Rob Short

Rob is Head of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. He retains adjunct professorial positions at Lancaster University, where he was previously the Director of the Material Science Institute, and within the Future Industries Institute at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.

Rob holds a BSc and PhD from the University of Durham. He started his academic career at the University of Sheffield, where he held the Chair in Biomaterials from 2001. He has since held the positions of Institute Research Director, Dean of Research and PVC at the University of South Australia.

As well as being an academic, with over 250 publications, Rob is a successful entrepreneur and brings +30 years experience in technological plasma, working on plasma-based technologies for life science, healthcare and medical products. He co-developed the myskin™ and cypatch™ technologies for the treatment of chronic wounds and burns, and the advanced cell culture technology, PureCoat™. Rob is an inventor on more than 10 distinct patent families, supporting products sold globally.

He has led teams that have won in excess of £125M funding from government, industry, investors and charities. He collaborates globally with groups in the USA, UK, Continental Europe, Japan, Korea and Australia.

In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.