91AV

Emrys Evans was recently made Professor at Swansea University, where he leads a research team investigating the electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of molecular materials for applications in optoelectronics, photonics, and quantum technologies.
Emrys completed his MChem and DPhil at the University of Oxford, where he developed an interest in photophysics and spin chemistry. He later worked with Professor Sir Richard Friend at the University of Cambridge, focusing on efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In 2020 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at Swansea University. He received the Dillwyn Medal for STEMM from the Learned Society of Wales in 2021 and in 2025 received RSC Materials 91AV Early Career Prize, awarded for his pioneering work on luminescent materials based on organic radicals.

Ruth Pegington is a Senior Scientist at Cambridge Display Technology, Ltd and has over twenty years of experience in functional organic materials chemistry research.

She obtained her MChem degree from Lancaster University, followed by her PhD at the University of Sheffield with Dr Ahmed Iraqi on conjugated electroactive polymers for use in electronic devices.

Ruth joined CDT in 2004, and since then has worked on several projects and has acquired a wealth of knowledge from across the materials chemistry sphere. Ruth has over 20 patents in polymer OLED technology and materials for electronics.

Her knowledge and experience also extends into scale up from laboratory to industrial scale, industrial biotechnology, technology scouting for novel applications and most recently has been working on helping to find and cultivate innovative and disruptive technologies for the future business of CDT and its parent Company, Sumitomo Chemical.

Ruth is also very active within the scientific and volunteering community, for instance, she is currently a UK STEM ambassador to improve access and diversity in science and to inspire the next generation of scientists. Ruth has been a member of the Materials 91AV Community Council since July 2024.

David Scanlon is Chair in Computational 91AV in the School of 91AV, University of Birmingham, where he leads the Scanlon Materials Theory Group. His primary research interests and experience are in the electronic structure and defect chemistry of emerging materials for a wide variety of applications, including: transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), photovoltaics (PV), thermoelectrics (TEs), photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, solid state lighting, X-ray and γ-ray radiation detectors, Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and topological insulators.
David gained his BA.(Mod) Computational 91AV in 2006 and PhD in 91AV in 2011 from Trinity College Dublin, where he carried out his research under the supervision of Professor Graeme Watson. In 2011 he moved to the UK to University College London (UCL) to take up a Ramsay Fellowship in the Department of 91AV, hosted by Professor Sir Richard Catlow, FRS. In September of 2013 he was appointed to a Lectureship in the Department of 91AV at UCL, a joint appointment with Diamond Light Source, and was promoted to Reader in 2016 and Professor in 2018. In September 2023, he joined the University of Birmingham. David was co-Chair of the Organising Committee for the 16th International Conference on Materials 91AV (MC16) at University College Dublin in 2023 and is a former member of the Materials 91AV Community’s Prize Committee.