Shipley student wins national award
Europe
Shipley student wins national award
Rebecca Holland (Plate 2),a 20-year-old chemistry undergraduate from Bristol University, has won first prize in the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP). The award was made as a direct result of her work during the summer at Shipley Europe's R&D laboratories in Coventry, where she carried out research into a novel,cost-effective and environmentally friendly process for metallising polymers. Rebecca was awarded the title of the UK's Most Enterprising Student at the recent awards ceremony in London.
Plate 2 Rebecca Holland
Shipley's chief scientist,Dr Martin Goosey, said that the company strongly encourages the development of young chemists through its close relationships with UK universities. "Rebecca's project was to develop a new method for metallising polymers avoiding the use of chromic acid. The work was based on the use of electronically generated hydroxyl radicals in a regenerable process, offering the ability to treat polymer surfaces without the formation of harmful waste. Rebecca not only completed the project objectives, but also went on to develop a completely new process based on alternative chemistry, for which patents are now being filed. This novel process offers the possibility of a lower cost, more environmentally friendly method for plating metals on to plastics and for fabricating printed circuit boards".
