Back to: Materials Innovation Factory
Our people
The Materials Innovation Factory Team draws together world-leading research academics with a technical support team whose expertise and capabilities are directly matched to the equipment portfolio found in the Open Access Area.
Directors
Andy Cooper - Academic Director
Professor Andy Cooper obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham in 1994. His main research interests include polymers, porous materials, supramolecular chemistry, and high-throughput materials methodology – he is the Academic Director of the Materials Innovation Factory. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2015. Read more
Matt Reed - Strategic Director
Professor Matt Reed has a technical background in chemistry, quantitative microscopy, and data science. He holds an Executive MBA in Technology Management and Open Innovation. He has worked for Shell Research and Unilever R&D in both the UK and the Netherlands. He has also published scientific papers, filed patents, co-authored three books, and co-founded three companies based on his intellectual property. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Matt joined the MIF 2019, but had worked since 2013 to help co-create the facility in partnership with leading academics at the University of Liverpool, Unilever R&D, and the UK Government. In his current role, Matt works to create, maintain and exploit strategic high impact innovation partnerships between the University of Liverpool, other leading-edge academic institutes, government funding bodies and commercial innovators
Operational Mangement
Kathryn Knuckey - Head of MIF Technical Operations & Faculty Research Facilities
Dr Kathryn Knuckey is the Head of MIF Technical Operations & Faculty Research Facilities. Kathryn has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Durham and 9 years of experience of working in a UK-based SME developing fuel cell technology, initially as a research chemist developing a proprietary catalyst system, and subsequently undertaking team leadership, laboratory, project and programme management roles. Upon joining the Materials Innovation Factory as Laboratory Operations Manager in 2015, Kathryn played a lead role in the establishment of the shared Open Access Area (OAA) laboratories, and in her current role has oversight of around £20M of state-of-the-art shared access research equipment and leads the MIF Technical Team in supporting the research of the academic and commercial user base of the MIF.
Within her wider Faculty remit, Kathryn is part of the Liverpool Shared Research Facilities (Liv-SRF) team and provides strategic leadership for the development of facilities within the Faculty of Science of Engineering. She is part of the Research Technical Professional Career Pathway Institutional Steering Group, the Technician Commitment Steering Group, Faculty EDI Committee and various groups developing facility and asset management systems.
Jon Mercer -Head of Programme Operations
Jon Mercer graduated with a PhD in Surface Physics from the University of Liverpool in 1996 and worked for 14 years in the UK electronics industry, latterly as a new product development manager – leading several teams which collectively released over 100 new products to market. In 2010, Jon joined the Business Gateway department of the University of Liverpool with a responsibility of managing flagship projects each tasked with improving the connectivity between industry, academia and the relevant funding bodies. He was appointed the Programme Manager of the Materials Innovation Factory in 2013, a key member of the successful team responsible for the creation of the facility; and is now the MIF Head of Programme Operations, leading many of the operational aspects necessary to ensure the facility meets the future needs of its clients. Allied to this, Jon is also piloting elements of Institutional sustainability strategy within the facility and using the lessons learned from the creation of the MIF, helping embed a range of good practice approaches across the Faculty.