The Advisory Board
Strategic input into our Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation and its PhD training programme is provided by an Advisory Board (AB) which meets once per year to offer independent evaluation of our activities and provide advice on appropriate research priorities and strategic directions, as well as on training, employability, knowledge-transfer, exploitation and dissemination opportunities. Our AB comprises a mix of industrial, governmental, and external academic representatives.
Advisory Board members
Name |
Organisation |
Role |
|
academia |
Prof Richard Craster |
Imperial College London |
Professor of Applied Mathematics |
Prof Ruth Oulton |
University of Bristol |
Professor of Quantum Photonics |
|
|
Prof Miles Padgett OBE (AB chair) |
University of Glasgow |
Kelvin Chair Natural Philosophy, School of Physics and Astronomy |
Prof Nathalie Vermeulen |
Vrije Universiteit Brussels |
Professor in Laser Physics |
|
governmental agencies |
Ms Emma Roworth |
EPSRC |
Portfolio Manager |
Prof Ian J Youngs |
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) |
Dstl Senior Fellow. Platform Sciences Group: Physical Sciences Department |
|
industry |
Dr Arseny Alexeev |
WaveOptics |
Head of Research & Processes |
Dr James Dalley |
Leonardo |
Lead Antenna Specialist |
|
Dr Pete Hobson | QinetiQ | QinetiQ Fellow; Team Leader for Electro-Optic Materials and Vision Science | |
Dr Jasmin Stein | TWI Ltd | Section Manager (Adhesives Composites and Sealants) |
CMRI - A beacon of excellence

I am delighted to take over as chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation (CMRI) and its doctoral training programme XM2 at the University of Exeter.
CMRI is a beacon of excellence in the advanced materials community in the UK. Central to the ethos of the centre I remain constantly impressed by the collegiality shown by the staff to each other and to the students, as they strive to utilise their networks within and beyond Exeter to develop new ideas and celebrate each other’s success within an outstandingly creative environment.
Enabling the career of others is very much at the heart of this centre. Having been a board member for the past five years I have been converted to the XM2 doctoral training model, mainly because of the opportunities it has created for the students it supports.
Of the 30 students who have graduated so far, half have continued in the academic research environment and, importantly, most of the remainder have transitioned to an industrial career. Many of those with the companies that have been instrumental to the Centre’s success by supporting the development of the postgraduate researchers throughout their studies.
CMRI is truly a flag ship for successful integration of PhD training within an academic and industrial environment. It certainly qualifies as a safe pair of hands for governmental and industrial investments to deliver tangible outcomes.
As chair of the Advisory Board, I look forward to supporting the future growth of CMRI’s track record for research and education.
- Prof. Miles Padgett OBE, Chair of the CMRI Advisory Board