We are absolutely delighted to celebrate the success of Dr Yushen Wang, who has passed her PhD viva with minor correction. Her thesis, “Energy-efficient Manufacturing of Natural Fibre Reinforced Composites via Self-regulating Heating Nanocomposites”, represents a major step forward in sustainable and energy-efficient composite manufacturing.

Yushen has been an outstanding member of the group over the last four years. She is creative, dedicated, and always generous in supporting others. Over the course of her PhD, she published four first-author papers and contributed to a total of eleven journal publications. Her pioneering work was recognised internationally with the IOM3 Composite Award in 2023, a testament to the impact of her research.

We are deeply grateful to the examiners, Dr Dmitry Ivanov (University of Bristol) and Prof Liz Tanner (SEMS), for their time, care, and expertise in evaluating the thesis.

It has been a privilege to see Yushen’s journey and achievements, and we are thrilled that she will continue advancing this field as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at WMG, University of Warwick. We have no doubt she will go on to achieve even greater successes in multifunctional polymers and composites.