Our people in Cumbria
Leadership and administrative team at based at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility.
Job title
Sandra Aidaghese
Senior Lab Technician, Photons and Analytical Science Sandra is working within the area of photon irradiation and experimental analysis, ensuring quality control, and maintaining laboratory instruments at the University’s centre for radiation science, the Dalton Cumbrian Facility.
Aliaksandr Baidak
Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Radiation Chemistry Research Team Leader at DCF Alex's research focuses on radiation-chemical mechanisms and delivers insights into polymer degradation, dosimetry, reactor chemistry, and radiation effects in 2D and nanomaterials. At DCF, Alex has developed a bespoke experimental setup allowing simulation of nuclear reactor conditions in laboratory settings.
Hayley Austin
Executive Assistant Hayley is Executive Assistant for the Dalton Cumbrian Facility with a primary role to support the DCF Director and the Head of Operations.
Fred Currell
Director of the Dalton Cumbrian Facility and Professor of Nuclear Chemistry Fred is interested in all areas of radiation science. Current projects include developing fast computational techniques for solving spatially inhomogeneous radiation chemistry systems, understanding hydrogen production at irradiated solid-water interfaces, automated handling/analysis of samples in radiation fields, production of personalised nuclear medicines and rapid manufacture of new vaccines.
Kay Dewhurst
Technical Specialist, Accelerator Science Kay works as part of the DCF accelerator team to maintain and operate the two onsite Pelletron accelerators. Kay supports visiting scientists to carry out irradiation studies, and her research explores upgrades to current and future accelerator systems at DCF.
Ruth Edge
Senior Technical Specialist Ruth leads the Photon and Analytical Science team. She is a radiation chemist with research interests in free radicals and antioxidants. She is a Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS), responsible for management and operation of the gamma and x-ray irradiators and other sealed sources.
Dipak Gorakh Babar
Technical Specialist in Nanoparticle Chemical Synthesis Dipak has over seven years of expertise in nanotechnology and nanochemistry, and excels in the synthesis and functionalisation of advanced nanomaterials, such as carbon nanomaterials, metallic nanoparticles, and upconversion nanoparticles. He brings extensive skills in method development, validation and analytical techniques, with a focus on innovative solutions for nanobiotechnology applications.
Dave Hutchinson
Technical Specialist in materials characterisation using analytical techniques (including SEM and Raman) Dave has previous nuclear experience having worked for the National Nuclear Laboratory in Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) in the Active Handling Facility (AHF) at Sellafield on fuels and graphite from the UK’s Advanced Gas (cooled) Reactors (AGR) fleet.
Robert Jones
Head of Operations Robert is Head of Operations for the Dalton Nuclear Institute and is based at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility. Robert completed his PhD at DCF in 2016 and has worked in various roles within the nuclear industry.
William Leising
Health, Safety and Compliance Advisor Will completed his PhD at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility in 2024, based around radiation grafting and dosimetry. Will is currently involved in the development of equipment and developing new capabilities at DCF while also ensuring its safe operation.
Samir de Maraes Shubeita
Technical Specialist, Accelerator Science Samir manages the operation of DCF’s ion accelerator systems, beamline end station developments, and provides support to users in materials radiation damage and ion beam analysis experiments.
Aidan Milston
Technical Specialist, Accelerator Science Aidan is part of the accelerator team assigned to operate and maintain the particle accelerators at DCF. His main responsibilities are working alongside users to deliver on their experimental objectives and contributing to technical development projects focusing on end station design and automation.
Mel O’Leary
Technical Specialist, Accelerator Science Mel supports user experiments on the accelerators at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility, and the maintenance thereof. Mel joined the University in 2019 as a Research Associate, investigating water radiolysis near oxide surfaces. Mel is currently developing novel automated sample handling devices for ion irradiation experiments.
Lesley Pater
Research Programmes Administrator Lesley manages administration for DCF enquiries and user bookings, including through Henry Royce Institute and The UK National Ion Beam Centre (UKNIBC).
Christina Pateras
Reception and Administrative Assistant Christina ensures the smooth running of reception area and associated security, financial and administrative tasks.
Rebecca Shepherd
Building and Operations Manager Rebecca has worked at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility since 2011. Rebecca’s primary role is to manage the day-to-day operations of the facility, ensuring experimental equipment, building infrastructure, and administrative functions support the requirements of our research and user communities.
Andy Smith
Senior Technical Specialist Andy is responsible for the operations and development of DCF’s suite of ion accelerators and beamlines. He has a long background in accelerators, instrument development and providing user support from his earlier career at Daresbury Laboratory. He maintains strong connections with the UK accelerator community.
Sally Wilson
Senior Technician Sally provides technical support and lab management at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility. She has a background in molecular biology, microbiology, QA, project management, information science and business management.
Kobe Wong
Technical Specialist, Photons and Analytical Science Kobe completed his PhD studying lanthanide-doped luminescent nanoparticles, and he worked in various research and technical roles across the US, Japan, and Hong Kong. Kobe possesses technical expertise in a wide range of materials characterisation techniques, including photoluminescence and laser spectroscopy, powder XRD, Atomic Force Microscope, and Electron Microscope, etc.