Sandy has worked with piezoelectric materials throughout his career. His PhD was awarded from the University of Strathclyde for work involving design and construction of ultrasonic arrays for non-destructive evaluation, with materials investigated including PZT, lead metaniobate, lead titanate and lithium niobate. He worked in several other Scottish universities and moved to Glasgow in 2015, where he is now Professor of Ultrasound Materials and Devices.
His group is particularly experienced in the characterisation, modelling and incorporation of novel piezoelectric materials into transducers for medical imaging and therapy and industrial applications. He has published more than 100 relevant papers and more than 200 conference proceedings. He has particular research interests at present in piezocrystals for applications where environmental and drive conditions lead to complex, non-linear behaviour.
