Contact Iona Hardy
Areas of expertise
- Defence Sensors
- Explosives and Munitions
Background
Iona completed her MChem in Chemistry with Forensic Science with a Year Abroad from the University of Leicester. During this, Iona spent a nine-month research period at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. In her final year she completed her MChem with a four-month research period and thesis on the development of latent fingerprint on copper surfaces by electroless silver deposition. Iona then moved on to complete a PgCert in Forensic Investigation at Cranfield University. She then returned to Cranfield to pursue a PhD in the Development of a Smart Sniffer Device for the Detection of Illicit Drugs, Homemade Explosives and their Precursor Chemicals.
Current activities
Iona is carrying out her PhD research within the Centre of Defence Chemistry, within Cranfield Defence and Security. Her PhD research focuses on further developing, optimising and potentially commercialising the Crim-Track sniffer device, with focus on its colorimetric sensor system, for security and forensic applications.
Iona is using selected dyes from the current colorimetric chip to examine the dye/illicit substance interaction by using analytical techniques. The evaluation of these results will aid her in the identification and selection of other responsive dyes in addition to the design, synthesis and characterisation of new dyes. Iona will complete testing experiments of detection capability using the Crim-Track sniffer in both Cranfield and Technical University of Denmark sites.