Keywords
Citation
(1999), "Shipley student wins national award", Circuit World, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.1999.21725bab.019
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Shipley student wins national award
Europe
Shipley student wins national award
Rebecca Holland (Plate 2), a 20-year-old chemistry undergraduate from Bristol University, has won first prize in the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP). The award was made as a direct result of her work during the summer at Shipley Europe's R&D laboratories in Coventry, where she carried out research into a novel, cost-effective and environmentally friendly process for metallising polymers. Rebecca was awarded the title of the UK's Most Enterprising Student at the recent awards ceremony in London.
Plate 2 Rebecca Holland
Shipley's chief scientist, Dr Martin Goosey, said that the company strongly encourages the development of young chemists through its close relationships with UK universities. "Rebecca's project was to develop a new method for metallising polymers avoiding the use of chromic acid. The work was based on the use of electronically generated hydroxyl radicals in a regenerable process, offering the ability to treat polymer surfaces without the formation of harmful waste. Rebecca not only completed the project objectives, but also went on to develop a completely new process based on alternative chemistry, for which patents are now being filed. This novel process offers the possibility of a lower cost, more environmentally friendly method for plating metals on to plastics and for fabricating printed circuit boards".