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Role in the University
Ewa is a lecturer in Ordnance, Munition, and Explosive (OME) apprenticeship programme and her responsibility is to teach basic and advanced OME Chemistry modules. She also teaches Study Skills and Research Methods to the OME apprentices and HNC candidates.
Background
Ewa is originally from Warsaw, Poland. She obtained the MSc in Analytical/Environmental Chemistry from Warsaw University in 1999 and advanced to a Ph.D. at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 2006 for a thesis on the transport properties of smart polymers. Thereafter, she completed a post-doctorate at Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland, where she led research on nanostructured conducting polymers for chemical and biochemical sensors.
After a seven-year career break, in 2017, Ewa returned to academia and resumed her academic path at Swansea University, to develop copper-carbon nanotube composites.
In 2021 Ewa changed her career from research to teaching to become a lecturer in the School of Applied Computing at UWTSD, responsible for the delivery of chemistry modules to the OME students.
Academic Interests
Ewa has taught undergraduate chemistry courses including Core Chemistry for non-science students and General Chemistry 1 and 2. She also led seminars for students preparing their thesis.
She participated in designing and delivering an undergraduate module focused on experimental methods for the analysis of organic and inorganic species and created a lecture and lab demonstration for a Material Case Study where she talked about the fabrication and characterisation of copper-carbon nanotube (Cu-CNT) composites.
Ewa’s interest is to develop OME Chemistry modules delivered in a flipped classroom mode and introduce more problem-based learning approaches into her teaching.
Research Interests
Ewa’s research interests broadly cover the application of chemical and electrochemical techniques for the fabrication and characterisation of various materials including smart and conducting polymers and composites.
She researched the transport properties of thermoresponsive polymers modified with metal colloidal nanoparticles as delivery media and developed nanostructured conducting polymers as a platform for novel sensors and biosensors.
In the last post, Ewa focused her research interest on the fabrication and characterisation of copper-CNT composites for more efficient energy transport and delivery.
Expertise
Ewa’s expertise spans over application of various analytical methods and techniques such as spectroscopy (UV-vis, Raman, FT-IR), microscopy (SEM-EDX), voltammetry, potentiometry and impedance to develop and characterise new materials for novel applications.
Her research on Cu-CNT composites resulted in a patent application.
She has long experience in teaching chemistry at various levels including primary and secondary school, A level, college, and university as well as supervising undergraduate and graduate projects.
Publications
Ewa has published thirteen papers in peer reviewed journals and the details below are indicative of her research in last 10 years.
- Investigation into the re-arrangement of copper foams pre- and post-CO2 electrocatalysis; A. Rudd, S. Hermandez-Aldave, E. Kazimierska, L.B. Hamdy, O.J.E. Bain, A.R. Barron, E. Andreoli. Chemistry 2021, 3, 687
- Effect of applied pressure on the electrical resistance of carbon nanotube fibers; J. Barnett, J.D McGettrick, V.S. Gangoli, E. Kazimierska, A. Orbaek White, A.R. Barron. Materials 2021, 14, 2106
- CO2 reduction to propanol by copper foams, a pre- a nd post-catalysis study; A. Rudd, E. Kazimierska, L. Hamdy, O. Bain, S. Anh, A. Barron, E. Andreoli. ChemRxiv. Preprint 2021
- Understanding the effect of carbon nanotube functionalisation on copper electrodeposition; Kazimierska, E. Andreoli, A.R. Barron. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 2019, 49 (8), 731
- Solvent-free microwave-assisted synthesis of tenorite nanoparticle-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes; A. Rudd, C.E. Gowenlock, V. Gomez, E. Kazimierska, A.M. Al Enizi, E. Andreoli, A.R. Barron. Journal of Materials Science and Technology 2019, 35 (6), 1121
- Enhancing the CO2 capture performance of defective UiO-66 via post-synthetic defect exchange; Koutsianos, E. Kazimierska, A.R. Barron, M. Taddei, E. Andreoli. Dalton Transactions 2019, 48, 3349
Additional Information
To perform her research and establish collaborations, Ewa was awarded numerous fellowships and grants including:
- Texas Collaboration Award
- British Council, Alliance Hubert Curien programme
- Royal Society Research Grant
- Sêr Cymru II, Recapturing Talent Research Fellowship, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), three years funding
- Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) Fellowship Postdoctoral Scheme, two years funding