Prof Andrew G. Livingston

Summary

Research Interests

I am passionate about creating novel technology platforms for manufacturing chemicals and (bio)pharmaceuticals.

Many of the concepts the Livingston Group work with are based on membrane separations, which is our core expertise. Often it is the intersection between the way chemists or biologists currently do something, with our own innovations in membrane technology, that leads to the most interesting ideas and projects.

We work on the discovery and fabrication of new membrane materials and designs, and I really enjoy working with my team to apply these new membranes in fresh areas where major separations challenges call. That often means my Post-Docs and PhD students have to learn completely new techniques!

All research projects involve a combination of experimental and theoretical analysis, working with fundamental phenomena and their implications for specific systems.

In the last decade we have been working extensively on the use of membrane separations in solvent systems, where they are able to provide new routes to catalyst recycle, product separation, precision polymer synthesis, and solvent operations. The team works on membrane formation, fundamentals of membrane transport and solvent/membrane/solute interactions, applications to specific organic transformations, right through to the performance of scaled-up module designs and performance prediction for process plants. We work on formation of polymeric and ceramic membranes, design, fabrication and testing of membrane elements, and modelling and understanding membrane transport and membrane processes.

We carry out chemical reactions when we are studying synthesis, and work on making ever more precise polymers. This area is particularly interesting since 2018 when I was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant “Exactymer” to explore the production of defined monomer sequence polymers – that is, polymeric molecules where the order of the monomers is exactly controlled – by Nanostar Sieving, a platform developed in Livingston Group. In 2019 a team of current and former members of Livingston Group founded a start-up, Exactmer Limited, to further commercialise and expand on the results of this work. We are engaged with the synthesis of exact synthetic polymers, including PEGs for PEGylation and ADC linkers, and with seeking new manufacturing routes to biopolymers including oligonucelotides and peptides.

AWARDS INCLUDE:

2017 President's Medal for Outstanding Research Team (Imperial College) "....recognising outstanding research that delivers impact, a team's international standing and their beneficial contribution to Imperial....."

2016 Underwood Medal (Institute of Chemical Engineers)  “...awarded biennially to one or more individuals from academia or industry who have made a significant sustained recent contribution to research in the area of separations….”

2008 Silver Medal, Royal Academy of Engineering  “…awarded for outstanding and demonstrated personal contributions to British Engineering…”

2006 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering “The academy honours the UK’s most distinguished engineers…”

1997 Cremer and Warner Medal of Institution of Chemical Engineers “...awarded for excellence in a process, project or service”

1993 Junior Moulton Medal of Institution of Chemical Engineers "...the most notable contribution during the year to the records of the Institution..."

1990 Danckwerts-Maxwell Prize (For PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge)

1983 Blackett Prize in Chemical Engineering (University of Canterbury)

1982 S.R.Sieman Prize in Chemical Engineering (University of Canterbury) 

Biography

Andrew Livingston (AGL) was born in Taranaki, New Zealand and studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Canterbury in NZ. Following graduation, he worked for 3 years at an NZ food processing company, gaining industrial experience of chemical engineering.

Between 1986 and 1990, AGL completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. After finishing his PhD in 1990, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College. In 1994 he graduated with an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, following part-time study.

AGL was made full Professor at Imperial College in 1999, has published over 300 refereed papers, and has filed 33 patent applications. He leads a research group of 20 MEng, MSc, PhD students and Post-Docs, with current research interests in membranes for molecular separations, and applications of membrane separation to new molecular manufacturing platforms.

His undergraduate teaching includes lectures in separations and tutoring laboratory work and research projects.

In 1996, AGL founded Membrane Extraction Technology, a spin-out company which evolved into a profitable business manufacturing solvent stable Organic Solvent Nanofiltration (OSN) membranes. In 2010 MET was acquired by Evonik Industries of Essen, Germany, and continues in business as Evonik MET Ltd., a part of the Evonik Fibres and Membranes Business.

From 2008-2016 AGL served as the Head of Department in Chemical Engineering. He is Imperial’s member of the BP-International Centre for Advanced Materials (BP-ICAM) Programme Management Board, a $100M 10 year programme of research into materials for the oil and gas industry.

In 2015 with Mark Buswell at GSK he led a team which founded the GSK Engineered Medicines Laboratory (EML), a multidisciplinary, cross faculty collaboration, guided by pharmaceutical industry scientists, pursuing the design and manufacture of new types of medicines based on engineering principles.

He is the inaugural Director of the Barrer Centre, established by Imperial academics in Chemical Engineering, Materials and Chemistry Departments in 2016 to carry out research into breakthrough materials for separation science and engineering.

In 2017, AGL was appointed as the Interim Academic Lead for the Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI) at Harwell, UK. The RFI is a new EPSRC-managed multi-disciplinary national centre of excellence in science and technology development and innovation.

AGL and the Livingston Group enjoy outreach and public engagement, regularly contributing to the Imperial Festival and Imperial Fringe. AGL also enjoys giving lectures to non-specialist audiences on his research, and entrepreneurial experiences.

Links

• Livingston Research Group
• Google Scholar profile
• Scopus author profile
• Barrer Centre
• ERC Advanced Research Grant 

Publications

Journals

More Publications