OUR MANAGEMENT
Mohammed Khan
CEO
Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez
Founder, President and CSO
Owen Garrigan
CTO
OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Mohammed Khan
CEO
Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez
Founder, President and CSO
Jogchum Brinksma
Chairman
Dr Tony Harris
Director
Ate Visser
Director
THE SCIENCE TEAM
Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez
Founder, President and CSO
Dr Ceren Camur
Senior research associate
Dr Robin Babu
Research associate
Dr Gerard Boix
Research Associate
Kamal Diab
Research associate
Dr Naveen Kumar
Synthetic Chemist
Dr Lik Hong Wee
Research Manager
Hassan Azhar
Lab Technician
Prof. Peyman Moghadam
Computational Researcher
Dr Amir Farmahini
Senior Computational Scientist
Dr Aurelia Li
Computational Scientist
THE ENGINEERING TEAM
Owen Garrigan
CTO
Nikos Stephanopoulos
Senior Process Engineer
Dr Mohamed Abdelraouf
System and process engineer
Ailsa Morrison
Process Design engineer
Sam Affleck
Systems Engineer
The commercial team
Jim Buston
Business Development manager
Charu Sharma
Business Development Associate
Dr Ben Dyer
Commercial Associate
Ed Hackett
Programme Manager
Finance
Sam Charman
Head of Finance
IP
Nigel Roberts
IP DIRECTOR
OUR ADVISORS
Neil MacDougall
Ex-Chair of Silver fleet Capital and BVCA
Board Member of UKBAA
Board Member of UKBAA
Andrew Milnes
Ex BP Executive
Commodity Specialist
Non Exec Director
Venture Investor
Commodity Specialist
Non Exec Director
Venture Investor
Michael Pambianchi
Ex Corning executive
Breakthrough ENERGY FELLOW
Breakthrough ENERGY FELLOW
John Walker
Ex Board Member Johnson Matthey
FTSE 100 Board member
Ex-CEO Clean Air
FTSE 100 Board member
Ex-CEO Clean Air
Mohammed Khan
CEO
Mohammed is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of transforming and growing a range of businesses from energy, chemicals, specialities, life sciences, water and other industrial markets. Common themes spanning a career over 27 years include technology commercialisation, creating enterprise value, customer intimacy and partnerships, full M&A cycle including joint ventures experience. Mohammed has operated in most industrial geographies across the world and brings significant customer insight and business leadership experience to Immaterial with a career spanning across Johnson Matthey, BP and a number of SMEs.
Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez
Founder, President and CSO
David is a co-founder of Immaterial and leads the development of our fundamental technology. He is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Reader in Molecular Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory. His research into the application of MOFs in energy applications and nanoscale drug delivery is underpinned by fundamental studies into molecular recognition and self-assembly processes inside nanoporous materials.
Jogchum Brinksma
Chairman
Jogchum is an entrepreneurial senior executive with a detailed experience in different industries, both large private and public corporations. He became fascinated by the recent enhanced possibilities of computational analytics of large datasets for complex decision making and analytical review. Over the past years he invested in a broad range of university spin-outs with innovative breakthrough technology, which benefit from these enhanced capabilities in their scientific research towards promising commercial applications. He supports the companies with capital and advises on strategic challenges, in a capacity as Non-Executive Director or Advisor. His deep experience and relationships in energy markets support Immaterial in accelerating the commercial growth of the company.
Dr Tony Harris
Director
Tony is a seasoned entrepreneur and inventor with a 35-year background in business and technology. His expertise spans international corporate governance and business development, product management, technical sales and international exporting, as well as intellectual property management and licensing. In 2007 he successfully exited an international software company that he co-founded in 1989. The company won four Queen’s Awards, appeared in The Times’ 100 FastTrack and ProfitTrack and had offices in three continents.
Ate Visser
Director
Ate brings nearly 40 years of broad, international senior executive experience in the energy and chemicals industries. He has successfully developed and managed large integrated upstream and midstream natural gas/LNG, Gas-to-Liquids and chemicals businesses. During his Shell career, he served as a member of the Upstream Asia Leadership Team, and the global Integrated Gas and Shell Chemicals Leadership Teams. Ate supports various other start-ups, a global consultancy and serves on the Supervisory Board of two companies. Throughout his career, Ate has consistently focussed on using cutting-edge R&D to overcome world-scale technology challenges, and unlock significant value through innovation. For Immaterial, with its ground-breaking platform technology, he sees opportunities to advance the state-of-the-art in a broad range of industries and applications. Ate is an active member of the Immaterial team.
Owen Garrigan
CTO
Owen has more than twenty five years experience of leading technical, innovation, and operational activities in global industrial and specialty chemical companies. During that time he has led teams in product and process development, capital projects, operations management, open innovation and collaborative ventures, working internationally through a career including ICI, AkzoNobel, FUJIFILM and Johnson Matthey.
Dr Ceren Camur
Senior Research Associate
Ceren leads all the wet-lab R&D activities. Prior to joining Immaterial, Ceren was a Research Associate in the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory (AAML) at the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology and a College Research Associate at St John’s College at the University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD in Materials Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain in 2019. During her PhD, she successfully created synthesis processes using the spray-drying method, enabling the manufacture of MOF powders at a multi-kilogram scale in collaboration with AxelOne, Lyon, France under a Horizon 2020 project called ProDIA.
Dr Robin Babu
Research Associate
Robin is responsible for scaling up our MOFs and the research and development of new MOF materials. Robin completed his PhD in Chemistry from Pusan National University in South Korea, where his research was focused on the development of numerous materials (metal organic frameworks, mixed metal oxides, and nano materials) for catalytic applications. He also holds an MTech degree in Industrial Catalysis and MSc degree in Chemistry. To date, Robin has published 22 international papers related to the design, green synthesis, and investigation on the structural properties of MOFs for carbon capture and transformation catalysis.
Dr Gerard Boix
Research Associate
Gerard completed his PhD in chemistry at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. His research was focussed on the development of MOF-based composite materials for applications such as water remediation, biomedicine, and drug delivery. He also holds a MSc in Industrial and Research Chemistry and a BSc in Chemistry both from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Gerard’s role at Immaterial is the design, synthesis, and optimisation of monolithic MOFs as well as developing the technologies for their industrial scale production.
Kamal Diab
Research Scientist
Kamal is responsible for creating materials for hydrogen storage, carbon dioxide and ammonia capture and water sorption applications. Prior to joining Immaterial, Kamal completed an MSc in Chemistry at E-JUST University, studying MOFs for water sorption applications. Kamal received the Newton-Mosharafa Scholarship to pursue his studies in the UK in early 2020. Kamal has completed his second MSc. of Research at the University of Birmingham studying sorption-based systems using MOFs. In his spare time, Kamal enjoys reading stories and playing football.
Dr Naveen Kumar
Synthetic Chemist
Naveen is a synthetic chemist who recently joined Immaterial in November 2022. He completed his PhD in 2021 from University of Limerick, Ireland, where he continued as a postdoctoral researcher for approx. a year and then moved to Virginia Tech, USA for another postdoc from June 2022 to October 2022. His research expertise is design, synthesis, and characterisation of Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for adsorption and/or separations. Naveen’s role at Immaterial is to work on the development of monolithic MOFs for industrial applications.
Dr Lik Hong Wee
Research Manager
Lik Hong is leading the synthesis, processing and upscaling of zeolites for catalytic and separation applications at Immaterial. He completed his PhD in Chemistry at Manchester Metropolitan University (2008) where he developed novel methods for the fabrication of ultra-thin zeolite films. After completing his Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) research fellowship at the University of Leuven, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge as a senior FWO research fellow. He specialises in the design, synthesis and processing of nanoporous materials such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks and ordered mesoporous silicas.
Hassan Azhar
Lab technician
Hassan is the lab technician at Immaterial. Coming from a Biotechnology background, he believes in the technology that Immaterial has to offer to the community. He assists the scientists and engineers in the large-scale production of MOFs whilst playing a vital role in ensuring the safe, efficient, and smooth operation of the laboratory. He creates and run systems to manage raw-material supplies, waste disposal, housekeeping, good work practices and helps with safety-related tasks in the laboratory.
Prof. Peyman Z. Moghadam
Computational Researcher
Peyman is an Associate Professor of data-driven materials engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering at University College London (UCL). His research is leading the field of high-level molecular simulations and big-data science–including Monte Carlo, quantum chemical calculations and machine learning–for characterisation of self-assembled porous materials. He works with Immaterial on the digital manufacturing of MOFs.
Dr Amir Farmahini
Senior Computational Scientist
Amir is a Senior Computational Scientist at Immaterial specialised in molecular and process systems engineering (MSE/PSE). His expertise span across multiscale and multiphysics modeling and simulation of chemical engineering systems from atomistic scale through to process and device scale. Amir has numerous first-class publications in adsorption science, nanoporous materials, and carbon capture technologies. At Immaterial, Amir is leading the efforts for the development of energy efficient carbon capture technologies based on Immaterial’s innovative metal-organic framework monoliths, where insights from molecular simulations are combined with process level understanding for large-scale system design.
Dr Aurelia Li
Computational Scientist
Aurelia is responsible for screening large datasets of materials using molecular simulations to find the most promising ones. Prior to joining Immaterial, Aurelia completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge with Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez. Her work focused on the development of datasets of porous materials (metal-organic frameworks and cages). She also holds an MPhil in Advanced Chemical Engineering from the same university and a Diplome d’Ingenieur (equivalent to MSc) from Centrale Paris.
Nikos Stephanopoulos
Senior Process Engineer
Nikos holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc in Advanced Process Engineering from Imperial College London. He is also in the process of completing his dissertation on Industry 4.0 readiness models for his MBA with Warwick Business School. Prior to joining Immaterial, Nikos has worked within Operations Management and Process Engineering in the food industry specialising in process improvement, standardisation and design. In his current role at Immaterial, Nikos is responsible for managing process safety, design and equipment selection to scale up the manufacturing process.
Dr Mohamed Abdelraouf
System and Process Engineer
Mohamed has a background in fluid mechanics, coatings, and process simulation which he has developed during his Ph.D. and MSc. Mohamed is currently leading a system project which is focused on the design and simulation of a unit operation for carbon capture and purification from gas-fired boiler flue gas.
Ailsa Morrison
Process Design engineer
Ailsa divides her time between optimising and delivering kg-scale MOF production onsite, and undertaking research and design work for future tonne-scale projects. She holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London. Prior to joining Immaterial, she worked as an Applications Engineer, specialising in advanced metrology equipment, working with customers to develop innovative quality assurance solutions in industries ranging from medical devices to aerospace.
Sam Affleck
Systems Engineer
Sam is a chemical engineer at Immaterial responsible for integrating, designing and optimising MOF-based adsorption systems, including carbon capture and hydrogen storage. He holds an MPhil in Advanced Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, where his research focused on the quantification of interparticle forces within powders through fluidisation tests. Sam completed his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Lancaster University, where he also worked on Monte Carlo simulations as part of an academic research team. His industrial experience also extends to the water and wastewater industry, where he worked as a process engineer.
Jim Buston
Business Development Manager
Jim joins Immaterial in business development, responsible for carbon capture and storage. His background is predominantly focussed in the upstream energy sector across the whole lifecycle, working in engineering, manufacture, welding, inspection, asset protection materials/fabric maintenance and decommissioning. Jim has successfully launched and upscaled various new products and services into the market during his career globally, so brings extensive and practical operational experience.
Charu Sharma
Business Development Associate
Charu holds an Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Liverpool, which equipped her with a strong foundation in financial analysis and strategic decision-making. She is a n Business Development Associate with a diverse background spanning the mining, energy, banking, education and training and hospitality sectors, with experience gained from living and working in three continents that bring a global perspective and a deep understanding of international business practices. Throughout her career, She has demonstrated expertise in identifying and capitalising on business opportunities, forging strategic partnerships and driving revenue growth.
Dr Ben Dyer
Commercial associate
Ben is a member of the commercial team, developing deployment opportunities for Immaterial’s technology portfolio. In addition, Ben is also a project manager, ensuring the smooth delivery of Immaterial’s ongoing projects with partners, customers, and funding agencies. Ben has a background in advanced materials and recently completed a PhD in materials engineering at the University of Cambridge, where he researched soft magnetic composites for use in electric motors. Prior to starting his PhD studies, Ben worked overseas as a Mechanical Engineer at Atkins, where he led the design of mechanical equipment as part of a multi-billion-dollar Oil & Gas project in the Middle East.
Edward Hackett
Programme manager
Edward oversees the smooth delivery of Immaterial’s ongoing projects with partners, customers, and funding agencies. Additionally, he works in Immaterial’s commercial team to develop deployment opportunities for Immaterial’s technology portfolio. Edward holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge and an MEng from University College London and the London School of Economics where he researched the technological and economic viability of large-scale aerogel production.
Sam Charman
Head of Finance
Sam is an experienced Chartered Accountant with expertise in audit, corporate finance, and financial control. With a background at Deloitte and Grant Thornton, they bring knowledge in financial systems, compliance, and strategic decision-making. Sam previously worked in Audit at Deloitte, providing valuable insights to diverse clients, ensuring financial accuracy and adherence to industry best practices. At Grant Thornton Sam worked on several transactions including fund raising, acquisitions and AIM listings. Sam’s first role in Industry was at Bidwells LLP as the financial controller for c.3 years and now joins Immaterial as the Head of Finance.
Nigel Sommerville Roberts
IP Director
Prior to joining Immaterial as IP Director, Nigel was a senior technologist at Procter and Gamble. After a 26 year career at P&G, he left to work as a consultant specialising in product/process-based Intellectual Property development and product/process development. He is now also a visiting academic at the Universities of Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield. He regularly gives University teaching on technical and business subjects including solids (pharma) processing, product and process design, critical thinking and innovation mechanisms.
Mohammed Khan
CEO
MANAGEMENT
BOARD
Mohammed is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of transforming and growing a range of businesses from energy, chemicals, specialities, life sciences, water and other industrial markets. Common themes spanning a career over 27 years include technology commercialisation, creating enterprise value, customer intimacy and partnerships, full M&A cycle including joint ventures experience. Mohammed has operated in most industrial geographies across the world and brings significant customer insight and business leadership experience to Immaterial with a career spanning across BP and Johnson Matthey.
Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez
Founder, President and CSO
MANAGEMENT
BOARD
Science
David is a co-founder of Immaterial and leads the development of our fundamental technology. He is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Reader in Molecular Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory. His research into the application of MOFs in energy applications and nanoscale drug delivery is underpinned by fundamental studies into molecular recognition and self-assembly processes inside nanoporous materials.
Owen Garrigan
CTO
MANAGEMENT
BOARD
Engineering
Owen has more than twenty five years experience of leading technical, innovation, and operational activities in global industrial and specialty chemical companies. During that time he has led teams in product and process development, capital projects, operations management, open innovation and collaborative ventures, working internationally through a career including ICI, AkzoNobel, FUJIFILM and Johnson Matthey.
Jogchum Brinksma
Chairman
BOARD
Jogchum is an entrepreneurial senior executive with a detailed experience in different industries, both large private and public corporations. He became fascinated by the recent enhanced possibilities of computational analytics of large datasets for complex decision making and analytical review. Over the past years he invested in a broad range of university spin-outs with innovative breakthrough technology, which benefit from these enhanced capabilities in their scientific research towards promising commercial applications. He supports the companies with capital and advises on strategic challenges, in a capacity as Non-Executive Director or Advisor. His portfolio of investee companies has a strong focus on decarbonisation and facilitating the energy transition. His deep experience and relationships in energy- and environmental markets support Immaterial in accelerating the commercial growth of company.
Dr Tony Harris
Director
BOARD
Tony is a seasoned entrepreneur and inventor with a 35-year background in business and technology. His expertise spans international corporate governance and business development, product management, technical sales and international exporting, as well as intellectual property management and licensing. In 2007 he successfully exited an international software company that he co-founded in 1989. The company won four Queen’s Awards, appeared in The Times’ 100 FastTrack and ProfitTrack and had offices in three continents.
Ate Visser
Director
BOARD
Ate brings nearly 40 years of broad, international senior executive experience in the energy and chemicals industries. He has successfully developed and managed large integrated upstream and midstream natural gas/LNG, Gas-to-Liquids and chemicals businesses. During his Shell career, he served as a member of the Upstream Asia Leadership Team, and the global Integrated Gas and Shell Chemicals Leadership Teams. Ate supports various other start-ups, a global consultancy and serves on the Supervisory Board of two companies. Throughout his career, Ate has consistently focussed on using cutting-edge R&D to overcome world-scale technology challenges, and unlock significant value through innovation. For Immaterial, with its ground-breaking platform technology, he sees opportunities to advance the state-of-the-art in a broad range of industries and applications. Ate is an active member of the Immaterial team.
Dr Ceren Camur
Senior Research Associate
science
Ceren leads all the wet-lab R&D activities. Prior to joining Immaterial, Ceren was a Research Associate in the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory (AAML) at the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology and a College Research Associate at St John’s College at the University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD in Materials Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain in 2019. During her PhD, she successfully created synthesis processes using the spray-drying method, enabling the manufacture of MOF powders at a multi-kilogram scale in collaboration with AxelOne, Lyon, France under a Horizon 2020 project called ProDIA.
Dr Robin Babu
Research Associate
science
Robin is responsible for scaling up our MOFs and the research and development of new MOF materials. Robin completed his PhD in Chemistry from Pusan National University in South Korea, where his research was focused on the development of numerous materials (metal organic frameworks, mixed metal oxides, and nano materials) for catalytic applications. He also holds an MTech degree in Industrial Catalysis and MSc degree in Chemistry. To date, Robin has published 22 international papers related to the design, green synthesis, and investigation on the structural properties of MOFs for carbon capture and transformation catalysis.
Dr Gerard Boix
Research Associate
science
Gerard completed his PhD in chemistry at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. His research was focussed on the development of MOF-based composite materials for applications such as water remediation, biomedicine, and drug delivery. He also holds a MSc in Industrial and Research Chemistry and a BSc in Chemistry both from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Gerard’s role at Immaterial is the design, synthesis, and optimisation of monolithic MOFs as well as developing the technologies for their industrial scale production.
Kamal Diab
Research Scientist
science
Kamal is responsible for creating materials for hydrogen storage, carbon dioxide and ammonia capture and water sorption applications. Prior to joining Immaterial, Kamal completed an MSc in Chemistry at E-JUST University, studying MOFs for water sorption applications. Kamal received the Newton-Mosharafa Scholarship to pursue his studies in the UK in early 2020. Kamal has completed his second MSc. of Research at the University of Birmingham studying sorption-based systems using MOFs. In his spare time, Kamal enjoys reading stories and playing football.
Dr Naveen Kumar
Synthetic Chemist
science
Naveen is a Synthetic Chemist who recently joined Immaterial in November 2022. He completed his PhD in 2021 from University of Limerick, Ireland, where he continued as a postdoctoral researcher for approx. a year and then moved to Virginia Tech, USA for another postdoc from June 2022 to October 2022. His research expertise is design, synthesis, and characterisation of Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for adsorption and/or separations. Naveen’s role at Immaterial is to work on the development of monolithic MOFs for industrial applications.
Dr Lik Hong Wee
Research Manager
science
Lik Hong is leading the synthesis, processing and upscaling of zeolites for catalytic and separation applications at Immaterial. He completed his PhD in Chemistry at Manchester Metropolitan University (2008) where he developed novel methods for the fabrication of ultra-thin zeolite films. After completing his Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) research fellowship at the University of Leuven, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge as a senior FWO research fellow. He specialises in the design, synthesis and processing of nanoporous materials such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks and ordered mesoporous silicas.
Hassan Azhar
Lab technician
science
Hassan is the lab technician at Immaterial. Coming from a Biotechnology background, he believes in the technology that Immaterial has to offer to the community. He assists the scientists and engineers in the large-scale production of MOFs whilst playing a vital role in ensuring the safe, efficient, and smooth operation of the laboratory. He creates and run systems to manage raw-material supplies, waste disposal, housekeeping, good work practices and helps with safety-related tasks in the laboratory.
Prof. Peyman Z. Moghadam
Computational Researcher
science
Peyman is an Associate Professor of data-driven materials engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering at University College London (UCL). His research is leading the field of high-level molecular simulations and big-data science–including Monte Carlo, quantum chemical calculations and machine learning–for characterisation of self-assembled porous materials. He works with Immaterial on the digital manufacturing of MOFs.
Dr Amir Farmahini
Senior Computational Scientist
science
Amir is a Senior Computational Scientist at Immaterial specialised in molecular and process systems engineering (MSE/PSE). His expertise span across multiscale and multiphysics modeling and simulation of chemical engineering systems from atomistic scale through to process and device scale. Amir has numerous first-class publications in adsorption science, nanoporous materials, and carbon capture technologies. At Immaterial, Amir is leading the efforts for the development of energy efficient carbon capture technologies based on Immaterial’s innovative metal-organic framework monoliths, where insights from molecular simulations are combined with process level understanding for large-scale system design.
Dr Aurelia Li
Computational Scientist
science
Aurelia is responsible for screening large datasets of materials using molecular simulations to find the most promising ones. Prior to joining Immaterial, Aurelia completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge with Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez. Her work focused on the development of datasets of porous materials (metal-organic frameworks and cages). She also holds an MPhil in Advanced Chemical Engineering from the same university and a Diplome d’Ingenieur (equivalent to MSc) from Centrale Paris.
Nikos Stephanopoulos
Senior Process Engineer
Engineering
Nikos holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc in Advanced Process Engineering from Imperial College London. He is also in the process of completing his dissertation on Industry 4.0 readiness models for his MBA with Warwick Business School. Prior to joining Immaterial, Nikos has worked within Operations Management and Process Engineering in the food industry specialising in process improvement, standardisation and design. In his current role at Immaterial, Nikos is responsible for managing process safety, design and equipment selection to scale up the manufacturing process.
Dr Mohamed Abdelraouf
System and process engineer
Engineering
Mohamed has a background in fluid mechanics, coatings, and process simulation which he has developed during his Ph.D. and MSc. Mohamed is currently leading a system project which is focused on the design and simulation of a unit operation for carbon capture and purification from gas-fired boiler flue gas.
Ailsa Morrison
Process Design engineer
Engineering
Ailsa divides her time between optimising and delivering kg-scale MOF production onsite, and undertaking research and design work for future tonne-scale projects. She holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London. Prior to joining Immaterial, she worked as an Applications Engineer, specialising in advanced metrology equipment, working with customers to develop innovative quality assurance solutions in industries ranging from medical devices to aerospace.
Jim Buston
Business Development Manager
Commercial
Jim joins Immaterial in business development, responsible for carbon capture and storage. His background is predominantly focussed in the upstream energy sector across the whole lifecycle, working in engineering, manufacture, welding, inspection, asset protection materials/fabric maintenance and decommissioning. Jim has successfully launched and upscaled various new products and services into the market during his career globally, so brings extensive and practical operational experience.
Charu Sharma
Business Development Associate
Commercial
Charu holds an Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Liverpool, which equipped her with a strong foundation in financial analysis and strategic decision-making. She is a n Business Development Associate with a diverse background spanning the mining, energy, banking, education and training and hospitality sectors, with experience gained from living and working in three continents that bring a global perspective and a deep understanding of international business practices. Throughout her career, She has demonstrated expertise in identifying and capitalising on business opportunities, forging strategic partnerships and driving revenue growth.
Dr Ben Dyer
Commercial Associate
Commercial
Ben is a member of the commercial team, developing deployment opportunities for Immaterial’s technology portfolio. In addition, Ben is also a project manager, ensuring the smooth delivery of Immaterial’s ongoing projects with partners, customers, and funding agencies. Ben has a background in advanced materials and recently completed a PhD in materials engineering at the University of Cambridge, where he researched soft magnetic composites for use in electric motors. Prior to starting his PhD studies, Ben worked overseas as a Mechanical Engineer at Atkins, where he led the design of mechanical equipment as part of a multi-billion-dollar Oil & Gas project in the Middle East.
Edward Hackett
Programme Manager
Commercial
Edward oversees the smooth delivery of Immaterial’s ongoing projects with partners, customers, and funding agencies. Additionally, he works in Immaterial’s commercial team to develop deployment opportunities for Immaterial’s technology portfolio. Edward holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge and an MEng from University College London and the London School of Economics where he researched the technological and economic viability of large-scale aerogel production.
Sam Charman
Head of Finance
Finance
Sam is an experienced Chartered Accountant with expertise in audit, corporate finance, and financial control. With a background at Deloitte and Grant Thornton, they bring knowledge in financial systems, compliance, and strategic decision-making. Sam previously worked in Audit at Deloitte, providing valuable insights to diverse clients, ensuring financial accuracy and adherence to industry best practices. At Grant Thornton Sam worked on several transactions including fund raising, acquisitions and AIM listings. Sam’s first role in Industry was at Bidwells LLP as the financial controller for c.3 years and now joins Immaterial as the Head of Finance.
Nigel Sommerville-Roberts
IP Director
IP
Prior to joining Immaterial as IP Director, Nigel was a senior technologist at Procter and Gamble. After a 26 year career at P&G, he left to work as a consultant specialising in product/process-based Intellectual Property development and product/process development. He is now also a visiting academic at the Universities of Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield. He regularly gives University teaching on technical and business subjects including solids (pharma) processing, product and process design, critical thinking and innovation mechanisms.
Neil MacDougall
ADVISOR
Ex-Chair of Silver fleet Capital and BVCA
Board Member of UKBAA
Venture investor
Board Member of UKBAA
Venture investor
Andrew Milnes
ADVISOR
Ex BP Executive
Commodity Specialist
Non Exec Director
Venture Investor
Commodity Specialist
Non Exec Director
Venture Investor
Michael Pambianchi
ADVISOR
Ex Corning executive
Breakthrough ENERGY FELLOW
Breakthrough ENERGY FELLOW
John Walker
ADVISOR
Ex Board Member Johnson Matthey
FTSE 100 Board member
Ex-CEO Clean Air
Venture intvestor
FTSE 100 Board member
Ex-CEO Clean Air
Venture intvestor
