Meet The Torone Team

Chief Scientist Research Fellow

Dr Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey is a specialist in the application of advanced optical and spectroscopic diagnostics for the nuclear sector and hazardous environments and materials at UoM. His work focuses on developing remote analytical technologies that allow for the safe, in-situ characterization of radioactive environments, particularly for nuclear decommissioning and nuclear fuel analysis.

Coffey has been significantly involved in projects (such as the UKRI-funded TORONE project) that develop mobile robotic platforms equipped with remote sensors for nuclear decommissioning.

In Torone and related research:

Stand-off Characterization: His research involves deploying Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman spectroscopy probes on autonomous robotic arms (such as the PaR M3000) and robots inside simulated nuclear hot cells. The concept is similar in execution to the remote sensor suites used on NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.
Applied LIBS to molten materials for fusion and fission applications
Elemental and Molecular Detection: The hyphenation of these two techniques provides comprehensive material data. The LIBS probe provides elemental characterization (distinguishing metals like stainless steel, nickel, and lead), while the Raman probe identifies molecular and organic materials (such as plastics, EDTA, and organophosphates relevant to plutonium removal).

In the realm of nuclear fuel assessment, Coffey has co-authored research on combining laser ablation with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (LA-TDLAS).

Mechanism: This technique works by firing a laser to ablate a sample and create a plasma plume, which is then simultaneously probed by a tunable diode laser to measure absorption spectra.
Isotope Assessment: Because diode lasers offer exceptionally high spectral resolution, this method allows for the precise remote isotopic analysis of highly radioactive actinide elements, such as plutonium and uranium, directly from nuclear fuels and waste materials.

To make the vast amount of spectroscopic data actionable for waste operation decision-making, Coffey’s work explores advanced data fusion methodologies.

Multimodal Integration: The research looks at combining data from LIBS, Raman spectroscopy, gamma spectrometry, and hyperspectral imaging.
Digital Twins: By using techniques like chemometrics, the spectral, spatial, and radiological data are integrated to generate a 3D virtual environment or "digital twin". This allows operators to visualize layered contamination mapping and material characteristics in real-time, enabling precise robotic positioning and safer clean-up operations.

Head of UoM Chemical Engineering

Professor Philip Martin

Philip Martin is a Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science. He has a first degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD from Cambridge in physical chemistry in the group of Professor Paul Davies. Following this he held a Royal Society European Fellowship at the Universite de Paris-Sud/CNRS in Orsay in the group of Guy Guelachvili. Following this he spent three years in the group of Professor John Maier FRS at the University of Basel in Switzerland where he worked on laser spectroscopy of free radicals and molecular ions. In 1993 he took up a position at the University of Huddersfield where he developed techniques in applied spectroscopy and environmental technology using novel laser sources. He moved to Manchester in 2002. In the School he has held roles of Interim Head of School, Director of Research, Director of Post-Graduate Research and Director of Taught Postgraduate. He has research labs in the Mill Building and Photon Science Institute. Recently he has become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. He founded the spin-off company TDL Sensors Ltd which was recently sold. His current research interests are in process analytical technology, chemical reaction engineering, plasma processing and nuclear decontamination.

Dr Andrew West

Andrew joined the UoM Robotics group in 2017, previously conducting research on x-ray lasers at the University of York for Inertial Confinement Fusion. He received his PhD in Plasma Physics from the University of York in 2016, specialising in plasma diagnostics for industrial processes and cancer research.

His current role is to integrate the various diagnostics of the TORONE project onto a robotic platform through the use of ROS (Robot Operating System). It also includes enabling operators to visualise data from these sensors both in real-time and archiving for the future using a suitable GIS (Geographic Information System) solution.

Research Director for the Dalton Cumbrian Facility

Director of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for Nuclear Research Hub

Barry Lennox

Barry Lennox is Professor of Applied Control and Nuclear Engineering Decommissioning in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Manchester, Director of the EPSRC Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for Nuclear Robotics Hub and Research Director of the Dalton Cumbrian Facility. He is an expert in applied control systems and their use in process operations and robotics and has considerable experience in transferring leading edge technology in to industry. He co-founded Perceptive Engineering, a process control solution provider who now employ 30 FTEs and developed the Acoustek pipeline monitoring system, which is now used routinely to detect blockages in subsea natural gas pipelines in the North Sea, USA and Asia.

Barry is the research lead for the Nuclear Engineering Decommissioning theme within the Dalton Nuclear Institute and the Robotics theme within the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He leads the £5M EPSRC Programme Grant, Robotics for Nuclear Environments and leads the robotics work within TORONE.

Dr Ioannis Tsitsimpelis

Ioannis Tsitsimpelis obtained his PhD in Engineering from Lancaster University. His research interests include data-based modelling and control, radiation detection, electronics, and digital signal processing. He is currently a postdoctoral research associate for the TORONE project, and he is involved in: the assessment of synthetic diamond and cerium bromide in extreme gamma-ray and neutron environments, the instrumentation with regard to radiation

Distinguished Professor & Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder

Prof Malcolm Joyce

Malcolm Joyce is Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Lancaster University in the UK. His research interests include applied radiation detection & measurement, decommissioning-related analytical methods and nuclear policy & environmental assay. He is author on > 140 refereed journal articles and has specialized of late in digital mixed-field radiation assay with fast, organic liquid scintillation detectors. Malcolm has a BSc (Hons.) in physics, a PhD in g-ray spectroscopy and a DEng in digital fast neutron assay. He was a member of the UK Government's Nuclear Industry Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) and is co-chair of UK’s National Nuclear Users' Facility (www.nnuf.ac.uk). In 2014 his team were awarded the James Watt medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers (www.ice.org.uk) for best paper in the journal Proc. ICE (Energy) for research on the depth profiling of radioactive contamination in concrete. In 2016 he was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award.

Dr Michael Aspinal

Dr Aspinall's research began during his degree in Mechatronic Engineering (2005) with contributions towards the design and implementation of an advanced neutron spectrometer funded by an EPSRC Instrumentation Development Award (GR/R38538/01). His PhD (2008) was sponsored by the Think Crime! EPSRC research project (EP/C008022/1) which formed the DISTINGUISH consortium. His work here specifically focused on real-time digital assay of mixed radiation fields with prominent developments in real-time, digital pulse-shape discrimination of neutrons and gamma rays. Further extensive work led to the embodiment of these findings into technology with a TRL 9 that has served several nuclear establishments supporting additional research in nuclear safeguards, non-proliferation, neutron imaging and fast-neutron multiplicity analysis. Most notably, during his time in industry, he oversaw the delivery of the bespoke processing hardware and software for the ADRIANA liquid scintillator array at Lancaster University as part of the National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF) (EP/L025671/1). He currently holds the position of International Senior Lecturer in Digital Electronics at Lancaster University. As part of the TORONE consortium he is responsible for overseeing the ruggedised acquisition and analytical hardware and software implementations for the characterisation of radioactive contaminants.

UKNNL

Prof. Nick Smith

Nick Smith has been UKNNL Fellow in geocharacterisation and remote laser and quantum sensing since 2014 and is also Technology Manager in geology, GIS, laser sensing and 3D visualisation within NNL’s Environmental Characterisation Team. He completed a prestigious Royal Society Industry Fellowship between 2013 and 2017 in remote laser characterisation in extreme nuclear environments which involved spending 50% of his time at the University of Manchester where he holds a Visiting Professorship (within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering). Nick has a degree in geology and a PhD in structural geology and basin dynamics both from Keele University, and an MSc in geographical information science from Manchester Metropolitan University.