Stuart Reid

Professor Stuart Reid FRSE serves as Head of Department and Royal Society Industry Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. He leads a multidisciplinary research team working at the intersection of medical science and advanced physics, with significant contributions to both regenerative medicine and gravitational wave detection technologies.

His research encompasses two major thrusts:

• Nanokicking Technology: As co-inventor of 'nanokicking,' he developed a method using precisely controlled nanoscale vibrations to stimulate stem cells to differentiate into bone tissue. This groundbreaking work, published in ACS Nano (2013) and Nature Biomedical Engineering (2017), is now being translated to clinical applications through nanokick.com, with support from Find A Better Way charity for land mine injury treatment.
• Advanced Optical Coatings: His laboratory has pioneered the world's first high-energy ECR ion beam deposition facility, producing the lowest absorption sputtered amorphous silicon coatings (PRL 2018) for next-generation gravitational wave detectors. This work enables detectors to approach quantum noise limitations.

Professor Reid's publications reveal a consistent trajectory from fundamental science to clinical and industrial applications, demonstrating exceptional translational impact across disciplines. His recent work increasingly focuses on commercialization and clinical translation of both nanokicking technology and advanced optical coatings.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Appointment to the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (2014)
• Membership on the Royal Society's Research Grants Board (2020)
• 12 total prizes as documented in his academic profile

Currently overseeing 49 research projects (16 active, 33 completed), Professor Reid directs significant research funding including the BIOME project (2025-2026) and EPSRC DTP research on extracellular vesicles. He established the Extreme Performance Optical Coatings testbed (www.epoc.scot) within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, creating a national resource for advanced optical coating development and testing.