In late May of 2004, Orlin, Ketan and I (with OJ, young Orlin Velev, Jr., in tow) traveled to the UK for two specific purposes: (1) discussing research collaborations with the research group of professor Vesselin Paunov at University of Hull, and (2) attending a short workshop sponsored by the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hull (hosted by professor Paunov). Professor Paunov, or “Vesko”, and several of his graduate students and post docs (the so called “Vesko boys”: Olivier Cayre, Pietro Taylor, and Hartmut Wege) are collaborating with us on the polymer microrods project (pioneered by our own postdoc, Rossitza Alargova).

 

Breakfast at North Bar Lodge

The four of us stayed at quaint "B & B" called the North bar lodge in the town of Beverly, a quiet suburb of Hull. During the day OJ would stay with Vesko’s family, while Orlin, Ketan and I went on to the University. During the day we had the chance to see their laboratory and have avid discussions regarding our collective research. We were entertained very warmly by his group for several days (note: if ever you are visiting, ask Pietro to cook Italian food for you … mmmm!). For lunch one day, Vesko treated us to a fine meal at “The Old Grey Mare”, a pub located just off campus. Orlin tried to get Ketan and I to order steak & kidney pie*, but I chose fish and chips, while Ketan took it easy with a small portion to save room for dinner. After lunch the Vesko boys treated us to an early afternoon espresso to awaken us from our post luncheon stupor.

 

Vesko Boys (left to right): Hartmut, Pietro, and Olivier. Note Pietro's apron; he was about to regale us with his cooking.
Lunch at the Old Grey Mare (left to right) Brian, Pietro, and Ketan. Note how much bigger my meal is than Ketan’s!

The visit wasn’t all play of course. In addition to our joint discussions with Vesko’s group, about half of the business portion consisted of The Surfactants and Colloids Workshop, which was held on May 25, 2004 at the University of Hull Department of Chemistry. This small venue was a chance for the Velev group to present our research to our European colleagues as well as for us to meet and listen to the related research endeavors of various faculty from around the UK. Some of the featured speakers were professors Colin Bain (Oxford), Brian Vincent (Bristol), as well as a number of the professors from Hull including professors Paunov, Fletcher, Binks, Aveyard, and Clint. In particular, this was the first chance for Ketan and I to meet Bernie Binks, the former advisor to Orlin’s first post doc, Simon Lumsdon, who first introduced Ketan and I to mysterious ways of colloidal science. The audience at the workshop was primarily Hull graduate students, post docs, and some other Hull professors. On the whole the workshop was entertaining and quite educational. It served as a unique venue for introducing us to a new perspective on both colloids and surfactants.

 

The Discussions

The Speakers
Kneeling in Front: Ketan and Brian
Standing at Back: Paul Fletcher, Bob Aveyard, John Clint, Colin Bain, Brian Vincent, Orlin Velev, Vesselin Paunov, and Bernie Binks

After the workshop, Orlin and OJ headed off to Scotland for a few days of exploring. Along the way, they drove Ketan and I to York in their tiny rent-a-car**. In York, Ketan and I spent the day exploring wonderful walls, towers and cathedrals, and then caught the train to Oxford for a brief visit there. The town of Oxford is a wonderful place, with tremendous history and beautiful scenery. Professor Colin Bain (who presented at the workshop with us earlier in the week) was nice enough to host us on a tour of the new Oxford Chemistry building and chat with us over a coffee one afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed this description of our trip as much as we enjoyed the actual visit.
Best Wishes,
Brian

* Please note that while no steak and kidney pies were consumed on this trip, the remainder of both the food and the ale were well enjoyed by all. I cannot comment about the relative merits of this culinary item, but according to Orlin it is a large item of rare and extremely filling nature to be consumed with some trepidation if large amounts of ale are to accompany it.
** One of the highlights of the week was riding with Orlin in a small cramped rental vehicle while he mastered the art of taking “round abouts” driving on the wrong side of the road whilst sitting in a right hand drivers seat using a left handed standard transmission! Even OJ thought it was fun.