QMUL School of Engineering and Materials Science News

Design Engineering student is award-winning poet

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

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 GMT

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.

Chemical Engineering Society joins annual sport social event

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

Queen Mary’s Chemical Engineering Society attended at the annual Frank Morton 2026 event for the first time on Monday 16th February.

The event saw 20 student ChemEng societies from universities across the UK and Ireland battle it out across twelve sports. Held at University of Nottingham, organisers said that this was the biggest Frank Morton attendance since before Covid, with around 850 students in attendance.

Society president, 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 group from Queen Mary consisted of eight students – a smaller group than representing other universities and did exceptionally well considering. They plan to return next year with more students.

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

One of the other students attending said “going to Frank Morton was an incredible experience that really bridged relationships with industry professionals and other universities across the UK. It was the perfect opportunity to network, make new friends and see old ones. It was great to connect with students from other universities, share experiences and win some games! 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. It was just an overall amazing time to get to play some sports, represent our university and meet lots of people. Also seeing everyone's competition to have the worst chemical engineering pun on their shirt had me in stiches the whole day!

And another 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!"

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 GMT

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 GMT

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 GMT

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.

Prof Paul Balcombe leads study to guide Nigeria’s Methane strategy

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Queen Mary researchers, led by Prof Paul Balcombe, are undertaking a baseline study to quantify methane emissions across multiple sectors in Nigeria.

The project kicked off in October 2024 with a scoping phase looking at existing methane data in Nigeria, evaluating feasibility, and bringing together project partners. The full study was then launched in December 2025.

This study is the first multisector (oil and gas, waste and agriculture) scientific study of anthropogenic methane emission on the African continent, and one of the first in the world. Queen Mary was selected and funded by the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) to lead this baseline study as part of the Nigeria Methane Emissions Reduction Pilot Programme (NiMERP).

The group from Queen Mary will be supported by partnerships with six Nigerian Universities, University of Ilorin, University of Port Harcourt, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Joseph Sarwan Tarkwa University and Dennis Osadebay University – adding local expertise and embedding commitment to developing the field of measurement-based methane emissions research in Nigeria. As part of the project, over 30 Nigerian scientists from these institutions will receive training and collaborate in the data collection and analysis. Harvard University will also be supporting the project by providing satellite-based analysis.

Research Associate Dr Eric Wood explained, “our methodology is sector-specific, adapted to the particular challenges of each sector. While the focus in oil and gas will be predominantly on emissions measurement, the urban and agriculture sectors will have greater focus on improving activity data. This approach is attuned to the primary needs and opportunities to improve the overall methane emissions estimate for Nigeria and does so in a risk-adjusted, cost-effective manner.”

NiMERP, implemented by UNEP’s IMEO, supports Nigeria to improve its understanding of methane emissions across priority sectors and to build national capacity to estimate, interpret, and apply methane data for mitigation and reporting purposes. NiMERP is funded by the European Union Delegation to Nigeria. The baseline study was endorsed by the Scientific Oversight Committee of UNEP’s IMEO, the Government of Nigeria, and the EU Delegation to Nigeria.

NiMERP held a policy-focused workshop in September 2025 that brought together methane experts and key partners from Nigeria to discuss measurement and reporting in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, with the aim to support the country's ability to comply with upcoming European Union methane requirements for oil and gas imports. This meeting workshop looked at how data from the study being led by Prof Balcombe’s group can contribute to this aim.

“The Baseline Study holds the promise of a significantly improved measurement-informed estimate of anthropogenic methane emissions from Nigeria and a path to reducing those emissions in future. It also represents a significant positive step and perhaps blueprint towards other similar national-level multi-sector studies in future” said Dr Wood.

Engineering Management student gets industry insight from Balfour Beatty

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On Wednesday 11th February, Engineering Management MSc student Vikram Kuppe Shashidhar attended Balfour Beatty's open day to gain some insights into working at the UK's largest construction and infrastructure company. Here he gives us his main take-aways from the day.

At the event I got to interact and network with recent graduate employees, senior managers and aspiring students from different universities. I gained an understanding of the work culture at Balfour Beatty and their various ventures.

The employees were very friendly and invited me to have lunch with them.

At a mock interview with a senior manager, I received constructive feedback and answers to my questions. I also had my CV reviewed by a senior manager and got input on how it could be improved.

I visited the site and their maintenance plant and got to look at their operations on the field. My favourite part of the day was getting to see the Eurostar!

Overall, Balfour Beatty's commitment to teamwork, sustainability, innovation and empowerment really fascinates me and I would be interested to join an organisation like this amongst people like Serah Opadeji, Timna Levinson and many more!

QMCUR student Jensen J. Rajesh co-authors paper accepted for RoboSoft 2026

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Jensen Rajesh, a 3rd-year student in Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR), supervised by Dr Thilina Lalitharatne, has co-authored a paper accepted for presentation at RoboSoft 2026 (IEEE-RAS International Conference on Soft Robotics) in Kanazawa, Japan.

The paper, titled: “Sensorised Residual Limb Phantoms: An Exploratory Study Towards Developing Physical Twins of Residual Limbs for Prosthetic Socket Testing”, addresses a critical challenge in soft robotics. It targets the problem of painful and inefficient prosthetic socket fitting by enabling prosthetic arms to be tested and refined on a sensorised soft residual-limb phantom using quantitative force measurements, rather than requiring direct testing on amputees.

The research team developed a sensorised phantom using Ecoflex silicone instrumented with eight Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs). This setup enables the repeatable measurement of local contact forces at the prosthetic socket–limb interface. By integrating the phantom with a UR5 robotic manipulator, the team established a physical testing platform capable of simulating representative upper-limb daily motions, such as horizontal lifts and vertical swings. This approach achieved consistent and motion-correlated force sensor responses, reliably capturing directional pressure changes and load redistribution during dynamic movements.

Jensen will present his contribution to this work at the upcoming conference in Kanazawa. Reflecting on this opportunity, he commented:

“I’m very excited about this achievement and about the opportunity to build on this work using the knowledge gained throughout the project. Attending RoboSoft will be a valuable experience, as I’m looking forward to engaging with researchers doing outstanding work in the field. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Professor Thilina for supervising this project, as well as to Giuseppe Viola for his support and for recommending me as part of QMCUR. I am also deeply thankful to Chenhao Hong and Saitarun Nadipineni for their incredible support throughout the project.”

QMCUR congratulates Jensen and thanks Dr Lalitharatne for his continued openness in hosting undergraduate students in his group and for his excellent supervision, as evidenced by the repeated significant outputs of his undergraduate students. This testifies to the important contributions they can make to research when given the opportunity and appropriately guided.

Celebrations and guests for the SPRING group

v.donzella@qmul.ac.uk (Valentina Donzella) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Last week was busy and extremely exciting for the SPRING group at the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS).

On Wednesday we hosted Prof Francesco Flammini, jointly affiliated with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (Switzerland), and with the University of Florence (Italy), who delivered a talk on “A Vision of Intelligent Train Control”. With a one hour Q&A after the talk, the group was interested in lots of the challenges and topics covered, and we are looking forward to future joint projects. Thanks Francesco for your visit!

Thursday was a really emotional moment, as (now) DR Boda Li, Researcher in the SPRING group, and who has been under Prof Donzella’s supervision since 2018, as a MSc and then PhD student, defended his thesis, and passes the VIVA with minor corrections! Well done Boda, we are all so proud of you.

Last but not least, on Friday, SPRING group hosted a joint group meeting with the group of Prof Eising at Queen Mary. With 22 talks over six hours, dense technical discussions, and having Prof Philip Koopman attending some of the talks in the afternoon, it was an incredibly stimulating event, that will promote more joint works and cross-group collaboration. Thanks Ciaran and all the researchers for their superb presentations!

It was fantastic for us to catch up with Phil, and hear his opinions and suggestions on our research area. Thanks Phil for visiting us, and I cannot wait to invite you to the UK to give us a proper talk!

Life in academia is never boring, but for sure this week has been one of the highlights for the SPRING group!

EduMark AI awarded Google Cloud support for next phase

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

EduMark AI, an AI-driven assessment and feedback initiative led by Dr Deepshikha in the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), has been awarded support through the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

As part of this, the project has received $2,000 in Google Cloud credits to support its next phase of development. These resources will be used to strengthen the platform’s technical infrastructure, including scalable deployment, secure data handling, and enhanced analytics capabilities.

EduMark AI focuses on supporting educators by generating rubric-aligned draft feedback, helping improve consistency in marking while reducing workload. A key feature of the approach is its human-in-the-loop design, ensuring that all feedback and grading decisions remain fully under academic control.

The project has already gained strong momentum within Queen Mary through funding from Draper's Fund for Innovation in Learning and Teaching and ongoing engagement with colleagues across the university. Current work focuses on aligning the system with institutional processes for assessment, data protection, and the ethical use of AI, and on preparing for pilot implementation.

This latest support from Google offers an opportunity to further develop EduMark AI into a robust, scalable tool that enhances assessment practices and supports both staff and students.

Dr Deepshikha commented:
“EduMark AI is designed to support colleagues in delivering high-quality, consistent feedback while maintaining full academic oversight. This support will help us take the next step in developing a secure and scalable system aligned with institutional needs.”

Colleagues interested in learning more or exploring potential collaboration are welcome to get in touch.

Dr Deepshikha recognised among Top 50 Voices in Higher Education for 2026

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) is delighted to share that Dr Deepshikha has been recognised as one of the Top 50 Voices to Follow in Higher Education for 2026 by Vevox.

This recognition highlights Dr Deepshikha’s growing international profile as a thought leader in AI-enabled assessment, feedback innovation, and digital transformation in higher education. Her work focuses on enhancing the quality, consistency, and efficiency of student feedback while maintaining strong academic oversight and pedagogical integrity. Her contributions extend beyond the classroom, actively shaping institutional and sector-wide conversations on ethical AI adoption in assessment, academic governance, and future-ready education systems. She has engaged with cross-institutional communities and is currently advancing research on AI-driven feedback in higher education.

This recognition from Vevox places Dr Deepshikha among a select group of educators and innovators who are influencing the future direction of higher education globally.

Dr Deepshikha reflected:
"I am honoured to be included among such inspiring voices in higher education. This recognition underscores the importance of collaborative efforts to rethink assessment and feedback in the age of AI. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues and the wider community to develop ethical, impactful, and student-centred approaches to learning."

SEMS congratulates Dr Deepshikha on this well-deserved recognition and looks forward to her continued impact in shaping the future of education.

Dr Rehan Shah and team awarded LMS grant for mathematics education workshop

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Rehan Shah has been awarded a Mathematics Interdisciplinary Collaboration grant by the London Mathematical Society (LMS) for organising a one-day workshop focused on designing effective pedagogical approaches for teaching mathematics to large student cohorts across undergraduate STEM disciplines

As part of this initiative, Dr Shah, in collaboration with his colleague Dr Samantha Hayward (University of Bath) who leads the newly formed 'Cauchy Club' community of practice for mathematics educators at Bath, will spearhead the organisation of an in-person workshop event to be held in June 2026 at the University of Bath, featuring session talks and interactive hands-on activities led by himself, Dr Hayward, Dr Waleed Ali (University of Bath) and Dr Rob Wilson (Cardiff University).

The persistent growth in undergraduate student cohorts has led to significant challenges in the effective teaching of mathematics across STEM disciplines. With student attention spans becoming shorter, the traditional teaching model featuring one lecturer engaging with a class of several hundred students is in dire need of reform. To ensure that students learn effectively amidst retaininghigh levels of learner satisfaction, it is crucial that educators investigate alternative approaches to teaching, specifically regarding large cohorts.

The aim of this workshop is to disseminate the learnings and best practices that have arisen the work of all the external collaborators and from the University of Bath’s ‘Cauchy Club’ to the wider, external community of mathematics educators with a view to expanding and creating an interdisciplinary cross-institutional community, while also motivating participants to form related staff communities among educators within their institutions.

The workshop will be of interest to a wide range of lecturers and education staff (particularly early-career academics) involved in the teaching and assessment of mathematics- based modules in higher education. It will also provide a valuable opportunity for cross-institutional discussions about teaching, learning and assessment in mathematics and related STEM disciplines. The involvement of several influential mathematics educators delivering and leading various sessions will facilitate diverse discussion and sharing of ideas. Participant feedback on the workshop and feasibility to develop a shared community of practice will be gathered through an anonymous survey form distributed to attendees at the end of the workshop.

Queen Mary University of London Opens New High Velocity Impact Laboratory

wei.tan@qmul.ac.uk (Wei Tan) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We are delighted to announce the official opening of our new High Velocity Impact Lab, led by Dr Wei Tan, marked by a visit from Prof Hazel Screen (Head of School) alongside Doug Thomson (Workshop Manager). Their visit celebrated the completion of a major new experimental facility and the launch of our next-generation high-velocity impact capabilities at the School of Engineering and Materials Science.

Following significant construction work, the lab now occupies a 10 m × 6 m dedicated space—a rare and valuable asset in London, where laboratory space is extremely limited. This purpose-built room enables us to house two major impact rigs side by side, significantly expanding our experimental capacity.

On the left-hand side of the laboratory is our bespoke liquid impact rig, uniquely designed and built at Queen Mary. The system is capable of firing a curved-front water jet at velocities between 70 m/s and 300 m/s. It is coupled with a Hopkinson bar, allowing measurement of high-frequency impact signals up to 1 GHz. The facility is further integrated with high-speed imaging, enabling simultaneous capture of droplet formation and stress-wave propagation within solids. These combined capabilities allow us to unravel crucial impact-driven mechanical behaviour, providing fundamental insight to guide the development of improved leading-edge protection materials, particularly for wind energy applications. The rig is also under further development into a split-Hopkinson pressure bar for high-strain-rate material characterisation.

On the right-hand side of the lab sits an industry-certified gas gun for high-velocity solid-to-solid impact testing. The system can achieve impact velocities in excess of 900 m/s, supporting experimental studies on a wide range of high-performance materials. Dual-camera imaging is used in conjunction with digital image correlation (DIC) to quantify material deformation and failure during impact events.

This new facility represents a truly collaborative achievement. We would like to thank the Faculty for their strong support, Hazel for her continuous support of the laboratory development; Ji Yoon (Technical Manager); Ricardo Saroyan-James and his Estates team for delivering the construction work; Doug and the workshop team for fabricating the main setup and supporting structures. Special thanks also go to our team members: Devender Kumar for the design and assembly of the liquid impact rig, Haoming for assistance with test setup, and Wenqi for the design and upgrade of the solid-impact gas gun, alongside many other staff and colleagues who contributed to making this facility a reality.

Dr Wei Tan, the PI of this lab, said: “I am delighted and grateful for the support from the University, Faculty and School in facilitating the allocation and renovation of the space and enabling the establishment of the laboratory. This lab allows us to observe impact physics in ways that were previously very challenging— from water droplet impact to stress waves travelling through advanced materials. By linking fundamental mechanics with high-speed measurement, we aim to design the next generation of protective materials for wind energy and aerospace structures.”

We look forward to leveraging the High Velocity Impact Lab as a platform for wide-ranging collaboration and impactful research across wind energy, aerospace, and related high-performance engineering sectors.

School of Engineering and Materials Science awarded six Marie Curie Research Fellowships

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Following a particularly competitive year for applications – over 17,000 which is 60% more than previous years – Queen Mary’s School of Engineering and Materials Science is celebrating being awarded six prestigious Marie Curie Fellowships for its researchers.

From erosion prevention of blades on offshore wind turbines to AI and data models for drones and ground vehicles; from large scale 2D materials of graphene to biological cell mechanics and gene delivery for cell therapy, the researchers supported cover the vast diversity of specialisms represented in the school.

The successful fellows are:

Dr Ruixin Lu, being supervised by Prof Wen Wang in building next-generation predictive simulation software to optimise microfluidic intracellular gene delivery for cell therapy.
Dr Qian Mao will be supervised by Prof Yi Sui to develop computational models predicting how biological cells flow and deform in medical devices and the cardiovascular system. This will enable simulation-based design and optimisation of cell printers and cell sorters.
Dr Jinhua Lu will develop advanced computational models to uncover how water flows and changes phase in a hydrogel bionic leaf, unleashing its potential for cooling photovoltaic cells. The project will also be supervised by Prof Yi Sui.
Through improving optimisation methos with data and Large Language Models, Dr Qizhang Luo’s work, supervised by Dr Xinwei Wang, aims to improve efficiency and responsiveness in drones and ground vehicles used in emergency reconnaissance missions. The outcomes will also support the deployment of more autonomous and semi-autonomous systems in emergency response.
Dr Yijun Chen’s research looks at preventing the erosion of blades on offshore wind turbines and improving energy, cost and sustainability as part of the net-zero transition.

Dr Yijun Chen’s supervisor, Dr Wei Tan, said “This fellowship allows us to address a critical durability challenge in offshore wind energy. By integrating advanced experimental characterisation with high-fidelity modelling, we aim to generate new insights that will enable more resilient blade designs and reduce lifecycle costs.”

Dr Melike Nur Onder will join Queen Mary from Turkey, to work with Prof Sir Colin Humphreys, who explains:

“governments around the world are spending billions building wind, solar, nuclear and gas power stations to meet the huge energy demands of data centres. Our approach is to tackle the problem at the source: by reducing the power these centres consume in the first place. To do this we will use new materials, called two-dimensional materials, which are atomically thin, to create ultra-low energy consumption electronic devices to replace energy-hungry silicon devices. This will save over 90% of the energy required by the transistors in data centres and computers."

Prestigious Marie Curie Research Fellowships are given to early-stage researchers to support the development of their scientific careers. They especially encourage international collaboration, connecting researchers across Europe to work together on cutting-edge projects.

“Although I am still in the early-to-mid career stage myself, hosting this fellowship reflects the growing importance of taking on leadership roles bringing together people, ideas, and complementary expertise, while supporting emerging researchers in building their own independent pathways” said Dr Xinwei Wang.

This year marks 30 years of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the awarding body of the fellowships. Since 1996, the programme has played a crucial role in advancing research and innovation, supporting over 150,000 researchers, including 23 Nobel Prize winners. This year’s successful applicants represent 80 nationalities working across 45 countries. The Faculty of Science and Engineering at Queen Mary University of London has been awarded nine fellowships in total.

Engineering student and Dr Rehan Shah host fantastic mathematics and engineering trivia quiz night

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Second-year undergraduate student and London Mathematical Society (LMS) Student Representative, Nicole Kirk, with Dr Rehan Shah (LMS Academic Representative) hosted a fun-filled mathematics and engineering networking evening event for Queen Mary undergraduate students from a variety of STEM degree disciplines on campus on Friday 6th February, graciously funded by an LMS Student Representative Activities Grant.

The event, comprising over 40 students, was organised in collaboration with the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) student society and was kickstarted by a round of student networking over pizza, refreshments and snacks.

The first session led by Dr Rehan Shah provided students with an overview of the London Mathematical Society, outlining its role in supporting students and professionals, the benefits of obtaining student membership, and involvement opportunities for students through LMS meetings, events and conference events. Several students were keen to learn more about the LMS and eager to become student members of such a prestigious society. This was followed by a short overview led by Nicole Kirk providing students with a live demonstration of LucidTrack, an entirely student-designed free, online AI-assisted internship tracking companion, to assist with monitoring and systematically organising internship and graduate job career applications made by students.

The final flagship section of the evening comprised an extremely well-curated, stimulating and enjoyable mathematics and engineering themed trivia quiz, in the form of a pub-quiz style gameshow, in which students split into multiple teams to compete against each other for a range of coveted cash voucher prizes, over several rounds of intense written and buzzer-round questions.

The event was an overwhelming success and received extremely positive feedback from all of its student attendees, with multiple students commending the organisation and style of activities, designed around what students find most engaging, while still enabling them to learn and broaden their STEM knowledge.

Dr Rehan Shah was extremely impressed by Nicole Kirk and the entire EWB committee's dedication to working together with him and taking an active role in learning about grant writing, event organisation and logistics management stating that the experience truly showcases how "collaborations at Queen Mary truly embody the mantle of staff-student co-creation" with the "enthusiasm and commitment of student leaders emerging as a highlight in this professional development endeavour."

Robot Café launches at the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ)

k.althoefer@qmul.ac.uk (Kaspar Althoefer) — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Centre of Excellence for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) is delighted to announce the successful launch of the new Robot Café — a relaxed, informal space where students can explore robotics and related topics in a hands-on and engaging way.

Open to all Queen Mary Robotics students as well as members of the Electronics Society, the Robot Café provides an opportunity to deepen technical knowledge, experiment with tools and technologies, and connect with like-minded peers in a welcoming environment.

A Strong Start: OpenCV Session

We kicked off the series last Wednesday 11th Februrary with an interactive session on OpenCV (Open Computer Vision). The event was very well attended, with approximately 30 students joining in person and 35 online participants.

The session introduced students to the fundamentals of computer vision and practical implementation in Python. It began with guidance on installing a Python Integrated Development Environment using PyCharm, ensuring everyone was ready to code.

From there, the focus shifted to real-time image processing. Students learned how to:

Capture and process live camera streams
Convert images to grey scale
Flip and manipulate video streams
Real-time edge detection
Apply masking techniques
Perform face tracking using Google's MediaPipe

Participants were encouraged to run the demonstrated Python programs on their own laptops, creating a highly interactive and practical learning experience. Feedback was extremely positive, with students appreciating the balance between theory and hands-on experimentation.

What’s Next?

The Robot Café will continue every Wednesday from 3pm to 6pm in Room 0.14, IQ East Court, running until the end of the semester. All sessions are delivered in a hybrid format (in-person and online); recordings and materials will be made available afterwards.

This semester’s programme includes:

18 Feb – Embedded Systems & Arduino Programming
25 Feb – CAD and 3D Printing
04 March – Deep Learning
11 March – Robot Kinematics / ROS
18 March – LTspice for Electronic Circuit Simulation / LiDAR & Point Cloud Tutorial (Matlab)
25 March – MuJoCo Simulation
01 April – Optics-Based Force Sensors
08 April – Claude Programming

Each session is led by ARQ staff members and invited contributors, ensuring a diverse range of expertise and perspectives across robotics, AI, embedded systems, simulation, sensing, and design.

The Robot Café reflects ARQ’s commitment to fostering a vibrant robotics community at Queen Mary — one that blends academic excellence with creativity, collaboration, and curiosity.

We look forward to welcoming many more students in the coming weeks!

British Heart Foundation see research their funding made possible

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On Friday 16th January, a group from the British Heart Foundation visited some of our labs at the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models to see the research which their fundraising has made possible.

Prof Thomas Iskratsch welcomed the visitors, hosting a research lab tour and activities in our teaching lab. In the Materials Characterisation Lab, PhD student Xiangyu Wang demonstrated how to spin coat PDMS (silicone polymer Polydimethylsiloxane) with different stiffness and supervised them whilst they had a go themselves.

Lorraine Couteau, also a PhD student in Prof Iskratsch’s group, demonstrated some artery-on-chip models, and showed some cells in the chips on a microscope in the Tissue Culture Room.

Organ-chip Research Technician Miloni Shah showed them all round the world-leading Organ-chip facilities, including a demonstration of the confocal microscope from Post Doctoral Research Assistant Aishwarya Prakash.

In our large teaching lab, the visitors were able to make their own organ-chips and practice pipetting into the channels with the help of PhD students Joshua Daoud and Rachel Smyth. The researchers explained how the make-up of DNA helps them to look at the mechanical properties of arteries, and they used nanopatterning to produce a British Heart Foundation logo in the microscope. Post Doctoral Research Assistant Stefano Sala discussed the group’s research into how mechanical stress on the heart effects cardiomyocytes - specialised cells in the heart.

This research is possible thanks to a £1.2 million grant from the British Heart Foundation.

Prof Iskratsch said “The British Heart Foundation has generously supported my career over the years, from the time I first started my independent research group in 2015. Their funding has enabled my group to pursue exciting and impactful biomedical engineering research to uncover novel mechanisms of cardiovascular disease, especially into the role of mechanical and physical factors from increased heart stiffness in heart disease to hypertensive blood pressure in atherosclerosis. Through their continuing support we are now moving our research closer to translation, and we feel privileged to be able showcase our bioengineering tools and methods from micro- and nanopatterning to organ-on-a-chip devices to the British Heart Foundation and its key supporters.”

Yasmin from the British Heart Foundation said “I thoroughly enjoyed the lab tour and gaining insight into the groundbreaking research taking place in the Iskratsch Lab. It was incredibly inspiring to meet such passionate PhD students who were so generous in sharing their work and enthusiasm for discovery. Seeing just how far cardiovascular research has come - from advanced microscopy techniques to artery-on-a-chip models - was a powerful reminder of the innovation driving the future of heart research and the real impact this work could have for patients".

Research on Structural Origin of Morphotropic Phase Boundary in Advanced Perovskite Ferroelectric Oxides published in JACS

h.x.yan@qmul.ac.uk (Haixue Yan) — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Perovskite ABO3-type PbZr1-xTixO3 (PZT) ferroelectric oxides represent the most important piezoelectric ceramics owing to their high piezoelectric coefficients, thermal stability, and low-cost tunability across diverse applications. Their exceptional electromechanical response is conventionally attributed to the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). However, despite decades of structural and chemical investigation, the structural origin of this enhanced response remain insufficiently understood. Existing models based mainly on average crystallographic structure cannot fully explain its high thermal stability, anomalous polarization rotation, domain-wall mobility, and strong electromechanical coupling that are directly related to the high piezoelectric coefficient in MPB compositions.

In this work, we identify how PZT accommodates a structural unity of opposites. Through combined neutron total scattering, reverse Monte Carlo modelling, electron microscopy, and first-principle calculations:

We reveal a pronounced anti-self-clustering chemical ordering between Zr and Ti, which is driven by the mismatch between ionic Zr–O (“hard”) and more covalent Ti–O (“soft”) bonds. Such chemical ordering generates a coherent soft‒hard compatible BO6 network that lowers local stress and Coulombic energy while enhancing the octahedral flexibility. The perovskite lattice becomes simultaneously robust and flexible, stabilizing the polar structure once formed under poling, and enhancing the polarization-strain coupling associated with octahedral deformation.
We further show that the long-range ordering monoclinic phase in fact contains short-range disordering MA and MB polar states, whose polarization vectors remain coplanar. This multiscale spatial ordering produces nanodomains separated by irregular and highly mobile domain walls. The local disordered structure appears as a cooperative polar diversity embedded within a macroscopically ordered framework. Follow this coherence, the structural rigidity and flexibility are not in competition but in a compatible state, enabling high thermal stability and facile polarization rotation under electric field.

These complementary opposites, rigid and soft bonds, long-range order and local disorder, distinct polar states and coplanar polarization directions, collectively lead to high remnant polarization, enhanced electromechanical coupling, and large permittivity characteristic of MPB compositions. Our work reveals that high piezoelectricity in PZT emerges not from a single structural factor, but from a cooperative duality existed in the chemical bonding and polar structure topology. This duality-based insight provides a new chemical perspective for understanding and designing advanced ferroelectric, piezoelectric and dielectric materials.

A final semester celebration for our third years

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

To mark the final semester of their final year, academics and tutors gathered all the third years of BEng programmes for a celebration event.

The evening brought together students, alumni, industry partners, and staff to reflect on the journey our students have taken—and to help them prepare for their exciting paths ahead.

Head of School, Prof Hazel Screen and Prof James Busfield spoke with pride about the bright futures the graduating students have ahead of them, offering advice and guidance on how to navigate and prepare for success.

At a panel titled ‘Industry Needs and Your Journey After Graduation', alumni and industry representatives shared insights on the skills graduates need today, how employer expectations are evolving, and the growing impact of AI across all sectors.

A huge thank you to our panel, Dr Paddy Cullen from Methanox, Visiting Professor Alok Gupta; Dr Declan Carolan, SEMS Careers Consultant Pash Selopal and students Bianca Patru and Haripran Raguthas - chaired brilliantly by Professor Paul Balcombe.

The second panel focused on final year projects and preparing for their viva, offering practical advice on resilience, dealing with setbacks, and turning project experience into skills for the workplace and postgraduate study. Thank you to our contributors Dr Stefaan Verbruggen, Dr Yousef Zawareh, Dr Karen Shoop, and our alumni panel members, Haripran Raguthas, Yaminur Rahman and Raima Rahman for such valuable guidance.

The event ended with a Q&A and networking – fueled by cake and pizza.

Two British Council TNE Exploratory Grants have been awarded to Queen Mary to establish strategic partnership with Thailand

c.panwisawas@qmul.ac.uk (Chinnapat Panwisawas) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Professor Wen Wang FREng, Vice Principal for Science and Engineering has led Queen Mary delegation including colleagues from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Professor Alex Clark, Professor James Busfield, Dr Rachel Appleton, and Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas, as well as Manyi Cristofoli, Head of International Research and Innovation at JRMO. to visit Thailand between 19th and 23rd January 2026.

Science and Engineering Faculty Strategic funding from Research England via the International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) has been awarded to Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the ISPF ODA project for the second year, to strengthen strategic partnerships with Thailand.

The visit also included a meeting between Queen Mary, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) and the Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI), Professor Dr Supachai Pathumnakul. Discussions focused on proposed TNE initiatives and their long-term potential, with the collaboration receiving strong encouragement from the Permanent Secretary.

In addition, the Queen Mary delegation met the Secretary-General of the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) to discuss collaboration around the Foundation Program for Outstanding Development Opportunity Scholarship (ODOS), a Thai government initiative which provides scholarships to support underprivileged students with high academic potential. Conversations also covered academic support for Royal Thai Government PhD scholarship recipients and other government-funded students who will undertake their studies at Queen Mary.

As part of the January visit to Thailand, the Queen Mary delegations led by Professor Wen Wang has visited KMUTT to work together to advance transnational education (TNE) activities, including through the development of new degree programmes to be delivered jointly by Queen Mary and KMUTT. This marked the significant step forward in our partnership to establish the TNE programmes in Thailand.

KMUTT and Queen Mary has recently been awarded a TNE Exploratory Grant 2025 titled: “The Flying Faculty Model as a Transnational Education for Engineering Study in Thailand”, funded by the British Council in partnership with MHESI.

Moreover, another TNE Exploratory Grant 2025 titled: “Building a Dual-Degree Pathway in Materials Science and Nanoengineering between QMUL and Mahidol University” has awarded to Faculty of Science, Mahidol University and Queen Mary to develop a dual degree programme in Materials Science and Engineering. The Queen Mary delegations have also visited Mahidol University to start the discussion on the plan for the TNE activities later this year.

Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas is the PI from Quen Mary to oversee these two British Council TNE Exploratory Grants.

Dr Rehan Shah delivers scholarship research seminar at the University of Bath

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Rehan Shah was specially invited to deliver a research seminar to disseminate his scholarship research work on 'Embedding ethics and sustainability in mathematics teaching through co-creation' to academic staff comprising lecturers and educators from multiple STEM discipline departments as part of the newly formed 'Cauchy Club' community of practice for mathematics educators across the University of Bath.

Dr Shah's work is dedicated to understanding the need for the consideration of wider societal aspects within mathematics-based problems and to outlining some of the ways in which we can incorporate the teaching of ethics and sustainability within mathematics-focused modules at the undergraduate level. In his talk, he outlined how he implemented the principle of student-staff co-creation to co-design and compile (with students playing a pivotal role) a comprehensive teaching resource toolkit, both for educators and students, comprising varied examples of problems across different mathematical topics with key ethical and sustainability aspects embedded within them for use by academics within their own teaching practice.

His project documented outputs and results obtained from the implementation of these resources over the past 3 years across two of his large, core first and second-year undergraduate applied mathematics modules, featuring 850 QMUL engineering students.

The seminar was extremely well received the attendees, many of whom were keen to reflect on similar concepts encountered within their own teaching, in order to enhance the learning experience of students on their modules. The lead organiser Dr Samantha Hayward from the University of Bath shared a Linkedin post soon after stating "Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your experience, I know I speak for everyone who joined us both in-person and online when I say it was a fantastic session!"

Sumo robot competition - Queen Mary's Electronics Society in action

s.r.jivani@qmul.ac.uk (Saqib Raza Jivani) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Queen Mary Electronics Society (QMES) recently hosted an exciting and highly successful Sumo Robot Competition, showcasing the creativity, technical skill, and enthusiasm of our engineering students.

In this hands-on challenge, students were tasked with designing, building, and programming their own robots, which then faced off against one another in a sumo-style wrestling arena. The goal was simple but demanding: outsmart and outmanoeuvre the opponent to push them out of the ring, a true test of engineering design, control systems, and teamwork.

A total of eight teams took part in the competition, each bringing unique ideas, innovative designs, and impressive problem-solving approaches. After a series of intense and entertaining matches, Team Fish emerged as the overall winners, with Team Sumorai finishing a well-deserved runners-up.

The competition was organised by the QMES Society, led by former Team Principal Muhie, along with the dedicated society members, whose hard work and organisation made the event a great success.

Beyond the excitement of competition day, events like this provide invaluable benefits for students. Participants gained practical engineering experience, strengthened their teamwork and communication skills, and applied theoretical knowledge to real-world challenges. Just as importantly, the event highlighted the passion, dedication, and enthusiasm our students bring to engineering outside the classroom.

The Sumo Robot Competition stands as a fantastic example of how student-led initiatives can enrich the learning experience, foster innovation, and build a strong engineering community. Congratulations to all teams involved, We look forward to seeing even more exciting events from our societies in the future!

Materials Science graduate wins prestigious June Wilson award from IOM3

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Melissa Tiskaya, a graduate of Materials Science and Engineering, who also completed a PhD at Queen Mary, has won the prestigious June Wilson award from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and the London Materials Society.

Founded by Prof Larry Hench in honour of his wife June Wilson, a pioneer in biomedical materials, the award is given yearly to a female student or early-career female scientist who has demonstrated excellence in Materials Science. This is the first time anyone from Queen Mary has won the award.

Dr Tiskaya joined the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary in 2015 to study for a BEng in Dental Materials. She did her 3rd year project with Prof Karin Hing and Prof Robert Hill, the success of which gained her a six month internship at Dentsply Sirona, one of the world's largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. She then went on to do a PhD under Prof Hill's supervision.

The award was given in recognition of Melissa's PhD and post-doctoral work in the field of bioactive glasses in dental composites to promote remineralisation and prevent secondary (recurrent) caries. It also recognised the patented toothpaste formulation to treat hypersensitivity and promote remineralisation.

Prof Hing said “I'm delighted to hear that Melissa has won this highly prestigious award, she was one of our star undergraduate students when studying with us at SEMS, with a passion for dental materials and promoting women in STEM, exactly the sort of person Larry would have had in mind when he established this award in memory of June.”

Dr Deepshikha Selected as 2026 EDSAFE AI Women in AI Fellow

d.deepshikha@qmul.ac.uk (Deepshikha Deepshikha) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The School of Engineering and Materials Science is delighted to congratulate Dr Deepshikha on her selection as a 2026 Women in AI Fellow with EDSAFE AI.

This prestigious fellowship recognises leaders across education, policy, and industry who are actively shaping how artificial intelligence is designed, governed, and used in learning environments. The programme places a strong emphasis on accountability, learner well-being, and ethical AI practices, aligning closely with SEMS' commitment to innovative, responsible, and inclusive digital education.

Through this fellowship, Dr Deepshikha will work alongside a global cohort of experts, engage with leading thinkers in AI and education, and apply the SAFE framework (Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Efficacy) to real-world challenges in higher education. Her participation will further strengthen SEMS leadership in AI-enhanced assessment and feedback, particularly through her ongoing EduMark AI initiative, which seeks to improve the quality, consistency, and transparency of academic feedback using educator-guided AI workflows.

Reflecting on her selection, Dr Deepshikha said:

“I am deeply honoured to join the EDSAFE AI Women in AI Fellowship. I am excited to collaborate with an international community of educators and innovators, and to bring insights from the SAFE framework back into my teaching, scholarship, and the continued development of EduMark AI for the benefit of our students and staff.”

SEMS warmly congratulates Dr Deepshikha on this significant achievement and looks forward to the impact of her continued work at the intersection of AI, assessment, and STEM education.

Not the first person to reach the summit of Taipei 101

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 25th January, American rock climber Alex Honnold successfully scaled the Taipei 101 skyscraper untethered. But did you know that one of Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science has also reached the same height of the formerly tallest building on earth?

It was a truly courageous feat - reaching the top of the Taiwanese landmark in just 90 minutes, ascending the full 509.2-metre height.

The construction of Taipei 101 is a remarkable engineering achievement in itself:

Built using advanced steels designed to withstand frequent earthquakes, the structure is stabilized by a massive 660-tonne steel ball suspended from the 92nd to the 87th floors. This sphere acts as a tuned mass damper, swaying to counteract the movement of the building caused by strong winds or tremors.

Professor Harry Bhadeshia actually reached the same dizzying height during the construction stage of the tower back in 2004, when it was the tallest building on Earth. But - and keep this bit secret - unlike Honnold, he opted for the super-fast lift to get there.

Prof Bhadeshia was invited to visit the building during its construction, by Professor Jer Ren Yang. Prof Yang was Prof Bhadeshia's former PhD student who now works at National Taiwan University. He was joined by Professor Chin Huwai Young, who was a visiting scientist in Prof Bhadeshia's research group, and whose former Ph.D. students were involved in the construction of the building.

BBC discusses the future of supersonic aviation with Dr Kshitij Sabnis

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Kshitij Sabnis appeared on BBC Radio 4's Inside Science programme on Thursday 22nd January discussing the future of supersonic aviation, on the 50th anniversary of Concorde's first commercial flight.

Science journalist Tom Whipple and the rest of the team from the BBC came to Queen Mary University's School of Engineering and Materials Science for a tour of the Whitehead Aeronautical Laboratory, and to chat with Dr Sabnis about the legacy of Concorde and if supersonic flight could be return to the future of aviation.

Dr Sabnis demonstrated some of our wind tunnels which allow researchers to study the flow of air around physical objects at up to three times the speed of sound.

He told the team that some of their research is looking at minimising drag in order to use less fuel for more sustainable and cost effective flight, but that ultimately - because a supersonic aircraft burns about ten times more fuel per air mile - supersonic flight’s return to commercial travel is likely to feature high ticket prices for the foreseeable future.

"Unless there's a way of minimising the cost of fuel for propelling that aircraft, the fact that we've got shock waves means it's going to be fairly expensive to fly supersonically" he said.

Listen back from 7 minutes and 54 seconds in.

Dr Rehan Shah awarded Global Hubs Research Seed Grant

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Rehan Shah, in collaboration with Dr Alexandra Werth (Cornell University), has been awarded one of the prestigious Cornell Global Research Seed Grant Awards for 2026 administered by Cornell University in partnership with its Global Hubs partner universities, including Queen Mary, for an educational scholarship research project.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on engineering. To stay at the forefront of these changes, higher education institutions are increasingly embedding AI-oriented instruction into engineering programs to ensure curricula remain relevant. As AI reshapes the engineering landscape, an important question emerges: are engineering students adequately equipped with the mathematical foundations and competencies necessary to effectively develop, fine-tune, deploy, and evaluate AI models?

Motivated by this, their proposed funded project titled "Towards an AI-Motivated Mathematical Skills Inventory for Future Engineers" aims to develops a framework for a skills-based mathematical assessment instrument that bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical AI-oriented, engineering applications. To achieve this goal, Dr Shah and Dr Werth will establish a synergistic, firm and lasting collaboration between their research groups at Queen Mary and Cornell respectively to accelerate and translate mathematics and engineering education research.

The collaboration will feature mutual visits (with Dr Shah visiting Cornell and Dr Werth visiting Queen Mary), joint data collection, and analysis and will also involve student researchers from both institutions. The project will culminate in peer-reviewed journal publications, applications for external grant funding, and a proof-of-concept framework for a cross-national mathematical skills inventory for engineers.

Their project builds on their initial scoping work conducted over the past year, which featured two international conference proceedings papers (co-authored with Queen Mary student Mr Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy), presented and published at the IEEE EDUCON conference in April 2025 and at the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition in June 2025, in addition to a UK-wide one-day in-person workshop titled 'Designing proficiency-oriented assessment inventories in undergraduate mathematics', featuring 25 academic and educator participants from a diverse range of UK universities, as part of an Interdisciplinary Collaboration grant funded by the London Mathematical Society (LMS) that was hosted and led by Dr Shah in May 2025 at Queen Mary.

In addition to establishing capacity for future collaborations through the exchange of ideas between colleagues at both Cornell and Queen Mary focusing on discipline-based STEM education research, this project has the potential to improve for teaching, learning, and assessment from a cultural, institutional, and disciplinary perspective by developing a novel framework to measure engineering students’ competencies of these critical mathematical flexibility and logical reasoning skills using an international dataset to transform education and career pathways to help broaden participation in science and engineering.

Dr Rehan Shah and team awarded RAISE Network Research Grant

rehan.shah@qmul.ac.uk (Rehan Shah) — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dr Rehan Shah, leading a cross-institutional team of multi-disciplinary colleagues comprising Prof Anne Preston (Professor of Interdisciplinary Education, UCL) along with two student researchers from Queen Mary and UCL, has been awarded one of three prestigious research grants administered by the RAISE (Researching, Advancing and Inspiring Student Engagement) Network.

The proposed project titled "SEED-AI: Social Enterprise Education Design with AI – A Student–Community Partnership Project" will support the co-design of a new, shared social entrepreneurship module in which students will work with E17 Films, a local East London community organisation to develop socially driven entrepreneurial ideas using ethical and creative applications of Generative AI. The funding supports the development stage featuring a partnership team made up of two paid student co-researchers, a community partner, and two academic staff members who will collaboratively design the module structure, assessment, and GenAI learning activities. The project builds on existing student–community engagement work at QMUL 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 project aims to model a more democratic and socially responsible approach to educational design.

Through a series of co-design workshops with the students and community partner, the project will deliver a publishable module blueprint of the module and a short, open-access resource on student–community co-design shared via the RAISE website. Dissemination avenues will also include the annual RAISE conference in Sept 2026 and a practice-based paper publication in RAISE's flagship journal.

Having received 33 applications from a broad range of applicants, the panel noted that the fund was very competitive this year with a success rate of 12% with funding provided to projects that had a clear research element, addressed timely topics and collectively had the potential for impact across the RAISE community with a clear collaborative, participatory and/ or co-creation element with students.

The panel particularly commented on the "strong research proposal with clear value covering social impact through student and community engagement. It clearly involves students as co-partners with inclusion as co-applicants being a notable strength. The project offers multiple accessible outputs suitable for open access and with potential use beyond the institution."

This project directly aligns with RAISE’s mission to embed meaningful student partnership in research, practice, and curriculum change and will provide a transferable model that other institutions can adopt to support student partnership, ethical GenAI use, and community-engaged curriculum development. It will therefore contributes not only to institutional enhancement, but also to the wider scholarly conversation about the role of students as co-designers and co-researchers in higher education.

Prof Kaspar Althoefer appointed Fellow of IEEE

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Professor Kaspar Althoefer, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ), has been appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

This is the highest grade of membership to the organisation and acknowledges Prof Althoefer’s ourstanding accomplishments in Electronic Engineering. The IEEE specifically recognise Prof Althoefer’s "contributions to soft robotics and tactile perception with applications in complex environments."

Less than 0.1% of the IEEE’s membership of half-a-million is awarded this honour every year.

IEEE is the world's leading professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. With over 500,000 members in more than 190 countries, IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas in electrical and computer sciences, engineering and related disciplines.

Prof Althoefer said, “I still can’t quite believe it, and I am incredibly honoured. My sincere thanks to everyone who supported my nomination. Particular thanks also to the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) for their positive assessment of my nomination.”

Wenqi Wang Successfully Passes PhD Viva under the Supervision of Dr Wei Tan

wei.tan@qmul.ac.uk (Wei Tan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We are pleased to announce that Wenqi Wang has successfully passed his PhD viva with minor corrections, marking the completion of an excellent doctoral thesis entitled “The Effect of Loading and Environmental Conditions on the Mechanical Behaviours of Composite Materials”.

The viva examination was conducted by Dr Yueting Sun (University of Birmingham) as the external examiner and Dr Haibao Liu (Queen Mary University of London) as the internal examiner. Both are recognised experts in impact engineering, and their insightful feedback and constructive discussions are gratefully acknowledged.

Under the supervision of Dr Wei Tan, Wenqi’s research makes a strong and original contribution to the mechanics of carbon-based composites, particularly for offshore and harsh-environment engineering applications. His work goes beyond conventional ambient-condition testing by developing an integrated experimental–numerical framework that combines temperature-controlled impact experiments, full-field deformation characterisation, and high-fidelity numerical simulations to directly resolve impact-induced damage evolution and energy dissipation mechanisms.

A key strength of the thesis is its clear sustainability focus. By establishing mechanistic links between environmental exposure (including temperature and moisture), impact behaviour, and residual mechanical performance, the research enables improved lifetime prediction of composite structures. This supports reduced over-design and material waste, contributing to more durable and sustainable composite solutions for offshore, energy, and related engineering sectors.

The work also introduces water absorption rate as a physically motivated bridging parameter linking complex environmental conditions to multi-property degradation and impact performance, providing a unified and predictive framework that advances beyond the current state of the art.

We would also like to acknowledge the valuable input and support from Professor Vassili Toropov, as well as the wider research group, whose discussions and collaboration contributed significantly to the successful completion of this work.

Warm congratulations to Dr Wenqi Wang on this excellent achievement, and best wishes for the next stage of his career.