Associate Professor Cather Simpson earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences with a Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellowship. After a Department of Energy Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship at Sandia National Labs, she joined the Chemistry Department at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned tenure and promotion in 2005. In 2007, she moved to the University of Auckland, where she holds appointments in Chemistry and Physics, and is founding Director of a multiuser laser facility called The Photon Factory, that opened in 2010. Her team of ~25 physics, chemistry, and engineering researchers perform fundamental research in the photodynamics of molecules, targeted research to advance ultrafast laser micromachining and fabrication, and industry-facing research with over a dozen companies and research institutes. A spin-off company is commercializing a novel approach to cell sorting. She has published over 50 papers and was recently awarded a Callaghan Commercialisation Fellowship and a University of Auckland Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching.

 Photodynamics of molecules, targeted research to advance ultrafast laser micromachining and fabrication