Michael Gibson Research Scholarship awarded to Dr Licia Dossi

The Michael Gibson Research Scholarship has been awarded to Dr Licia Dossi, providing funding for a full-time PhD student to work on the further development of a portable smart “sniffer” device, capable of detecting explosives and their precursor chemicals as well as controlled drugs and narcotics.

The use of homemade explosives and improvised explosive devices, along with the production and distribution of illegal drugs and narcotics, pose one of the most serious challenges in preserving a secure and resilient society. Dr Dossi’s project aims to create an easy to use, handheld device to detect threat substances. In collaboration with the Danish Technical University (DTU), Cranfield Defence and Security (CDS) have worked on the development of a prototype portable sniffer – CRIM-TRACK – through an EU-FP7 programme. Once accepted, the PhD student will work on further developing and optimising the CRIM-TRACK device, in order to detect vapour traces of a wide range of threat substances at parts-per-trillion sensitivity, in a short amount of time and in a variety of scenarios.

The development of the sniffer device will support and facilitate the activities of security practitioners at both a national and EU-wide level. The device will be able to detect hidden illicit chemicals without the need for a manual body search. Capable of operating in a variety of threat scenarios, the device will have a positive impact on the prevention of criminal activity. The PhD research will be disseminated through law enforcement agencies such as customs, the police and other emergency services. It provides the accepted student with the opportunity to be involved in several detection phases, developed in two European sites which excel in the defence, security and engineering sectors.

Learn more about the CRIM-TRACK project:

Professor Andrew Shortland, Director of Research at CDS, said: “There was a strong field of applications for the Scholarship and Dr Licia Dossi’s application stood out as being very applied, with widespread impact. The results of her research are of interest to several different centres within CDS. Furthermore, the collaboration with an international partner in the form of DTU promises an enhanced student experience for the person accepted for the PhD.”

Dr Dossi’s research within the Centre for Defence Chemistry focuses on several areas across materials synthesis and properties. She is an active member of the UK Centre of Excellence in Energetic Materials, which supports national security by ensuring the UK has access to the latest scientific knowledge on energetic materials and has the technological capabilities it needs – both now and for the future.

She first met Michael Gibson when she joined Cranfield in March 2008. She describes him as “the most kind, polite and smiling person I have ever met at CDS” and states that his “strength and dedication to life” inspired her to write her PhD proposal. Following the announcement of the scholarship award, she said: “I am thrilled that my application for the Michael Gibson Research Scholarship has been successful. The research will help to consolidate the partnership between Cranfield University and DTU, while having a positive social and economic impact by helping security practitioners to tackle the threats posed to society by crime and terrorism. I feel responsible for the research and I’m glad to be part of a team that looks at these important social problems and works to find solutions for them.”