Professor Stuart Coles

Associate Dean (Research), WMG

“I was always breaking glass in my Chemistry lessons at school. When I told my teacher I was going to study it at university, he just laughed.”

“I came to Warwick to do my PhD and I’ve never left! But when you get to work with the kind of equipment available here, why would you go anywhere else? It’s second to none.

As a Professor in Sustainable Materials, I want to work on projects that have an impact on everyone's lives. Making things that we all use daily more environmentally friendly. Whether that’s the packaging or product itself, I’ve got the academic freedom to do that here.

If you’d told the 18-year-old me that I would go on to publish papers as diverse as ‘Hydrothermal Treatment of Waste Plastics’ and ‘Renewable energy for rural communities in Maharashtra, India’ in the same career. I would have reacted in the same way as my Chemistry teacher all those years ago.

Away from Warwick my big passion is Ice Hockey. I’m part of the media team at the Coventry Blaze and have been commentating on the webcast for the past 10 years. During lockdown, I even went into an empty arena in Nottingham to provide commentary to the fans at home, that was quite a surreal but rewarding experience.

I co-host a regular podcast and occasionally host events for the team. It’s a bit like having a second job but it’s a great release from the week’s work. I’d recommend taking in a match, they never pass without an incident!”