Plasma Solutions to Global Challenges
Low temperature plasmas are weakly ionised gases with an ability to activate molecules and modify surfaces. Plasmas have for some time underpinned many high-end technologies, such as microchip manufacturing for computers and electronic devices. More recently plasma-based solutions are explored to tackle global challenges from healthcare to environmental applications. The reactive plasma components are shown to be effective at killing cancer cells for potential plasma-based cancer therapeutics. Plasmas can capture nitrogen from air to produce nitrogen fertiliser for application to soils and crops as a “green” sustainable fertiliser, reducing the significant environmental impact of current conventional fertiliser. The development of these technologies will be discussed.
On Monday, 19th of September, Professor Deborah O'Connell from the DCU School of Physical Sciences will deliver a lecture on the topic of 'Plasma Solutions to Global Challenges'.
About Professor Deborah O'Connell:
Prof Deborah O'Connell is Full Professor in Plasma Physics, Dublin City University (DCU) and Director of the National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST). She joined DCU from the University of York, where she held a Chair, and was Director of the York Plasma Institute. Prior to her career at York, she held a UK EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship and an EU Marie Curie Fellowship at Queen’s University Belfast. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany following completion of her PhD at DCU, and an MSc and BSc at UCD.
Deborah has been recipient of international awards, including the European Physical Society (EPS) and Institute of Physics (IoP) Crookes Prize 2018 and the IoP Hershkowitz Award 2013. She has chaired and sits on several international committees and journal editorial boards, including the Board of Directors for the International Plasma Chemistry Society. She is co-founder of the International Conference on Data Driven Plasma Science and was Chair of the Plasma Science & Techniques Division of the International Union of Vacuum Science and Technology (IUVSTA).