Background:

Oliver graduated from Loughborough University with an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering in July 2021. In the course of these studies his research projects focussed on green technology, and he gained further experience in the polymers industry during a student placement in the new product development department at Zotefoams PLC.

Oliver completed his PhD in Materials in June 2025, for which he was supervised by Dr Fiona Hatton, Dr Helen Willcock, and Dr Ryan Larder at Loughborough University. His thesis focused on the synthesis and RAFT polymerisation of plant oil derived acrylic monomers, and during the course of his studies Oliver gained expertise in small molecule synthesis using renewable resources, controlled radical polymerization, and polymer characterisation techniques.

Most recently, Oliver has continued his research at Loughborough as a Research Associate in Sustainable Materials, where he investigated fatty acid derived polymers as potential PFAS alternatives in textile coatings. Additional research focusses during this time have included the development of semi-automated, high-throughput protocols for radical polymerisations and the application of FAIR principles to polymer characterisation data.

Qualifications:

• PhD in Materials, Loughborough University, 2025
• MEng in Materials Science and Engineering, Loughborough University, 2021

Key Awards:

• DH Richards Travel Bursary, Macro Group UK
• Student Champion Award for leadership in lab function and safety, AACME School Awards, 2023
• Poster prize, Macro Group Awards Conference, 2023
• Poster prize, AACME Engineering School Researcher Conference, 2023

Outline of main research interests:

• Bio-derived monomer synthesis
• RAFT polymerisation
• Synthesis of sustainable materials

• Synthesis and RAFT polymerisation of hydrophobic acrylamide monomers derived from plant oils. Oliver J. Harris, Peter Tollington, Calum J. Greenhalgh, Ryan R. Larder, Helen Willcock and Fiona L. Hatton. Polym. Chem., 2025,16, 1321-1331.
• RAFT solution polymerisation of bio-based γ-methyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone monomer in DMSO and Cyrene. Oliver J. Harris, Ryan R. Larder, Beth Jordan, Imogen Prior, Rita El-Khoury, Khaled O. Sebakhy and Fiona L. Hatton. Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 14399-14402.

External Collaborators: 

• Cargill, The Netherlands
• De Montfort University, UK
• University of Liverpool, UK
• University of Leeds, UK