Current interests

Dr Michael de Podesta's wide-ranging research interests concern all aspects of temperature measurement: from building the most accurate thermometer ever made; to developing industrial sensors capable of surviving harsh conditions; to measuring the temperature underneath the wheel of a train travelling at over one hundred miles per hour; to representing NPL on the steering committee of the International Surface Temperature Initiative.

Michael is also an active Science Ambassador and leads the Protons for Breakfast course.

Biography

Michael graduated with a BSc from Sussex University in 1981 and then in 1985 completed a DPhil in the electronic properties of metals at cryogenic temperatures. After postdoctoral work at Bristol University, he was appointed a lecturer at the University of London in 1987, and joined NPL in 2000.

Michael is a chartered physicist, a member of the Institute of Physics, and in 2009 he was awarded an MBE for Services to Science.

Selected publications

• D.F. Mark, F.M. Stuart and M. de Podesta
  New high-precision measurements of the isotopic composition of atmospheric argon
  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75 (2011) 7494-7501
• R Underwood, D Flack, P Morantz, G Sutton, P Shore and M de Podesta
  Dimensional characterisation of a quasispherical resonator by microwave and co-ordinate measurement techniques
  2011 Metrologia 48, 1
• Michael de Podesta, Gavin Sutton, Robin Underwood, Stephanie Bell, Mark Stevens, Thomas Byrne and Patrick Josephs-Franks
  Outgassing of water vapour, and its significance in experiments to determine the Boltzmann constant
  2011 Metrologia 48 L
• Gavin Sutton, Robin Underwood, Laurent Pitre, Michael de Podesta, Staf Valkiers
  Acoustic resonator experiments at the triple point of water: first results for the Boltzmann constant and remaining challenges
  International Journal of Thermophysics2010: 31 (7) 1310
• M de Podesta, E F May, J B Mehl, L Pitre, R M Gavioso, G Benedetto, P A Giuliano Albo, D Truong and D Flack
  Characterization of the volume and shape of quasi-spherical resonators using coordinate measurement machines
  2010 Metrologia 47 588 (selected as a Research Highlight)
• M. de Podesta, G. Sutton, R. Underwood, S. Legg and A. Steinitz
  Practical Acoustic Thermometry with Acoustic Waveguides
  International Journal of Thermophysics: 2010 31 (8) 1554
• Michael de Podesta, Gavin Sutton, Robin Underwood, Paul Morantz, Stuart Davidson, Michael Perkin
  Assessment Of Uncertainty In The Determination Of The Boltzmann Constant By An Acoustic Technique International Journal of Thermophysics
  2010 32, (1-2), pp 413-426
• G. Hinds, M. Stevens, J. Wilkinson, M. de Podesta, S. Bell
  Novel in-situ measurements of relative humidity in a PEMFC
  J. Power Sources, 2009, 186 (1), 52-57
• M. de Podesta and G. Edwards
  The Limits of a Rayleigh-Scattering Primary Thermometer
  International Journal of Thermophysics 2008, 29 (5) 1719-1729

Contact details

Email: michael.de.podesta@npl.co.uk
Tel: 020 8943 6476