About Us

Mass spectrometry & Instrumentation research has been undertaken at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics since the pioneering work of Professor Harry Leck in the 1960s. Prof Leck was responsible for much early development in vacuum science and technology in the UK. He was an author of the classic text book Pressure Measurement in Vacuum Systems as well as contributor to Dawson’s Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry and Its Applications (Chapter 6). A medal in his honour has been awarded by the UK Vacuum Symposium since 2015. 

From 1995 the focus of the group’s research turned towards performance improvement and miniaturisation of quadrupole mass spectrometers using micro-engineering MEMS techniques. Performance improvement of linear quadrupoles has been achieved through extensive high accuracy computer simulations. This work has led to several patents in quadrupole mass spectrometer technology.

The current research focus of the group, led by Simon Maher, is based on a holistic systems approach to enable point-of-use solutions whereby samples can be analysed in their native environment with minimal/no sample preparation.