There were 73 applications this year and in announcing the 19 new Institute Fellows selected, the SSI announcement read: “Our Fellows are both leaders in their research fields and people who understand the importance of software in research. They are engaging people who want to promote best practice, training and interdisciplinary working with a focus on software.

“The new Fellows for 2015 come from a variety of fields from Genetics, Digital History, Art and Design, Research Software Engineering and Management, Glaciology, Healthcare, Imaging, Material Science, Computer Science, Addiction studies, Data Management, Chemistry, Systems and Synthetic Biology and collaborative scientific analysis and services.”

Dr Johnston is currently exploring the hidden micro world using X-rays. He leads a group that uses advanced materials science and engineering techniques to work collaboratively with diverse researchers. The group image internal structures non-destructively at the microscale using X-ray microtomography; interpreting morphology and function from the 3D data.  

Dr Johnston works with a wide variety of materials and specimens, from mummified animals to jet engine components. Through X-ray microtomography the group investigates the engineered and natural world – revealing structures that have never been seen before in 3D.

The group’s research is intimately intertwined with software. It is essential for running their equipment, reconstructing, visualising, and analysing the large 3D datasets they generate. 

Current projects Dr Johnston leads and co-investigates include abradable coating materials in Rolls-Royce gas turbines, volcanic ash deposition, imaging the human remains from the Mary Rose, bioinspired structures from nature and 3D printing, additive layer manufacturing, medical device optimisation, and model organisms for bone, among others.

Dr Johnston has a passion for engaging people with research, and devised the University’s successful Research As Art project. He has worked on an art/science collaboration using X-rays, and run the Welsh Government-funded outreach programme Materials: Live!

For more information on the SSI visit http://www.software.ac.uk/about and on Swansea University’s College of Engineering visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/. 

You can also follow Dr Richard Johnston on Twitter @DrRichJohnston.