Lectures

2025

What can ultrasonic imaging tell us about the world?, Plenary talk at the Inaugural Research Conference, School of Engineering and the Built Environment Research Conference, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, 5/7/2025.

Not all devices are equal – steps towards the optimisation of acoustic radiation force micromanipulators, Invited talk at Microacoustics and Microsensors Symposium 2025, UK Microsystems Network, Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, Malmesbury, 16/6/2025.

Acoustic tweezers and their applications, Physics Colloquium, Innsbruck Physics Research Centre, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria, 10/6/2025.

Opportunities for automated decision making in non-destructive evaluation, Workshop on requirements for regulatory, insurance and legal acceptance of automated decision-making in NDT, SHM and CM technologies, London, 13/5/2025.

2024

Acoustic beams – from tractors to artificial muscle via metasurfaces, Meet the Jury Seminar, Arenberg Doctoral School, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 4/10/2024.

Optical and Acoustic Manipulation: Parallels, Differences and Synergies (Co-author: Monika Ritsch-Marte, Medical University of Innsbruck), European Summer School on Physical Acoustics and its Applications, Cargèse, Corsica, France, 20/9/2024.

The past, present and future of ultrasonic array imaging with full matrix capture (FMC) and the total focusing method (TFM), Plenary lecture at FENDT2024, Zhongshan, China, 24/6/2024.

Acoustic Tractor Beams, Pint of Science, Eldon House, Bristol, 13/5/2024.

Acoustic beams – from tractors to artificial muscle via metasurfaces, Dugald Cameron Lecture, Centre for Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics (C-MIU), University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 9/5/2024.

Ultrasonic inspection of pipes using mobile robotics (Co-Authors: Alex Towlson, Xiaoyu Sun, Xudong Niu, Jie Zhang, Anthony Croxford), Anglo-French Physical Acoustics Conference 2024, (AFPAC 2024), Loch Lomond, Scotland, UK, 18/1/2024.

2023

Mobile robotic deployment of ultrasonic imaging in underground pipe networks, Plenary lecture at the 33rd Annual Conference and Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation and Enabling Technologies, NDE 2023, Pune, India, 7/12/2023.

Acoustic beams – from tractors to artificial muscle via metasurfaces, Warwick Physics Colloquium, University of Warwick, 25/10/2023.

Acoustical tweezing – current and future possibilities, TCESNet Summer School: Patterning Cells with Sound, Bristol Medical School, Bristol, 12/9/2023.

Are the robots coming – perspectives on the use of low-cost mobile robotics in non-destructive evaluation, Plenary lecture at the 31st ASNT Research Symposium, Greater Columbus Convention Centre, Columbus, OH, USA, 26/6/23.

Twisted sound – trapping, moving and rotating objects with acoustic vortices, Keynote lecture at UK Fluids Network: Acoustofluidics SIG, Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, Malmsbury, 16/6/2023.

The use of low-cost mobile robotics in non-destructive testing, Bristol Robotics Lab (BRL) Seminar , Bristol, 11/5/2023.

Dynamic patterning of microparticles with acoustic impulse control (co-authors Luke Cox and Anthony Croxford), Invited lecture at DAGA 23, 49th Annual Conference on Acoustics, Hamburg, Germany, 8/3/2023.

Seeing and feeling with ultrasound, Norwich Science Festival, Norwich School, Norwich, 13/2/2023.

Ultrasonic levitation – from cells to human beings? Bishops Cleeve U3A, Stoke Orchard Community Centre, Bishops Cleeve, 2/2/2023.

2022

Ultrasonic levitation – Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together, Keynote lecture at Acoustofluidics 2022, Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 19/10/22

Recent advances in ultrasonic array imaging and its implications for structural integrity assessment, Plenary lecture at the International Symposium on Structural Integrity (ISSI-2022), Changsha, China (Hybrid), 15/10/2022.

A model of air-based ultrasonic mid-air haptics, 22nd International Symposium on Nonlinear Acoustics (ISNA22), St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, 5/5/2022.

What information can ultrasonic arrays extract from engineering structures?, Invited lecture at GdR ISIS, Signal et Imagerie Acoustique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, 21/6/2022.

Phased arrays for ultrasonic manipulation, Levitation Symposium, Diamond Light Source (Online) 25/5/2022.

Ultrasonic and acoustic sensing for buried pipe inspection with swarms of robots, Invited lecture at Endress+Hauser R&D Forum (Online) 29/4/2022.

Manipulation of matter with acoustic radiation force devices, PolyMaths Lab Seminar, Department of Engineering Maths, University of Bristol, 18/3/2022

Manipulation of matter with acoustic radiation force devices, Invited lecture at APS March Meeting, Chicago, IL, USA, Session on : Acoustic Probes of Soft Condensed Matter Systems (Online) 14/3/2022.

Ultrasonic sensors for assessment of pipe blockages, internal geometry and wall condition (Co-authors: Yicheng Yu, Alex Towlson, Xudong Niu, Jie Zhang and Kirill Horoshenkov), Invited lecture at Sensors for Water Industry Research Group, SWIG, Leakage Workshop (Online) 2/2/2022.

2021

Acoustical Tweezers – An accessible tool for applications in physics, chemistry and the life sciences, West Virginia University, USA (Online) 3/12/2021,

Acoustic Levitation, Museum of Portable Sound Conference: Sound Beyond Music (Online) 12/11/2021.

What can ultrasonic arrays tell us about cracks (or any defect)?, Plenary lecture at ESIA16, 16th International Conference on Engineering Structural Integrity Assessment (Online) 6/10/2021.

Manipulation of matter with acoustic radiation force devices, Center for Soft Matter Research (CSMR) seminar, New York University, USA (Online), 22/9/2021.

Ultrasonic and acoustic sensing for buried pipe inspection with swarms of robots, Invited lecture at RAIN Webinar series (Online), 22/4/2021.

Surfing on an ultrasonic wave – ultrasonic arrays as non-contact manipulators, 2nd Dugald Cameron Lecture (Online), Organised by the Centre for Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics, University of Glasgow, 16/3/2021.

25 years doing ultrasonics in Bristol, UNDT Group Seminar (Online), 3/3/2021.

Opportunities to engage with the FIND CDT, RCNDE Technology Transfer Event (Online), 25/1/2021.

2020

A history of ultrasonic non-destructive testing – with a focus on array technology, UNDT Group Seminar (Online), 17/12/2020.

Taking Technology forwards, Pipebots Seminar Series (Online), 3/12/2020.

Acoustic levitation and volumetric displays, Blow Your Mind Week, Physics & Astronomy Society, University College Cork (Online), 28/10/2020.

NDE Doctoral Training – Engineers for the Future, Plenary talk at The Annual BINDT Conference, NDT2020 (Online), 14/8/2020.

Defect Characterisation using ultrasonic arrays – linear and nonlinear methods, UKAN Webinar (Online), 8/7/2020.

Biomedical applications of acoustic tweezers, UKAN Webinar, Biomedical Acoustics Special Interest Group (Online), 26/6/2020.

Ultrasonic manipulation and its application across the length scales, UKAN Webinar (Online), 12/5/2020.

2019

Ultrasonic robotics – ​particle manipulation across the length scales, Invited lecture at 3rd SFB Meeting on Tomography Across the Scales, Obergurgl University Centre, Innsbruck University, Austria, 3/12/2019​.

Invisible robotics – ultrasonic particle manipulation across the length scales, Physics Colloquium, University of Bristol, Bristol, 18/11/2019.

Parallels between optical tweezing and acoustic tweezing, Invited lecture at Rank Prize Fund Meeting, Parallels between acoustics and EM radiation in structured materials, Grasmere, 29/10/2019.

The power of design simplicity – exploring new applications for bulk wave acoustic manipulation devices, Keynote lecture at UK Fluids Network 9th Acoustofluidics SIG, Cardiff University, Cardiff, 16/10/2019.

Acoustic manipulation using in-plane devices – progress towards patterning and mechanophenotyping (Co-author: Glauber Silva), Acoustofluidics 2019, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands, 27/8/2019.

Defect Characterisation using ultrasonic arrays – fundamental limitations and future possibilities, Plenary Lecture at 46th Annual Review of Progress on Quantitative Non-Destructive Evaluation (QNDE), Portland OR, USA, 15/7/2019.

Holographic Acoustic Tweezers, UK Fluids Network and UK Acoustic Network’s Acoustofluidics Forum and Olympics 2019, Bristol, UK, 26/6/2019.

Detection and characterisation of defects in highly scattering materials using ultrasonic arrays (Co-authors: Long Bai and Alexander Velichko), Ambassadors Chair Closing Symposium – Advances in Ultrasound Based Imaging for Non-Destructive Testing and Medical Applications, KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, Kortrijk, Belgium, 13/6/2019.

Non-linear ultrasonic imaging for non-destructive testing, Ambassadors Chair Seminar IV, KU Leuven Bruges Campus, Bruges, Belgium, 12/6/2019.

Defect characterisation using ultrasonic arrays, Ambassadors Chair Seminar III, KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, Kortrijk, Belgium, 4/6/2019.

High resolution ultrasonic imaging for non-destructive testing, Ambassadors Chair Seminar II, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 3/6/2019.

Ultrasonic particle manipulation, Ambassadors Chair Seminar I, KU Leuven, Bruges Campus, Bruges, Belgium, 17/5/2019.

Ultrasonic beams: a journey from industrial non-destructive testing to the science of tractor beams, Ambassadors Chair Plenary Lecture, KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, Kortrijk, Belgium, 16/5/2019.

Advances in ultrasonic imaging for non-destructive testing, Keynote lecture at ESIA15-ISSI2019, Cambridge, UK, 9/5/2019.

Ultrasonic particle manipulation and its application across the length scales,
Imperial College, London, 2/5/2019.

Dynamic particle manipulation, Keynote at UK Fluids Network’s 6th Acoustofluidics SIG, Glasgow, 14/3/2019.

2018

Applications of Ultrasound and how to make an Ultrasound Levitator – a lecture demonstration, UCL Science Centre Lectures, London, 23/11/2018.

How to make an acoustic levitation machine, FUTURES Public Talk, We The Curious, Bristol, UK, 28/9/2018.

Accurate non-destructive defect characterisation using ultrasonic measurements, Measurements Lecture 2018, 13th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics, Southampton, UK, 30/8/2018.

Design, manufacture and application of digital space-coiling metamaterials, European Workshop on Acoustic & Mechanical Metamaterials, London, UK, 10/7/18.

Ultrasonic particle manipulation with multi-transducer arrays, Invited lecture at Ringberg Symposium 2018 – Detection and actuation at the nano- and microscales in fluids, Tegernsee, Germany, 12/5/2018

Hidden links between array imaging and tractor beams, Invited lecture at BINDT Aerospace Event, Filton, UK, 12/4/2018

How to make an acoustic levitator, DTU, Denmark, 22/3/2018

Improving the ability to characterise defects and the impact on structural integrity, Invited lecture at IMechE Conference on Structural Integrity Design and Validation Technologies, Manchester, UK, 27/2/2018

Acoustic levitation – from cells to human beings? Portsmouth and District Physical Society/Institute of Physics, Portsmouth, UK, 15/2/2018

Realising digital acoustic metamaterials, DENORMS workshop on Dedicated manufacturing and experimental techniques for acoustic metamaterials and acoustic treatments, Leuven, Belgium, 7/2/2018

2017

3D print your own sonic tractor beam, Pint of Science Students Union, Bristol, UK, 18/9/2017

3D Print Your Own Sonic Tractor Beam, Pint of Science Festival, Bristol, UK, 17/5/2017

Phased Array Ultrasonics, Invited lecture at IMechE Conference NDT2017, Sheffield, UK, 21/3/2017

Acoustic Levitation: from cells to human beings, Bath Royal Literary and Science Institution, Bath, UK, 28/1/2017

Ultrasonic tractor beams and tweezers, Engineering Nonlinearity 4th Half-Yearly Meeting, Bristol, 9/1/2017

2016

Ultrasonic manipulation – tweezers and tractor beams, Loughborough University, UK, 13/12/2016

Ultrasonic levitation and manipulation​, President’s Honour Lecture, BINDT Annual NDT Conference, Telford, UK, 13/11/2016

Applications of Ultrasound and how to make an Ultrasound Levitator, UCL Science Centre lectures, London, UK, 4/11/2016

Acoustic levitation as a non-contact manufacturing technology, Advanced Engineering, Birmingham, UK, 2/11/2016

Ultrasonic manipulation – tweezers and tractor beams, ISVR, Southampton, UK, 18/10/2016

Ultrasonic array imaging for NDT, IoP Physical Acoustics Tutorial Series, London, UK, 22/9/2016

Ultrasonic manipulation – tweezers and tractor beams, Invited lecture at AES, 2016 Sound Field Control Conference, University of Surrey, UK, 18/7/2016

Building acoustic landscapes with meta-bricks, Invited lecture at ICMS Workshop, Metamaterials beyond photonics, Edinburgh, UK, 21/6/2016

Dexterous ultrasonic manipulation devices​, Wave Engineering Bristol, Bristol, UK, 12/1/2016