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Mike Ford is Associate Professor of Nanotechnology, at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia and runs the education programs at its Institute of Nanotechnology.
Mike Ford is originally from the UK where he undertook his doctoral studies at Southampton University. He first arrived in Australia in 1989 as a senior tutor at the University of Western Australia, then spent 4 years in the US as a research fellow jointly between Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, returning to Australia in 1996 to take up an academic appointment at Flinders. With the lure of the big city and the chance to pioneer nanotechnology education in Sydney, he moved to UTS in mid 2002. At Flinders University Mike co-founded the first nanotechnology undergraduate degree in Australia, and as Associate Director of the Institute his primary responsibility is the development of nanotechnology education initiatives at UTS.
Mike's research background lies in experimental methods for measuring electron motion in matter. His Ph.D. and postdoctoral work concentrated on the fundamental question of electron correlation in atoms and molecules. At the University of Maryland he developed a new electron impact coincidence technique to study correlation directly. His current research interests are fundamental electronic properties of materials and nano-scale systems, electron motion and bonding in van der Waals clusters as a route to understanding solvation chemistry, and synthesising scanning tunnelling microscope images using quantum chemical methods.
Selected Publications
B. Soulé de Bas, M. J. Ford and M. B. Cortie, "Melting in Small Gold Clusters: a Density Functional Molecular Dynamics Study", J. Phys: Condens. Matter, 18 55 (2006).
M. J. Ford, R. C. Hoft, and A. McDonagh , "Theoretical study of ethynylbenzene adsorption on Au(111) and implications for a new class of self-assembled monolayer", J. Phys. Chem. B 109 20387-20392 (2005).
C. Masens, M.J. Ford, M.B. Cortie, "The effect of surface symmetry on the absorption energetics of SCH3 on gold surfaces studied using Density Functional Theory", Surf. Sci. 580 19 (2005)
B. Soule de Bas, M.J. Ford and M.B. Cortie, "Low Energy Structures of Gold Clusters in the Size Range 3 to 38 Atoms", Theo. Chem. 686 193 (2004).
Elisabeth A Mikajlo, Helen E Dorsett and Michael J Ford "Trends in the bandstructures of the Group I and II oxides", J. Chem. Phys., 120 10799 (2004)
