About the Author

David Segal was born in London and lived in Stamford Hill for most of his years in primary and secondary education. He was educated at Hackney Downs Grammar School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. After graduating in 1972 with a degree in natural sciences, David obtained an MSc with commendation in surface chemistry and colloids at the University of Bristol and completed a PhD on foaming in lubricating oils at the same university. Post-doctoral work was carried out at Brunel University on the surface chemistry of copper phthalocyanine pigments. He has been employed in both the public and private sectors in the UK and throughout his working life has maintained an interest in materials chemistry and patent literature. He wrote One Hundred Patents That Shaped The Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2019), Materials For The 21st Century, (Oxford University Press, 2017), Exploring Materials Through Patent Information, (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014) and Chemical Synthesis Of Advanced Ceramic Materials, (Cambridge University Press, 1989). Segal is an author and co-author of over 40 scientific papers and an inventor and co-inventor of over 25 patent families.

David has worked for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (1978–1995) at the Harwell Laboratory, AEA Technology (1995–2006) and Coller IP Management (2006–2013). Interests in his working life included materials chemistry and patent literature. For example, activity transport in pressurised water reactors, sol–gel chemistry for the synthesis of a wide range of ceramic materials in the form of powders, coatings and fibres, ceramic nanofiltration membranes, inorganic phosphors, high-temperature ceramic superconductors, traditional ceramics such as stains and glazes, catalyst supports, gas-to-liquid technology for the synthesis of synthetic diesel, the treatment of diesel emissions from vehicles by use of non-thermal plasmas and the analysis of patent portfolios in a wide range of technologies including three-dimensional printing, light-emitting diodes, medical devices and electronic devices.

David is a Chartered Chemist (CChem) and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).