Dr Andrew York FRSC

Andy graduated from Kingston Polytechnic, and went on to research methane activation chemistry for a DPhil with Professor Malcolm Green at the University of Oxford. He continued in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, first with a post-doctoral position in Strasbourg with Professor Marc Ledoux, where he studied novel metal carbide/oxycarbide catalysts for the alkane isomerisation reaction. Then a Science and Technology Association post-doctoral fellowship took him to Tsukuba, Japan, to work on selective hydrocarbon oxidation in electrochemical reactors. Following these posts, Andy returned to Malcolm Green's group in Oxford to research metal carbide catalysts, carbon fullerene and nanotube materials, C1 chemistry and hydrocarbon selective oxidation. During this second Oxford period he also took up a short BA Media fellowship to work at New Scientist magazine.

After almost 4 years in Oxford, he joined the Johnson Matthey Technology Centre (JMTC) in Sonning Common near Reading (2000), working in the Gas Phase Catalysis Department. At JMTC he developed reaction engineering computer models, based on kinetics measured for real-world catalysts. These catalyst models were then used in the design and understanding of vehicle exhaust aftertreatment systems, with an emphasis on diesel applications. During this period he has also been a visiting guest lecturer at the University of Reading and Imperial College.

Since October 2008 he has been seconded to the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, for an initial period of 5 years, tasked with building a collaborative relationship between the department and Johnson Matthey. His research interests will particularly revolve around understanding catalyst synthesis and manufacture, catalyst adsorption and kinetics, transport processes in catalysis, and novel reactors for more efficient production of chemicals.