Timothy Thornber

Tim was born in Singapore but spent his formative years in Taipei and Cairo before settling in Clitheroe, Lancashire, which he considers his hometown. After attending Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, he undertook national service as an infantry officer in the Singapore Army.

He completed his BSc in Chemistry at the University of Manchester in 2014, where his final year project investigated the synthesis of new ruthenium polypyridyl complexes for dye sensitised solar cells. After university he went on to work as a development chemist at Dulux and eventually as an intumescent paint technologist at International Paints.

Tim moved to Sheffield in late 2020 to embark on his PhD studies under Professor David Lidzey, with a focus on spray coating perovskite solar cells on non-planar surfaces.

He can talk for hours about paint, but in general prefers to occupy himself with reading classic literature, watching Arnold Schwarzenegger films, recreating Malaysian cuisine and drinking proper rum.