Matt Keith

What is your current job / programme of study?

Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering 

What A-Levels (or equivalent) did you do?

Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English Literature 

Why did you chose a career in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)?

In a nutshell, to reverse climate change! This is such a pressing issue and something I was hyper-aware of as a teenager. At the time, I wanted to work trying to provide solutions which lowered emissions, reduced our material usage, and overall moved us, as people, to a more sustainable world. 

What did you enjoy most about your MSE course? (If you didn’t do a MSE course which course did you do and what led to you MSE?)

I did an integrated Masters’ (MEng) course in Chemical Engineering. It’s very applied, which meant we worked a lot on real-world problems and solving those is very exciting! It’s also a very collaborative subject so being able to work closely in groups as part of lab sessions, group coursework, or even revision made for a very sociable course. 

What is your research about?

I like to call my work sustainable chemical technologies – basically any kind of chemical technology or process which is more sustainable than current practices I have an interest in finding more about. This ranges from recycling technologies for plastics and composites to sustainable aviation fuel, all using different reactor systems, solvents, and catalysts, depending on what we’re trying to do! 

What is the coolest thing you have done in your career so far?

I’ve been lucky enough to share my research at a lot of different conferences, but probably the coolest one so far is travelling to Xi’an, China to give a talk on the recycling of carbon fibre reinforced polymers. China is a beautiful country and, alongside the conference, we were able to see a lot of the city, some national parks, and the terracotta warriors! 

What do you see yourself doing in the future?

Right now, I’m working to grow my research group. I currently supervise four people in their PhD which is a wonderful challenge for me and I love working with some truly gifted researchers. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, this team will grow to include a post-doctoral researcher along with another one or two PhD students a year. Looking further ahead, I would like to continue researching and teaching and eventually become a professor of chemical engineering. 

What is your favourite material (and why)?

Definitely carbon fibres! They are super strong, lightweight, and durable which means they can be used in a huge range of demanding applications. Unfortunately, they are expensive to make and use very high temperatures above 100 degrees centigrade! That means they also use a lot of energy to make and so recycling them so that they can be reused is incredibly important. 

What advice would you give your 16 year old self?

Follow your heart. If a particular subject is fun, exciting, or even just a little bit interesting, then that’s probably a good one to do at A-level or even University. The stuff that is interesting will feel a lot less like work, and you’ll want to learn about it, which also makes it easier to understand. Following that through to a job means that with a bit of luck, you’ll end up doing something you really enjoy. 

Links to any external profile pages / website you have:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew-Keith-3