavin.walker@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Bulk Solids Processing Research Interests: Pharmaceutical Powder Engineering Granulation and agglomeration processes Particle Technology and regime map analysis Bioengineering materials and drug delivery Environmental materials engineering and adsorption modelling Superhydrophobic materials and liquid marble granulation Hybrid Processing Heat and Momentum Transfer Mass Transfer Processes Process Modelling, Control and PAT Short Bio: Professor Walker was appointed as the Bernal Chair of Pharmaceutical Engineering at the University of Limerick in 2012. He is also a Visiting Research Professor of Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast (UK). Professor Walker has been awarded >€27m in research funding from SFI, EI, EPSRC (UK), TSB (UK), EU FP7, H2020 and industry sources. He is currently a principal investigator in the SFI Investigators Programme, the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC), the EI Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC) and the EI Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC). His research interests include particle/powder technology, process modelling and pharmaceutical engineering and currently has 40 researchers within his group. He has published over 170 international journal papers (>6700 citations, h-index 38) on various aspects of chemical and process engineering and is associate editor of Chemical Engineering Journal and Chemical Engineering Research and Design (focusing on material processing). Professor Walker has been awarded two Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) fellowships: the ExxonMobil Fellowship in 2002 and the Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2009. In 2017 he was appointed Scientific Director of SFI funded Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC). He is currently the Associate Editor of Chemical Engineering Journal and Chemical Engineering Research and Design (focusing on material processing). In 2017, he helped spin out “IP2 Innovative Particle Processing” for cross-sectoral powder engineering consultancy with the University of Limerick. Prof Walker’s research group was awarded the National Pharmaceutical Lab of the Year, Chemical Lab of the Year and Overall Academic – Research Lab of the Year in the 2017 Irish Lab Awards. Publications: ORCiD Researcher ID Qualifications: B.Eng, Queens University Belfast (QUB), 1992 (Chemical Engineering) Ph.D, Queens University Belfast (QUB), 1995 (Chemical Engineering)	Prof. Mike Zaworotko (Call 1) Prof. Mike Zaworotko (Call 1) Science Foundation Ireland Research Professor PROCESS Research Theme: Bulk Solids Processing Contact: xtal@ul.ie Research Interests: Bulk solids processing Short Bio : Dr. Mike Zaworotko currently serves as Bernal Chair of Crystal Engineering & Co-Director of the Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, a Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Research Center hosted by the University of Limerick, Ireland. He was born in Wales in 1956 and received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College (1977) and the University of Alabama (1982), respectively. He previously served as a faculty member at Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada, from 1985-1998, at University of Winnipeg, Canada from 1998-99 and at the University of South Florida, USA, from 1999-2013. Research activities have focused upon fundamental and applied aspects of crystal engineering since 1990. Currently, metal-organic materials, especially ultramicroporous adsorbents to address energy sustainability (including carbon capture) and multi-component pharmaceutical materials to make better and cheaper medicines, are of particular interest. He serves as Associate Editor of the American Chemical Society published journal Crystal Growth & Design and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Learned Society of Wales and of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland. In 2017 he was named SFI Researcher of the Year. Publications : Professor Zaworotko has published over 390 peer reviewed papers, review articles and patents that have been cited >32,000 times. In 2011 Thomson-Reuters listed him as the 20th highest impact chemist since 2000 and in 2014, 2015 and 2016 he was listed as a highly cited researcher also by Thomson Reuters. Google Scholar ORCiD Researcher ID Selected Publications Qualifications: B.Sc., ARCS, Imperial College, London, UK, 1977 Ph.D, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 1982	Dr Damien Thompson (Call 1 & 2) Dr Damien Thompson (Call 1 & 2) Contact: damien.thompson@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Bulk Solids Processing Research Interests: Computer-aided materials design Design of thermally stable protein formulations Design of non-biofouling surfaces Design of excipient formulations High-performance computing Molecular dynamics simulations Electronic structure calculations Short Bio Dr Thompson’s group design novel architectures and assemblies based on the directed self-assembly of nanoscale building blocks (small molecules, biomolecules, monolayers, and nanoparticles) in collaboration with leading experimental and industry partners in European Framework, Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland funded projects. Thermodynamic modelling of assemblies from the atomic to micron scale is performed using workstations at the Bernal Institute UL, the Irish Centre for High End Computing and supercomputing centers throughout mainland Europe. He has graduated four PhD students and supervised eight postdoctoral researchers, and currently supervises three PhD students and three postdoctoral researchers. Publications: Google Scholar Researcher ID: G-6138-2015 Qualifications: 2003: PhD in Computational Chemistry at University of Limerick (Supervisor: Prof Kieran Hodnett)	Dr Norma Bargary (Call 2) Dr Norma Bargary (Call 2) Contact: norma.bargary@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Process modelling and integrated process control, Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) Research Interests: Dr Bargary's research interests include: Statistical analysis of time-course/functional data. Smoothing using the mixed effects model. Finite mixture model clustering of time-course data. Modelling -omics data, e.g. RNA-seq data, mass spectrometry data, ChiP-seq data, etc. Biostatistics. Statistical modelling in biomechanics. Short Bio: I graduated in 2005 from the University of Limerick with a BSc. in Mathematical Sciences and Computing (majoring in Statistics). I subsequently began a PhD at UL in 2005 with Dr. Kevin Hayes, examining the use of the linear mixed effects model in functional data analysis. I graduated in 2008 and then spent a year lecturing statistics in UL. In 2009 I began a postdoctoral position with Professor John Hinde at NUI Galway, developing models to cluster time-course microarray data. In 2011, I was… read more appointed as lecturer in statistics at UCD and began the position in January 2012. This was a joint appointment between the School of Mathematical Sciences and Systems Biology Ireland. I began my current lecturing position at the University of Limerick in September 2013. My main area of interest is in the statistical modelling of time-course/functional data using the mixed effects model. I have applied these methods to analyse biological data, e.g. RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, mass-spectometry, microarray data and biomechanics data. Publications: A list of publications can be viewed on Dr Bargary's research profile with the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) site: https://ulsites.ul.ie/macsi/node/44131 Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Mathematical Sciences and Computing, majoring in Statistics, University of Limerick PhD Statistics, University of Limerick
Prof. Kevin Ryan (Call 1) Prof. Kevin Ryan (Call 1) SFI Principal Investigator, Bernal Institute Contact: kevin.m.ryan@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Hybrid Processing Research Interests: Nanotechnology applied to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Nanotechnology applied to Sustainable Energy Size control of Pharmaceutical crystals at the nanoscale < 1 micron, greatly increases the bioavailability for BCS Class II and IV drug compounds. Development of solution and supercritical fluid crystalization approaches to control particle size in API’s. Short Bio Professor Kevin M. Ryan obtained his PhD in Chemistry from University College Cork in 2002 in the area of silicon and germanium nanowire synthesis within nanoporous hosts. Following his PhD, he worked as an Enterprise Ireland postdoctoral fellow at UCC before taking up a 2 year Marie Curie Industrial host fellowship at Merck Chemicals Ltd. Southampton in their Nanotechnologies New Business division in 2003. He subsequently carried out a Marie Curie Outgoing fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley in 2005/2006 working on semiconductor nanorod synthesis and superlattice assembly. Currently his lab and group are based at the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick. www.ifnano.com for full group description. Publications: > 100 peer-reviewed publications and review articles H-index of 33 6 patents issued UL Research Excellence Award 2016 MSSI researcher award 2015 and 2013 ORCiD Selected Publications Qualifications: PhD in Chemistry from University College Cork	Prof Michael Vynnycky (Call 2) Prof Michael Vynnycky (Call 2) Contact: michael.vynnycky@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Hybrid Processing, Mass Transfer Processes, Heat & Momentum Transfer, Bulk Solids Processing, Process Modelling, Control & PAT Research Interests: Prof. Vynnycky's research interests include: Modelling of industrial problems; Fluid mechanics; Electrochemistry; Energy; Stefan problems; Asymptotic methods; Moving boundary problems; Drug diffusion Short Bio: Prof. Vynnycky has recently joined the University of Limerick as a Professor of Applied Mathematics. He previously held the role of head of the Division of Casting of Metals, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He has held research positions in the UK, Japan, Ireland, Sweden, Brazil and France. He obtained his PhD from Oxford University in 1991. Michael’s research has relevance to areas such as the development of batteries, fuel cells, the Mpemba effect, steel casting, smectic A liquid crystals and drug dissolution. He is a member of the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) at UL. Selected Publications: Google Scholar	Dr Sarah Mitchell (Call 2) Dr Sarah Mitchell (Call 2) Contact: sarah.mitchell@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Process modelling and integrated process control; heat, mass and momentum transfer Research Interests: Dr Mitchell's research interests include: Numerical and mathematical modelling; Solidification, melting and polymer diffusion Short Bio: Dr Mitchell is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Limerick (UL). She obtained her undergraduate degree in 1999 (MMath in Mathematics) and her PhD in 2003, both from the University of Bath, UK. Afterwards she took up two postdoc positions in Canada (University of British Columbia, 2003-2006) and South Africa (University of Cape Town, 2006-2008), before starting a lectureship position in Applied Mathematics at UL in January 2008. In September 2013 she became Deputy Head of Department and then took over as Head in September 2016. Her main research interests are in numerical and mathematical modelling of moving boundary problems relevant to solidification (such as casting of metals) or melting (such as glaciers) and modelling drug diffusion in glassy polymers. Selected Publications: A list of selected publications can be found here	Dr. Maurice Collins (Call 1) Dr. Maurice Collins (Call 1) Contact: maurice.collins@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Hybrid Processing and Bulk Solids Processing Research Interests: Biomaterials Structure/Property Relationships in Polymeric materials Polymer Blends and composites Polymer Therapeutics Polymer Crystals Lead free Solder Materials Liquid surface interactions Short Bio: Dr Maurice N Collins is a lecturer above the bar at the Faculty of Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Limerick. He is a member of both the Bernal Institute and the Health Research Institute at UL. The principal focus of his research group is on the structure/property/processing relationships of bio-based polymers in the application areas of regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and pharmaceutics. Maurice has a strong track record in attracting funding to enable his research (>€8 million). He is the lead PI and coordinator of the H2020 LIBRE consortium, which focuses on next generation biomaterials. His research group is interdisciplinary including Materials Scientists, Chemists, Biologists, Pharmacists and Engineers, with current areas of interest including, but not limited to, the development of bioinks for 3D bioprinting, the development of multifunctional nanomaterials and immunomodulatory materials. Maurice currently serves as an editor of Carbohydrate Polymers (IF 5.1) and the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (IF 3.9). He is the course director of the MSc in Biomedical Device Materials. Publications: Google Scholar Qualifications: PhD 2006, University of Limerick MSc (by research) 2002, University of Limerick BSc (hons.), Material Science,2000, University of Limerick
Dr Patrick Frawley (Call 2) Dr Patrick Frawley (Call 2) Contact: patrick.frawley@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Process Modelling, Control and PAT Research Interests: Process Modelling Crystallization kinetics Continuous processing Computational Fluid Dynamics Short Bio Dr. Patrick Frawley has extensive academic-industrial research experience. He is a Senior Lecturer in Aerodynamics and has supervised thirteen doctorates to completion in the areas of process design and turbomachinery design. Through the University of Limericks’ partnership with Aughinish Alumina (Rusal) he led the process-modelling team in their development and modification of the plant. In his current role as a funded Investigator for the SFI funded Solid-State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) he plays a leading role in process modelling and optimization of crystallization. In 2013, he led a research team funded by SFI/TIDA to examine a commercial crystallization process. An accurate design space determination approach combined with process modelling resulted in a transformed crystallisation process including innovative developments: a potential yield increase of over 3% at plant scale and significant reductions in process time, solvent use and complexity, with improvements in throughput and better product quality control. He has chaired two conferences where Irish industry proactively addressed the key challenges of API manufacture namely 1st SSPC Continuous Processing workshop, 2013 and Process Analytical Technology Conference, 2015. Publications Google Scholar Qualifications: Ph.D., Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics, University of Limerick B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering, University of Limerick	Prof. Vivek Ranade (Call 2) Prof. Vivek Ranade (Call 2) Contact: Vivek.Ranade@ul.ie PROCESS Research Theme: Hybrid processing, Mass transfer processes, Heat and momentum transfer Research Interests: Multi-scale/ multi-layer modelling of multiphase systems (CFD, CRE and machine learning) Flows with phase change: Cavitation and Crystallisation Ensemble approaches: machine learning + phenomenological models Development of fluidic devices without moving parts Vortex diode, Fluidic oscillators, Screw mixers, Intensified reactors Enhancing performance of multiphase reactors Stirred reactors, tubular reactors (pinched tubes), planar reactors Developing applications & processes Modular, intensified and continuous processes: diazotisation, hydrogenation, equilibrium limited Droplets (emulsions) and particles (crystals, nano-particles, catalysts) Valorisation of biomass: energy, chemicals, materials (fibres) Water & environment: dis-infection, COD removal, S removal Innovation, spin-outs and start-up companies Short Bio: Vivek Ranade is a Bernal Professor of Process Engineering at Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland and Professor of Chemical Engineering at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. His research focus is on developing insights, innovations & intensified solutions for sustainable energy, water and chemicals. He uses computational flow modelling, hydrodynamic cavitation and MAGIC (modular, agile, intensified & continuous) processes to achieve this. Before moving to Ireland, he led chemical engineering at CSIR - National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India. He has contributed significantly to chemical engineering science and practice. He has developed several performance enhancement solutions, software products and fluidic devices for variety of applications which are commercialized. He developed new insights and methodologies for process intensification. He is an Associate Editor of ‘Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research’ and serves on editorial boards of ‘Chemical Engineering Research & Design’ and ‘Indian Chemical Engineer’ journals. He is a recipient of numerous awards including highest Indian Scientific award Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for scientists under 45 years. He is a fellow of IChemE UK, Indian National Academy Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering and Indian Academy of Sciences. Vivek has published more than 150 papers (> 7000 citations, h index=49: from Google Scholar) and 7 books (on computational flow modelling, combustion & gasification, trickle bed reactors, water treatment and process intensification). Vivek is a co-inventor of more than 20 patents and has co-founded two technology companies: Tridiagonal Solutions (www.tridiagonal.com) and VIVIRA Process Technologies (www.vivira.in). More than twenty five PhD students have successfully completed or completing their projects under Vivek’s guidance. Most of these PhDs from the group are working with the leading industries like Reliance, UOP/ Honeywell, Shell, SABIC and GE. Vivek has also trained more than 100 Master’s students and project assistants who are now working either in industries or Universities worldwide. Vivek has a successful track record of conceiving and managing large collaborative projects with academic institutes as well as large multi-national industries. For example, Vivek conceived & led large collaborative project, Indus MAGIC (innovate, develop & up-scale MAGIC [modular, agile, intensified & continuous] processes). More than 30 scientists working in five CSIR laboratories and their students/ post-docs were participating in this project (resulted in commercialisation of several products & processes besides more than 130 publications and more than 30 patent disclosures). Currently leading a large project involving 12 collaborators from UK and India on valorising sugar cane waste biomass (www.vwainnovations.org). Five out of these twelve partners are industries (two from UK and three from India). Vivek has collaborated and have successfully completed several industrial projects (including with large multinationals like Dupont, Reliance Industries, Invista, Dow, Huntsman, Celanese, BP, Suncor, Pfizer, P & G). Publications: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Ranade Google Scholar http://go.qub.ac.uk/ranade Qualifications: B. Chem. Eng., University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai, 1984 (Chemical Engineering) Ph.D. (Tech), University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai, 1988 (Chemical Engineering)