Markys Cain graduated with his BSc in Physics (1986) and then PhD in Materials Physics from Warwick University (1990) and spent the next 2 years in the Materials Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara studying thin film epitaxial science for the AFOSR. He joined the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in 1997 to set up and lead the Functional Materials Metrology Research group. Research activity included the development of measurement methods to elucidate materials behaviour in ferroelectric and piezoelectric ceramics and thin film materials, and more recently worked with multiferroic materials and developed materials metrology for energy harvesting and storage technologies. Since 2008, Professor Cain is company owner and Director of Electrosciences Ltd – a UK based scientific consultancy and contract research business based in Farnham, Surrey, UK. He chairs the IOM3 Smart Materials and Systems Committee, was recipient of the IOM3 Verulam Medal and prize for distinguished contributions to the field of ceramic (2009), is a chartered Physicist (CPhys) & member of the Institute of Physics.