Chris Miles

Molecular Analytical Science PhD student. Funded by the EPSRC through the Molecular Analytical Science Centre for Doctoral Training.

Research

PhD research project

I am investigating the nucleation of ice in supercooled conditions, using molecular dynamics simulations. I will also be employing solution state NMR to study the effect of additives on lipid bilayers. The project is supervised by Dr. Gabriele C. Sosso, with Dr. Ann M. Dixon as a co-supervisor; both from the University of Warwick Chemistry department.

This project is funded by the EPSRC through the Molecular Analytical Science Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Warwick. Simulations are carried out using the high performance computing facilities from the Centre for Scientific Computation at the University of Warwick.

Academic background

MSc in Molecular Analytical Science at the University of Warwick (2017-2018)

Graduated with Distinction in January 2019.

Extra curricular activities:

Warwick Motorsport: I was an active member throughout the academic year; including racing in the rookie class of the British Universities Karting Championship. I also took on the role of social secretary for the club, which I continue alongside starting my PhD.

MMath in Mathematics at the University of Warwick (2013-2017)

Graduated with Upper Second Class Honours in July 2017.

Extra curricular activities:

Warwick Tech Crew: I was an active member throughout my degree; having been on the production teams of a multitude of shows from 2014-2017. I was also on the exec as Training Manager, during the 2014-15 academic year, and as President and Safety Officer, during the 2015-16 academic year.
Warwick Motorsport: I was an active member during the 2016-17 academic year; including racing in the rookie class of the British Universities Karting Championship.

Teaching experience

Undergraduate supervisor in Mathematics (2016-2018)

I have been an undergraduate supervisor in the University of Warwick Mathematics department during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years. This involves holding small group (4-5 people) supervisions for first years, and marking maths assignments.

"Problem Solving Matters" Mentor (2018)

I was a mentor for the "Problem Solving Matters" summer school run by MEI (Mathematics in Education and Industry). The course was to help sixth form students, from state schools, prepare for the style of questions asked in university mathematics admissions tests; particularly the MAT and TMUA. Mentoring consisted of helping students with problems set during three face-to-face days over the summer. I aslo marked for feedback three summer worksheets for my group of nine students.

Previous research

MAS MSc mini-project 2

"Portable Sensors for Environmental Monitoring", under the supervision of Dr. Jérôme Charmet from the Institute of Digital Healthcare, Warwick Manufacturing Group; with Dr. Mark P. Barrow from the University of Warwick Chemistry department as a co-supervisor.

The project focussed on the design of a portable sensor for identifying when contaminants, particularly naphthenic acids, are present in environmental water samples; with a goal to design a sensor which could be left on the Athabasca river in Alberta, Canada. The sensor worked via the swelling of a block of PDMS closing an electrical circuit, and triggering the sending of an alert.

During the project, a novel method for producing PDMS sponges was developed and the properties of these sponges was investigated. Tentatively, the results suggested that bulk PDMS may be preferable for the context of the sensor design, however further study is neccessary.

This project was funded by the EPSRC through the Molecular Analytical Science Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Warwick. PDMS was sythesised in the labs in the School of Life Sciences. Experiments were carried out in the Ion Cyclotron Laboratory (Department of Chemistry). A sensor prototype was built by WMG. I was awarded an overall mark of 71 for the project.

MAS MSc mini-project 1

"Ice Ice Maybe: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Supercooled Liquid Water on Phospholipid Bilayers", under the supervision of Dr. Gabriele C. Sosso from the University of Warwick Chemistry department.

In the project, I used unbiased molecular dynamic simulations to study the nucleation of ice on the surface of DPPC-CHL bilayers. The motivation behind this reasearch was to further understand the dynamics of water on the surface of biological membranes in supercooled conditions. This is highly pertinent to the field of cryopreservation. The extent to which phospholipid bilayers, such as DPPC, can act as ice nucleating agents is an open question in physical chemistry.

This project was funded by the EPSRC through the Molecular Analytical Science Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Warwick. Simulations were carried out using the high performance computing facilities from the Centre for Scientific Computation at the University of Warwick. I continue this research in my PhD project; commencing October 2018. I was awarded an overall mark of 87 for the project.

MMath final year project

"The braid group of $\mathbb{Z}^n$ ", under the supervision of Dr. Daan Krammer from the University of Warwick Mathematics department.

In the project, I extended a result from a paper, published by Dr. Krammer, also titled "The braid group of $\mathbb{Z}^n$ " (2007). The result from the paper was on spaces of the form $\mathbb{Z}^n$ and $\mathbb{Q}^n$ . I proved that it also held for all spaces $\mathbb{F}^n$ , where $\mathbb{F}$ is an arbitrary field. I believe that this result could easily be further extended to all spaces $D^n$ , where $D$ is an arbitrary integral domain.

Furthermore, I designed an algorithm for calculating the quantity which was being studied and wrote a computer program which calculates it when the spce in question is $\mathbb{Z}^n$ . I was awarded an overall mark of 89 for the project.

Contact details

Email: C.Miles.1@warwick.ac.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-miles-0219034b

Address: Chris Miles, MOAC DTC, Top Floor, Senate House, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.

Chris Miles

MAS CDT

Senate House

The University of Warwick

Coventry

West Midlands

CV4 7AL

C.Miles.1@warwick.ac.uk