Nick gained his BSC honors in Chemistry with Business Administration from Kingston
University. He then joined TA Instruments as an applications engineer providing technical
support in Thermal Analysis to customers from most industrial and academic sectors. Through
his career at TA Instruments Nick fulfilled a variety of roles which included Applications
Support, Service, Technical Sales and EMEA Distributor support. With over twenty years
experience in Thermal Analysis and Rheology, Nick is primarily responsible for the upkeep and
operation of the Thermal Analysis suite (DSC, TGA & DMA) at the Oxford Silk Group. However
he also has a good grasp of the other techniques in use here which include Tensile testing,
Scanning Electron Microscope and polarizing light microscopy. In addition Nick has carried out
some collaborative work with other Oxford University Groups and commercial organizations.
Nick had an Invention commercialized by TA Instruments which allowed non-supporting
materials to be investigated by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA).
Other roles within the group include general maintenance and upkeep of the laboratories and
instrumentation, Animal Husbandry and training and support to students.
In his spare time Nick enjoys Photography, Running, Archery, Football and Squash.
Prof. Fritz Vollrath and colleagues from the Fudan University in China are widely covered in the news for their discovery of a means to produce fake Rhino horns using horse hair. Hopes are that this product may undermine the illegal market for rhino horn, and demistify the properties of rhino horn. View Here
