Goodfellow Research Poster Awards 2027

Dr. Aphrodite Tomou, as the Head of Technical at Goodfellow, oversees a global team of scientists and engineers. Her role involves identifying and introducing innovative materials, while providing technical support to both customers and the company. With a diverse background in Materials Science, including a PhD and two Masters’ degrees, she has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed international journals and presented as an invited speaker at international conferences. She actively contributes to the fields of Science and Engineering, participating in organizations such as Innovate UK, IOM3, and driving material research standardization through BSI. In 2023, she earned recognition as an Exemplar (Top 20) in The Manufacturer’s Top 100 in the UK. Her aim is to radiate Goodfellow’s technical knowledge and bridge the gap between academia and industry sectors.

 Adam Sells is Custom Opportunities Manager at Goodfellow, where he has spent over a decade helping customers solve complex, non-standard materials challenges across technically demanding sectors including medical, fusion energy, space, and high energy physics. With a degree in Chemistry, Adam leads a global team of engineers and materials specialists, working across functions, suppliers, and regions to deliver solutions where requirements are still evolving and the materials are mission-critical.  

An independent judge to be confirmed before judging commences.

Dr Arunima Nair is a Technical Material Specialist at Goodfellow, where she supports researchers and industrial customers in selecting materials and solving material-performance challenges. She holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, completed as an Industrial PhD at TWI, Cambridge, focusing on degradation in advanced metallic materials in extreme environments. Her expertise spans experimental and computational approaches to understanding hydrogen-material interactions, microstructure and degradation mechanisms, including neutron imaging and density functional theory (DFT) modelling. Alongside her PhD, she worked as a Research Associate, contributing to projects developing plasma and HVOF thermal spray coatings for energy applications, with improved corrosion resistance and durability, as well as new alloy systems for a range of applications. Dr Nair has published several peer-reviewed papers and is a member of IOM3, ICorr and AMPP.

With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Qian has a wealth of knowledge in materials, which he uses to support customers worldwide.

 Dr. Maheera Abdul Ghani is Technical Product Manager at Goodfellow Cambridge Ltd where she plays a key part in bringing advanced materials and services to researchers and industry. She supports the product strategy team for commercial success of product ranges.

Maheera earned her PhD at the University of Cambridge and went on to complete postdoctoral research there where she published peer reviewed articles in prestigious journals such as Nature Electronics and ACS Nano. Prior to Goodfellow, she founded a University of Cambridge spinout, where she directed the development of materials for electronic applications and turned research into commercial opportunities, securing £200,000 through a European Research Council (ERC) grant and a range of awards. Her achievements have been recognized with a place on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026 list and the 2025 Nature Inspiring Women in Science Award. Drawing on experience across experimental materials science, entrepreneurship and commercialization strategy, she combines scientific and commercial insight to transform advanced materials into real-world technologies.