Modern Chemistry Podcast

The new technology of science

Episode Summary

Episode 11 of the modern Chemistry podcast is a wide-ranging interview with the self-declared ‘Scientist, less as a chemist’ Stephen Hilton, Associate Professor at University College London, School of Pharmacy. Steve uses 3D printing, virtual reality and accessible automation to support his research. We talk about the benefits of these tools and how they have the ability to open up scientific research, especially in the field of flow chemistry.

Episode Notes

During the show, ee mention Kevin – Dr. Kevin Lam, a previous podcast guest on episodes 5 and 6 – accessible at https://helgroup.com/knowledge/podcasts/ . Again, Thanks to Kevin for making the connection to Steve.

You will hear the following terms used during the interview.  I’ve included some descriptions and links to deeper reading. 

• Arduino – An open source electronics and software platform – more details at  https://www.arduino.cc/
• Raspberry Pi – Similar to Arduino, Raspberry Pi is an accessible electronics and programming platform – more details at https://www.raspberrypi.org/
• FDM – fused deposition modelling – One of the most common 3D printing methods. Fused deposition modeling involves feeding a thermoplastic filament into the 3D printer. The filament is heated to its melting point through a heated nozzle and then extruded on to the build platform, tracing the part dimensions specified by the design. As the first full layer is finished, the print head moves up by one layer height, before tracing the next layer. This continues, layer-by-layer, until the part is complete.
• SLA – Sterolithography- Stereolithography was the first 3D printing technology to be invented, and involves using a UV laser to cure liquid photopolymer resins. It’s the best 3D printing technology for intricate and models with complex geometries.
• Flow Chemistry - or continuous chemistry is where the ingredients for the reaction are continually pumped into a reaction chamber.  The reaction chamber is often some form of a tube, with a catalyst held in place.  The reaction chamber is often heated and/or pressurized and the resulting product will continuously flow out of the reactor, as long as source ingredients are fed in.  More information can be found on Wikipedia here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_chemistry
• Thingiverse is at https://www.thingiverse.com/
• Tinkercad is at https://www.tinkercad.com/

If you want to connect with Steve, or find out more about what he does, you can find him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-hilton-9bab10a/

I would recommend following Steve on Twitter to see many of his amazing 3D printed and VR projects, along with the Lobster Thermidor we mention at the start of the show. On twitter, Steve is @hiltonlab - https://twitter.com/hiltonlab

You can also find Steve’s lab website at https://www.stephen-hilton.com/

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

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