2020 Fellow Matthew R Ryder

2020 Foresight Fellow in Molecular-Scale Engineering Originally from the Shetland Islands in the North of Scotland, Matthew graduated with First Class Honors in Chemistry with Computational Chemistry (M.Chem.) from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He then completed his graduate studies (D.Phil.) at the University of Oxford before being awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship to continue his research at the University of Oxford. He was recruited soon after by the U.S. Department of Energy to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as the “youngest person ever to be offered the prestigious Clifford G. Shull Fellowship.” He has published 28 research papers and been awarded numerous prizes, including being named “one of the most promising scientists in the U.K..” Matthew’s research focuses on understanding materials at the molecular level using quantum mechanics in conjunction with synchrotron and neutron experiments. His work aims to reveal the structural possibilities of next-generation porous materials and explain the fundamental mechanisms responsible for anomalous behavior. He sits on the editorial boards of two journals, and was the co-editor of a special issue on ‘Computers in Neutron Science.’ He is the lead principal investigator (PI) on multiple projects involving highly porous materials and Co-PI of a multidisciplinary project recently awarded $1.45M to tackle waste plastics by upcycling to performance-advantaged polymers.