Meet our Team: Peter Hou

In our first Meet our Team post, we are celebrating CMAC's PhD student Peter Hou, who began working with CMAC in 2019.  

Prior to pursuing a PhD at CMAC, Peter worked as a consultant and project manager for 11 years in the field of chemical/process engineering. In this position, he gained expertise in process and plant design, with a particular focus on diverse industries. 

His main role at CMAC is to conduct research and development on a system that can accurately and consistently feed solid pharmaceutical materials. The aim of this is to achieve a feed rate of under 10 g/h, which can be likened to uniformly adding a spoonful of sugar to a cup of coffee over 30 minutes. The development of this technology should contribute to the development of precision medicine and personalised medicine. 

Peter spends a lot of time in the lab working toward his main career objective of improving drug manufacturing and enabling personalised medicine. He said: 

“I am passionate about finding innovative solutions to make the drug manufacturing process more efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable while ensuring patients receive personalised treatments tailored to their needs. 

By leveraging cutting-edge technologies like more advanced drug manufacturing, I believe we can revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”  

Peter was recently selected as a finalist in the STEM for BRITAIN 2023 competition, which was a great honour and further validated his dedication to his field of study. This is a major scientific poster competition and exhibition organised by the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, which has been held in Parliament since 1997.

His most proud professional achievement is the project he is currently working on.

“The amount of effort I've put into it has been immense, and it's incredibly rewarding to see it all come together. One thing that I really enjoy about my job at CMAC is the level of autonomy and ownership that I'm given over my work. This allows me to be creative and come up with new and innovative solutions, which is something that I find very fulfilling.” 

In his free time, Peter enjoys hiking, jogging, and cooking with his family. Although he does not currently have any pets, he has previously adopted two cats who came to his door seeking a new home. His hope is to give a loving home to another cat who knocks on his door.