Jackie Akhavan

Last updated
Jacqueline Akhavan
Nationality British
Occupation
Employer Cranfield University
Known forResearch into explosives
Website www.cranfield.ac.uk/people/professor-jackie-akhavan-776315

Jacqueline Akhavan is a British chemist and expert in the chemistry of explosives.

Contents

Early life and education

Akhavan grew up in a house in Bermondsey, South London where there was an outdoor toilet and a tin bath. [1] of postdoctoral research, she decided that her future lay in academia. She was then advised against going directly into a university career. She was instead told by her PhD advisor to go into the industry, as experience in industry would help her gain an understanding of the commercial environment. This advice helped her move back into academia once she decided to become a lecturer. After graduating, she began working at Pirelli General developing polymeric optical fibers for communication. She worked at Pirelli for 3 years when she went back into academia by joining Cranfield University as a polymer and physical chemistry lecturer. She also received her master's degree in Philosophy in 1982 and her PhD in polymer chemistry from Southampton University. [2]

Academic career

At Cranfield, she first started her work using the explosives in fireworks by understanding the reactions taking place as well as making them safe for the public to use. Eventually, she was promoted to senior lecturer at Cranfield and became the head of the Centre for Defense Chemistry. Her research also is focused on polymer bonded explosives and their applications. During her tenure, she has received numerous research contracts from government organization, such as the Ministry of Defense UK, and also various corporate contracts from companies such as BAe Systems and MBDA. Most of her work, however, is secret due to the nature of her work and the application of her research will never be published. [1] In 2007, she was given a chair in explosive chemistry and is now the Head of the Center for Defense Chemistry. [2] As of September 2014, her current research is focused on making it easier for government agencies to detect explosives during security screenings like the ones conducted at airports. The main focus of this new research is developing viable ways to detect liquid and paste explosives. Akhavan also helps to train government agencies in bomb recognition and detection to improve safety. [1]

She is both a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry [3] and the Institute of Explosive Engineers. She is also a member of the Board of trustees for the Explosives Engineers Educational and Research Trust, where she helps to promote a safe and professional work environment for employees working with explosives. [4]

Personal life

As a researcher, she finds her work to be both challenging and rewarding. This also extends to her teaching career as she enjoys teaching both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Akhavan also states that her career has its, though exciting and gratifying, has its drawbacks. Most notably, she states that the worst aspect of her career is how it impacts her family life. Her career has forced her to spend holidays away from her family. She elaborates by stating that if not for her husband Shari's constant support and sacrifice, she may not have gotten as far in her career as she currently has.

She has stated that outside of chemistry she spends most of her free time cooking in her kitchen and sitting on her couch and reading.

She highly recommends that people to go into chemistry careers, but also warns them to be ready to stop viewing the world like other people and to accept chemistry as part of their everyday lives. She also advises people looking to go into careers in academia not to expect to be rich. However, she then says that this work provides a strong sense of fulfillment and achievement. As she puts it, it is a way of life. [3]

Notable Quotes

The Chemistry of Explosives

Akhavan published a book called The Chemistry of Explosives ( ISBN   978-1849733304). This book covered many different aspects of explosives including the classification of explosives, combustion, ignition, thermochemistry, and kinetics. Also, there is an introduction to explosives at the beginning of the book that goes over the development of most of the notable explosives used today. The book is meant to teach others about the science behind explosive compounds. [6]

Notable work

Akhavan has led research for: [7]

Related Research Articles

RDX Explosive chemical compound

RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive" or "Royal Demolition eXplosive"), among other names (see the section Name), is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a nitroamine alongside HMX, which is a more energetic explosive than TNT. It was used widely in World War II and remains common in military applications.

A polymer-bonded explosive, also called PBX or plastic-bonded explosive, is an explosive material in which explosive powder is bound together in a matrix using small quantities of a synthetic polymer. PBXs are normally used for explosive materials that are not easily melted into a casting, or are otherwise difficult to form. PBX was first developed in 1952 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as RDX embedded in polystyrene with dioctyl phthalate plasticizer. HMX compositions with teflon-based binders were developed in 1960s and 1970s for gun shells and for Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) seismic experiments, although the latter experiments are usually cited as using hexanitrostilbene (HNS).

Stephanie Kwolek American chemist; invented Kevlar

Stephanie Louise Kwolek was an American chemist who is known for inventing Kevlar. Her career at the DuPont company spanned more than 40 years. She discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness: poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide.

Jacqueline Barton American chemist

Jacqueline K. Barton, is an American chemist. She worked as a Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College (1980–82), and at Columbia University (1983–89) before joining the California Institute of Technology. In 1997 she became the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry and from 2009 to 2019, the Norman Davidson Leadership Chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech. She currently is the John G. Kirkwood and Arthur A. Noyes Professor of Chemistry.

The Doctor of Engineering, or Engineering Doctorate, is a degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in engineering and applied sciences. In most countries, it is a terminal research doctorate. A DEng/EngD is equivalent to a PhD in engineering, but different in that it has a solid industrial base and an additional taught element.

Explosives trace detectors (ETD) are explosive detection equipment able to detect explosives of small magnitude. The detection is accomplished by sampling non-visible "trace" amounts of particulates. Devices similar to ETDs are also used to detect narcotics. The equipment is used mainly in airports and other vulnerable areas considered susceptible to acts of unlawful interference. Dr. Stephen Lee is credited with inventing the Fido explosives detector while working at the Army Research Laboratory.

JoAnne Stubbe American chemist

JoAnne Stubbe is an American chemist best known for her work on ribonucleotide reductases, for which she was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2017, she retired as a Professor of Chemistry and Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Anthony Ledwith was a British chemist.

Paula T. Hammond American chemical engineer

Paula Therese Hammond is a David H. Koch Professor in Engineering and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her laboratory designs polymers and nanoparticles for drug delivery and energy-related applications including batteries and fuel cells.

Betty Wright Harris is an American chemist. She is known for her work on the chemistry of explosives completed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She patented a spot test for detecting 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) in the field, which is used by the Federal Department of Homeland Security to screen for nitroaromatic explosives.

Karen Holford Welsh professor

Karen Margaret Holford is a Welsh engineer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Cranfield University. She was formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff University. She is also a former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering and Head of the School of Engineering. She is an active researcher of acoustic emission and her work has been applied to damage assessment inspections on industrial components.

Harry Melville (chemist)

Sir Harry Work Melville, was a British chemist, academic, and academic administrator, who specialised in polymer research. He spent his early career in academia as a lecturer and researcher, before moving into administration as a civil servant and university college head.

Iain McCulloch (academic)

Iain McCulloch, born in Scotland, is Professor of Polymer Chemistry, in the Department of Chemistry, at the University of Oxford, UK, a Fellow and Tutor in Chemistry at Worcester College, and an adjunct Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London.

Charlotte Williams is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the synthesis of novel catalysts with an expertise in organometallic chemistry and polymer materials chemistry.

Malcolm Harris Levitt is a British-born physical chemist and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopist. He is Professor in Physical Chemistry at the University of Southampton and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007.

Alison Rodger Chemist specialising in biomacromolecular structures

Alison Rodger FRSC FRACI FAA CChem is a Professor of Chemistry at Macquarie University. Her research considers biomacromolecular structures and their characterisation. She is currently developing Raman Linear Difference Spectroscopy and fluorescence detected liner dichroism to understand biomacromolecular structure and interactions with application to the division of bacterial cells.

Sylvia Stoesser American chemist

Sylvia Marie Stoesser, was an American chemist. She was the first woman to be employed as a chemist at Dow Chemical Company. During her time at Dow, she made a number of major contributions, holding more than two dozen patents as a result of her research.

Heather Maynard American chemist

Heather D. Maynard is the Dr Myung Ki Hong Professor in Polymer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. She works on protein-polymer conjugates and polymeric drugs. Maynard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Kristi Kiick American chemical engineer

Kristi Lynn Kiick is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware. She studies polymers, biomaterials and hydrogels for drug delivery and regenerative medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and of the National Academy of Inventors. She served for nearly eight years as the Deputy Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware.

Katharina Landfester is a German chemist who is a Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. Her research considers the physical properties of droplets, polymerisation in emulsion and the synthesis of nanoparticles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Akhavan, Jackie (2015-04-10). "Helping to Keep the UK Safe". Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  2. 1 2 "Jacqueline Akhavan | Chemistry | University of Southampton". www.southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  3. 1 2 "Professor Jacqueline Akhavan CChem FRSC | 175 Faces of Chemistry". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Jackie Akhavan". www.cranfield.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  5. ↑ Akhavan, Jackie (January 24, 2010). "Insensitive Munitions". The Naked Scientists. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  6. ↑ Akahvan, Jackie (July 8, 2011). The Chemistry of Explosives. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN   1849733309.
  7. ↑ "Professor Jackie Akhavan". www.cranfield.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  8. ↑ "TLS: Jackie Akhavan 30 Sept 14". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.