Professor Howdle's interests lie in the use of supercritical carbon dioxide as a new solvent for polymer synthesis and materials processing. This is an exciting area that has lead to collaboration with many other disciplines; from chemical engineers in the USA and Portugal; to industrial polymer producers in the UK; through to laser physicists in Moscow. A major part of his group's research is directed towards multidisciplinary collaborations on clean synthesis of new biomaterials using supercritical fluids.