Centre for Research in Engineering and Materials Education
Research Funding and Projects
The following are current funded research projects taking place within the research centre:
Inclusive Commonwealth Learning for Interdisciplinary Development and Education for Sustainability (INCLIDES)
Principal Investigator: Rehan SHAH
Co-investigator(s): Anne Preston, Praveen Kumar and Neha Christie
Funding source: Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)
Start: 04-11-2024 / End: 31-10-2025
Amount: £2,500
This cross-institutional project featuring three ACU member universities aims to use inclusive pedagogy to enhance HE educators' understanding of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in interdisciplinary learning curricula. The project will develop a joint toolkit on practice-based research to evaluate the role and quality of SDGs in postgraduate education. The interdisciplinary approach will feature collaborations with academic staff across the fields of Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in both countries. ESD is a priority in curriculum development in both India and the UK, with both countries having shared interests in innovating and integrating within interdisciplinary teaching, despite differences in how it is mandated. A common gap exists in understanding the role of SHAPE subjects and how they contribute to ESD, particularly in areas like ecology and climate change. While STEM subjects have curricula addressing climate action and sustainable cities, students often struggle with topics like gender equality and reduced inequalities. This project will employ inclusive pedagogical methodologies to design culturally responsive approaches, identifying and nurturing educators' cultural strengths to promote student learning through curriculum innovation. This co-creational effort (also featuring student researchers) aims to empower both educators and students to find personal connections to traditionally thought to be inaccessible areas within their disciplines.
Nonlinear mechanics of rods subject to surface constraints
Principal Investigator: Rehan SHAH
Co-investigator(s): Prof. Gert van der Heijden (UCL)
Funding source: Quaterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Fund (QJMAM)
Start: 16-10-2024 / End: 16-10-2025
Amount: £1,700
Slender, elastic rod-like structures on or inside constrained rigid surfaces are prevalent in a wide range of engineering (drill strings in borewells, pipelines under the seabed, ocean cables), medical (stents in angioplasty of arteries), biological (DNA toroidal condensates, bacterial flagella), electronic (carbon nanotubes) and robotic (soft robots for in-pipe inspection) applications. This project seeks to employ a comprehensive variational theory of elastic two-strand braids to investigate the post-buckling behaviour of elastic rods lying on rigid tubular surfaces. Methods comprising the calculus of variations and Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics are utilised to procure more general types of solutions to various nonlinear boundary value problems, using both analytical and numerical approaches. Journal Paper Publications: Shah R and van der Heijden GHM (2024). Buckling and lift-off of a heavy rod compressed into a cylinder. Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Elsevier vol. 182, 105464-105464. Shah R and van der Heijden GHM (2023). Static friction models for a rod deforming on a cylinder. Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Elsevier vol. 173, 105224-105224.
EduMark AI: AI-Driven Grading and Personalised Student Feedback to Save Educator Time
Principal Investigator: Deepshikha DEEPSHIKHA
Co-investigator(s): Li WANG, Xinru DENG, Giuseppe VIOLA and Mouna CHETEHOUNA
Funding source: QMUL President and Principal's Fund for Educational Excellence
Start: 01-08-2024 / End: 31-08-2025
This project addresses the pressing need for efficiency and consistency in grading and feedback processes at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), aligning with QMUL's Strategy 2030 for digital transformation and educational excellence. EduMark AI seeks to integrate artificial intelligence to streamline grading tasks and enhance the quality of feedback for students, aiming to reduce assessment time by 50%. Through collaboration with key QMUL stakeholders, the project will evaluate three AI systems (e.g., ChatGPT, Google AI Gemini, and Graide) on their effectiveness in grading and feedback quality. The project will assess AI's impact on educator workload and student satisfaction by conducting a controlled comparison with traditional grading methods. This initiative contributes to the broader QMUL goal of adaptive, personalised education. It aims to establish best practices for scalable AI integration across disciplines, benefiting faculty, students, and QMUL's academic community.
SustainAbility in the QMUL curriculum
Principal Investigator: Ishani Chandrasekara
Co-investigator(s): Rehan SHAH, Sayed Elhoushy, Nurul Ahmed, Sally Faulkner , Patrick Healey, Anna Moore , Jonathan Otter, Jovani Palnoni , Zoe Sturgess , Stephanie Fuller and Chris Sutton
Funding source: QMUL President and Principal's Fund for Educational Excellence
Start: 01-08-2024 / End: 31-08-2025
Amount: £20,000
This project addresses sustainability, the most urgent global issue facing the world today, which is also a key strategic priority for Queen Mary’s 2030 Strategy. Its primary aim is to enhance the Queen Mary curriculum through establishing a platform for discussions and collaborative learning on sustainability. This space will enable Queen Mary staff, students, and the East London community to participate in and benefit from a non-credit sustainability course. The focus is on developing an innovative pedagogical approach to share existing knowledge and skills within the university in order to develop sustainability awareness, knowledge, and skills. The course, open to all staff and students, will be co-created with students and aligned with the development of Queen Mary Graduate Attributes and employability skills. Elements of the course would also be open to the local community.
Podcasting your TNE Journey
Principal Investigator: Faith NIGHTINGALE
Co-investigator(s): Eleonora PITTA
Funding source: International Centre for Teaching and Learning
Start: 01-09-2024 / End: 01-07-2025
Amount: £2,000
Creating podcasts to create a student community across the TNE programmes, QMUL and disciplines so students can share their experiences and subject knowledge. The project aims to develop the spoken communication skills and professional skills of the students.
Distributed wind energy for urban and rural requirements, integration and energy conversion
Distributed wind energy for urban and rural requirements, integration and energy conversion
Principal Investigator: Eldad AVITAL
Co-investigator(s): Ranjan VEPA, Neil CAGNEY and Mouna CHETEHOUNA
Funding source: British Council India (UKIERI) / SPARC-India
Start: 27-03-2024 / End: 31-03-2025
Amount: £95,160
A UK-India consortium led by QMUL, VIT Chennai, supported by IIT Madras and SME Deutsche WindGuard-India seeks to improve the design, integration and energy conversion and storage of small wind turbines through a tightly-integrated programme of education and research, following a combined investment of £95k by UKIERI and SPARC India.
Empowering students by making STEM curricula more inclusive
Principal Investigator: Rehan SHAH
Co-investigator(s): Dr. Brigitte Stenhouse (OU), Ava Dahlia Belfatone (SEMS undergraduate) and Allegra Celesia (SEMS undergraduate)
Funding source: Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)
Start: 11-04-2024 / End: 31-12-2024
Amount: £600
STEM disciplines have traditionally been taught as an exercise in memorisation and repetitive application of formulae, with the historical aspects often confined to the contributions made by white male European mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. As a result of this, very few students can relate to these mathematical figures, which consequently contributes to the stigma that studying STEM subjects is esoteric, inaccessible, and extremely difficult for them. To rectify this, there is a strong need for increasing students’ awareness of diverse representation within STEM disciplines; not just through exposure to mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from diverse and under-represented backgrounds (including those identifying as female, disabled, and queer), but also those applying their skills within academia and industry through non-traditional pathways. This project aims to co-design (with students) teaching toolkit materials featuring short biographies of past and present mathematicians, scientists and engineers from under-represented minority groups to embed within undergraduate STEM courses. It also seeks to provide opportunities for students to gain exposure to diverse STEM role models by inviting currently active, diverse STEM professionals, compile links to multimedia resources to highlight their contributions and produce a diversity and inclusion agenda to inform future EDI initiatives in STEM curriculum design.