Dr Bruno Rente is a Research Facility Manager at the Royce at Imperial facility. The facility was officially opened in Spring 2023 and is a hub for industry and academia to make, test and characterise materials, components and systems.
In the blog post below, he tells us more about his role and what he enjoys the most.
Can you tell us more about your role – what does a typical week involve?
My role at the Royce@Imperial A2D facility is to ensure that all the activities run in our laboratories follow the Royce strategy and expectations.
If we think about the roles of running a facility as a pyramid, the base would be to provide an environment where people can excel in their research, providing technical knowledge on each of the nanofabrication and characterization techniques. This is done by teaching and training researchers and ensuring all activities are run up to the technical and scientific standards expected from such a high-end facility.
The middle of this pyramid provides more advanced specialist knowledge when the researchers need something extra to achieve their goals, which they will surely need at some point in their work or studies.
The tip of the pyramid is to keep up with the future demands of the facility on state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques. This is done by undertaking high-level research on the area and engaging with our academic and entrepreneurship leads/stakeholders to continuously assess the need for new or upgraded systems/techniques.
Therefore, a typical week will be divided between managing the facility, training and supporting the users, and research activities.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The most rewarding part of my role is seeing students present their work with passion and full ownership of their projects. It is great to see their growth from the moment they stepped into the facility to the end of their work.
Another is witnessing the whole chain from basic research to translation science. The Royce A2D platform allows me to witness research being applied and becoming devices or prototypes, which is the ultimate goal in science: to create better technology for society. In my opinion, the activities we do for commercial partners and start-ups are the best way to contribute to improving industrial applications and keep up to date with the innovations in the field.
Can you tell us more about the facilities at Royce?
I see the whole facility as parts of a repertoire that you will need in combination to achieve the devices with the desired characteristics. Because of my background, I identify some techniques for which my skills and knowledge benefit our researchers the most. I have been working on pulsed laser deposition and e-beam lithography facilities for quite some time now and can pass the experience on to researchers and students.
Are there any plans on the horizon for Royce at Imperial?
We are always trying to expand our horizons and expect to introduce new technologies to Royce in the foreseeable future. We plan to expand our lithography capabilities to meet the needs of the industry and small businesses and bring new options for researchers, such as nanoimprint lithography. We also expect to implement new advanced thin film deposition processes, focusing on strategic goals such as quantum and net zero. I’m looking forward to our future developments and the scientific work that we will do.
Please visit our website to learn more about Royce at Imperial and how to access our facilities.
