Integrated Graphene Meet the Team: No.9 - Ben Fleming, Development Scientist
Author: Sean Lightheart
Today we are pleased to introduce you to another one of our fantastic Development Scientists, Ben Fleming who joined the organisation in 2019. An experienced research and development chemist, Ben talks to us about inorganic chemistry, sunny Greenock, PhDs and the near future applications of graphene. Over to you, Ben.
Q: Where are you from and what is your professional background?
BF: I’m from sunny Greenock in the west of Scotland, I completed my PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde in 2013 after which I moved to England and started working for another small company. This company specialised in the production and scale-up of fine chemicals for use in the electronics industry, mostly air-sensitive and incredibly reactive. After moving back to Scotland, I started an ambitious project in development and scale-up of new de-icers for carparks and pathways, gaining valuable experience in project management and product development. With this variety of experience, my new role at Integrated Graphene seemed a perfect fit, involving thescale-up of electrolyte and other materials for use in energy storage and sensing applications.
Q: What does a day on the job look like for you?
BF: A typical day on the job involves a large amount of hands-on laboratory time, split between electrochemical testing on the Gii-Sens side and production of different electrolyte materials on the Gii-Cap side of the business. I’m involved in both of our main areas with potentially interesting work in other projects with several universities on the horizon.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
BF: I’m looking forward to seeing Gii-Sens+ fully realised, increasing our ability to produce functionalised sensors for a variety of different applications. I’m also just looking forward to the world returning to normal.
Q: How do you see graphene changing the world?
BF: I’m old enough to remember being taught about graphene as an undergraduate, that it was a material with amazing properties that hadn’t yet found its footing on a large scale. I’m happy to see it finally reaching its potential in real-world practical applications, outperforming traditional carbon-based sensors in almost every way. The advancements in energy storage over the course of my lifetime have been exponential and I expect graphene to play a key role in future progress.
If you have a project you would like to discuss with Ben or anyone else on our team, then please get in touch today.