Rachel Millar

Rachel received her BSc in Chemistry from the University of Aberdeen in 2018. Her undergraduate project, was led by Professor Fredrik Glasser, and focused on the role of different species such as magnesium and phosphates in the formation of monohydrocalcite. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant and contributed to the Carbon Capture Machine project which went on to be a quarter finalist team in the NRG COSIA X-Prize competition in 2018. The team precipitated carbonate minerals on the Kg scale and tested applications in cementitious materials.
From 2019 to 2021, Rachel worked at Element Materials Technology where she was responsible for corrosion testing and material characterisation by OES. From 2021 to 2023, Rachel worked as the senior analytical chemist at RAB-Microfluidics. The company produced a bench top device for portable oil condition monitoring allowing predictive maintenance of lube oil systems. The device uses UV-Vis and IR spectroscopy to analyse the acid fraction and basic components in the oil.
Rachel is currently a Research Assistant at the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions at Heriot Watt University, working on the Crystal Ocean project, which looks at ocean alkalinity enhancement through the addition of hydrated carbonates. Rachel has obtained a James Watt scholarship and will start her PhD with Dr Phil Renforth in October 2023.

Rachel’s main research areas are Negative Emissions Technologies, Carbon Capture and Utilisation, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, Carbon Dioxide Removal.