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Dr. Tom Swift,
Associate Professor

Information about Dr. Tom Swift at the University of Bradford.

School of Chemistry & Biosciences
(Faculty of Life Sciences)
Email:
t.swift@bradford.ac.uk
Telephone:
+44 1274 235487
Photo of Dr. Tom Swift

Biography

Lecturer in Polymer Chemistry

Dr Swift's research focuses on functional polymer materials; primarily stimuli responsive macromolecules which respond to their surroundings. He has an interest in developing new characterisation techniques to better understand these complex material systems.

He received a degree as a master of Chemistry (MChem Industry) from the University of York, having spent his fourth year at an industrial placement at AkzoNobel’s Decorative Paints division researching novel film functionality.

He began a PhD at the University of Sheffield where he specialised in stimuli responsive polymer synthesis and analysis, in a range of fields and applications including; fluorescence tagging, material characterisation, solution behavior of smart polymers and an understanding of water treatment processes. Practical experience with free radical, RAFT and ATRP methods of synthesising both linear polymers, branched polymers and hydrogels, extensive use of GPC techniques and time resolved fluorescence spectrometers.

He took up his post as Lecturer at the University of Bradford September 2016, originally as Lecturer in Polymer Characterisation before receiving a promotion to Lecturer in Polymer Chemistry in 2019. He was the Programme Lead for the BSc Chemistry Apprenticeship until January 2023, a level 6 training program for the Laboratory Scientist standard. He is also a co-investigator of the Project Cayman ERDF / Northern Powerhouse industrial collaboration funding designed to encourage access to academic expertise across the north of England.

Research

Polymer Chemistry

Doctor Swift studied his PhD in polymer chemistry at the University of Sheffield. He has synthetic expertise in self condensing vinyl polymerisation, controlled polymerisation (RAFT, ATRP, Cationic ring opening polymerisation). Doctor Swift is particularly interested in controlling the size and architecture of functional polymer materials and this requires advanced techniques to control the rates and direction of polymerisation reactions.

Polymer Physics

I am particularly interested in polymers as stimuli responsive materials, and so do research into the complex physics that drive their solution or solid state behaviour. One recent research interest has been the discovery that the pH responsive solution behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) is driven by pH.

Materials Interactions

Polymers interact with a range of other materials and Dr Swift is interested in the way polymers interact with each other or other components in solution.

Research projects

Research projects involving Dr. Tom Swift.
Role Date Title/description Funder Award
Primary Investigator 2019-09-01T00:00:00
Primary Investigator 2018-09-02T00:00:00
Primary Investigator 2017-05-07T00:00:00

Research supervision

Dr. Tom Swift is responsible for the supervision of 1 postgraduate researchers at the University of Bradford.

Research collaborators

Information about people or organisations that Dr. Tom Swift collaborates with.
Name Company Country Type Role Theme Description
University of Bradford GB INTERNAL
University of Bradford GB INTERNAL
University of Sheffiled GB EXTERNAL

Teaching

Details on teaching interests, highlights and modules are available for Dr. Tom Swift as follows:

Teaching interests

Research led teaching - I train students to gain new abilities, skills and insight to develop themselves as excellent researchers.

Teaching highlights

Programme Leader for BSc Chemistry Apprenticeship (2018 - 2023)

Co-ordinate and plan for our distance learning, industrially focused BSc Chemistry course.

In addition to this role I deliver on the following modules

CFS4026-D - Practical Chemistry 1 - Module leader (2016 - 2020, 2023 - )

CFS7018-B - Materials Characterisation (Module Leader, 50% module load)

CFS7028-B - Imaging (50% module load)

CFS7023-E - Research Project - Advanced Investigations (Module Leader 2016 - )

Past:

CFS5018-B - Physical Chemistry 2 (Colloids content - 2020 only)

And I have offered student research supervision for projects in the following modules:

CFS7005-E - Stage Four Research Project (MChem)

CFS7023-E - Research Project - Advanced Investigations

BIS6026-D - Biomedical Science Research Project

BIS7005-E - Research Project (Biomedical Science)

ARC6025-D - Dissertation (Archaeology)

Teaching modules

Information about programme modules taught by Dr. Tom Swift.
Title Subject Module code Year
Practical Chemistry 1
Practical Chemistry for Apprentices 1
Materials Characterisation
Research Project - Advanced Investigations

Professional activities

Information about education, employment and areas of particular interest for Dr. Tom Swift is as follows:

Employment

  • AkzoNobel - Research Scientist in the year 2009 (specified as 01/01/2009)

Education

  • University of York - MChem (Industry)
  • University of Sheffield - PhD

Publications

There are 2 publications involving or that are attributed to Dr. Tom Swift. They are listed as:

  • erratum (1)
  • journal article (1)

Erratum

Dr. Tom Swift has 1 publication(s) listed under erratum.
Title Year Publication name Journal Volume Pages Authors Editors ISSN Publisher DOI Location
Erratum: Correction: Pseudo electron-deficient organometallics: limited reactivity towards electron-donating ligands (Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003) (2017) 46 45 (15676-15683)) 2020 Dalton Transactions 49 1700 Pitto-Barry A.;Lupan A.;Saidykhan A.;Zegke M.;Swift T.;Attia A.;Lord R.;Barry N. 1477-9234 10.1039/c9dt90235j

Journal Article

Dr. Tom Swift has 1 publication(s) listed under journal article.
Title Year Publication name Journal Volume Pages Authors Editors ISSN Publisher DOI Location
Design and Modelling of an Induction Heating Coil to Investigate the Thermal Response of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Hyperthermia Applications 2024 BioMedInformatics Philip Drake;Ali Algadafi;Thomas Swift;Raed A. Abd-Alhameed MDPI 10.3390/BIOMEDINFORMATICS4020056