 |
Dr Steven Dobrowski
B.Sc.,
Ph.D.
Senior University
Teacher in Forensic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry
Director of Forensic Sciences
Email: s.a.dobrowski@bradford.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1274 233766
Fax: +44 (0)1274 235350 |
Dr Dobrowski obtained his first degree in
Textile Chemistry from the University of Leeds in 1975 and his PhD following
postgraduate research on the isolation and microanalysis of the Allworden
membrane of Wool under the supervision of Drs Eric V. Truter and Peter T.
Speakman. He worked in the paints and polymer-finishing industry for six
years before returning to academia to carry out post-doctoral research for
Professor Isaac Goodman and Dr Tony F. Johnson on the chemical degradation
and analysis of polyurethanes in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical
Technology, University of Bradford. Dr Dobrowski continued post doctoral
research in the Department of Physics, University of Leeds with Professor
Ian J. Ward (FRS) working on the synthesis and characterisation of
ionically-conducting and liquid-crystalline polymers before taking up a
lecturing post in the Department of Chemistry, Stockport College of
Technology in 1988. After a period in the Department of Chemistry, Sheffield
(Hallamshire) Polytechnic, he moved to the Department of Chemical and
Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford in 1990 where his research and
teaching activities include both forensic chemistry and polymer chemistry.
Research
Dr Dobrowski's research interests
lie in two areas: forensic chemistry, and organic synthesis and
characterisation of polymer precursors and their products.
Recent postgraduate
research projects include:
-
Evaluation of Raman Spectroscopy for the detection of
drugs of abuse in latent fingerprints and an examination of the fuming
process in latent fingerprint detection with cyanoacrylates
Student: Joanna Day; PhD research project, 1998 - 2001
-
Synthesis of fluorescently-tagged
monomers for chemical enhancement of latent fingerprints
Student: Geoff Bruton; PhD research project, 1998 - 2001
-
Validation of the Christmas Tree
stain for the detection of spermatozoa in forensic casework
Student: Shazia Inayat; MPhil research project, 1999 - 2000
-
Evaluation of the Christmas Tree
stain for the detection of spermatozoa
Student: Orlaith Kingston; MSc research project, 1999
-
Evaluation of PVC and CPEs in
thermoplastic elastomers
Student: Carl Goundry; MPhil research
project (extra mural) 1997 - 1999
-
Synthesis of precursors to hairy-rod
liquid crystalline polymers
Student: Andy Huang; PhD research project, 1994 - 1998
-
Beta-cyclodextrin mediated synthesis
of 4-hydroxybenzoyloxy-based hairy rod LCPs
Student: Mohammed Nabi; MPhil research project, 1994 - 1995
-
The hydrosilation reaction between
poly(hydrogenmethylsiloxane) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide
Student: Palvinder Kaur; MPhil research project, 1993 - 1994
-
Preparation and reactivity of vinyl
benzyl-terminated macromonomers
Student: Mark O'Brien; PhD research project, 1991 - 1994
-
Anionic ring-opening polymerisation
of cyclic oligocarbonates
Student: Utai Meekum; PhD research
project, 1990 - 1993
-
High conversion bulk copolymerisation
of methyl methacrylate with n-butyl acrylate
Student: Mark O'Brien; MPhil research project, 1990 - 1991
Ongoing postgraduate research projects
- Structure elucidation of the product in the
presumptive test for lead in gunshot residues using rhodizonic acid and
rhodizonate salts
Student: Martin Downey; MPhil research project, 2002 - 2003
Final year
(BSc/MChem/MSci) research projects
| 1990-91 |
|
§
|
Anionic
polymerisation of styrene using 9-fluorenyl-alkali metal salts |
|
§
|
Synthesis
of novel side-chain liquid crystalline polymers based on tri-arylester
mesogens |
| 1991-92
|
| §
|
Synthesis
of a polysiloxamide |
| §
|
The
anionic polymerisation of N,N-dimethyl acrylamide using 9-fluorenyl
lithium as initiator |
| §
|
Reduction
of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) using lithium aluminium hydride |
| §
|
Ring-closing
reactions of bisphenol-A-bischloroformate |
| §
|
Free
radical copolymerisation of methacrylic acid (MA) with
2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulphonic acid (AMPS) |
| 1992-93 |
| §
|
Computer
simulation of the reaction between di-isocyanates and diols to
yield block copolyurethanes |
| §
|
Synthesis
of cyclic oligocarbonate precursors |
| §
|
Review
of polymers for non-linear optical applications |
| §
|
Reduction
of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) using lithium aluminium hydride |
1993-94
§ Functionalisation reactions of medical-grade poly(vinyl
alcohol) films
§ Raman spectroscopic studies of poly(N,N-diethyl acrylamide) gel
electrolytes
§ Synthesis of inclusion catalysts for the preparation of
4-hydroxybenzoic acid
§ Synthesis of precursors to thermotropic hairy-rod liquid crystalline
polymers
1994-95
§ Investigation of LCPs using hot-stage polarising light microscopy
§ Methylation of oligomeric diols
§ Synthesis of deuterated liquid crystalline polymers
§ Study of the copolymerisation of sodium and potassium acrylic acids
1995-96
§ An investigation of polymer-electrolyte and solvent-electrolyte
interactions using vibrational spectroscopy
§ Alkyl end-capping of poly(ethylene glycol)s
§ Monomers for "hairy rod" liquid crystal polymer (lcp)
synthesis
§ Evaluation of methods used to make laboratory test impressions of
items of footwear in forensic investigation
§ A forensic investigation and cataloguing of the profiles of cut wires
using various implements
§ Forensic identification of an implement from stab cuts in tyres
1996-97
§ Effect of temperature and humidity on the efficacy of some modern
fingerprint enhancement reagents
§ A dissertative review of chemical and physical methods for the
development of latent fingerprints
§ Development of fluorescent cyanoacrylates for latent fingerprint
enhancement
§ Selective cleavage of ether linkages in linear block
copolyetherurethanes
§ Ester bond cleavage in linear block copolyesterurethanes; a forensic
tool?
§ A mechanistic study of the ester bond cleavage in linear block
copolyesterurethanes
1997-98
§ Reagents for the enhancement of latent fingerprints: Preparation of
cyanoacetyl chloride, a precursor to cyanoacetic ester intermediates for
"Superglue" synthesis
§ Reagents for the enhancement of latent fingerprints: Preparation of
some alkyl and aryl esters of cyanoacetic acid
§ Reagents for the enhancement of latent fingerprints: Preparation of
alkylcyanoacrylates by depolymerisation of poly(alkyl acrylate)s
§ The commissioning of the Perkin Elmer TGS2 thermogravimetric analyser
§ The use of differential scanning calorimetry (dsc) and thermo
gravimetric analysis (tga) for following depolymerisation reactions
§ The design, construction and testing of a fuming cabinet for
development of latent fingerprints using substituted-cyanoacrylates
§ Evaluation of amido black and benzidine(s) for the enhancement of
blood-sited fingerprints
§ A study in forensic odontology
1998-99
§ Synthesis of 1,8-diazafluoren-9-one (DFO) and selected analogues
§ Synthesis of 9-fluorenyl methylene cyanoacetate and the corresponding
acrylate
§ Synthesis of copolymers of methyl-cyanoacrylate and
9-fluorenyl-cyanoacrylate as precursors to substances for latent image
enhancement
§ 9-flurorenyl-alkali metal salts as anionic initiators for
cyanoacrylates
§ An investigation of the phenomenon of vaporisation of Superglue™
(ethyl cyanoacrylate) from cotton wool
§ An investigation of the effects of humidity and temperature on the
clarity of latent fingermarks enhanced by cyanoacrylate fuming
§ Methods for the enhancement of latent fingermarks suitable for use in
undergraduate laboratories
§ An investigation of latent earmarks and their chemical enhancement
§ Analysis of hair greases in a population of university students
§ Substances for latent image enhancement
1999-00
§ Preparation of poly(acrylamide anthracene) and its acceptance of
cyanoacrylates in Diels Alder reactions
§ False positives and fake blood
§ Distinguishing between small fragments of toughened and non-toughened
glass by the fragment shape
§ The transfer of broken glass to footwear and lower garments as a
result of the wearer walking through broken glass
§ The distribution of footwear pattern types amongst a young male
population
§ Comparison of the Christmas Tree and
H&E stains for the detection of spermatozoa
2000-01
§ The use of iodine in enhancement of latent fingerprints
§ The reaction of a-naphthoflavone with iodine in post-treatment of
iodine-fumed fingerprints
§ Post-Toning of Ninhydrin-treated latent prints with alkali earth
metal chlorides
§ Formation of fluorenyl lithium
§ Polymerisation of SuperGlue™ and molecular weight determination of
the product on fumed fingerprints
§ Relative sensitivity of the presumptive chemical tests for blood in
solution
§ Comparison of photographic and impression evidence of earmarks
§ Preparation of poly(acrylamide anthracene) and its acceptance of
cyanoacrylates in Diels Alder reactions
§ Relative sensitivity of the presumptive chemical tests for blood on
garments
§ The examination of writing inks
2001-02
§ The reaction of iodine with unsaturated eccrine lipid
§ The isolation and analysis of the iodine - a-naphthoflavone adduct
§ The reaction of Ruhemann's purple with group II metal chlorides
§ Reaction between lead particulates and rhodizonic acid in gunshot
residues
§ The initiation reaction of ethylcyanoacrylate in fingerprint
enhancement
§ Analysis of a surfactant/polymer formulation used for the de-inking
of documents
2002-03
§ The role and fate of bacteria in enhancement of latent fingerprints
§ The detection and identification of some drugs of abuse in hair
subjected to bacteriological and environmental decay in burial
environments
§ A study of the bio-deterioration of important death scene materials
in burial contexts relevant to the forensic archaeology of West
Yorkshire over the past 25 years
§ Quantitative determination of iodine in iodine-fumed fingerprints
§ Quantitative determination of iodine in the iodine-a-naphthoflavone
complex
§ Enhancement of ninhydrin-treated latent prints from sebaceous
secretions after treatment with amines
§ Contrast enhancement of ninhydrin-treated latent prints with Group II
metal halides
§ End group analysis of poly(ethylcyanoacrylate) on chemically enhanced
latent fingerprints developed with SuperGlue™
§ Molecular weight determination of poly(ethylcyanoacrylate) deposited
on latent fingerprints after chemical development with SuperGlue™
§ Determination of lead and barium in complexes obtained in forensic
presumptive tests for gunshot residues using squarates
§ Determination of lead and barium in complexes obtained in forensic
presumptive tests for gunshot residues using croconates
§ Determination of lead and barium in complexes obtained in forensic
presumptive tests for gunshot residues using rhodizonates
§ False positives in the use of Simon's reagent in presumptive
screening tests for methamphetamines
§ False positives in the use of Marquis reagent in presumptive
screening tests for meth/amphetamines
Teaching
Undergraduate classes delivered by Dr
Dobrowski are listed below.
If the Module Title is
underlined, then the lecture notes for that module are available to read over the Internet
to students and staff at the University. You may, if you wish, save the file to disc and
print a single copy of these notes for your own use. Further reproduction and any form of
distribution to others contravenes copyright and is not permitted.
First Year Classes
Introduction to the Principles of Forensic Science
Code CT6002M
Laboratory Practice and Professional Skills 1
Code CT1005D
Laboratory Practice and Professional Skills for Chemical & Biomedical
Sciences Code CT1006M
Laboratory Practice and Professional Skills 2 / 2M
Code CT1007D
Laboratory Practice and Professional Skills 2M
Code CT1008M
Second Year Classes
Introduction to the Chemistry of Synthetic Macromolecules Module Code CT4001M
Forensic Examination and Enhancement of Scene Marks Module Code CT6006M
Professional, Personal and Expert Witness Skills
Code CT2009M
Third (Final year BSc) Year Classes
Forensic
Analysis of Polymers Paints and Fibres Module Code
CT3032M
Interpretation and Presentation of Forensic Evidence Module Code CT6010M
Fourth (Final year MChem/MSci) Year Classes
Forensic Analysis of Controlled and Trace Substances Module Code
CT3021M
|
