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
Biography
Lecturer in Polymer ChemistryDr 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 ChemistryDoctor 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
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
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
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
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
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 |