I am a passionate innovator in my family business, Advanced Furnace Technology (Aftech). Aftech is an engineering and materials science company with a reputation for innovation. For example, we have developed novel graphite cleaning, purification and coating methods that have considerably increased efficiency in the compound semiconductor industry. I am also leading by example and changing industry standards by championing women into more senior positions in Aftech. For example, through STEM science degrees and retraining our capable and bright technicians for more highly skilled roles.

My vision for the company is moving into high growth sectors in line with our technical skills and scientific expertise in both chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and graphite cleaning and purification, to scale in terms of size, international trading, and the impact that we can make in the UK and globally. So far along the journey I have been awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, where I am leading the development of a novel tantalum carbide (TaC) coating of graphite components using CVD techniques. Through the fellowship, Aftech is now moving into the very high growth silicon carbide (SiC) power market.

The idea is a follow-on project from my fellowship to develop a method for removing chemical deposits from the TaC graphite parts that accumulate during SiC semiconductor growth. Due to the immaturity of the SiC supply chain, no equivalent cleaning method exists. Developing a commercial, high throughput process would extend the lifecycle of TaC graphite parts and introduce considerable efficiency in the SiC semiconductor supply chain, enabling SiC technology to evolve more quickly and meet the high demands of renewable energy markets, such as electric transport, which is expected to grow \>40% by 2027\.