Introducing our newest CEB Assistant Professors

In the final months of 2023, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology welcomed three new Assistant Professors to the ranks of our academic staff; Assistant Teaching Professor Dr. Devon Indar and Assistant Professors Dr. Alexander Borodavka & Dr. Shelly Singh-Gryzbon.

L-R: Dr. Alexander Borodavka, Dr. Devon Indar, Dr. Shelly Singh-Gryzbon

Each represents an exciting addition to our department, bringing their wide-ranging expertise to CEB.

Dr. Devon Indar

University Assistant Teaching Professor - Chemical Engineering

An educator at heart, Trinidad-born Devon Indar received a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester (UK) before carrying on at that same institution to complete his Ph.D.

He returned to Trinidad and began teaching at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, a position he remained in from 2016 until 2023 when he accepted his current position as a University Assistant Teaching Professor at CEB.

Passionate about teaching, Devon strives to advance CEB's world-class teaching by crafting engaging lessons, fostering an interactive learning environment, and guiding students through the more complex aspects of Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Alexander Borodavka

University Assistant Professor - Biotechnology

Alexander Borodavka completed his Undergraduate and Masters training at Kyiv National University in his home nation of Ukraine before studying for his Ph.D. at Leeds University.

He undertook a Sir Henry Wellcome fellowship at the Ludwig-Maximillian University of Munich, before starting his own research group at the Department of Biochemistry here at the University of Cambridge in 2019.

In 2023, he accepted a position at CEB and has begun to move his lab into our facilities. His research focuses on the RNA in rotaviruses and understanding how these pathogens package their genomes. This could lead to vaccines and other treatments for the diseases caused by these viruses, which could help save hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

Dr. Shelly Singh-Gryzbon

University Assistant Professor - Biotechnology

Before joining CEB, Shelly Singh-Gryzbon lectured in Chemical Engineering at the University of the West Indies in her home nation of Trinidad & Tobago. Prior to that she obtained her Ph.D from Imperial College London and served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wallace-Coulter School of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Her research uses computational modeling in fluid and solid mechanics to address clinical problems related to cardiovascular diseases and medical devices. Her most recent work has focused on developing clinical tools to aid clinicians during pre-procedural planning for transcatheter heart valve interventions.

Our Head of Department, Professor Clemens Kaminski, shared a few words about the latest appointments at CEB;

We hope you will join all of us in extending a heartfelt welcome to the newest members of our Academic Staff, and we look forward to seeing the results of their work at CEB.