I've joined as a Visiting Fellow in the Astronomy group, working with Don Pollacco on the study of extra-solar planets, particularly those orbiting binary stars. My main research interests are the discovery of extra-solar planets, the dynamical evolution of planetary systems, tides on extra-solar planets, and the ages of stars. I received my MPhys degree from the University of Warwick in 2004 (First Class Honours), and have just finished my PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of St Andrews.

Dr. Lei Kang joins the department as a Visiting Fellow in the Ultrasonics Group. His current research interests include the design of Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs) and the applications of Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation with EMATs. Lei received his PhD Degree from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) for his research on optimal design of guided wave EMATs for the inspection of aluminium plates. After accomplishing the PhD study, he worked as a lecturer at HIT, teaching courses of Fundamentals of Electronics (National-Level Excellent Course) and Digital Logic (Bilingual). Since 2005, Lei has worked as the team leader of EMAT Research Group in HIT, and the group primarily focuses on the studies of EMAT technology and their applications in terms of rails, wheel sets, pipelines, plates, etc.