Matt Thompson is a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London (UCL), UK. His PhD project looks into characterising materials for hydrogen production, under the joint supervision of
Dr Enrique Galindo-Nava and
Prof Alexander Shluger. Matt's primary research interests are:
- Developing methods to observe macro timescale events with atomistic-scale precision
- Creating tools for bulk molecular modelling jobs, such as producing large DFT training datasets
- Assessing the viability of using Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials for the study of catalysis
- Understanding degradation mechanisms in metallic interface systems
Matt is also deeply involved in the Thomas Young Centre, particularly within the Early Career Researchers committee, alongisde a variety of other committees within UCL:
- TYC ECR Committee - Secretary
- UCL Mechanical Engineering Research Society (MERS) - MESS Liason Officer
- UCL Mechanical Engineering Student Society (MESS) - Treasurer
- UCL Mechanical Engineering PhD Student Partnership Committee - Member
- UCL Faculty of Engineering PhD Student Partnership Committee - Member
Matt is also a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant at UCL, assisting in the delivery of a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
Prior to moving to UCL in 2024, Matt was an Associate Demonstrator and Graduate Researcher at the University of Lincoln School of Mathematics and Physics, UK. Matt joined the department as a student in September 2019 and was appointed to the role of Associate Demonstrator in October 2022. He completed his MPhys Physics undergraduate study in June 2023 and continued his research as a Graduate Researcher.
His research interests at Lincoln included:
- Development of the PyRTP program, a Python-based Real-Time Time Dependent Density Functional Theory (RT-TDDFT) program for teaching and method testing
- Optimisation of RT-TDDFT methods in CP2K
- Assessing the impact of CP2K for REF2029
- Producing teaching tools for DFT
Matt is interested in collaborating on materials projects (from a computational perspective). If you are interested in working together, do get in touch!
