Background:

Prior to joining Loughborough University as a Senior Lecturer, Gül worked in industry for 20 years setting up, managing and actively contributing to several R&D and consultancy projects (Senior Consultant at BHR Group 1995-2015). Most of these were large multi-partner projects and industrial consortia: Fluid Mixing Processes (FMP) Consortium (40+ industrial member companies, budget- over £600K per annum), Dispersion of Micro and Nanoparticles in Liquids (DOMINO) consortium (7 industrial members, budget- £120K per annum), PROFORM (EC project nb. 505654; 3.5 M euros budget): Transforming nano-particles into consumer care products through advanced product and process formulation; AddNano (EC Contract nb 229284; 12 M euros budget): Scale up and formulation of new lubricants with improved tribological properties. Consultancy projects were for single clients and confidential. She has extensively lectured in the field of mixing and dispersion processes, during the annually organised Improved Mixing Processes (1996 onwards) and Dispersion of Nanomaterials in Liquids (2008 onwards) or courses held at clients’ site. She co-supervised PhD students during her time at BHR Group.

Gül worked as a Senior Research Fellow (1993-95) at the University of Birmingham School of Chemical Engineer on a project titled Development of an improved impeller design (sponsored by SERC, DTI and APV Baker Ltd.). She co-supervised undergraduate and MSc students for their design and research projects. Gül also worked as a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge Department of Chemical Engineering (1992) on oscillatory flow reactors. 

Qualifications: 

1988- 93 - University of Birmingham, School of Chemical Engineering PhD On the effects of viscoelasticity in stirred tanks

1985- 87 - Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France,  Bioconversions, Biotechnology (DEA (Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies - Master's degree Effects of viscosity on power consumption in agitated, aerated vessels

1984- 86 - ENSIA-   France “Diplome d’Ingenieure” Food Process Engineering - specialisation in biotechnology 

1979-83 - University of Hacettepe, Dept. of Food Engineering- Ankara. MEng (Honours).

Key awards: 

• Chartered Engineer
• Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers

Current teaching responsibilities:

• Mixing Fluids and Particles (D060 and P060)
• Downstream Processing (D062 and P062)
• Advanced Biochemical Engineering (D069)
• Process Intensification (D083 and P083)
• MSc Research Project (P056)
• Design Project (C038)
• Professional Development Project (C002)
• Food Engineering (B021)

Current administrative responsibilities:

• Module leader for 060 and 062
• Research project with MacDermid autotype

Outline of main research interests:

• Mixing single and multi-phase systems: liquid blending, mixing rheologically complex liquids and dispersions; gas-liquid mixing, liquid-liquid dispersions, solid suspension relevant to a wide range of processes and products varying from pharmaceutical to automotive
• Incorporation of fine powders into liquids
• Dispersion of micro and nanoparticles in liquids
• Delamination of nanoclays
• Applied rheology
• Process design, scale up

Grants and contracts:

Recently completed or currently running projects

• NEWNANO InnovateUK Project (Project nb 132726) in partnership with MacDermid Autotype. Principle Investigator at LU (partner budget £108,220). The project aims to develop new formulation automotive coatings and associated processes. Researcher: S. Tsochotaridou (RA)
• Incorporation and deagglomeration of nanoparticle clusters using the in-line rotor-stator YtronZC1. Department funding. Researcher: J. C. Bacon (PhD student)
• Product and process development for automotive coatings with nanoparticles in their formulation. H. Yu (PhD student- industry based).
• Power and flow characteristics of batch ultrasonicator and rotor-stators. (Research students)
• Process development for a new formulation automotive product- PIMSA
• Process development using an in-line rotor-stator-  Haydale Advanced Materials

Padron, G.A., Özcan-Taşkın, N.G. (2018) Particle de-agglomeration with an in-line rotor-stator mixer at different solids loadings and viscosities. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.041

Gavi, E., Kubicki, D., Padron, G.A., Özcan-Taşkın, N.G. (2018) Breakup of nanoparticle clusters using Microfluidizer M110-P. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.011

Kamaly, S.W., Tarleton, A.C., Özcan-Taşkın, N.G. (2017) Dispersion of clusters of nanoscale silica particles using batch rotor-stators. Advanced Powder Technology, 28(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2017.06.017

Gül Özcan-Taşkın, N., Padron, G.A., Kubicki, D. (2016) Comparative performance of in-line rotor-stators for deagglomeration processes. Chemical Engineering Science, 156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2016.09.023

External collaborators:

• MacDermid Enthotone
• BHR Group
• University of Maryland
• Unilever
• PIMSA
• University of Birmingham
• YtronQuadro UK Ltd
• SpxFlow

External roles and appointments:

• Committee member of the Fluid Mixing Processes SIG of the IChemE (ex Chair)
• Committee member of the the EFCE’s Working Party on Mixing representing FMP SIG
• Conference Chair: Int. Conf. on Ind. Processes for Nano and Micro Products (2007)
• Conference Chair: Int Conf. on Ind. Processes for Nanomaterials (2014)
• Co-chair: ISMIP IX (2017)
• Member of the Scientific Committee of 4^th Int Conf on Bioreactor and Bioprocess Fluid Dynamics (1997). European Conference on Mixing Series since 2000. ISMIP X
• Member of the IChemE (Fellow)
• British Society of Rheology (since 1993)
• AIChE (since 1997)