John Saffell has been Technical Director of Alphasense Ltd since it was founded in 1997. BSc in chemistry from MIT (1975) and PhD in materials science from Cambridge University (1979). He is Chairman of the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Measurement (CoGDEM), a member of ASTM, CEN and BSI standards committees and was previous chairman of Sensors for Water Interest Group (SWIG). Publications are in the fields of water quality, air quality, sensor technology and polymer physics.