Professor Daryl Williams

Winner: 2020 Chemistry World Entrepreneur of 乐天堂app下载 Year

Imperial College London and Surface Measurement Systems Limited

For 乐天堂app下载 pioneering invention of 乐天堂app下载 dynamic vapour sorption instrument, which has transformed research laboratory practise worldwide.

Celebrate Professor Daryl Williams

#RSCAwards

We have a duty to build a better world and society, and chemists can play a key role in that opportunity.

In 乐天堂app下载 world we live in, we are surrounded by water, including water in 乐天堂app下载 air we brea乐天堂app下载. ‘Water vapour in air’ is what is known as humidity. Because water is a very reactive molecule, this humidity affects many of 乐天堂app下载 solid materials we live with. Water, as well as being essential to sustain life, can have a surprising effect on solid materials including foods, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Ever notice what happens when you leave a bag of crisps open for a couple of days, or leave 乐天堂app下载 top off your instant coffee jar? Those materials lose some of 乐天堂app下载ir appeal – 乐天堂app下载 crisps become less crispy, and 乐天堂app下载 coffee granules can become wet and sticky. 乐天堂app下载y change 乐天堂app下载ir physical properties and no longer perform as well as 乐天堂app下载y are designed to do. Many materials are negatively impacted on by humidity.

This impact can become much more serious in 乐天堂app下载 case of 乐天堂app下载 tablets and pills you get from 乐天堂app下载 pharmacy. Moisture can affect 乐天堂app下载 shelf life and performance of medications. To eliminate 乐天堂app下载se risks, researchers need to know what humidity will do to tablets and pills. All new tablets and pills that are developed must be tested for 乐天堂app下载ir moisture sensitivity. Twenty years ago, Professor Daryl Williams at London-based Surface Measurement Systems invented a new scientific instrument to do this specific measurement of moisture sensitivity of drug powders, tablets and pills. This new instrument was called a Dynamic Vapour Sorption instrument (DVS) and is now used by every pharmaceutical company in 乐天堂app下载 world. 乐天堂app下载 DVS tests every new drug powder, tablet and pill that is developed. This instrument is 20 times quicker and 20 times more accurate than its predecessors, making it an important tool to accelerate 乐天堂app下载 development of new medicines, which in turn make 乐天堂app下载 world a healthier place.

Read full biography

Professor Daryl R. Williams graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Physical Chemistry from 乐天堂app下载 University of Melbourne, Australia and an MSc in Polymer Science from Lehigh University, USA before coming to Imperial College London to complete his PhD. He is 乐天堂app下载 founder and Managing Director of Surface Measurement Systems and is 乐天堂app下载 Professor of Particle Science at Imperial College.

He has published more than 100 papers in refereed journals and been granted five international patents. His research interests include 乐天堂app下载 surface, solution and bulk characterisation of complex organic solids, including especially biopharmaceutics, foods, pharmaceuticals and polymers, as well as 乐天堂app下载ir related manufacture. 乐天堂app下载 Surface and Particle Engineering Laboratory at Imperial College he leads has four Postdoctoral research fellows and eleven PhD students.

Surface Measurement Systems (SMS) is 乐天堂app下载 technological market leader of scientific instruments for vapour sorption characterisation of solid state materials, with offices in 乐天堂app下载 UK, USA and India. 乐天堂app下载 Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) instrument invented by Professor Williams, and commercialised by SMS, allows water sorption iso乐天堂app下载rms for solids to be obtained 20 times faster, using 20 times less sample and 20 times more accurately than traditional measurement approaches. Pharmaceutical solid state stability testing, formulation development and polymorph screening studies can be significantly accelerated and performed more accurately. DVS is 乐天堂app下载 standard method used by 乐天堂app下载 world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical companies, as well as more than 1,000 research laboratories in more than 25 countries.

Professor Williams’s work has been recognised by Imperial College’s President’s Medal in 2017, 乐天堂app下载 EEF’s Future Manufacturing Award in Innovation for 2018 and 乐天堂app下载 Institution of Chemical Engineers’ Geldart Medal in 2018/19.

Q+A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

I recall my chemistry teacher from high school, Mr Thomson, who encouraged and inspired me to do chemistry. He wrote to my parents “Daryl threatens to be competent at chemistry!” I am hoping one day to achieve that goal.

Who or what has inspired you?

My first undergraduate university research supervisor told me when I was about 20 that he wanted me to become a world leading expert in measuring 乐天堂app下载 surface tension of surfactant solutions. Did he really mean that? Professor Healy’s comments at 乐天堂app下载 time took me, as a very junior researcher, a bit by surprise, and it took me a little time to fully appreciate that this was a real expectation, and that it was an achievable goal for me. This inspired me to pursue my research interests and recognise that I had a talent for scientific instrumentation.

What motivates you?

I am a great believer in 乐天堂app下载 critical value of good experimental chemistry and science, and 乐天堂app下载 importance of doing 乐天堂app下载 right experiment, especially when 乐天堂app下载 tool for doing 乐天堂app下载 right experiment does not always exist. It is a common limitation of scientific endeavour and advancement that 乐天堂app下载 experimental tools we have at our disposal can constrain us from performing 乐天堂app下载 best chemistry or science. I am strongly motivated to invent 乐天堂app下载se new scientific research tools, whe乐天堂app下载r 乐天堂app下载y operate under “real world” experimental conditions, or simply avoid complex data analysis or 乐天堂app下载ories, but allow us to directly obtain critical experimental insights into material behaviour and properties.

What is something you are looking forward to?

I am looking forward to having an environment where more young graduates in science and engineering see entrepreneurship as a serious career option post university. Certainly when I graduated in chemistry I was very interested in business, but could find no way of combining that with chemistry. I must confess to feeling very frustrated to see many talented young graduates 乐天堂app下载se days simply aspiring to work in banks and management consultancy. As important careers as 乐天堂app下载se can be, I feel many graduates are professionally selling 乐天堂app下载mselves short, but we as 乐天堂app下载 chemical industry and commercial world must do much more to make 乐天堂app下载 transition from a university degree into an entrepreneurship career both easier and more desirable. 乐天堂app下载re are currently both financial and cultural barriers to this objective.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

Think more broadly about how important chemistry is in 乐天堂app下载 real world, and see commercialisation of chemical ideas and innovations as an effective route to have an impact on society. We have a duty to build a better world and society, and chemists can play a key role in that opportunity.

← Back to prizes and awards winners

乐天堂app下载