Davide Mattia

My Greatest Accomplishment

The University of Bath is my first academic job and it has been a great challenge to develop a research program and build from scratch a research laboratory in a new environment in a new country. After nearly eight years, we have a fantastic research team and have made some fundamental discoveries in how to use nanotechnology to address the environmental challenges our planet faces, from developing novel membranes for clean water while at the same time minimizing energy consumption, to designing new catalyst materials to convert carbon dioxide in valuable chemicals, so there is an economic incentive to capture the carbon rather than release it in the atmosphere. Recently, one of the technologies we developed has been adopted by industry. Seeing what you have created being applied on a large scale and, possibly, making a positive difference to the environment is a great accomplishment.

How Drexel Helped

My supervisor, Professor Yury Gogotsi in the Materials Science and Engineering Department, not only gave me the opportunity to perform fantastic, cutting-edge research but also the chance to develop all the other soft skills necessary to becoming an academic. The dynamic and engaging environment in the department has been a constant stimulus to do more and better and has been essential to my development.

Where I’ll be in Five Years

I love research and expect to be doing cutting-edge work in five, 10 and 15 years’ time! My goal is to understand how nature works and develop novel materials that can help the environment and improve our quality of life. Supporting my students in developing their aspirations and seeing them flourish and succeed is one of the great pleasures of academic life and I look forward to seeing my current students do great things.