Andy Cooper
Andy is a founder of Gearu and the non-executive and part time Chairman. He has more than 20 years’ experience in materials chemistry and laboratory automation. With cofounder Benjamin Burger, he created the first mobile autonomous robotic chemist that forms the foundation of Gearu’s technology at the Autonomous Chemistry Laboratory, University of Liverpool. He was awarded the 2021 Interdisciplinary Prize by the Royal Society for this work. His team also won the 2021 Super AI Leader (SAIL) Award for this technology at the World AI Conference in Shanghai (2020 winner was IBM). He brings to Gearu both deep domain experience in materials chemistry (>300 publications, 30 in Science or Nature journals) along with a proven track record in innovative automation technologies. He is currently Professor of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool and is the founding Director of the Materials Innovation Factory and leads the Autonomous Chemistry Laboratory, both at the University.