Question: What i s your aim

Sean Collins answered on 15 May 2020:

My work is guided by the idea that if we know how and why materials work the way they do, then we can make them work better or we can design new materials that will be more efficient, work in new environments or meet new demands, and make new technology possible.

I focus on understanding how atoms interact with each. This fundamental knowledge helps explain function and how well a material works in a piece of technology – critically, an understanding of why and how things work sheds light on principles that can be applied to many different contexts and applications.

Some of the applications I’ve worked on recently have been in catalysts – these are materials that are used in industry to convert one chemical into another chemical that we need for everything from medicines and farming to how electricity is generated or stored.