Formulation Science & Technology Group

Chair: Helen Ryder. Projects and grants manager for multidiciplinary characterisation facilty, Henry Royce Institute. Helen joined the School of Materials, University of Manchester in January 2016 as Project Manager for the Multidisciplinary Characterisation Facility (MCF). Helen has a Masters in Chemical Engineering (UMIST) and her PhD was on the imaging and characterisation of colloidal systems (The University of Manchester). Helen is the Chair for the Formulation Science and Technology Group, an interest group of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2011-present), and a member of the RSC’s Member Network Committee (2017-present).
Secretary: Philip Gill. Principal Propellant Chemist – Roxel UK. Phil is an R&D scientist with 25+ years of experience in the formulation and life assessment of solid rocket propellants. Secretary of RSC-FSTG interest group; Scientific Committee of the International Nitrocellulose Symposium; CW-ITP Lead of Rocket Motors; Visiting Fellow - Cranfield University.
Treasurer: Vivian Christogianni. R&D Manager - Arda Biomaterials Ltd. Chartered chemist and post-graduate chemical engineer with a PhD in polymers and materials science. Expertise in biomaterials, silicones, adhesives and sustainable formulation + process development. Committed to creating eco-friendly solutions benefiting people and the environment. 10+ years of experience in unlocking polymer, composite, and textile potentials in London-based start-ups. Currently leading sustainable biomaterial formulation development, transforming brewery waste into cruelty- and plastic-free leather.
Emanuel Ajayi. Spirit Energy
Nikolaos Daskalakis
Sam Peel, IFF
Bernadeta Pochopien, BP
Shashi Ravi Suman Rudrangi, works as a Senior Manager of Drug Product Development and Commercialisation (Technical Head) at Kent-Athlone Pharma Group, United Kingdom and Ireland. He is diversified with over 13 years of experience in formulation research and development, project management and oversight ranging from project inception to final deliverable. He has an extensive experience and an excellent understanding of oral solid dose pharmaceutical manufacturing environment, equipment, processes, and cGMP.
Dr Rudrangi pursued his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Kakatiya University, Warangal, India in 2008; his master’s and doctoral studies in Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom in 2010 and 2015, respectively. He was recently admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in January 2024 and was awarded the ‘Chartered Scientist (CSci)’ status by the Science Council and Royal Society of Chemistry in June 2018. Dr Rudrangi has been serving on the committee of the Formulation Science and Technology interest group since 2019. His research work has been recognised by awards in the United States of America, Germany, Turkey, and the Netherlands and he has chaired many national and international pharmaceutical conferences.
Denise Li. Dr Denise Li is an Impact Acceleration Associate at the Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership (ECFP). She completed her PhD under the Soft Matter and Functional Interfaces Centre for Doctoral Training (SOFI CDT) in 2018, studying the Structure and Stability of Phospholipids in Dermatological Formulations. Denise then went on to join the Physical Sciences team at Mondelēz International. Her role involved utilising and maximising the capabilities of the analytical facilities to support product development and problem solve manufacturing issues.
She has experience working on various collaborative projects between academia and industry; sectors including chemical, food and personal care. Her research interest focusses on understanding the structure and phase behaviour of soft matter materials. This information enables us to determine the product’s functionality, stability and shelf life, for instance.
Bin Yang. Dr. Bin Yang obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bath and is a Chartered Chemist with the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is currently an Associate Principal Scientist in the Pharmaceutical Science Department at AstraZeneca. Her current focus areas include preclinical drug formulation and drug delivery technologies, where she serves as a project technical leader for both small drug molecules and biomacromolecules, primarily in the preclinical phase. Dr. Yang has over 18 years of research experience in pharmaceutical sciences, encompassing drug product development, drug delivery, external technology evaluation, and project management. Before joining AstraZeneca, she worked at academic institutions across the UK and France on a broad range of topics in the research areas of soft matter, macromolecular self-assembly, colloidal science, functional nanomaterials, drug delivery, and biophysical characterization. She holds approximately 30 patents and publications. Dr. Yang has successfully secured research funding from universities and prestigious organizations, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Maria Inam. Dr Maria Inam is a Market Strategy Manager at CPI, part of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Maria has experience working across polymer chemistry, sustainable materials and formulated products, working in lab-based R&D, project management and technology innovation roles. Maria is a polymer chemist by background, working at AkzoNobel to develop polymer binders for protective coatings, and completing her PhD in the crystallisation-driven self-assembly of block copolymers under the supervision of Prof. Rachel O’Reilly at The University of Warwick. Maria currently works across the broad remit of sustainable materials, identifying and validating strategic market areas of focus for CPI.
Bindhu Gururajan. Bindhu Gururajan work as Formulation Project Leader in Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland. He has done his Master’s in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and PhD in Formulation Engineering from The University of Birmingham, U.K. Later did his Post-Doctoral research in Pharmaceutical Sciences with University of Greenwich, U.K. based in Pfizer Research Center, Sandwich site on granulation process scale up and modelling. He has two decades of hands on practical experience in drug development and delivery by working for four major pharmaceutical company namely Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Novartis. In 2020, he was appointed as Honorary Visiting Professor at School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh (https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/prof-bindhumadhavan-gururajan) . He is certified as Chartered Engineer and Chartered Scientist and also got elected as Fellow in prestigious institutions namely Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Engineers, Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals and Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 2020 he got his Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma from Benchmark six sigma organization.
He is currently work on late phase drug product development project in particular formulation and process development by applying Chemical Engineering first principles approach.