Dr Stephen Yeates FRSC

Director & Executive Chairman, Sci-Tron Limited
Professor of Polymer Chemistry

Professor Yeates holds the position of Director and Executive Chairman at Sci-Tron Ltd with specific responsibility for product stewardship.

He has over 20 year’s industrial experience working for ICI, Zeneca and Avecia Ltd in the area of specialty materials chemistry.

During that time he held a number of senior technical positions developing novel technology solutions with a particular interest in digital fabrication and organic semiconductors for both industrial and SOHO applications. This was done in close collaboration with major OEM’s in the USA, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

In November 2004 he was appointed to the full time academic position as Professor of Polymer Chemistry at the University of Manchester, the UK’s second largest chemistry department.

His current areas of research in materials for electronics are been supported by EPSRC, UKRI, Home Office and Industrial grants. He has sat on number of external advisory boards and was a Past President of the Materials Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

He has held a number of University Senior Leadership roles including Vice Dean for Research in the Faculty of Science and Engineering and currently hold the position of Associate Vice President for Research focusing on its Institutes and Facilities.

Prof Yeates’ research concerns the synthesis, characterisation of polymers and crosses the boundaries of physical and organic chemistry. Particular interests and active programme include:

• Synthesis and solution processing of novel oligo and polyacene organic semiconductors.
• Fundamental studies on associating polymers under high shear process; e.g inkjet printing.
• Assembly of topologically and structurally complex 2.5 and 3D functional materials by inkjet micro-deposition.
• Bottom up assembly and stabilisation of organic, metallic and hybrid nano-particulates.
• Synthesis and characterisation of functional aqueous polymers for coatings applications.
• Functional polymer supports for selective metal recovery.
• Synthesis and solution characterisation of polyethylene oxide block copolymers.

• American Chemical Society
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Society of Chemical Industry