I’m passionate about innovation and driven by impact.
I really enjoy working on cutting-edge projects and developing enabling new technologies in the hope that these will one day translate back to the real world and have a direct impact on our lives.
I also enjoy being surrounded by brilliant people that share the vision of “technology for good” and I’m truly humbled by their support. Meanwhile, I’m excited by the ever-growing challenges I’m faced with as my career unfolds and keen to take them on.
about.
My background is a bit like a pizza
The base is Mathematical Physics, the sauce is Engineering and Computer Science, and the toppings, well, the toppings will depend on the project that I’m working on at the time. Right now, at Ultraleap, our mission is to deliver interaction solutions that remove the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds.
What this means is that we are advancing hand tracking and ultrasonic haptic technology in creative and enabling new ways. To give you an example, typically, we are used to interacting with computers and machines through interfaces like keyboards, touchscreens and so on. At Ultraleap however, we’re developing a new type of interface. One made up of invisible small vibrations in the air that we can generate and you can gesture, touch and feel with your bare hands and without having to wear or hold anything. A touchable hologram if you like.
So, my background in Mathematical Physics, Complex Systems, Wireless Networks and Engineering certainly comes in handy in the development of this technology, but, at the same time in the past two years, I’ve learned so much about user-centered design, human factors, the psychology of touch, and how to stimulate our senses to create immersive multi-sensory experiences.
Influence and Trajectory
Throughout my career journey, I've had the privilege of authoring numerous impactful papers and filing innovative patents that have contributed to the advancement of my field. Along the way, I've had the honor of mentoring and supervising talented students and colleagues, as well as managing a dynamic R&D team. I've also had the opportunity to spearhead and coordinate several groundbreaking R&D projects, which have enriched my interests and expanded my horizons.
Most recently, I had the pleasure, and challenge, to publish a book, which allowed me to delve even deeper into my passion for the subject of mid-air haptics. But of course, I didn't do it all alone - I owe so much to the people and the places that have influenced and inspired my trajectory, and I'm grateful for every step of the journey.
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My BSc is in Mathematical Physics (University of Nottingham 2007). My final year dissertation was on the Bohr–Sommerfeld model of the hydrogen atom, an extension of the Bohr model to allow for elliptical orbits of electrons around an atomic nucleus.
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My Ph.D. is in Applied Mathematics (University of Bristol 2011) supervised by Prof Carl P. Dettmann. My thesis was about understanding the chaotic dynamics of open mathematical constructs called billiards, and specifically the intermittent escape dynamics of the stadium billiard originally proposed by Prof Leonia Bunimovich.
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In 2011, I joined the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS) in Dresden, Germany, as a Research Fellow where I worked primarily with Eduardo G. Altmann, Achilleas Lazarides, Josh Bodyfelt, and Arseni Gouessev on low dimensional quantum transport, diffusion and escape dynamics.
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In 2012, I moved back to Bristol to join Toshiba's Telecommunications Research Laboratory as a Senior Research Engineer. There, I worked with Justin Coon on modeling large-scale wireless networks and with Cam Ly Nguyen on wireless localization.
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In 2017, I joined Ultraleap Ltd (then known as Ultrahaptics), a spatial interaction and haptics company that uses focused ultrasound to deliver tactile feedback without needing to wear or touch anything. After establishing and growing their Academic Program, I was promoted to Director of Research and headed their research team comprising approximately 10 Ph.D. and Postdocs from varied backgrounds.
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In 2019, I was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Union to work on the development of energy-neutral wireless sensor networks (NEWSENs) at the University of Cyprus. Also in 2019, I became the recipient of the prestigious IEEE Heinrich Hertz Award in recognition of my research contributions to wireless communications and specifically to LoRa networks.
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Since 2021, I am the Head of R&D Partnerships at Ultraleap where I coordinate all our external research activities and collaborations, including the H2020-funded projects Levitate, H-Reality, Touchless, and E-Textures, and the EPSRC Prosperity Partnership with UCL.
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I am currently teaching the MSc course in Technology Management at the UCU Business School in Ukraine together with Mykola Maksymenko and Stephen Russo.
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I hold visiting positions at UCL’s Computer Science department, the School of Mathematics of the University of Bristol and at the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex,
Expertise and Specialisations
Mid-air haptic Interfaces
Human-Computer Interaction
Stochastic Point Processes
Wireless Sensor Networks
LoRa and IoT Networks
Wireless Indoor Localisation
Wireless Power Transfer
Graph Theory
Complex Networks
Statistical Physics
Chaos Theory
Quantum Transport
