COMMITTEES

Symposium Chair and Co Chair

SYMPOSIUM ADVISORY BOARD

Director of the National Centre for Sensor Research,
CLARITY CSET Principal Investigator
Dublin City University
Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 700 5404
Fax: +353 1 700 7995
Email: dermot.diamond@dcu.ie
Web: www.ncsr.ie

To date he has published over 160 peer reviewed papers in international science journals, is a named inventor on 14 patents, and is co-author and editor of three books. In 2002 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and was awarded the inaugural silver medal for Sensor Research by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the same year. He is an Editorial Board Member of Analytical Chemistry (ACS), The Analyst (RSC), and Talanta (Elsevier). Prof. Diamond is currently Director of the National Centre for Sensor Research, and a Principal Investigator in the recently established SFI funded CLARITY CSET.

5 Key Publications:

• Diamond, D. Nolan, K., Calixarenes: Designer Ligands for Chemical Sensors. Anal. Chem., 73 (2001) 22A-29A, cover article, Impact Factor 5.941.
• Diamond D., Internet Scale Sensing, Anal. Chem., 76 (2004) 278A-286A Impact Factor 5.941.
• Byrne, RJ and Diamond, D. Chemo/Bio-Sensor Networks. Nature Mater., 5 (2006) 422-424.  Impact Factor 15.941.
• Schazmann B, Alhashimy N and Diamond D., A Chloride Selective Calix[4]arene Optical Sensor Combining Urea Functionality With Pyrene Excimer Transduction, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 (2006) 8607-8614. Impact Factor 7.419.
• Scarmagnani, S.; Walsh, Z.; Slater, C.; Alhashimy, N.; Paull, B.; Macka, M.; Diamond, D., Polystyrene bead-based system for optical sensing using spiropyran photoswitches. Journal of Materials Chemistry 2008, 18, (42), 5063-5071.  Impact Factor 4.34

Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute
Innovation Campus (University of Wollongong),
Squires Way,
Fairy Meadow, NSW 2519, Australia.
Tel: +61 2 4221 3127
Fax: +61 2 4221 3114
E-mail: gordon_wallace@uow.edu.au
Web:www.uow.edu.au/science/research/ipri/

Prof. Wallace is Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science. His research interests include organic conductors, nanomaterials and electrochemical probe methods of analysis. A current focus involves the use of these tools and materials in improving biocommunications from the molecular to skeletal domains - improved Bionics. He was awarded a D.Sc. from Deakin University in 2000, in 2002 was appointed to an ARC Professorial Fellowship, and in 2006 he was awarded an ARC Federation Fellowship.

He received the Inaugural Polymer Science and Technology award from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in 1992. He was awarded an ETS Walton Fellowship by Science Foundation Ireland in 2003, and in the same year was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He received the RACI Stokes Medal for research in Electrochemistry and was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK) in 2004. He was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2007. Professor Wallace has published more than 400 refereed journal papers, 17 patents, 31 chapters and 2 editions of a book entitled “Conductive Electroactive Polymers: Intelligent Material Systems”.

5 Key Publications:

• Razal, J.M., Gilmore, K., Wallace, G.G., Carbon Nanotube Biofiber Formation in a Polymer-Free Coagulation Bath, Advanced Functional Materials 2008, 18, 61-66. Impact Factor: 7.496
• Li, D., Muller, M.B., Gilje, S., Kaner, R.B., Wallace, G.G., Processable aqueous dispersions of graphene nanosheets, Nature Nanotechnology 2008, 3, 101-105. Impact Factor: 14.917
• Kim, S.K., Spinks, G.M., Prosser, S., Whitten, P.G., Wallace, G.G., Kim, S.I., Surprising shrinkage of expanding gels under an external load. Nature. Letters  2006,5, 48-51. Impact Factor: 28.751
• Pornputtkul, Y., Kane-Maguire, L.A.P., Innis, P.C., Wallace, G.G., Asymmetric proliferation with optically active polyanilines. Chemical Communications 2005, 36, 4539-4541. Impact Factor: 5.141
• Lu, W., Fadeev, A.G., Qi, B., Smela, E., Mattes, B.R., Ding, J., Spinks, G.M., Mazurkiewicz, J., Zhou, D., MacFarlane, D.R., Forsyth, S.A., Forsyth, M., Wallace, G.G., Use of Ionic Liquids for p-Conjugated Polymer Electrochemical Devices. Science 2002, 297, 983. Impact Factor: 26.372

School of Chemistry
National University of Ireland, Galway
Galway
Ireland
Tel: +353 91 493563
Fax: +353 91 525700
Email: donal.leech@nuigalway.ie
Web: www.nuigalway.ie/chemistry/staff/donal_leech/research.html

Dr. Dónal Leech is Director of the Biomolecular Electronics Research Laboratory (BERL), established in 1997 in NUI Galway, where he heads a research programme aimed at harnessing biological electron transfer to develop knowledge, and applications, in bioelectrochemical diagnostics, sensors, assays and power generation. The Laboratory has in addition a research effort that seeks to underpin these areas of application, focused on synthesis and characterisation of electrode modifiers, separations science and surface analytical techniques, and electrochemical and biochemical methods. Dónal joined NUI Galway from the Université de Montréal, where he was an Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry (1993-1997). Prior to that he was a post-doc at the Hawaii Biosensor Laboratory (1991-1993) having obtained his Ph.D. in 1991 from Dublin City University.

Dónal was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland in 2004, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2005. He is a member of the executive of the Bioelectrochemical Society and the Biological & Organic Electrochemistry Division of the Electrochemical Society. He served as Vice-Dean of Research of the Faculty of Science (2004-2008), and the Governing Authority of the University (2005-2009). The BERL is funded by EU, EPA & SFI research grants and by a Charles Parsons Energy Research Award, and has active national (DCU, Tyndall) and international (EU, USA, Australia, NZ, China) collaborations. Research output has resulted in over 60 publications to date, 3 patents, and numerous invited presentations.

5 Key Publications:

• Boland S, Barrière F, Leech D. Designing Stable Redox-Active Surfaces: Chemical Attachment of an Osmium Complex to Glassy Carbon Electrodes Prefunctionalized by Electrochemical Reduction of an In Situ-Generated Aryldiazonium Cation. Langmuir, 24 (12), 6351–6358, 2008
• Kavanagh P, Jenkins P, Leech D. Electroreduction of O2 at a mediated Melanocarpus albomyces laccase cathode in a physiological buffer, Electrochem. Comm. 10 (2008) 970–972
• Barrière F, Kavanagh P, Leech D. A laccase - glucose oxidase biofuel cell prototype operating in a physiological buffer, Electrochim. Acta 51 (2006) 5187-5192.
• Kavanagh P, Leech D. Redox polymer and probe DNA tethered to gold electrodes for enzyme-amplified amperometric detection of DNA hybridization, Anal. Chem. 78 (2006) 2710-2716.
• Rochefort D, Bourbonnais R, Leech D, Paice M, Oxidation of Lignin Model Compounds by Organic and Transition Metal-Based Electron Transfer Mediators, Chem. Comm. (2002) 1182-1183.

School of Chemistry
Queen’s University
Belfast BT9 5AG
Northern Ireland
Tel: +44 2890 974422
Fax: +44 2890 974890
E-mail: a.desilva@qub.ac.uk
Web: www.qub.ac.uk/

A.P. de Silva’s learning, teaching and research experiences are based at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. He published the first experiments on molecular logic gates in the primary literature and established the generality of the luminescent PET (photoinduced electron transfer) sensor/switch principle which is now used widely. He was the design consultant for the sensor cassette of the OPTI point-of-care blood electrolyte diagnostic system sold by optimedical Inc., the total sales of which are currently 55M USD. His research has often been covered by the media such as Discovery Channel Online, The Guardian, Nature, BBC Radio, Chemical and Engineering News, Kagaku to Kogyo, Chemistry World and Chemistry and Industry.

He co-organized the NATO advanced research workshop on sensors in Bordeaux in 1996. He co-edited the J. Mater. Chem. issue on fluorescent sensors in 2005 and edited ‘Vol. 5A. Molecular-level Electronics’ in ‘Balzani’s Electron Transfer in Chemistry’, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2001. His service on Editorial Boards includes Chem. Soc. Rev., J. Fluoresc., J. Natl. Sci. Found., Sri Lanka and J. Chinese Univ.. He has held visiting professorships in Louvain-la-Neuve, Cachan, Bordeaux, Kandy, Nara, Strasbourg, Shanghai, Peradeniya and Bangkok. He was the Troisieme Siecle Lecturer of Swiss Universities in 2000, was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2002, received the Annual Award for Chemistry for 2006 from the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland and received the Sensor award for 2008 from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

5 Key Publications:

• Uchiyama, S., Iwai, K., de Silva, A.P., Multiplexing Sensory Molecules Map Protons near Micellar Membranes, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2008, 47, 4667-4670 (VIP paper)(Cover Story) Impact Factor: 10.031
• de Silva, A.P., Uchiyama, S. Molecular Logic and Computing, Nature Nanotechnol. 2007, 2, 399-410. Impact Factor: 14.917
• de Silva, A.P., de Silva, S.S.K., Goonesekera, N.C.W., Gunaratne, H.Q.N., Lynch, P.L.M., Nesbitt, K.R., Patuwathavithana, S.T., Ramyalal, N.L.D.S., Analog Parallel Processing of Molecular Sensory Information, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 3050-3051. Impact Factor: 7.419
• de Silva, A.P., James, M.R., McKinney, B.O.F., Pears D.A., Weir, S.M., Molecular Computational Elements Encode Large Populations of Small Objects, Nature Mater. 2006, 5, 787-790. Impact Factor: 19.782
• Magri, D.C., Brown, G.J., McClean G.D., de Silva A.P., Communicating Chemical Congregation: A Molecular AND Logic Gate with Three Chemical Inputs as a ‘Lab-on-a-Molecule’ Prototype, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 4950-4951. Impact Factor: 7.419

Senior Research Fellow
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute,
AIIM Facility, iC campus University of Wollongong
Squires Way, Fairy Meadow, NSW 2519, Australia.
Tel: +61 2 4298 1441
Fax: +61 2 4221 3114
Email: mhiggins@uow.edu.au
Web: www.uow.edu.au/science/research/ipri/

Dr Michael Higgins completed his PhD in the field of marine and freshwater microalgae at the University of Melbourne, Australia. This work involved the application of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to determine the nanoscale adhesive and mechanical properties of living cells with the aim of developing new approaches for the design of antifouling, “non-stick” surfaces.  In 2002, Dr Higgins moved onto a Research Fellow position in the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanodevices and Nanostructures (CRANN), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and in 2006 was appointed to Senior Research Fellow at the same institution.

In 2007, he spent a period at the Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research at University College Dublin, Ireland, before returning to Australia to commence his current position as Senior Research Fellow at the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI), University of Wollongong. Dr Higgins’s main interest and research has focused on the application of AFM to study the nanomechanical properties of biological systems, including living cells, model lipid membranes, single ligand-receptor interactions, individual protein unfolding, fundamental surface-force interactions, as well as being involved in AFM instrument development. He now has over 10 years experience with AFM in the field of Biophysics.

5 Key Publications:

• M. J. Higgins, J. E. Sader, P. Mulvaney and R. Wetherbee (2003). Probing the Surface of Living Diatom Cells with Atomic Force Microscopy: The Nanostructure and Nanomechanical Properties of the Mucilage Layer. Journal of Phycology 39 (4): 527-540.
• M. J. Higgins, C. K. Riener, T. Uchihashi, J. E. Sader, R. McKendry and S. P. Jarvis. (2005). Frequency modulation atomic force microscopy: a dynamic measurement technique for biological systems. Nanotechnology 16:85-89.
• M.J. Higgins, M. Polcik, T. Fukuma, J.E. Sader, N. Yoshikazu and S.P. Jarvis (2006). Structured Water Layers Adjacent to Biological Membranes. Biophysical Journal 91:2532-2542
• T. Fukuma, M. J. Higgins and S. P. Jarvis. (2007). Direct Imaging of Lipid-Ion Network Formation Under Physiological Conditions by Frequency Modulation Atomic Force Microscopy. Physics Review Letters 98:106101.
• M. J. Higgins, S. T. McGovern, G. G. Wallace (2009). Visualizing Dynamic Actuation of Ultrathin Polypyrrole Films. Langmuir 25: 3627-3633.

Associate Professor, School of Physics,
Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 8963859
Fax: +353 (0)1 6711759
Web: www.tcd.ie/Physics/1D_Nanostructures

After receiving a First Class honours degree and gold medal from Trinity College Dublin in 1995 Jonathan Coleman completed a PhD thesis, also at Trinity in 1999. He subsequently became a lecturer in the School of Physics, receiving tenure in 2004. Prof Coleman was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin in 2005 and is currently an associate professor in the School of Physics. He is also a Principle Investigator in CRANN.

Prof Coleman is the head of the Chemical Physics of One-Dimensional Nanostructures group. The main focus of this group is to conduct interdisciplinary research on the physics and chemistry of materials with an emphasis on low dimensional nanostructures. The main materials studied are polymers, carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanowires and graphite.

5 Key Publications:

• Super-tough carbon-nanotube fibres - These extraordinary composite fibres can be woven into electronic textiles. Dalton AB, Collins S, Munoz E, et al. NATURE, 423, 6941, 703-703, Times Cited: 367
• A composite from poly(m-phenylenevinylene-co-2,5-dioctoxy-p-phenylenevinylene) and carbon nanotubes: A novel material for molecular optoelectronics, Curran SA, Ajayan PM, Blau WJ, et al., ADVANCED MATERIALS, 10, 14, 1091, Times Cited: 354
• Mechanical reinforcement of polymers using carbon nanotubes, Coleman JN, Khan U, Gun'ko YK, ADVANCED MATERIALS, 18, 6, 689-706, 157
• Reinforcement of polymers with carbon nanotubes: The role of nanotube surface area, Cadek M, Coleman JN, Ryan KP, et al., NANO LETTERS, 4, 2, 353-356, 2004, Times Cited: 120
• High-yield production of graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite, Hernandez Y, Nicolosi V, Lotya M, et al., NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY, 3, 9, 563-568, 2008, Times Cited: 13

Innovative Molecular Materials Group (Director)
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Queens University Belfast
Northern Ireland
Web: www.ch.qub.ac.uk

5 Key Publications:

• Larmour IA, Bell SEJ, Saunders GC. Remarkably simple fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces using electroless galvanic deposition, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 46, 1710-1712 (2007) Impact Factor: 10.031
• Larmour IA, Saunders GC, Bell SEJ. Sheets of large superhydrophobic metal particles self assembled on water by the Cheerios effect, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 47, 5043-5045 (2008) Impact Factor: 10.031
• Bell, SEJ; Sirimuthu, NMS, Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for sub-micromolar detection of DNA/RNA mononucleotides,  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 15580-5581 (2006)  Impact Factor: 7.419
• Novel porphyrin-incorporated hydrogels for photoactive intraocular lens biomaterials
  Brady C, Bell SEJ, Parsons C, Gorman SP, Jones DS,  McCoy CP J. Phys. Chem  111, 527-534 (2007)   Impact Factor: 4.086
• Bell, SEJ,  Sirimuthu, NMS. Quantitative surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
  Chem Soc. Rev. 37, 1012-1024 (2008). Impact Factor: 13.08

Postdoctoral Research Fellow                                                          
National Centre for Sensor Research
Dublin City University
Dublin 9
Ireland
Tel: +353 1 700 7926
Fax: +353 1 700 7995
Email: emer.lahiff@dcu.ie
Web: www.ncsr.ie

Dr. Lahiff was awarded a degree in Experimental Physics (2001) and a Ph.D. in Materials Science (2006), both from Trinity College Dublin. During her Ph.D., her research focus was on the fabrication and characterisation of an innovative carbon nanotube-polymer composite system. During this time she spent 18 months as a Visiting Scholar working with Prof. P.M. Ajayan in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute, New York (USA). Prof. Ajayan is a leading figure in the field of carbon nanotube research, and was selected as a Nano50TM Innovator by Nanotech Briefs (2007).

Dr. Lahiff also spent time at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics (Stuttgart, Germany), where she worked in Nobel Laureate Prof. von Klitzings department. Immediately following her Ph.D., Dr. Lahiff was employed by Materials Ireland Polymer Research Centre, Trinity College. There she worked primarily on an Enterprise Ireland Funded CFTD project.  She was also involved in an EU Framework 7 Project (DESYGN-IT). Since early 2007 she has been employed by Prof. Dermot Diamond. Her current research focus is on the development of polyaniline nanostructures for application in sensing technologies. In 2008 she was awarded Proof of Concept funding from Enterprise Ireland, for a project entitled ‘Design & Development of a Novel Multifunctional Nano-Platform for Application in Adaptive Sensing Technologies’. In 2009 she was employed as a part-time temporary lecturer in the School of Physical Sciences, DCU. She is currently employed as a physics tutor by the DCU Access programme.

5 Key Publications:

• Lahiff, E, Ryu, C.Y., Curran, S., Minett, A.I., Blau, W.J., Ajayan, P.M., Selective Positioning and Density Control of Nanotubes within a Polymer Thin Film. Nano Letters (Communication), 3(10), 1333-1337, 2003. Impact Factor: 9.627
• Patent: ‘Embedding Nanotube Array Sensor and Method of Making a Nanotube Polymer Composite’. Applicants: P.M. Ajayan, E. Lahiff, P. Stryjek, C.Y. Ryu, S. Curran. Pub. No. WO2004/053464. PCT/US2003/038746.
• Lahiff, E., Leahy, R., Coleman, J.N., Blau, W.J., Physical properties of novel free-standing polymer–nanotube thin films. Carbon, 44(8), 1525-1529, 2006. Impact Factor: 4.260
• Lahiff, E.; Woods, T.; Blau, W.; Wallace, G. G.; Diamond, D., Synthesis and characterisation of controllably functionalised polyaniline nanofibres. Synthetic Metals 159 (2009), 741-748. Impact Factor: 1.788
• Lahiff, E, Scarmagnani, S, Schazmann, B, Cafolla, A, Diamond, D. Covalent Attachment of Functional Side-Groups to Polyaniline Nanofibres. International Journal of Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing. Accepted.