Team

James Kwan

James Kwan is an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow at Balliol College. He is part of the Physical Acoustics Lab (PacLab) and a PI in OSCAR. His research interests include the application of mechanical, thermal, and chemical effects of ultrasound and cavitation to address challenges in personal and environmental health. He was awarded the W.W. Spooner Junior Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford for his work in ultrasound-based strategies for drug delivery. From 2016 to 2020, James was an Assistant Professor at the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (SCBE). James’ work to date on ultrasound and cavitation has resulted in invited presentations and lectures around the world, peer-reviewed journal articles in prestigious journals such as Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, Journal of Controlled Release, Small, and Theranostics, and co-authored book chapters. He is also part of the Editorial Board of Ultrasonics Sonochemistry. Additionally, he has applied for numerous patents, two of which have been awarded and are now licensed to separate spinout companies in the USA and UK.

Ivan Smirnov

Dr Ivan Smirnov joined Kwan’s research group at OSCAR in 2023. He received his PhD in Physics and Mathematics in 2013 at Saint Petersburg University with a specialization in Solid Mechanics and Fracture Mechanics. His former research related to non-equilibrium processes of deformation, failure, and energy dissipation in various media. He actively employs ultrasonic and optoacoustic methods in his work to study the physical and mechanical characteristics of matter. In the last six years, he has been closely involved in the effect of ultrasound on the intensification of industrial processes as well as phase transitions. Also, he has been intensely interested in the research of acoustic cavitation and associated dynamic phenomena. His current research is focused on controlling the effects of ultrasound and acoustic cavitation to promote phase transitions, chemical reactions, and targeted drug delivery.

Pankaj Sinhmar

Dr Pankaj Sinhmar joined the group in 2023.

Cherie Wong

Cherie graduated from Durham University with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry. Cherie progressed to read MSc (by research) in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford with the supervision under Prof Edman Tsang to research in photocatalytic water splitting. Following the MSc degree, she is currently in Dr James Kwan group to read a DPhil in Engineering Science to research sonochemistry and acoustic cavitation. Her research interest focus on energy-related technologies and applications.

Yi Qin

Yi received her B.E. in Chemical Engineering and Technology from Hainan University, China, and subsequently completed her M.E. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China. She is currently a DPhil student at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Prof. James Kwan. Her research focuses on catalytic and non-catalytic sonochemical CO2 reduction, with particular emphasis on developing a Sonochemical CO2 Reaction Analysis Framework for sonochemical CO2 reduction processes.

Stephanie Walton

Steph graduated from the University of Guelph (Canada) with a B.Eng in Biomedical Engineering, and from Queen’s University (Canada) with a MASc in Chemical Engineering (biomedical stream) under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Escobedo. She is now a DPhil student in Engineering Science under the supervision of Prof. James Kwan with research focused on understanding sonodynamic therapy in collaboration with Alpheus Medical and developing novel ultrasond-responsive prodrug formulations.  

Yihao Huang

Graduated from the University of Oxford with an MEng degree, Yihao Huang remained in James Kwan’s research group after completing his Final Year Project(4YP) in the same laboratory. His undergraduate research focused on cavitation via laser-illuminated gold nanoparticles. He is now a DPhil student working on high-frequency ultrasonic reactor design and energy characterisation in sonochemical systems, with interests in cavitation behaviour, nonlinear acoustic effects, and the reliable quantification of acoustic energy delivery for reactor design and scale-up.

Ying Wei

Ying graduated with a bachelor's degree in Material Physics from Nanjing University and later earned a master's degree in Nanoscience and Functional Nanomaterials from the University of Bristol. Currently, Ying is a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. James Kwan. Her research is focused on acoustic gelation, a pioneering area where sound waves are utilized to manipulate materials at the nanoscale to create gels.

Lucia Mullings

Lucia graduated from the University of Oxford with an MEng degree in 2024, completing her integrated Master’s project in Prof. James Kwan’s research group. She is now continuing her work as a DPhil student in Engineering Science in the same laboratory. Her research focuses on sonochemical approaches to decarbonising chemical processes, particularly hydrogen production from water splitting. Interests include cavitation noise analysis and energy efficiency quantification in sonochemical systems.

Jiho Kim

Jiho joined in 2025

Iuliia Melnikova (co-supervised; University of Poitiers)

Iuliia completed her BSc in Aircraft Engines and Power Plants at the Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University. Then, she recieved her MSc degrees in Tribology and Surface Engineering from National School of Engineers of Saint-Etienne, in Metallurgy from Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University and in Control and Durability of Materials from University of Burgundy. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Poitiers, France working under the supervision of Prof. James Kwan and Dr. Prince Nana Amaniampong. Her research is focused on studying the effect of surface-engineered catalytic materials in nucleating and controlling the formation of cavitation bubbles using in-situ ultra-high speed camera visualisation.

Francisco Ayala Esmoris (co-supervised; KU Leuven)

Francisco Ayala holds a BSc. Degree in Chemistry (2021) and a BSc. in Biology (2021) from Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña, Spain. In 2019, during the BSc. Degree in Chemistry, he undertook a summer scholarship in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, sponsored by an Erasmus + Internship scholarship, in the field of photocatalysis for water sanitation. He conducted a BSc. Graduation project in Chemistry related with the development of advanced oxidation processes for the degradation of emergent organic micropollutants, and a BSc. Graduation project in Biology on cytotoxicity studies of degradation products of emerging microcontaminants.

Francisco Ayala was awarded with the EMALCSA Prize (sponsored by EMALCSA – the Municipal Wastewater Company of A Coruña) for the best Graduation Project in Biology of 2021 due to its contribution to water quality and sanitation.

Francisco Ayala holds an Erasmus Mundus SERP+ Master’s Degree (2023) from Université Paris-Saclay (Paris, France) and Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal). During this MSc, he developed the MSc. thesis at the Faculty of Sciences of Universidade do Porto, in a multidisciplinary project gathering the fields of Nanotechnology, Nanochemistry, Hybrid Nanomaterials, Functional/Smart Textiles and Energy Harvesting & Storage.

In the INCLUE project, Francisco Ayala works on Hybrid US/SCWO system for the combined removal of PFAS and sludge disintegration at KU Leuven and University of Oxford.

Chiara Pigaiani

Chiara graduated from the University of Oxford with an MChem in 2023, after completing her research project under the supervision of Prof. Harry Anderson. She is a third year DPhil student on the OxICFM CDT, working on drug delivery systems for the use of relay ion transporters as potential therapeutic agents.

Mohan Zhang

Mohan Zhang joined Prof. James Kwan’s group at OSCAR in August 2023. She received her Master degree in biomedical engineering from Tianjin Medical University in 2022. Her previous research focused on the numerical simulation of transcranial ultrasound stimulation of the hippocampus, which mainly involves the optimization of the phase-controlled transcranial ultrasound transducer and the screening of ultrasound therapeutic parameters, with the aim of stimulates the hippocampus safely and effectively, and thus informing the selecting of ultrasound parameters for the treatment of related neurological disorders. Her current research will focused on ultrasound cavitation.

Prof Zeynep Eren

Dr. Zeynep Eren is a professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at Atatürk University, where she also coordinates the Climate Change Office. She has held postdoctoral and visiting researcher positions at the UIUC. Currently, she is a visiting scientist at the University of Oxford, working on single-atom catalysts of CO₂ reduction for green hydrogen production. Her research focuses on climate change, water, and air pollution.