Overview:
This page is for me to demonstrate the activities that I was involved in as a student and as well as at the different work environments with focus on forensics.
2013, with colleagues enjoying our moments in the lab during the MSc course at Cranfield University Shrivenham
Materials can speak
When shotguns are used in crime, its often difficult to trace the weapn used since smooth bore weapons leave no impressions on ammunitions. In 2013, I embarked on a project to determine if materials properties could assist in tracing the source/manufacturer of ammunitions used in a crime. These would then be traced to the dealer/seller and to the consumer. By this, the perpetrator in a crime would be captured and justice served. I performed a comprehensive analysis of several shotgun ammunitions and a protocol was developed that could be used in case such a crime happens. I used techniques such as micro-hardness, hand-held XRF, benchtop XRF, sterio microscopy, and XRD all of which were done at Cranfield Forensic Institute. Part of my results were crystollographic phases of different materials using a bench top X-Ray Fluorescence system - a function/role that such instrument was not thought to perform (usually done using XRD instruments). The results were published a few months later in the journal of applied crystallography and can be found here