QMUL School of Engineering and Materials Science News

Dr Rehan Shah awarded grant to present applied mathematics research at international conference

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Rehan Shah has been awarded funding from the Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Fund (QJMAM) administered by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) to attend and present his latest research at the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM) being held in July 2027 at The Hague, Netherlands.

Dr Shah will present research findings through a mini-symposia talk from his latest work focusing on the problem of a rod deforming on a torus, which is soon to be published as a third paper in a series (first two papers: Shah and van der Heijden, 2023 and Shah and van der Heijden, 2024, both in the Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids), stemming from his collaboration with Prof Gert van der Heijden from University College London.

The work outlines the development of a comprehensive geometrically-exact theory for an end-loaded elastic rod constrained to deform on rigid tubular surfaces. As applications of the theory, the problem of a rod constrained to lie on a toroidal surface is investigated under the influence of axially applied end loads subject to frictionless and frictional contact, finding critical loads to depend on the friction parameters. This scenario is typically encountered during the tubular buckling of drill strings in curved borewells, in the inspection of curved pipelines by inspection robots navigating elbow joints and in the structural organisation of closed, toroidal DNA condensates in bacteriophages, viruses and sperm chromatin.

The theory is utilised to derive the governing equilibrium equations for the problem, in order to procure solutions to various nonlinear boundary-value problems, using a combination of analytical and numerical approaches. The results obtained include the determination of critical compressive and torsional buckling loads and post- buckled solutions for the the buckling of a rod pushed into a 90-degree bend (quarter torus) of a pipe system and the geometrical twist-bend instabilities observed in liquid crystal toroids under shrinking toroidal radius.

Dr Rehan Shah selected for mathematicians retreat programme at Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Rehan Shah has been selected and invited for the Isaac Newton Institute's (INI) academic mathematicians' retreat programme in Cambridge this summer from 28 June to 4 July 2026.

INI Retreats offer mathematical scientists a welcoming and conducive space for a week-long retreat to re-immerse themselves in research or make progress on a project away from their usual commitments. Researchers are based in INI’s bespoke building in Cambridge and provided with office space and accommodation in INI flats.

Dr Shah will use the retreat to work on his ongoing mathematics scholarship research project that is dedicated to understanding the need for the consideration of wider societal aspects within mathematics and to outlining some of the ways in which we can incorporate the teaching of ethics and sustainability within mathematics courses at university. The final output involves the compilation of a teaching resource toolkit, which will be published by Open Book Publishers, as an open-access book, containing a set of varied mathematical problems across different topics with key ethical and sustainability aspects embedded within them for use by lecturers and educators.

This groundbreaking book offers the first-ever comprehensive collection of resources for embedding ethics and sustainability into undergraduate mathematics education. Designed for use in first and second-year university courses in mathematics and related STEM fields, such as physics, engineering, computer science, and economics, it features a unique selection of exercises, homework problems, and project ideas that seamlessly integrate ethical and sustainable considerations into standard mathematical content. Rather than treating ethics and sustainability as an add-on, each problem is crafted so that students must engage with its ethical and sustainable dimensions as part of their mathematical reasoning. This dual focus helps cultivate not only technical proficiency, but also ethical awareness and critical thinking, which are key transferable skills for real-world sustainable problem-solving. In addition to problem sets, essay topics, and project ideas, the book includes an introduction to ethics in mathematics, ideas for a standalone lecture course on the topic, an exposition of embedded ethics, and connections to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It will serve as both a teaching tool and a platform for sustainable innovation in curriculum design, promoting a more responsible and reflective approach to mathematics. As an open-access resource, it will enable educators to expand and adapt its content, encouraging collaboration and growth to pave the way for a more critically engaged undergraduate mathematics education.

This project is a collaboration between Dr Shah, Dr Maurice Chiodo (Assistant Research Professor in the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge) and Mr Dennis Mueller (Research Affiliate in the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge). This retreat will therefore allow him the perfect opportunity to not only re-immerse myself in completing the writing of this book (due by end of July 2026), but also allow him to organise in-person discussions with his Cambridge-based collaborators.

Dr Wei Tan shares latest research at Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub Assembly

wei.tan@qmul.ac.uk (Wei Tan) — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Wei Tan attended the Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub Assembly in April 2026, delivering a compelling talk on mechanics-guided polymer coatings for mitigating leading-edge erosion on offshore wind turbine blades — one of the most costly and persistent maintenance challenges facing the offshore wind industry.

His presentation addressed a critical industry pain point: leading-edge erosion currently costs the UK alone an estimated £270 million per year in operations and maintenance, a figure projected to rise to £500–600 million annually by 2030 as the offshore wind fleet expands.

Dr Tan's research introduces a novel design principle centered on viscoelastic damping, enabling protective coatings to dissipate the high-cycle impact energy that drives erosion at the blade leading edge. This mechanics-informed approach marks a significant advance over conventional coating strategies, offering a pathway to substantially extend blade service life and reduce the frequency and cost of offshore interventions.

The presentation generated extensive and insightful discussion among delegates, reflecting broad recognition of the work's relevance and potential impact across the offshore renewables community. Researchers, industry professionals, and policymakers engaged with the findings, underscoring the timeliness of Dr Tan's contributions as the UK accelerates its offshore wind ambitions.

The Supergen ORE Hub Assembly serves as a premier forum for sharing cutting-edge research and forging collaborations across offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy, underpinned by the Hub's mission to drive ambitious, collaborative research that accelerates innovation in the sector.

Dr Deepshikha secures £35,000 Prestigious Innovate UK ICURe Explore Award for EduMark AI

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Deepshikha from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) has secured a place on the highly competitive Innovate UK ICURe Explore Programme for her education technology venture, EduMark AI, with support valued at up to £35,000. For a scholarship-led education innovation project, this represents one of the most significant external awards available at this stage of development.

The ICURe Explore Programme is one of the UK’s leading innovation commercialisation programmes, designed to help research-led ventures validate market demand, engage customers, and accelerate routes to market. Selection is highly competitive and recognises projects with strong commercial potential and scalable impact.

EduMark AI is an AI-powered, human-in-the-loop assessment platform developed to help universities improve marking efficiency, consistency, and student feedback quality. The platform enables educators to generate rubric-aligned draft grades and structured feedback while retaining full academic oversight of all final decisions. The project began with support from Queen Mary’s Drapers’ Fund for Innovation in Learning and Teaching and later received the Queen Mary’s President and Principal’s Prize (2025) for educational excellence and innovation.

Early pilot studies have shown promising results, including significant reductions in marking time and strong positive responses from both educators and students.

Through the ICURe Explore Programme, Dr Deepshikha will now undertake structured customer discovery with universities and education leaders, validate commercial models, and prepare the platform for wider institutional adoption.

Dr Deepshikha said: “This award is a major milestone for EduMark AI and reflects the growing importance of responsible AI solutions that support educators rather than replace them. I am proud that a project developed within SEMS is now being recognised nationally for its commercial and educational potential.”

This success shows how SEMS is contributing to interdisciplinary innovation by combining engineering thinking, digital transformation, and real-world educational impact.

Engineering student presents scholarship research with Dr Rehan Shah at UCL Education Conference

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Sara Hamandi, a second-year engineering undergraduate student, along with Dr Rehan Shah, and a cross-institutional team of multi-disciplinary colleagues comprising Prof Anne Preston (Professor of Interdisciplinary Education, UCL) and Mr Craig Martin (Subject Liaison Librarian, UCL) presented their collaborative scholarship research project "SEED-AI: Designing Social Enterprise Education through AI–Enabled Student–Community Partnerships" at the UCL Education Conference held at the Institute of Education on Wed 15 April 2026.

The project, funded by a RAISE (Researching, Advancing and Inspiring Student Engagement) Network Research Grant focuses on the co-design of a new, shared social entrepreneurship framework featuring Queen Mary and UCL students working together with E17 Films, a local East London community organisation  to develop socially driven entrepreneurial ideas using ethical and creative applications of Generative AI. The project team comprises two student co-researchers, a community partner, and two academic staff members and has employed a participatory design methodology to collaboratively design the structure, assessment, and GenAI learning activities for the framework. 

The work builds on existing student–community engagement work at Queen Mary and UCL East and responds to student interest in learning that is locally relevant, socially impactful, and future-focused. By co-creating the curriculum with students and communities, the aim is to model a more democratic and socially responsible approach to educational design. The final module framework will provide a transferable model that other institutions and academic staff can adopt to support student partnership, ethical GenAI use, and community-engaged curriculum development. The subsequent outputs will also be showcased at the QMUL Festival of Education in June 2026, followed by the flagship RAISE conference at Northumbria University in September 2026.

EduMark AI: Queen Mary-wide pilot to support assessment and feedback

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

EduMark AI, an educator-controlled platform designed to support assessment and feedback, is now being piloted across Queen Mary University of London.

Developed by Dr Deepshikha and team in the School of Engineering and Materials Science, EduMark AI was created to address one of the most pressing challenges in higher education: the growing workload associated with marking and feedback, and the need to maintain academic quality, fairness, and consistency. The platform aims to reduce the time burden of assessment while improving the clarity, structure, and timeliness of the feedback students receive. A core principle underpinning the pilot is that academic judgement remains fully with the educator; all marks and feedback are reviewed and approved by staff before release.

Earlier pilot work has shown promising results, including an approximate 60% reduction in marking time and more structured, actionable feedback for students. Student responses have also been encouraging, with participants highlighting the clarity, specificity, and usefulness of the comments they received.

The Queen Mary-wide pilot marks an important next step for EduMark AI. Academics from across the University are now being invited to express interest in participating, with training and guidance sessions to follow for those who wish to integrate the platform into their marking workflows.

This is an opportunity for colleagues to explore how AI can support assessment in a practical, ethical, and pedagogically sound way.

We would be delighted to hear from educators who are interested in piloting EduMark AI in their modules.

To take part, please complete the participation form.

For further information about EduMark AI, please contact Dr Deepshikha at d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk.

NATS joins final year project presentations at Queen Mary

xinwei.wang@qmul.ac.uk (Xinwei Wang) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Final Year Project students in the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) recently had the opportunity to present their work in a professional setting, as part of a group presentation session held on Monday 13th April.

We were delighted to welcome Dr Marc Thomas from NATS (the UK’s leading air traffic service provider), who joined the session as an external industry expert. His participation provided students with valuable insights into real-world expectations and practices in the aviation sector.

During the session, student groups presented their project progress and approaches, receiving constructive feedback not only from academic staff but also from an industry perspective. This external engagement helped students better understand how their work aligns with current operational challenges and industry needs, particularly in the area of aircraft turnaround time predictions at airports.

The session forms part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen links with industry and to enhance student learning through authentic, practice-oriented experiences. We are grateful to Dr Thomas and NATS for their continued support and collaboration.

Dr Rehan Shah publishes review of popular science book for IMA magazine

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Rehan Shah, in his role as QMUL Academic Representative of the Institute of Mathematics (IMA), has published a book review of the popular book 'Not Just For the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science' by Athene Donald, Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge, which focuses on the pertinent issue of analysing and addressing gender equity in STEM disciplines. This has been published in the April 2026 issue of the IMA's flagship magazine Mathematics Today.

The book looks back at how society has historically excluded women from the scientific sphere and discourse, what progress has been made, and how more is still needed. Athene Donald, herself a distinguished physicist, explores societal expectations during both childhood and working life using evidence of the systemic disadvantages women operate under, from the developing science of how our brains are (and more importantly aren't) gendered, to social science evidence around attitudes towards girls and women doing science.

It also discusses how science is done in practice, in order to dispel common myths: for example, the perception that science is not creative, or that it is carried out by a lone genius in an ivory tower, myths that can be very off-putting to many sections of the population. A better appreciation of the collaborative, creative, and multi-disciplinary nature of science is likely to lead to its appeal to a far wider swathe of people, especially women. This book examines the modern way of working in scientific research, and how gender bias operates in various ways within it, drawing on the voices of leading women in science describing their feelings and experiences. It argues the moral and business case for greater diversity in modern research, the better to improve science and tackle the great challenges we face today.

The themes discussed align very well with Dr Shah's own scholarship research work within the School on diversifying the STEM (particularly mathematics) curricula as well the core mission of the Faculty's Centre for Academic Inclusion in Science and Engineering (CAISE), of which he is the Deputy Director and School Lead for.

Dr Deepshikha awarded Senior Fellowship of Advance HE

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

The School of Engineering and Materials Science is delighted to share that Dr Deepshikha has been awarded Senior Fellowship of Advance HE (SFHEA), in recognition of her sustained leadership and impact in teaching and supporting learning in higher education.

Senior Fellowship is a significant professional recognition that acknowledges a sustained record of effectiveness in higher education, particularly in leadership, influence, and the enhancement of teaching and learning. This recognition reflects Dr Deepshikha’s significant contributions to educational practice, curriculum development, innovation in assessment and feedback, and wider academic leadership.

Reviewers praised Deepshikha's application for providing consistently strong evidence of leadership and influence, particularly through her reflective approach, collaboration with colleagues, and commitment to enhancing student learning. Her reflection on leadership was highlighted as a particular strength, notably her ability to bring colleagues together across challenging areas of enhancement, including building trust, refining evaluation approaches, and leading innovation in AI-supported assessment and feedback, while continuing to develop her leadership practice over time.

Dr Deepshikha has made a notable contribution to education through innovative teaching practices, scholarship activity, and work to improve assessment and feedback. Her growing profile in educational innovation, including work on active learning and AI-enhanced assessment, continues to support both the student experience and wider sector conversations about the future of higher education.

This recognition marks an important milestone in Dr Deepshikha’s academic and professional journey and further reflects SEMS’ commitment to excellence in education, innovation, and student-centred teaching.

We congratulate Deepshikha on this wonderful achievement and look forward to her continued contributions to teaching excellence in SEMS and beyond.

International Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Conference comes to Queen Mary

e.avital@qmul.ac.uk (Eldad Avital) — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

The 17th IEEE International Conference on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (ICMAE 2026) will take place at Queen Mary University of London this July, bringing leading researchers and industry experts to the School of Engineering and Materials Science. The conference, sponsored by IEEE, will run from 15–18 July 2026 and will continue its tradition as a global forum for advances in aerospace and mechanical engineering.

Academics, researchers and students are invited to submit abstracts or papers by 25th April, with accepted contributions published in indexed conference proceedings.

The event builds on strong momentum from previous highly successful meetings in Europe, including Rome (2025), Zagreb (2024) and Porto (2023), and more than 170 submissions have been received until now. Notably, at last year’s conference in Rome, Queen Mary School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) MEng students presented innovative research on a low Reynolds number rotor, with applications in both propulsion and energy harvesting.

The conference highlights the School’s research excellence in aerospace and mechanical engineering, as well as its ability to attract high-impact international events. It also provides an opportunity to showcase the school’s strengths and to strengthen international collaboration. For further local information, please contact Dr Avital.

QMCUR at BCUR2026: Learning, Dissemination, and Legacy Outcomes

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Continuing its recent tradition, Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) participated in the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR), hosted by the University of Glasgow on 1st and 2nd April 2026.

The conference proved to be an exciting experience for the energised atmosphere typical of these events. The rich conference programme included outstanding keynote speakers, formative workshops, and a pleasant cultural visit to the Hunterian Museum.

A special mention must be given to the truly remarkable keynote presentation, 'Earthed. Neutral. Live: Folding the River of Research' by Prof Alison Phipps from the University of Glasgow, which explored the banality of evil and how it can be addressed epistemically and hermeneutically. Listening to this talk was an absolute privilege for all the lucky attendees; it was a rare educational message infused with intellectual depth and a highly refined sense of aesthetic morality. It should have been broadcast worldwide!

Subsequently, the conference showcased high-quality research and excellent presentations delivered by outstanding students from across the UK and several international institutions.

The QMCUR team presented four research projects out of the seven abstracts submitted and accepted, with some presenters unable to attend for personal reasons. The contributions included two oral presentations and two posters:

Oral Presentation 1: “Seeing Through Touch: A Wearable Sensory Substitution System to Aid Navigation of the Visually Impaired”, presented by Bohdan Skulimovskyi (3rd Year Robotics Engineering), who is leading his team towards significant progress. His depth of knowledge and confident delivery were remarkable.
Oral Presentation 2: “Miniaturising Pharma: Design and Early-Stage Development of 3D-Printed Microfluidic Lab-on-Chip Platforms”, presented by Rindhiya Shankhar (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering) supervised by Prof Julien Gautrot and Davide Carta, who handled a large audience and probing questions with impressive maturity, upholding her recent award at Posters in Parliament 2026.
Poster 1: “Bioimpedance Measurements and Brain Tissue Phantoms for Cancer Neuroscience”, by Sheena Varghese (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering), supervised by Dr Chris Chapman, attracted considerable interest, prompting numerous questions driven by the audience’s interest on brain tumour detection.
Poster 2: “Vision-Based Stiffness-Controllable Dynamic Range Force Sensor for Tissue Palpation”, by Hashir Hamid (3rd Year Computer Science) and Taima Holden (2nd Year Robotics Engineering), supervised by Dr Abu Bakar Dawood, presented new recent results that sparked insightful discussions on their significance and future directions.

The entire QMCUR team highlighted the excitement and memorable nature of their experience at the event.

The conference concluded with a pivotal moment for QMCUR: the official handover from the BCUR 2026 organising team to host the next edition at Queen Mary. This initiative received support from the Queen Mary Vice‑Principal for Education during the national bidding phase.

Planning for BCUR 2027 has now officially begun. The event will be hosted by QMCUR with the support of all its students, SEMS, the QM Events Team, the QM Marketing Team, other key figures from Queen Mary, and the advice of the BCUR National Executive Committee. Hosting this conference represents a significant legacy for undergraduate research and will enhance national and international visibility, not only for QMCUR and SEMS but for the entire university, in promoting research‑based education. QMCUR will strive to make it a memorable event for all participants.

Robotics & AI student secures four-month internship at NASA in California

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

A student from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) at Queen Mary University of London has been selected for a highly competitive research internship and will spend four months working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is one of the world’s leading centres for robotic space exploration, responsible for iconic missions such as Mars rovers and deep space probes exploring distant planets and asteroids. The laboratory develops cutting edge technologies in autonomous robotics, navigation and space systems that enable exploration across the solar system.

Brandon Rutagamirwa, an MSc student in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence will begin working in the Robotics Operation and Tools department developing physics based modelling and control software of planetary robotic systems. The internship focuses on the modelling and algorithms of distributed robotic systems for planetary exploration, including the development of mathematical models, simulation frameworks and control strategies for autonomous robotic platforms operating in complex environments.

Speaking about the opportunity, Brandon said: “This is an amazing opportunity to work with engineers and scientists from NASA who are at the forefront of space technology. I’m excited to both learn and contribute through my own research, and to experience working in California, one of the world’s leading hubs for space and technological innovation. I’m very excited by the opportunity to contribute to research that supports future space exploration."

Brandon has been actively involved in a range of space and engineering initiatives during his time at Queen Mary. He was a member of the award winning QMSEDS CubeSat team, and currently serves as Power Lead for Project EXCALIBUR, a stratospheric balloon experiment focused on atmospheric testing and biological resilience. The project has been selected to undergo environmental testing at the European Space Agency CubeSat Support Facility at the Galaxia campus in Belgium.

Engineers Without Borders society hosts CADathon with Bentley and IMechE

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

The Queen Mary Engineers Without Borders society recently hosted a CADathon in partnership with Bentley and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

Engineering students from universities across the UK took on a design brief, competing for £750 to find a creative and practical solution for commuters juggling laptops, refreshments and security on the go.

Judges from IMechE, Engineers Without Borders and Bentley Systems judged the teams on:

Design quality & innovation
Engineering practicality
Material selection & sustainability
Presentation & communication

The winning team was Nduka Amakihe, Warren Douglas Fernandes, and Andreas Poimenidis who impressed the judges with their innovative and well-executed design.

This event would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of the Queen Mary Engineers Without Borders committee (Kukuuwa Buckman, Umer Asif, Nicole Kirk, Phoebe Asante, Mariyam Mowlana, Rayan Amjad), alongside Rajan Aggarwal and Antoinette Rusoke (IMechE YMP Vice Chair), who all did a phenomenal job bringing everything together.

Rayan Amjad said "What an incredible day it was yesterday - filled with innovation, collaboration, and some of the brightest engineering minds from across London."

Driving innovation in AI-enhanced assessment: Dr Deepshikha presents at Brunel University of London

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Deepshikha was recently invited to present at Brunel University of London as part of the CEDPS Academic Education Network (AEN) webinar series, hosted within the College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences.

Her session, titled "Empowering Educators with AI-Driven Assessment and Feedback," introduced how to harness artificial intelligence to streamline assessment and feedback processes, while keeping academic staff firmly in control.

Central to the presentation was the platform's human-in-the-loop philosophy: AI produces draft feedback and indicative grades mapped to marking rubrics, but all final judgements remain with the educator. This model directly tackles one of higher education's most pressing challenges, managing growing assessment demands without compromising the quality and personalisation of student feedback.

The webinar sparked lively discussion among participants from across the sector, covering topics including practical implementation, institutional policy, academic integrity, and the broader trajectory of AI in assessment. The enthusiastic response signals a widening appetite for AI solutions that are ethical, scalable, and grounded in sound pedagogy.

This engagement reflects the School's growing prominence in digital education innovation and positions it as an active contributor to sector-wide conversations about the future of assessment in an AI-enabled landscape.

Dr Deepshikha's work aligns closely with QMUL's strategic ambitions in digital transformation and educational excellence and continues to foster collaboration and research impact across institutions.

Watch the webinar recording below

Jesús Vázquez passes his PhD viva

a.sobrido@qmul.ac.uk (Ana Jorge Sobrido) — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Jesús Vázquez passed his PhD viva on the 26th March 2026!

Jesus' PhD project was supervised by Prof Ana Jorge Sobrido. His project explored Carbon dots / Carbon Electrospun Electrodes for Supercapacitors and Antibacterial Applications.

Many thanks to Dr Suela Kellici (Southbank University) and Dr Maria Crespo Ribadeneyra (Queen Mary) for their time and excellent discussions during the viva. We look forward to following Jesus' career, already started at Super6 Limited, where he develops next-generation supercapacitors.

Lewis Tunnicliffe is Appointed as a Visiting Professor

j.busfield@qmul.ac.uk (James Busfield) — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

We are delighted to announce that Lewis Tunnicliffe has been appointed as a Visiting Professor. Lewis is former MSc, PhD and PDRA in James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group. He has spent the last decade working in the USA for Birla Carbon, the world’s largest producer and supplier of carbon black. He has risen to be R&D Director responsible for product development.

Lewis has continued to collaborate with James' team and has sponsored three PhD students in recent years. He has also continued to publish papers with QMUL coauthors including ten journal papers since 2021. In his new role he plans to spend more time visiting London and supporting the rubber research community.

EMS501U Quiz Winners Announced

j.busfield@qmul.ac.uk (James Busfield) — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

In the second year EMS501U module “Design For Sustainable Manufacture” studied by about 280 SEMS students, we celebrated the Top Quizzer Awards for 2026 just before the Easter break. Congratulations to Dinusha Aravinthan (1st), Leonie Faulkner (2nd) and Emily Shepherd (3rd) for being the top three students this year.

EMS501U is delivered through a range of different approaches including industry led team-based case studies supported with weekly PBL sessions, lectures both in person and online as well as IT classes and seminars. To encourage students to engage with the asynchronous content, Saqib and James run weekly Kahoot Quizzes at the end of every seminar. The prizes were awarded for being the top three students with the highest accumulated score across all of the quizzes.

The Queen Mary Carbon Capture and Storage Minisymposium: a summary

r.slavchov@qmul.ac.uk (Radomir Slavchov) — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

A student initiative became an international event!

35 participants from four countries attended our minisymposium. We had presentations from two teams of Queen Mary students, and two presentations by Hans Sonke from Shell and Jamie Hopkins from RWE, responsible for some of the largest CCS projects in Europe. We had 30-minute power cut, and 30 minute of discussions after the event.

A big thank you to:

RWE and Shell - for their kind interest in the work of our Queen Mary chemical engineering students
Rhe two courageous student teams - Gas Girlies and KJW Cement (the minisymposium was their initiative, and these were their first presentations ever - of excellent quality)
Saeid who provided us with internet during the power cut
All guests who attended the event

Dr Sathiskumar Ponnusami delivers invited lecture on next-generation Aerospace Materials at Ceramitec 2026 in Munich

s.a.ponnusami@qmul.ac.uk (Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Dr Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami, Senior Lecturer in Engineering AI at the Centre for Intelligent Transport, Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science, delivered an invited lecture at Ceramitec 2026 in Munich, one of the world's leading international trade fairs and conferences for advanced ceramics and ceramic technologies.

Held at Messe München from 24th to 26th March 2026, the event brought together over 480 exhibitors from 38 countries and more than 12,000 visitors from 70 nations, drawing manufacturers, scientists, engineers, and industry decision-makers from across the global ceramics community.

His lecture, 'Multifunctional Aerospace Ceramics: From Self-Healing Coatings to Stealth Composites', was delivered as part of the conference session on Advanced Ceramics in Aerospace and Sustainable Energy Applications, sponsored by the American Ceramic Society (ACerS). The session brought together leading researchers from across Europe, including colleagues from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Politecnico di Torino, reflecting the international standing of the field and the researchers shaping it.

Bridging Physics and Data: A New Approach to Materials Design

The lecture addressed one of the central challenges in next-generation aerospace materials development: how to design and engineer ceramic composites that perform reliably in some of the most demanding operating environments in modern engineering. Dr Ponnusami presented how predictive modelling tools, combining physics-based simulation with data-driven machine learning, are enabling a new generation of ceramic composites for aerospace applications. From self-healing thermal barrier coatings that repair themselves under service conditions at extreme temperatures, to ceramic composites engineered for electromagnetic absorption, the presentation covered a range of applications where the unusual combination of properties offered by ceramics and their composites becomes decisive.

An Interview on the Future of Aerospace Ceramics

Alongside the lecture, Dr Ponnusami gave an interview at Ceramitec 2026 on the broader scope and potential of ceramic composites for aerospace. He discussed the distinctive characteristics that make these materials so relevant to the sector: their capacity to withstand temperatures that would destroy conventional metallic alloys, to maintain structural integrity under mechanical load, and to do so at a fraction of the weight. The conversation reflected a wider shift in how industry now thinks about ceramics: not as a niche specialist material but as an enabling technology for the next generation of aircraft and space vehicles.

Research at the Intersection of Materials, Mechanics and Computation

Dr Ponnusami's work sits at the intersection of materials engineering, mechanics and machine learning. His research group within the Centre for Intelligent Transport at Queen Mary develops predictive tools that connect microstructure to performance, understand how and why materials fail across scales, and guide the design of advanced aerospace materials and structures.

The invitation to speak at Ceramitec 2026 reflects the international visibility of this research and positions Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science at the forefront of a field with direct relevance to net-zero aviation, defence, and sustainable energy.

Queen Mary students win ESA testing slot for high‑altitude space biology mission

d.carolan@qmul.ac.uk (Declan Carolan) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

A student team from the Queen Mary Society for the Exploration and Development of Space (QMSEDS) has been selected for a prestigious testing opportunity with the European Space Agency (ESA) through the Fly Your Satellite! educational programme.

Their project, EXCALIBUR (Extremophile Cyanobacteria: Atmospheric Life Investigation for Biological UV Resistance), is a stratospheric balloon experiment investigating the survivability and behaviour of cyanobacteria under the extreme environmental conditions found near the edge of space.

As part of the programme, eight members of the EXCALIBUR team will visit the ESA CubeSat Support Facility at the Galaxia campus in Belgium, where they will conduct a series of environmental tests designed to validate their hardware. Using ESA’s thermal vacuum chamber and electrodynamic shaker table, the students will assess the experiment’s performance under thermal, vacuum, and mechanical conditions representative of flight to approximately 34 km altitude and landing.

Project lead Joshua Amar highlighted the educational value of the opportunity: “Our selection for this programme is a fantastic and valuable opportunity for the team, not just to test our hardware, but for our team members to learn about product verification and qualification, engineering standards, and developing and executing test plans for space hardware.”

Following this success, the team also held a Preliminary Design Review in the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), attended by academics from SEMS, the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, and the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences. The review provided the team with expert feedback on experimental design, and testing approaches ensuring the that the project continues to meet both scientific objectives and engineering best practice as it progresses towards flight.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official opinion or endorsement of the European Space Agency.

Real engineering problems, real data: how Queen Mary teaches engineers to learn and use AI

s.a.ponnusami@qmul.ac.uk (Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami) — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Year Two engineering students at Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science are building machine learning models on data drawn directly from their own degree disciplines. Rather than working through generic textbook examples, they tackle real prediction and classification problems in structural health monitoring, clinical diagnostics, materials design, automotive engineering, and autonomous robotics, fields where AI is already transforming professional practice.

This is the design philosophy developed by Dr Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami behind a teaching module EMS506: Numerical Methods and Data Science led by Dr Rehan Shah. The module's central conviction is simple: data science is best learnt when the data matters to you. Five fully independent coursework streams are structured around datasets and prediction tasks drawn directly from each student’s engineering discipline.

Aerospace Engineering students predict structural damage from wing-sensor readings; Biomedical Engineering students classify breast tissue samples; Materials Science and Sustainable Energy Engineering students predict mechanical properties from microstructure data; Mechanical Engineering students model vehicle pricing from design parameters; Robotics Engineering students infer robotic navigation decisions from ultrasonic sensor arrays. Together, they demonstrate that machine learning is not a specialism confined to computer science. It is a core competency for the modern engineer, whatever their discipline.

This is what engineering education at Queen Mary looks like at its best: ambitious, relevant, and closely aligned with the professional environments students are preparing to enter.

"The goal is simple: every student finishes having trained machine learning models on data they could genuinely encounter in their first engineering role. That connection to real engineering practice is the whole point. Achieving that at Year 2 is something we are genuinely proud of."

— Dr Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami FRAeS, Senior Lecturer in Engineering AI, Queen Mary

A Scaffolded Pathway: From Classical Models to Neural Networks

Each Coursework track follows the same four-task structure, designed to mirror the progression of the module itself. Students begin with data exploration and preprocessing with their discipline-specific dataset. They then train a classical baseline machine learning model using linear or logistic regression, before moving to more advanced models. Students then build and train a neural network, tackling the real challenges of model design and performance diagnosis. The final task rewards curiosity: students experiment systematically with their model, exploring how changes to architecture and data affect outcomes.

A Template for Contextualised STEM Education at Queen Mary

The approach taken in the module reflects a broader pedagogical commitment within the School of Engineering and Materials Science: that quantitative methods are best learnt in context. By anchoring every data science task in a problem drawn from the student's own discipline, the module removes the abstraction barrier that often makes machine learning appear inaccessible to engineering students.

Dr Ponnusami designed interactive, animation-rich Python notebooks that let students explore and experiment at their own pace. Confidence is built progressively, with each concept encountered multiple times through lectures, IT sessions, and independent application in their coursework, ensuring both depth of understanding and practical competence.

Dr Rehan Shah publishes scholarship journal article on inclusive education for sustainable development

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Dr Rehan Shah, in collaboration with his colleagues, Prof Anne Preston (UCL), Dr Stephanie Fuller (QMUL) and a former student researcher from UCL, has led the publication of a scholarship research journal paper titled 'Exploring equity in education for sustainable development: integrating community-based learning and teaching' that has been published in the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education issue for March 2026. The work documents outputs from Dr Shah's cross-institutional project funded through a Research Grant awarded by the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) in 2023-24.

The study explores the potential of Community-Based Learning and Teaching (CBLT) to address equity issues in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within university curricula. This was motivated by the premise that equity in ESD is best advanced when CBLT is meaningfully embedded into learning development practices, creating opportunities for dialogue, co-creation, and reflection. It uses a mixed-methods, participatory approach that combined module mapping, staff engagement activities, and a ‘students-as-partners’ model to examine how ESD and CBLT were embedded across two neighbouring institutions in England (QMUL and UCL).

The research highlights how CBLT fosters deeper student engagement, supports culturally responsive pedagogies, and facilitates critical participation in sustainability education. It also reveals ongoing challenges, including limited interdisciplinary collaboration and institutional barriers to inclusive practice. The study proposes that future efforts should focus on expanding interdisciplinary opportunities, ensuring culturally responsive teaching, and building stronger institutional support for community-driven learning to promote equity-focused pedagogy in higher education.

Aerospace Engineering takes off with new flight simulator to advance aviation teaching and research

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Queen Mary University of London has strengthened its aerospace and intelligent transport capabilities with a new A320-based flight simulator from CnTech, creating a powerful new platform for immersive teaching, advanced research and future aviation innovation.

Queen Mary University of London has expanded its aerospace and intelligent transport capabilities with the arrival of a new flight simulator from CnTech. Built around a 1:1 A320 cockpit layout, the simulator is a distinctive new facility for hands-on learning, research and aircraft prototype development.

The simulator combines a realistic enclosed cockpit with advanced flight control software, an instructor operation station and a 180-degree visual system designed to create an immersive flying environment. Its features include dual sidesticks, rudder pedals, handwheels, flight management and avionics systems, as well as configurable training scenarios covering aircraft position, weather and system malfunctions.

What makes the new facility especially exciting is its potential as a research platform. Its software, network protocols and selected hardware interfaces have been opened to support further development by Queen Mary, including the ability to integrate MATLAB and Simulink for real-time testing of new aircraft models and flight control algorithms. That gives the scope to use the simulator not only for demonstration and teaching, but also for work in flight dynamics, avionics, control systems, human-machine interaction and future aerospace technologies.

Following its recent installation and initial staff training, the simulator will continue through commissioning and testing in the coming months as Queen Mary develops the facility for longer-term academic use. The ambition is to build a sustainable capability that supports research, specialist teaching, supervised student engagement and future collaboration with external partners.

Professor Hazel Screen, Head of School, said:
“This is an exciting investment for the School and a strong addition to our research and teaching infrastructure. Facilities like this help bring complex engineering concepts to life, while also creating new opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and future-facing innovation in aerospace and intelligent transport.”

Professor Sergey Karabasov, Director of the Centre for Intelligent Transport, said:
“The new flight simulator is a significant extension of our current capabilities in the research and teaching of aerospace engineering with a particular emphasis in flight dynamics, stability, and control as well as aircraft design and simulation.”

Dr Jun Chen, Reader in Intelligent Systems Engineering, said:
“This is a major step forward for Queen Mary. The simulator gives us a highly realistic flight environment, but just as importantly it provides a flexible platform for research and development. Its open architecture will allow us to explore new ideas in flight simulation, control systems, avionics and human-machine interaction, and to create opportunities that connect teaching with cutting-edge innovation.”

With its combination of realism, flexibility and development potential, the new simulator is set to become a flagship facility for Queen Mary — supporting both today’s learners and the next generation of aviation research.

Chemical Engineering Society hosts inaugural design competition and poster showcase

f.akinmolayan@qmul.ac.uk (Folashade Akinmolayan Taiwo) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

On Thursday 5th March, the Chemical Engineering Society hosted its first-ever design competition and poster presentation event, bringing together students from across year groups to tackle real-world engineering challenges.

The competition invited participants to work in teams to design a conceptual mini-plant addressing one of three pressing global issues: water treatment in disaster scenarios, renewable energy production through biomass gasification, and carbon capture systems for maritime vessels. The projects challenged students to balance efficiency, cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability, reflecting key priorities in modern chemical engineering.

Throughout the process, participants developed valuable skills in problem-solving, time and project management, while collaborating with peers of varying experience levels. The competition culminated in a final showcase, where teams presented their work through A3 posters and delivered short pitches to a panel of judges and industry representatives.

Five groups presented their designs at the event, receiving detailed feedback from judges Dr Radomir Slavchov and Professor Xi Jiang, who praised the high standard of work and offered constructive insights on both technical content and presentation. The event also welcomed a representative from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), who provided professional feedback and introduced students to further opportunities such as the Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability (YEAIS).

Recognising student achievement

The competition celebrated outstanding contributions from participants across all year groups:

First place was awarded to Hester Xin Yu Tann (first year student) and Yasmin Hussein (third year student) for their winning design.
A special recognition award was presented to Sienna Hurst (first year student), who completed her project independently, demonstrating exceptional initiative and dedication.

In addition to prizes, students who actively engaged in workshops, contributed to their teams and presented their work are eligible to have their participation recorded on their Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR), further recognising their efforts and professional development.

Building skills beyond the classroom

The event not only provided a platform for students to apply their academic knowledge to practical challenges but also created valuable networking opportunities with and IChemE representatives. By simulating real engineering design processes and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, the competition helped students gain insight into the expectations of the engineering industry.

Following the success of this inaugural event, the Chemical Engineering Society aims to build on this momentum and continue offering opportunities that support students’ academic, professional and personal growth.

Postgraduate students present research at Industrial Liaison Forum

jun.chen@qmul.ac.uk (Jun Chen) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

On Wednesday 11 March 2026, our MEng and MSc students presented their research projects at the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum, engaging with industry professionals, external visitors and academics.

MEng Projects

All fourth-year MEng students undertake team projects, working in groups of four to six. With their projects nearing completion, they showcased a mix of prototypes, samples, and posters.

A standout team won a prize for their excellent presentation on optmising wind turbine blades. Congratulations to Arrin Fernandes, Dahir Moallim, Kishore Ram Rajagopalan, Umair Bhayat and Vithuursh Ponniah for their exceptional work.

Their project investigates and optimises the aerodynamic performance of a section of a wind-turbine blade, using vortex generators through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The students presented their validated CFD model, receiving positive feedback from industry professionals and poster judges. Supervised by Dr Nikos Bempedelis, Dr Nick Zang and Dr Hulya Biler, their objectives included:

Use ANSYS Fluent to develop a validated CFD model of a clean S809 aerofoil
Compare baseline and modified vortex generator (VG) designs under the same flow conditions
Analyse the simulation data to create an optimal design solution and perform data-driven analysis using machine learning post-processing
Compare numerical results against existing experimental and computational literature to evaluate accuracy and performance

MSc Projects

MSc projects run from the first semester through to August, meaning students are currently midway through their research. Despite this, they delivered impressive presentations on their progress and future plans.

Three MSc students were awarded prizes for their exceptional presentations:

Yichin Huang (supervised by Dr Xuekun Liu)
Kabisan Thayaparan (supervised by Dr Claire Vilette)
Mohammad Rahman (supervised by Dr Amin Paykani)

Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank you to our poster judges - Dr Yunpeng Zhu, Dr Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusam, Dr Shaheer Ullah Saeed and Dr Nikos Bempedlis - for their time, insightful evaluations, and valuable feedback, which contributed to the success of the event.

Student presentations win prizes in Dragons’ Den-style challenge

jun.chen@qmul.ac.uk (Jun Chen) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The BEng final year project has been designed to be a linked design project where students will work individually and as a group to integrate core disciplinary concepts to produce the detailed design of a part of a product or process. Students will bring their individual components together to develop a complex component or process, and need to think creatively to produce an effective design that meets a specification and minimises the cost and environmental impact.

Across all BEng final year project teams, nine outstanding project teams showcasing strong industrial collaboration were selected to participate in the BEng Dragons’ Den presentations at the Industrial Liaison Forum. The teams pitched their ideas and showcased exciting product concepts to the "dragons" from industry and academics. The enthusiasm of the presenting students and the quality of their projects were noted by these judges.

The three winning BEng Dragons’ Den presentations were:

Biochar-based filters to remove organic/biological pollutants from contaminated water (comprised Penny Garwood, Halima Sacdia Omar Hadafow, Seung Woo Lee, Ida Mathilda Lenz Gorner, Jake Michel Oldfield and Dr Roberto Volpe)
Autonomous underwater eversion robot for lionfish capture (comprised Muhie Sultan Faisal Al Haimus, Salman Muhammed Jafferali, Farhan Rahman, Mohammad Tahmidur Rahman, Abishan Satheeskumar and Dr Hadi Sadati)
Investigating Shear-Stress-Mediated Reversal of Endothelialto-Mesenchymal Transition in an Artery-on-a-Chip Model (comprised Peter Abdul-Ahad, Aeliya Syed, Rindhiya Vishnu Shankar, Charmaine Winky Wong and Dr Thomas Iskratsch)

All students engaged in lively discussion with our academics and external visitors, and received excellent feedback from our judges and industrial collaborators. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Dragons’ Den session chairs and judges, specifically Dr Stefaan Verbruggen, Dr Maria Crespo Ribadeneyra, Professor Liz Tanner, Dr Ketao Zhang, Dr Neil Cagney, Dr Chris Chapman and Prof Karin Hing, for their valuable time, insightful evaluations, and constructive feedback, which greatly contributed to the success of the event.

Undergraduate students showcase research excellence at the Industrial Liaison Forum

jun.chen@qmul.ac.uk (Jun Chen) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Students from the BEng and MEng programmes and the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) showcased their research at this year’s Industrial Liaison Forum, with around 100 posters on display. Their participation reinforced the strong presence of undergraduate research at a major research dissemination event.

Taking part in the forum gave students the opportunity to present alongside more senior peers and share their work with academic staff, industrial collaborators and visitors. From first to third year, students engaged in thoughtful discussions, explained their projects and received valuable feedback from judges and collaborators.

The posters reflected the breadth and quality of undergraduate research across a wide range of engineering and science disciplines. Together, they highlighted the diversity, ambition and depth of the research activity being undertaken by our undergraduate students.

Among the posters presented, three received Best Poster awards, including one from the BEng final year projects and two from QMCUR:

'OASIS: A Platform for Inline Sensing in Organ-on-Chip Devices using Photoelectrochemical Sensors' by Teodora Nikolova, Begimai Ulan Kyzy, Rukevwe Marissa Udi, Adiel Boboye and Abdullah Abdus-Samee, supervised by Prof Steffi Kraus.
'Data-Driven Path Planning for Methane Monitoring Drones' by Allegra Celesia, supervised by Dr Nikos Bempedelis.

'Sensorised Residual Limb Phantom' - by Chenhao Hong and Jensen Jill Rajesh, supervised by Dr Thilina Dulantha Lalitharatne and Dr Giuseppe Viol.

These awards represent not only significant academic recognition, but also underline the ability of undergraduate students to make meaningful contributions to research and innovation. Their success at the Industrial Liaison Forum demonstrates the important role undergraduate researchers play in advancing research activity across the School.

Acknowledgements

Queen Mary takes part in RSC Global Women's Breakfast

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

To mark International Women’s Day 2026, Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) hosted a vibrant and inspiring event celebrating women in STEM and the power of community in overcoming systemic barriers.

Organised as part of the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) Global Women’s Breakfast 2026, the morning brought together undergraduates, PhD researchers, PDRAs, professional services staff, and academics from across the faculty.

The event opened with a networking breakfast, where attendees connected across disciplines and career stages, setting the tone for an open and supportive discussion about equity, representation and the shared challenges faced by women in science and engineering.

This was followed by talks from four exceptional scientists and engineers, each offering deeply personal and thought‑provoking reflections on their research journeys:

Prof Jennifer Leigh (University of Kent) working at the intersection of chemistry, sociology and creative embodied methods, introduced the concept of Embodied Inquiry through her pioneering approach to addressing inequity and social justice in academia
Prof Nike Folayan MBE (WSP; Visiting Professor, SEMS and co‑founder and Chair of AFBE‑UK) spoke powerfully about the importance of representation and sustained community support in diversifying the engineering workforce
Dr Heather Au (Royal Society URF, Imperial College London) highlighted how peer mentoring, supportive research cultures, and interdisciplinary collaboration can empower junior researchers toward innovation leadership
Dr Enas Abd Abdelghafar (MSCA E4F Fellow, Imperial College London) drove us through her international research journey across Egypt, Spain and the UK, and how scientific mobility broadens perspectives and opportunities for underrepresented researchers

Coming from diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and career paths, the speakers highlighted not only the breadth of scientific excellence across the sector but also the resilience, creativity, and community needed to thrive in STEM.

The event concluded with a renewed sense of community, solidarity, and momentum. Attendees shared reflections on building inclusive environments, supporting one another through the challenges of academic and engineering careers, and shaping a STEM culture where everyone can thrive.

A huge thank you to our speakers, attendees, and to the Royal Society of Chemistry for supporting this event through the Global Women’s Breakfast 2026 initiative. The morning was a powerful reminder that change in STEM comes from connection, visibility, and collective action—and that the S&E community at Queen Mary is committed to driving that change forward.

Learning about Minis, MRIs and aerospace technology on site visits

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

During last week's Skills and Employability Week, many of our undergraduate and masters students took part in site visits around the country.

BMW Group - Mini Plant

During a visit to the Mini Plant near Oxford, students spent time in the archive room, learning about the history and development of this iconic car, before being given an extensive tour, where they learnt how the plant and its more than 3000 employees and over 1200 robots produce up to 1000 cars per day, taking around 23 hours per bespoke car. At the end of the afternoon, Queen Mary Mechanical Engineering alum Michael Sobodu gave a talk about his career trajectory and his job as Mechanical Facilities Planner, managing projects around the plant.

Siemens Healthineers

In another part of Oxford, a group of students visited Siemens Healthineers' main production floor to see how almost 700 staff contribute to producing MRI scanners and the superconducting magnets which run them, as well as learning about the latest developments in the technology. As a leading manufacturer of MRI scanners, Siemens Heathineers deliver them around the world, and every 1 in 2 machines sold globally come from Siemens. The students also met Sherjeel Anjum, a student currently on his industrial placement year as a Manufacturing Engineering Intern, and took part in a networking session with other staff.

Leonardo

At Leonardo's headquarters in Luton, students were introduced to working life at the aerospace technology company, meeting Principal Systems Engineer Dr C Princess Udeze, who completed her PhD in Medical Engineering at Queen Mary in 2017. She told them about the importance of tailoring your applications when applying for placements and graduate roles, and encouraged them to take advantage of careers services and Placement Officer Helen Green's workshops. Many thanks to Princess for organising a diverse panel of alumni and to Leonardo colleagues across engineering disciplines who gave insights into their work and Leonardo's recruitment processes. Thanks also to Mitansh Choksi, a current student on placement at Leonardo, who joined virtually from the Edinburgh office to share her experience.

Why does graphite need water to be a lubricant? The answer isn't what we thought

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

New research overturns the long-held theory that water slips between graphene layers to lubricate graphite — instead, it sits on the surface and disrupts the perfect atomic alignment that causes friction.

In the 1940s, the US Air Force had a problem. The graphite brushes in electrical motors on high-altitude aircraft were wearing out far too quickly. By the 1970s, NASA confirmed the issue: graphite simply stops working as a lubricant in the dry vacuum of space. Clearly, atmospheric water was essential — but why?

For decades, the leading explanation was intuitive: water molecules must slip between the graphene layers that make up graphite, enabling them to slide past one another. It was a neat theory, but the experimental evidence has been contradictory. X-ray diffraction measurements show no change in the spacing between graphene layers at different humidity levels — suggesting water stays out. Yet recent Raman spectroscopy experiments on bilayer graphene show clear signatures of water getting in.

A new study published in Physical Review Materials by Dr Yiwei Sun from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), together with Professor Sir Colin Humphreys (SEMS), Professor David Dunstan (School of Physical and Chemical Sciences), and collaborators at Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria, now resolves this decades-old puzzle — and the answer challenges conventional thinking.

The 80% threshold

Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the team first showed that the interlayer bonding near graphite's surface is indeed about 6% softer than in the bulk — supporting the idea that water might find it easier to enter at the surface. But when they ran molecular dynamics simulations to test whether this softening actually allows water in, the answer was firmly no.

"We found that water can only intercalate between graphene layers when the van der Waals interactions are reduced by over 80%," said Dr Sun. "The 6% surface softening doesn't even come close. It's like saying a door is slightly ajar — but you'd actually need to remove most of the wall."

It's not between the layers — it's on the surface

Instead of slipping between layers, the simulations reveal that water forms a remarkably stable two-atomic-layer structure on the graphene surface. This bilayer persists from room temperature up to nearly 380 K, and remains intact even on realistically curved graphene surfaces — the kind found at asperity contacts in real machinery.

The key insight is what this surface water does to friction. Without water, graphene layers stack in perfect atomic registry: as one layer slides, every atom hits an energy barrier at the same time, like trying to push an entire crowd through a turnstile simultaneously. The surface water layer disrupts this perfect alignment — a phenomenon called incommensurability — so that while some atoms are going uphill, others are going downhill, and the energy barriers largely cancel out.

The numbers are striking: the sliding energy barrier drops from approximately 72 mJ/m² for dry graphene-on-graphene to just 22 mJ/m² when water is present — a 70% reduction.

Why MoS₂ doesn't need water

This mechanism also explains a textbook puzzle: why does MoS₂ lubricate perfectly well in dry conditions while graphite fails? The answer lies in the strength of the interlayer bonds. MoS₂ has fundamentally weaker van der Waals interactions and wider layer spacing (6.2 Å versus 3.35 Å for graphite). Its layers achieve incommensurability easily through minor thermal fluctuations alone — no water needed.

"It's a design principle for layered lubricants," said Dr Sun. "You either need inherently weak interlayer forces, as in MoS₂, or you need something — like water — to break the atomic-scale alignment. Graphite happens to need the latter."

Relevance to materials science and beyond

The findings have implications beyond graphite lubrication. Understanding how molecular adsorbates modify friction at the nanoscale is relevant to the design of coatings, nanoelectromechanical systems, and any application where layered materials slide under ambient conditions. The work also provides a quantitative framework — the 80% vdW reduction threshold — that can be applied to assess intercalation feasibility in other 2D material systems.

The study combined DFT calculations for interlayer stiffness, reactive molecular dynamics simulations using ReaxFF potentials, and a reinterpretation of published experimental data on graphene friction — demonstrating the value of integrating computational and experimental approaches to resolve longstanding materials puzzles.

Dr Rehan Shah invited as external speaker for Year 9-11 students for British Science Week

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Dr Rehan Shah delivered an enthralling mathematics outreach talk titled 'The One with 3 Problems and 1 Answer' to a large group of over 150 Year 9-11 school students as an invited external guest speaker for British Science Week 2026 at Trinity School, Croydon on Wednesday 11th March 2026.

Building on his experience as a former secondary school teacher of mathematics, Dr Shah modelled his talk around the theme of curiosity and prompted students to evaluate which of the two i.e. the question/problem or the answer/solution was the more important. This was motivated by illustrating to students, through presenting them with three seemingly unrelated mathematical problems, all of which led to the exact same answer, that as one transcends from school to university, it is the question (particularly when solving more involved, research-based conundrums) that assumes far more importance than the answer (which while still significant, tends to arise as the byproduct of a suitably focused question), unlike the narrative commonly taught to students at school-level mathematics.

The talk featured highly interactive modes of problem-solving in which students actively participated to understand the significance of the Golden Ratio in mathematics. After his talk, Dr Shah was also subsequently invited to answer individual questions from small groups of keen and motivated students in a roundtable discussion, where he discussed his own career progression within mathematics. Dr Jack Manchester (Teacher of Chemistry and Head of STEM) at the school noted how Dr Shah's talk proved to be hugely inspiring for several students and the school posted a detailed overview of the events through the week on their school page.

Dr Shah's talk was then also filmed and recorded digitally by the SEMS Outreach and Marketing team and posted as a Youtube video and on the SEMS prospective students website as a taster lecture for use for the School's online open day events.

Queen Mary Engineers visit Molycop in Peru

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Prof Harry Bhadeshia, Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas and PhD student Rajdeep Mondal spent a week in Peru visiting the team at Molycop, a leading manufacturer of steel grinding media, based in Australia, Peru, Chile, and the USA.

Molycop is sponsoring Rajdeep’s research, developing a unique computer program that predicts the structure and properties of steel grinding media – media which is used globally in the minerals industry to crush mined materials into powders.

During their visit, they toured Molycop’s manufacturing facilities at two locations in Peru at Lima and Arequipa. The Arequipa industrial plant is close to a large copper mine, in a desert landscape, and takes about two hours to reach by plane from Lima.

The Queen Mary researchers also met with their metallurgical and manufacturing teams for technical discussions, and on the last day, a large group of Molycop staff attended talks given by the trio. In one of these talks, they demonstrated the computer program developed by Rajdeep, and allowed the Molycop staff to have a go at applying it.

This visit continues an existing fruitful relationship between Queen Mary researchers and Molycop. Molycop have previously visited the UK to spend time with the Queen Mary team, and Dr Hamid Pourasiabi from Molycop Australia has previously presented an inspiring talk about our collaboration in the undergraduate module EMS523U on phase transitions, led by Dr Haixue Yan.

Chemical Engineering Society hosts panel on Renewable Energy and Net Zero

f.akinmolayan@qmul.ac.uk (Folashade Akinmolayan Taiwo) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

On Thursday 26th February, as part of Queen Mary University of London Climate Action Week, the Queen Mary Chemical Engineering Society hosted a highly successful event titled “Bridging the Gap Between Science & Politics: A Spotlight on Renewable Energy & Net Zero.” The event brought together 50 attendees and featured an engaging panel of speakers from across industry, policy, and research.

Organised and hosted by students Mathilda Lenz Gorner and Riley Griffin, the event marked the society’s first major initiative. Months of planning culminated in an evening of insightful talks exploring the intersection of science, economics, and policy in achieving Net Zero goals.

Speakers addressed key themes including the economic drivers behind the transition away from fossil fuels, the evolving policy landscape, and how industries can integrate sustainability into their processes. A highlight of the evening was a panel discussion bringing together the speakers:

Dr John Brenton – Head of Energy and Carbon Reduction (The Energy Consortium)
Mitchell Clarke – Chemical policy specialist (IChemE)
Mohammed Saffar – Consulting Fellow for the global economy and finance programme (Chatham House)
Professor Paul Balcombe – Professor of Chemical Engineering & Renewable Energy; Co-founder of Methanox
Dr Maria Crespo – Senior Lecturer in Green Energy Materials
Dr Andrew Russell – Reader in Environmental Science & Policy; Director, Environmental Change and Communities Research Centre
Oluwatobi Ajala - Sustainability and Energy Manager (Queen Mary)

Closing remarks where given by Professor Andrew Livingston – Queen Mary Vice-Principal (Research).

The discussion emphasised that reaching Net Zero is not solely dependent on technological advancements, but also on collaboration across sectors and the willingness to implement change at scale. A lively networking session followed that attendees described as both informative and inspiring.

Reflecting on the event, the organisers expressed pride in the outcome and gratitude to the speakers and supporters who made it possible. The strong turnout, despite the event being in the evening, was seen as a clear indication of student and professional commitment to climate action and a sustainable future.

Dr Folashade Akinmolayan Taiwo (Chemical Engineering Programme Director) commented:

“Congratulations to Riley, Mathilda, and the entire Chemical Engineering Society for bringing together such a great panel of speakers and for drawing attention and meaningful discussion to such an important topic. It was a fantastic event, and you should be proud of all your efforts.”

Engineering student and Dr Rehan Shah publish scholarship research work on inclusive STEM curricula

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Fourth-year engineering undergraduate student Ava Belafonte in collaboration with Dr Rehan Shah has published a jointly authored co-creation scholarship research journal paper that has been published in New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences issue for 2026.

The practice-based research paper investigates the impact of diversifying STEM curricula through the development and implementation of student-staff co-created teaching toolkit resources within two of Dr Shah's first and second-year undergraduate applied mathematics modules at Queen Mary to create a more inclusive learning environment for students. Feedback gathered through dissemination of dedicated surveys featured responses from 113 first year and 196 second-year students from multiple engineering disciplines, with 55% and 65% of students strongly or mostly agreeing that the resources inspired them to want to learn more about the contributions of diverse individuals in STEM disciplines.

STEM disciplines have traditionally been taught as an exercise in memorisation and repetitive application of formulae, with historical aspects often confined to male, Eurocentric contributions of mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. Consequently, this can often alienate students from diverse and under-represented backgrounds, who find it difficult to find inspiring examples of positive role models whom they can relate to when studying STEM disciplines.

The insights gained from this implementation will inform future iterations of this staff-student co-creation project, featuring for example, the expanded use of this toolkit across additional modules and related disciplines as well as inclusion of formative practice quizzes to improve student engagement. Highlighting the contributions of historically underrepresented groups will promote diversity, foster belonging, and inspire future generations among STEM graduates.

Dr Shah was extremely proud of the hard work and efforts put in by Ava in taking the lead on working on this publication with him and hopes that this proves to be "an inspiration to other students working on similar co-creation projects to see the effects that sheer determination and industry can lead to". Ava is already getting ready to submit a second research paper on the next phase of the project in collaboration with Dr Shah and his collaborator from the Open University.

Year 12 students solve real engineering mysteries using AI

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Students become 'Materials Detectives' for a day

Twenty-six Year 12 students from schools across London and South East England visited Queen Mary's Mile End campus on 28th February for an interactive workshop that challenged them to solve two data mysteries — and every team cracked both cases.

In the first investigation, teams analysed factory data to work out why a phone screen production line was producing cracked screens. In the second, they used AI-assisted data analysis to determine why a football team kept losing certain matches. Both mysteries required the same core skill — identifying patterns in data and building a causal explanation — but applied it to very different contexts.

"The format is deliberately designed so you don't need any engineering background to get started," said Dr Yiwei Sun from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), who designed and led the workshop. "You just need to be curious about why something is going wrong and willing to look at the evidence."

100% success rate — and a surprise finding about AI

Every team correctly identified the root causes in both mysteries: humidity and shift patterns in the phone screen case, and travel distance and fatigue in the football case. This mirrors results from the same 'Detective' approach used with 240 Year 3 undergraduates at Queen Mary's joint programme with Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an.

Surveys taken before and after the workshop showed statistically significant improvements in students' confidence in explaining AI and their comfort with analysing data — both increasing by more than one full point on a five-point scale.

An unplanned finding emerged when students were asked why the second mystery felt easier. Seventy percent of teams spontaneously credited the AI tools they had been introduced to between the two investigations. One student wrote: "AI was quick to identify patterns that I would sometimes miss." Another noted that AI "does a lot of the hard stuff while also using your knowledge to answer quicker and faster."

"That's exactly the relationship with AI we wanted them to discover," said Dr Sun. "Not AI replacing your thinking, but AI helping you think more efficiently — once you already understand what you're looking for."

One team built an AI education website from scratch

The workshop concluded with a creative challenge: explain AI to someone who knows nothing about it. Teams chose their own format — posters, presentations, or anything else they could build in 45 minutes.

One team, with no prior web development experience, built a fully functional educational website covering AI fundamentals, machine learning, real-world applications, and ethical considerations. Another team produced a hand-drawn poster featuring a robot saying "I'm your helping hand, but I can't draw hands" — alongside a critique of AI's energy consumption and its impact on developing countries.

"These are Year 12 students who arrived knowing nothing about engineering and left creating things that demonstrate critical thinking about AI's role in society," said Dr Sun. "That progression — from consumer to creator — is what the Detective framework is designed to achieve."

What's next

The workshop was funded by Queen Mary's Centre for Public Engagement. Holly Barrett from SEMS Student Recruitment and Marketing coordinated venue logistics, IT accounts, risk assessment, and school partnerships, ensuring the day ran smoothly. Three SEMS student ambassadors facilitated team discussions and shared their own experiences of studying engineering at Queen Mary — with several Year 12 participants singling out these conversations as a highlight of the event. "Making new friends and learning about uni life from students," wrote one attendee. "Also learning about data analysis from the teacher."

A condensed version of the workshop is being developed for the university's QM Futures widening participation programme later this year. The evaluation data contributes to an ongoing research paper on transferable active learning frameworks in engineering education.

The student-built website is publicly accessible.

The Power of AI to Transform Women’s Careers

t.t.chowdhury@qmul.ac.uk (Tina Chowdhury) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Engineer Your Story with Artificial Intelligence

A partnership between Queen Mary & Ideas Foundation, funded by The Convocation Trust, the Engineer Your Story project inspired the STEAMM community by showcasing diverse women as role models, and encouraging engineers to explore careers in AI and Healthcare.

Working with the Ideas Foundation, 30 year 10 GCSE students from City Academy Hackney learnt how to use AI tools in healthcare research with clinicians, scientists and creative professionals, to promote real-world examples of how technology is transforming healthcare.

The programme was designed to show how AI tools can build confidence, support research, advance inclusivity and strengthen employability, while opening a window into some of the most exciting research being done today. In parallel, lectures in storytelling and AI tools were offered to 600 engineering undergraduates during the Skills & Employability event held in the Great Hall at QMUL.

Heather MacRae who is the Executive Director at the Ideas Foundation said "Queen Mary University of London is going out of its way to enrich and extend the learning and employability of their students. Storytelling, AI and engineering might not seem like obvious companions, but as students seek work, they are going to have to tell their own stories with conviction. They are going to have to convince funders and customers to invest in their ideas."

For GCSE students at City Academy Hackney, the workshop created a rare opportunity to engage directly with leading researchers and creative professionals, helping them see how skills in creativity, technology and storytelling can connect to real careers in healthcare research.

A Day as Creative Directors

Celebrating National Careers Week, GCSE students stepped into the roles of creative directors for the day, interviewing six clinicians and scientists from Queen Mary's Centre for Bioengineering and translating complex research into visual stories, by working with Dr Zara Arain Saqlan, Dr Natalia Munro Castro, Anya MacLaren, Bianca Viljoen and Amelia Art. Researchers shared insights into their work on digital twins, air pollution, menopause, preterm birth and saving babies' lives.

Students explored questions including how clinical researchers use AI in healthcare, what opportunities AI creates for improving patient care, the ethical questions around AI technologies, and the career journeys that led researchers into their fields.

From Research to Creative Storytelling

Armed with notes and ideas from their interviews, students created prompts and used AI tools to generate headlines and text. In a hands-on photography session led by Eliška Sky, they developed mood boards, shot lists and design concepts, experimenting with lighting, colour, props and portraiture to create images that reflected the personalities and work of the researchers.

Creative technologist Hamish Clements then demonstrated how AI tools can generate infographics and visual content, helping students translate complex research insights into accessible, engaging campaign posters designed to communicate cutting-edge health research to a wider audience, across a range of live research themes including cardiovascular disease & digital twins, air pollution & pregnancy, organ-chip models, preterm birth and menopause.

Working in creative teams, GCSE students transformed these complex research themes into visual campaign ideas designed to help other young people understand how AI is shaping the future of healthcare.

As well as exploring the positive potential of AI, students examined how these tools can spread misinformation and how biased datasets can undermine the quality of research. Through this process, students developed a more critical understanding of both AI technologies and the role creativity can play in communicating complex research responsibly.

Dr Tina Chowdhury from Queen Mary's Centre for Bioengineering said "Over the years, I have seen how technology has changed at pace, affecting our behaviour and future health. I am proud to be a part of the AI revolution — bringing multi-disciplinary fields in creativity, STEAMM and AI together, creating bold campaigns with the Ideas Foundation to change how we behave, breathe and live. I believe one day there will be health equality for all."

The Creative Team

Five exceptional practitioners brought the programme to life:

Sue Nelson | Science Journalist & Broadcaster

An award-winning broadcaster, writer and science journalist. Sue co-hosts the Space Boffins and Counting the Earth podcasts, makes short films on science, and produces and presents radio documentaries for BBC World Service.

Greg Hodgson | Creative Tech Expert

Founder of Edge Gain and an Adobe partner, Greg uses cutting-edge tools to enhance creative work for research and professional practice, helping students unlock the power of AI in their own storytelling.

Eliška Sky | Photographer & Filmmaker

A contemporary Czech photographer and filmmaker based in London. Her bold, vivid work has taken her from National Theatre Prague to Dubai Expo 2020. Her Womaneroes series was featured in the British Journal of Photography.

Hamish Clements | AI Creative Director

Founder of Creative Futures Lab and a creative working with global brands, Hamish guided students in using AI image and video tools, showing how technology and imagination combine to produce compelling visual campaigns.

Heather MacRae Creative Education Consultant

Founder of Venture Thinking, and until recently CEO of Ideas Foundation, Heather brings together experts to create and deliver innovative education workshops. Heather has a long standing connection with QMUL where she is an Honorary Fellow.

What Comes Next

The workshop builds on earlier support from the Royal Academy of Engineering, which helped pilot this creative approach to engaging young people with engineering and technology. By connecting young people directly with researchers, creatives and emerging technologies, the programme helps broaden awareness of future pathways in healthcare, engineering and the creative industries. Student work will be showcased by Queen Mary University of London at forthcoming conferences on public engagement and on social media, and students will be invited to visit the university.

By combining creative practice with real-world research conversations, the workshop helped students develop confidence in their ideas while exploring new ways their interests could connect to future opportunities in science, technology and the creative industries.

"The workshop was amazing. It's really leading edge in so many ways — the research, the AI tools — and I am so proud of the work that the students produced." Valine Bramble, Science Lead, City Academy Hackney.

Dr Maria del Mar Vizcaino Vergara Successfully Completes Her PhD

j.busfield@qmul.ac.uk (James Busfield) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Congratulations to Dr Maria del Mar Vizcaino Vergara who has passed her PhD defence on the 13th March 2026 for a thesis entitled, “Physical Ageing of Carbon Black Filled Rubber.” Maria del Mar completed her PhD journey as a joint student working between QMUL and KTH in Stockholm in Sweden. At QMUL she was a member of James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group in SEMS and at KTH she was in the Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Sound and Vibration supervised by Prof Leif Kari. She was financially supported throughout by a Swedish Research Council Grant.

Maria del Mar took the KTH examination route and therefore had to make a public defence both presenting her work and then being interrogated by Prof Essi Sarlin from Tampere University and a panel of expert examiners in front of a large public audience. Prof James Busfield, who was in the audience at KTH said. “I was very impressed by the clear way that Maria del Mar explained her work throughout this 2 and a half hour final examination. The Swedish examination route is much more stressful than the one that we are used to in the UK. Maria del Mar was an excellent PhD student and we have already published four papers on her work.”

Maria del Mar was the sixth student from James’ group to complete her PhD in the last 12 months. She is now taking a well-earned holiday in Spain and then she will return to her Senior FEA Engineer role at Scania in Sweden next month.

Outcomes of the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-Republic of Korea Stakeholder Meeting on Cross-Border Data Sharing

jae-hwan.park@qmul.ac.uk (Jae-Hwan Park) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Key stakeholders from the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Korea recently convened in Tashkent to finalize the frameworks for cross-border data sharing. This meeting represents a significant milestone in regional digital growth, focusing on the technical and legal infrastructures required to bridge the digital gap between Central Asia and East Asia. This gathering was the culmination of a dedicated multi-month effort, during which each participating country shared the outcomes of their independent analyses and proposed models for data sharing to ensure a truly collaborative foundation.

During the sessions, the partners discussed and supported a tentative joint analysis of current data flows, allowing for a transparent exchange of policy implications that will shape future regulatory alignment. One of the highlights of the event was a presentation by Dr Jae-Hwan Park, who shared critical lessons learned through three distinct analytical lenses: Business Models, Project Management, and Lean Six Sigma. By applying these methodologies, the presentation illustrated how cross-border initiatives can move beyond mere technical connectivity to achieve operational excellence and sustainable economic value. This multifaceted approach provided a clear framework for understanding how to optimize resource allocation and minimize process variance in complex international digital projects.

As a direct result of these sessions and the collaborative research conducted over recent months, a formal UNESCAP report authored by Jae-Hwan will be released later this year. This publication will detail the strategic roadmap established to harmonize data regulations across the three borders. The first phase of this cooperation will involve pilot launches in the e-government and higher education sectors, alongside the creation of collaborative research hubs. These hubs will utilize shared data and the Lean Six Sigma principles discussed to address pressing regional challenges, laying a solid foundation for a transparent and prosperous digital future.

Queen Mary spotlights UK and South Korea Materials research links at The Royal Society

d.papageorgiou@qmul.ac.uk (Dimitrios Papageorgiou) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London helped to strengthen international collaboration in Advanced Materials Science through a major UK–South Korea bilateral symposium at The Royal Society focused on Advanced Materials on 4th and 5th March.

The meeting brought together leading academics to discuss the latest advances in two themes:

Ultra-strong and Lightweight materials
Nanoscience for Medicine

The symposium was co-chaired by Dr Dimitrios G. Papageorgiou, Reader in Functional Polymers and Composites in Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), alongside Prof Philip Withers FRS, FREng (UK), Prof Robert Young FRS, FREng (UK), Prof Rodney Ruoff (Korea), and Prof Seung Min Jane Han (Korea). It also featured an invited talk from SEMS Professor Nicola Pugno, one of Europe’s most recognised voices in mechanics-based materials design.

Professor Pugno’s lecture explored recent advances in bio-inspired and architected materials, with a particular focus on ultrastrong macroscopic cables made from carbon nanotubes and graphene. He emphasized how fundamental principles of mechanics, applied across materials and structural design, can drive step changes in performance, illustrated by the concept of a space-elevator cable for asteroid mining.

Across two days of presentations and discussion, delegates explored how materials can be engineered to deliver simultaneous gains in strength, toughness, and weight reduction, while remaining manufacturable and sustainable. A central theme was the importance of connecting processing–structure–property relationships with real-world constraints such as reliability, scale-up, and end-of-life considerations.

Dr Dimitrios Papageorgiou said:

“Lightweighting and mechanical performance have traditionally been optimised in parallel, often with trade-offs accepted as inevitable. What this meeting made clear is that the field is now ready to design beyond those compromises; by integrating advanced materials, architecture, interfaces, and scalable manufacturing from the outset. It was a real privilege to bring together leading colleagues from the UK and South Korea for discussions that were not only scientifically rigorous, but also genuinely future-facing and collaborative.”

Professor Nicola Pugno added:

“It was a real pleasure to contribute to this symposium. Prof Ruoff and I have taken this opportunity to present a new fundamental rule for exploiting the nanoscale properties of 2D materials in macroscopic composites, along with its experimental verification with graphene. Meetings like this are important because they accelerate the exchange of ideas and create the partnerships needed to move from laboratory demonstrations to impact.”

Queen Mary's participation reflects the University’s growing role in Advanced Materials research, spanning advanced nanomaterials, functional polymers, composites, mechanics of materials and next-generation sustainable material systems, and its commitment to building international partnerships that support scientific excellence and translation.

Queen Mary Engineers Without Borders society wins national competition

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Queen Mary students have been crowned the overall winners of the Engineers Without Borders Chapters Design Challenge, following the final at the University of Birmingham last week.

The competition brought together more than 100 students from 22 Engineers Without Borders student societies. Four teams reached the final, where Queen Mary beat teams from the University of Bath, the University of Leeds and the University of Cambridge to take the top prize.

In the lead-up to the competition, participating teams worked on a design brief asking how to support Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities to survive, thrive and flourish in remote Australia.

Queen Mary's team came up with a high-impact solution: a permeable road system integrated with an underground water storage system, which would help reduce flooding and maintain road access for communities in Cape York, Australia. During monsoon season, the system would gather and store water to then be used during drought season.

The pitching team, Nicole Kirk, Heba Mansour, Yara Elsaadany, Khadidja Cheref and Rajdeep Bachuh, are students from across Engineering specialisms, including Robotics, Mechanical and Design. Queen Mary's Engineers Without Borders society is not yet six months old, after being founded in September 2025. As a relatively new society, this win is a huge achievement and one they should be very proud of.

Team member Rajdeep reflected: “This challenge was a wake-up call that there is no 'best' strand of engineering. I learned that the magic happens when different pathways collide.”

“As a Foundation Year student, and one of the youngest at the event, I was initially nervous. However, seeing my input directly contribute to a winning success has been a massive confidence boost. It proved that you don't need to wait until your final year to start thinking like a professional engineer."

Team member Rayan added: “In such a short period of time, seeing the chapter grow, collaborate, and achieve milestones like this has been incredibly rewarding”.

The win comes with £1000 of prize money to fund more student projects. At the end of last year, the society hosted The Big Pitch, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve next.

The Engineers Without Borders society full team, who contributed to this win is:

Committee:

Kukuuwa Buckman
Rayan Amjad
Umer Asif
Phoebe Asante
Mariyam Mowlana
Nicole Kirk

Members:

Yara Elsaandany
Khadidja Cheref
Heba Mansour
Rajdeep Singh Bhachu
Alisha Asif
Amal Jama
Radif Rafiqul
Luke Barretto
Anushan Kugathasan
Jaineet Khurana
Abdur Rajjak Sabbir
Aman Samir Mhatre
Anshu Singh

The Silk Road of Science: Forging Strategic S&E Partnerships in Uzbekistan

jae-hwan.park@qmul.ac.uk (Jae-Hwan Park) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

This month, Dr Jae-Hwan Park visited Tashkent for a series of meetings at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation. The visit included a focused discussion with the Head of the Department for International Cooperation and Rankings, aimed at refining our strategic engagement within the region’s academic sector.

Institutional Alignment with "Uzbekistan – 2030"

The dialogue centered on aligning our institutional expertise with the broader goals of the "Uzbekistan – 2030" Strategy. As the country continues to modernize its scientific and educational infrastructure, there is a clear opportunity to provide support through shared knowledge and technical capacity. This visit serves as a foundational step in establishing a consistent presence within Central Asia’s evolving educational landscape.

Key Areas of Cooperation

Education Collaboration: We discussed the development of structural foundations, such as curriculum benchmarking and faculty development initiatives. The goal is to ensure that Science and Engineering (S&E) standards remain internationally compatible, supporting steady academic mobility.
Collaborative Research Frameworks: Discussions focused on the potential for joint research projects and peer-to-peer exchanges. By focusing on critical S&E disciplines, both parties can address regional technical challenges through evidence-based research.
Student Recruitment Pathways: Establishing clear pathways for Uzbek students in Science and Engineering was a primary focus. By streamlining these processes, we aim to provide qualified candidates with access to advanced training and research environments.

Conclusion

This visit marks an important phase in our ongoing commitment to international cooperation. By maintaining a direct dialogue with the Ministry in Tashkent, we are ensuring that our Science and Engineering initiatives are well-positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, the region’s growth.

Industry partners discuss how Engineering students can become workplace-ready

o.fenwick@qmul.ac.uk (Oliver Fenwick) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The School of Engineering and Materials Science's (SEMS) Industrial Advisory Board used their Spring meeting to discuss how to use the curriculum to enhance soft skills and employability of our students.

The SEMS Industrial Advisory Board includes senior engineers and scientists from a broad range of sectors representing large multinationals and SMEs, and meets twice a year to advise on our curriculum and delivery. This ensures that our students receive an up-to-date and relevant educational offering, and helps us to spot employer trends early. This meeting was chaired by Guy Newcombe of Archipelago Technology Ltd. and was attended by industry representatives, academics and members of the Student Voice Committee.

The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss Queen Mary's new Employability & Skills Framework which is being fully rolled out for September. The Employability & Skills Framework (ESF) will deliver skills training across the faculty and ensure both that our students are workplace-ready when they graduate and also that they are prepared for graduate job applications. The 2-hour meeting included two breakout sessions. The first was centered around identifying useful skills to focus on for the undergraduate cohort, whilst the second session focussed on the different requirements for international MSc students. The industry attendees and the students gave us some great input that will shape the our future delivery of employability skills in the curriculum.

Unlocking the secrets behind 20% efficient organic solar cells

f.eisner@qmul.ac.uk (Flurin Eisner) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

New research has revealed how next-generation solar materials move energy with record breaking efficiency.

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London, working closely with collaborators at Imperial College London and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), have uncovered how the latest generation of organic solar cell materials achieve record‑breaking efficiencies of over 20%. Their findings provide long‑sought answers to a major puzzle in the field and lay out new design rules for future molecular photovoltaics.

Organic solar cells — which use carbon-based molecules or polymers to absorb sunlight — offer a lightweight, flexible and potentially more sustainable alternative to traditional silicon photovoltaics. Over the past two decades, their power‑conversion efficiency has climbed from around 2% to over 20%, thanks largely to a new class of molecules known as non‑fullerene acceptors (NFAs), particularly the highly successful “Y‑family” of materials such as Y6. But until now, scientists have not fully understood how these materials reach such high efficiencies.

Rethinking How Charges Are Created

Traditionally, organic solar cells rely on a junction between two molecular materials — an electron donor and an electron acceptor — to split tightly bound excitons into free charges. This process normally requires a large energetic “offset” between the materials, which comes at a cost: the larger the offset, the lower the voltage and overall efficiency of the device.

However, the latest NFAs break this rule, achieving high efficiencies with much smaller energy offsets. Some studies have even suggested that charges could be generated directly within the molecular film, without needing a clear donor–acceptor interface.

A Combined Experimental–Computational Breakthrough

To solve this puzzle, a team from Queen Mary’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, with researchers at Imperial College London, combined experimental device measurements with a new computational model capable of simulating how excited electronic states spread out, or delocalise, across the molecular network.

By comparing simulated and experimental data, the team found that this delocalisation plays a critical role in enabling efficient charge generation at low energetic cost.

“What our results make clear is that we can no longer look at these molecules in isolation,” said Dr Flurin Eisner, Lecturer in Green Energy at Queen Mary University of London and co-author of the study. “The secret to their high efficiency lies in how the energy is shared and spread out across an entire molecular network. It’s this teamwork at the nanoscale that allows the charges to separate so effectively without needing a massive energetic push.”

New Rules for Molecular Design

The team identified key structural characteristics of the highest‑performing materials — including both their chemical structure and their nanoscale arrangement — that make them exceptionally effective at transferring energy across the film.

The researchers also tested whether the new materials were capable of generating photocurrent without a traditional heterojunction interface. While this is not yet achievable, the results point clearly to how the materials could be improved to move closer to this goal.

Towards Next‑Generation Solar Materials

This work provides practical, evidence‑based design rules for chemists and materials scientists looking to push organic solar cell performance even further. Future efforts, the team suggests, should focus on:

lowering the energy required for molecular reorganisation
reducing structural disorder
increasing intermolecular interactions

The research was supported by UKRI (ATIP programme grant) and the UKRI ERC underwrite scheme (POTENtIAl) via collaboration with Prof Jenny Nelson (Imperial College London), and the Spanish CSIC via collaboration with Prof Campoy‑Quiles at ICMAB, Barcelona (project DOMMINO).

Dr Jae-Hwan Park: Driving Global Decision-Making in Cross-Border Data Sharing

jae-hwan.park@qmul.ac.uk (Jae-Hwan Park) — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

On 6 March 2026, Dr Jae-Hwan Park presided as Chair over a high-level technical online forum between the governments of Uzbekistan and South Korea. The session, held under the auspices of UNESCAP, focused on the critical advancement of bilateral data interoperability and digital governance.

Strategic Impact

As the appointed Chair, Dr Park personally mediated the technical and regulatory discourse necessary to facilitate secure and efficient cross-border data sharing between the two nations. This regular leadership role represents a significant milestone in establishing international digital cooperation, marking a transition from theoretical research into the heart of global decision-making and international diplomacy.

Expertise in Data Translation & Interoperability

A central focus of Dr Park’s chairing was the technical context of data translation between disparate national infrastructures. He guided the dialogue through the practical and policy-driven mechanisms required for successful cross-border integration:

Inter-governmental Data Interoperability: Establishing the robust technical standards required for seamless information exchange between different governmental systems.
Data Format & Translation Arrangements: Designing sophisticated frameworks for automated data mapping and structural alignment, ensuring technical "translation" remains accurate and secure across borders.
Analysis Methodologies: Aligning advanced computational methods to derive mutual strategic insights from shared national datasets.
Policy & Regulatory Implications: Evaluating the legal protections and data sovereignty requirements essential for maintaining international trust.

Professional Performance & Global Standing

Through these regular sessions, Dr Park provides a critical interface between complex digital systems and national governmental strategy. This sustained performance establishes a significant record of leadership in International Digital Policy, as he contributes directly to the frameworks that will govern the global digital economy for years to come.

Engineering Management: Bridging Theory and Global Industry at Excel London

jae-hwan.park@qmul.ac.uk (Jae-Hwan Park) — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Our Engineering Management students recently participated in a high-impact field visit to Excel London, led by our faculty. The visit immersed students in the world’s leading technology showcases: Tech Show London and Space-Comm Expo Europe 2026.

This visit was strategically designed to provide Engineering Management scholars with direct exposure to the evolving infrastructure of Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Architecture, Cybersecurity, and Large-Scale Data Systems. These are the critical areas that increasingly underpin competitive positioning and operational excellence across all modern industries.

Key Exhibition Highlights

Students explored a series of interconnected events, gaining a holistic view of the global digital and aerospace ecosystem:

Data Centre World & Cloud Infrastructure: Understanding the physical and virtual backbone of the global internet and its management.
Big Data & AI World: Witnessing the real-world application of generative AI and predictive analytics in business operations.
Space-Comm Expo Europe: Exploring the intersection of satellite technology, global data communication, and the future of orbital infrastructure.

Student Perspectives

The following feedback highlights the immense value of moving beyond the classroom to engage with global industry leaders:

"I would like to thank you for informing us about this event and for joining us yourself to guide us through the exhibitions. It was a fascinating experience to get exposure to such a diverse range of technologies and organizations. The advancements in AI and data gave me much more insight regarding the future of system operations. I am very grateful to have attended an event of such a grand scale."

"Thank you for taking the time and taking us to the Space-Comm and Tech events. As someone from an Aerospace background, the event was incredibly helpful; I got to meet a lot of start-ups and their CEOs and see first hand how the industry works. Thanks once again!"

By participating in these premier events, our Engineering Management students are not just learning about the future—they are meeting the people and technologies that are building it. We remain committed to providing our scholars with the international exposure and direct mentorship necessary to become leaders in the global tech and engineering landscape.

Chemical Engineering Society make debut at Frank Morton Sports Day

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Queen Mary’s Chemical Engineering Society took part in the annual Frank Morton Sports Day for the first time on Monday 16 February.

Held at the University of Nottingham, the event brought together 20 Chemical Engineering student societies from universities across the UK and Ireland to compete in 12 sports. Organisers said it was the biggest Frank Morton attendance since before the pandemic, with around 850 students taking part.

Queen Mary was represented by a group of eight students. Despite being a smaller team than many of the other universities, the group performed exceptionally well and is hoping to return next year with more students.

Society President and third-year student Ida Mathilda Lenz Gorner said: "Everyone had a really great time! We did quite well in our games and won the majority of the matches we played."

The Frank Morton Sports Day was first held in 1961 by Professor of Chemical Engineering Frank Morton, who wanted to use his love of sport to bring together students from the two universities where he taught, Birmingham and Manchester. The event continues to be held each year in his memory and has since grown to include Chemical Engineering departments from across the UK. Hosted by a different university each year, it has even once been held in Singapore.

A Queen Mary student who attended said: “Going to Frank Morton was an incredible experience. It was the perfect opportunity to network, make new friends and see old ones. We took part in badminton, basketball, laser tag and table tennis, so quite a fun mix of sports! We won seven out of the eleven games we participated in. Seeing everyone's competition to have the worst chemical engineering pun on their shirt had me in stiches the whole day!"

Another student said: “Between the games, the laughs, and the connections, the whole day was so much fun. It was the perfect blend of sport, community, and chemical engineering fun! I really hope Queen Mary continues to participate in following years so that more students can experience Frank Morton!"

Design Engineering student is award-winning poet

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Lewis Corry, a first-year undergraduate student studying Design Innovation and Creative Engineering, was one of the featured poets invited to celebrate 40 years of Poems on the Underground recently.

The event held by Transport for London and the Poetry Society at Bank Station on Friday 30th January saw London poets whose work has featured in the scheme over the years invited to read his poems, hear others and meet poetry lovers.

Lewis’ poem, ‘2013, and Deadalus never moved away for work’, was displayed on the underground network as part of Poems on the Underground in 2025.

To mark the occasion, he read his poems at Grade II listed underground station at Covent Garden in February 2025, including recording it on the tannoy, to be played back throughout the day.

The 19-year-old from the Isle of Wight was also included in the Foyle’s Young Poet’s collection in both 2023 and 2024.

He sees himself as a creative and sees his engineering and design work as part of this.

Speaking to Brave Island in 2024 he said “Art is science and science is art, and, at their core both are trying to answer exactly the same questions. Who are we? Why are we here? How? Can things be better than this?... Creative thinking is at the core of any new discovery.”

Max Dixey from the Soft Matter Group wins Tire Technology Young Scientist Prize

j.busfield@qmul.ac.uk (James Busfield) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

TireTech, the world’s largest global tyre Exhibition and Conference, was this year hosted in Hannover, Germany from 3-5th March 2026. During the event, the organisers awarded the Tire Technology International Young Scientist Prize for 2026 to Max Dixey, a PhD student from Prof James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group in SEMS, who is sponsored by Continental Tires.

The award was for his conference presentation on the ‘Effects of carbon black activators on dynamic viscoelasticity.’ The specialist jury panel was headed by the founder of JP76 Solutions, Jan Prins, who explained during the prize ceremony that “Max delivered a clear presentation calmly and confidently, giving a good overview of his work. He also showed impressive depth considering he’s quite early in his research project. We look forward to seeing more about his work in future years.”

Prof James Busfield commented that, "It is fantastic that Max’s work which is sponsored by our great collaborators from Continental has been recognised. It is amazing that a first year PhD student can win such a prestigious international award. It is a great reflection of the team we have in SEMS working on soft materials.” Max gave one of the five papers presented by members of the Soft Matter Group this year. It is only the second time after Dr Lewis Tunnicliffe (in 2013) that a QMUL student has won this prestigious Young Scientist Award.

Queen Mary Recognised for Industry-Led Innovation at The Engineer Collaborate to Innovate Award

z.tse@qmul.ac.uk (Zion Tse) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Queen Mary University of London has been recognised at The Engineer Collaborate to Innovate Awards, which celebrate projects where close collaboration between universities, industry and the NHS delivers real-world impact. Three Queen Mary-involved projects were in the finalist, with Prostate-AI receiving a Highly Commended award. This recognition highlights Queen Mary’s strength in translating research into deployable solutions through strong partnerships beyond academia.

Prostate-AI: High-Throughput, AI-Enabled Prostate Cancer Screening for the NHS is led at Queen Mary by Rory Bennett, Dhruv Basude and Prof Zion Tse and brings together Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and JEB Technologies. The collaboration combines academic expertise in AI with industrial imaging systems and clinical insight to support faster and scalable prostate cancer screening aligned with NHS workflows. The Highly Commended award reflects the project’s readiness for NHS adoption and its potential to improve diagnostic capacity.

Queen Mary was also shortlisted for Transforming Whole Blood into Accessible and Personalised Regenerative Implants, by Prof Thomas Iskratsch’s team in collaboration with the University of Nottingham. The project brings together bioengineering research and translational expertise to explore new routes for creating personalised regenerative implants, with the aim of improving accessibility and clinical relevance.

A third finalist project extends Queen Mary’s collaborative engineering work beyond healthcare. The farming future project, Integrated Human-Augmented Robotics and Intelligent Sensing for Precision Viticulture, is led by Dr Ketao Zhang and Prof Lei Su in collaboration with industry partners Extend Robotics and Saffron Grange Vineyard. By working closely with robotics integrator and end users, the team has developed robotic and sensing technologies for advanced manufacturing at the high-value products in the agriculture sector.

Across all three projects, a common theme is the importance of collaboration with industry and the NHS. By co-developing solutions with partners from the outset, Queen Mary researchers are ensuring that engineering innovation moves efficiently from research to real-world impact.

QMCUR Students at Posters in Parliament and a standing ovation for Rindhiya Vishnu Shankar

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

For the third consecutive year, students from the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) participated in Posters in Parliament. This prestigious event brings together the most innovative undergraduate researchers from across the UK, offering them the opportunity to present their work directly to legislators, policymakers, and leading academics.

This year, QMCUR showcased the following selected posters:

1. "A Search for New Physics: FEA-Driven Modelling of a Liquid Cooling System for the Belle II iVTX Detector”, by Dhyey Joshi (2nd-year Mechanical Engineering), supervised by Prof Oliver Fenwick.

This project is in collaboration with the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences at QMUL and other partners abroad, including KEK (Tsukuba, Japan), IPHC (Strasbourg, France), IJC Lab, INFN (Pisa, Italy) and University of Bonn (Germany). Dhyey has impressed all collaborators by the progress he has made in only few months of research.

Based on his experience, Dhyey commented: “It was a valuable opportunity to present my work and connect with passionate researchers contributing significantly on solving vital challenges. I am grateful to Professor Oliver Fenwick and Professor Adrian Bevan for their guidance and support, and Dr Giuseppe Viola for helping organise these opportunities”.

2. “Designing Microfluidic Devices for Drug Diffusion Testing” by Rindhiya Vishnu Shankar (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering), supervised by Davide Carta (PhD student) and Prof Julien Gautrot.

This research tackles a critical challenge in pharmacology, by developing a microfluidic chip for efficient, reproducible, and scalable drug diffusion testing. The device incorporates hydrogel-based barriers to replicate biological tissue characteristics, with the long-term objective of reducing reliance on in-vivo animal testing.

After winning the internal selection by a substantial margin, Rindhiya’s poster was shortlisted among the eight best submissions nationally and ultimately received a Commended Poster Award, placing it among the top three posters presented at the event. This remarkable recognition, introduced this year for the first time at the event, was awarded for the strength and clarity of the scientific poster design, excellent subject mastery, a compelling long-term research vision, and a clear pathway for continued development.

Feeling excited for the award, Rindhiya commented: “PiP was an incredibly rewarding experience. Meeting researchers working on innovative and emerging projects was truly inspiring. The event also encouraged me to view my research through a regulatory lens, helping me better understand its future impact. I am grateful that my work was recognised, which further motivates me to continue working for better results. I would like to sincerely thank Prof Julien Gautrot, Davide Carta, and Dr Giuseppe for their guidance, support, and for providing this valuable opportunity”.

QMCUR extends its warmest congratulations to Rindhiya for this tremendous achievement and thanks to Davide Carta and Prof Julien Gautrot for their excellent supervision, which made such a significant accomplishment possible. Congratulations also to Dhyey for the excellent posters presented, and Prof Oliver Fenwick and Prof Adrian Bevan for their guidance on this impactful research.

Engineering students win People's Choice Poster Prize at London Student Sustainability Conference

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Four students from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), all working on co-creation education research projects with Dr Rehan Shah, represented Queen Mary to present their work at the London Student Sustainability Conference, hosted by Kingston University on Wednesday 25th February 2026.

The projects presented by the students included:

1. 'Squashing bugs not snakes': co-creating a Python toolkit to prepare engineers for a sustainable future - Muhie Al-Haimus (Third year undergraduate) and Silvia Santafe (Masters-level postgraduate) (Winner of People's Choice Award for Best Poster from 53 entries)

2. ‘Beyond the Formula’: Embedding sustainability and ethics in mathematics through co-creation - Malmi Mahagamage and Meherun Soud (both third year undergraduates) (Presentation and poster)

The work undertaken by the students on these projects with Dr Shah was disseminated through oral presentations and posters and aims at showcasing how education delivery and curriculum development within SEMS was enhanced across the breadth of first and second-year undergraduate mathematics modules led by Dr Shah.

Muhie and Silvia's poster also received the People's Choice Award for Best Poster from over 53 academic poster entries, while Malmi and Meherun's presentation was positively received by participants at the conference, providing all the students with valuable opportunities to engage in insightful discussions, networking, and academic professional development for their future careers.