Lecturer
Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
I have recently joined Aston University as a Lecturer in the Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry (CEAC) section. I will be teaching chemical engineering. After gaining my PhD, I held a number of academic positions involved with particle technology and processing before obtaining a lecturing position in the School of Pharmacy at De Montfort University. I have published 25 journal papers in the field of particle technology and chemical engineering since 2002, with several more submitted.
Qualifications & Education
- BEng Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University 1993
- MSc Bulk Solids Handling, Glasgow Caledonian University, 1995
- PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, 2002
- PGCert HE, De Montfort University, 2010
Employment
- 2012 – date: Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, CEAC, Aston University.
- 2007 – 2012: Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester.
- 2004-2007: Research Fellow, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham.
- 2002-2004: Research Fellow, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham.
- 1999-2002: Research Fellow, Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling, University of Greenwich.
Teaching activity
- CE4017 Particle Handling and Design (MEng)
- CE2105 Process Simulation
Research interests
Powder technology, especially powder flow and caking. Pharmaceutical engineering. Particle surface analysis using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).
Recent research funding
- EPSRC - £11k – 1/10/2011- 30/11/2012 - Enhancing Powder Technology Research Cooperation Between De Montfort University and Scandinavian Institutions, in collaboration with POSTEC Research, Porsgrunn, Norway
- East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) - £15k – 1/3/2011-30/9/2011 – Innovation Fellowship
- EPSRC - £290K – 1/4/2009-31/5/2011- grant number EP/G016224/1 “Novel particle analysis methods”, supported by Unilever Research Port Sunlight
- East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) - £55k – 1/1/2009-31/3/2010 – “Leaving out the lumps – using AFM to analyse the caking of spray-dried materials”, in collaboration with Dr Andrew Stapley, Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University
PhD Supervision
Opportunities for projects in powder technology will be available in the coming year.
Membership of Professional Bodies
- Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE)
- Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Selected publications
- Leaper, M.C., Prime, D., Taylor, P.M. and Leach, V., Solid Bridge formation between spray-dried sodium carbonate particles, 2012. Drying Technology, Vol 30, 1008-1013.
- Prime, D., Stapley, A.G.F., Rielly, C.D., Jones, J.R., and Leaper, M.C., 2011. Analysis of powder caking in multi-component powders using atomic force microscopy to examine particle properties, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Vol 34, No. 1, 98-102.
- Prime, D., Leaper, M.C. and Stapley, A.G.F., 2011. Caking behaviour of spray-dried milk powders - using scanning probe microscopy to study nanoscale surface properties, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Vol 34 (7) 1104-1108. (Invited submission)
- Leaper M.C., 2008. Quality control of pharmaceutical ingredients: developing a caking test for industry, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Vol 60, A25.
