Division of Materials Engineering

Research Highlights

SEMS Academics Perform Exceptionally in REF 2021 The scores have been announced for REF2021. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a 7 year cycle used to measure research and determine funding in UK universities. The result for SEMS is excellent as not only have we come seventh overall in Engineering amongst all 89 universities who were being assessed in … [more]

Dame Ann Dowling is awarded an honorary doctorate During the Graduation Ceremonies at Tobacco Dock Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FRS FREng was awarded a DSc(Hon Caus). Dame Ann is one of the most distinguished engineers in the UK. She was first female Professor in Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 1993 and is now … [more]

Scientists create stable materials for more efficient solar cells Crystalline silicon is the most widely used material for solar cells. However, over the last decade, perovskite solar cells, made from metal halide perovskite materials, have shown promise to make cheaper, and potentially more efficient solar cells than silicon. But whilst perovskite solar cells can now compete in terms of … [more]

Materials Celebrates 50 Years of Graduations 50 years of Materials graduates from the Mile End Campus in London and the first cohort from Queen Mary Engineering School (QMES) at our campus at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi’an China were celebrated on Friday 5th November. 120 people gathered in the Octagon with another 45 people on-line to … [more]

New insights into the design of RNA delivery vectors What happens to gene delivery vectors when they enter the cell cytoplasm? This question had remained understudied, in particular in the case of polycationic vectors. Yet it may have a significant impact on the timing and localisation of the release of RNA or DNA molecules to be delivered. The team … [more]

Dr Joe Briscoe contributes to COP26 special edition of Queen Mary's Energy and Climate Change Law Institute Review The Energy & Climate Change Law Institute at Queen Mary University of London are delighted to publish its law review focused on COP 26. With a foreword by Lord Carnwath CVO and introduction by guest editor Professor Stephen Tromans QC, the review takes a fresh look at what … [more]

Queen Mary researchers win EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call Development Phase Grant Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London, clinicians from Royal London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital together with the industrial partners are awarded the Development Phase Grant of EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call, a high risk and high return initiative.  The Team, … [more]

Congratulations to Haixue Yan FIMMM Today Haixue Yan from the Materials Division became a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMM). This honour is based on both his work in QMUL but also his time in industry in China before he became a PhD student. He joins six other members of … [more]

New high-performance and durable textile-based wearable energy harvesters reported New research published by Qinrong He from Dr Joe Briscoe's group, in collaboration with Dr Han Zhang, demonstrates piezoelectric energy harvesters produced on e-textiles that can harvest energy from body movement to power portable electronic devices and sensors. The research, published in the journal Nano Energy, makes use of … [more]

Queen Mary Researchers demonstrated continuous transmission of high-density spatial information through an evolving single multimode fibre using deep learning Continuous transmission of high-spatial-density information accurately through a standard multimode optical fibre was previously deemed impossible, due to the high variability presented in multimode fibre information channels over time. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London demonstrated a deep-learning enabled high-spatial-density information transmission scheme for standard multimode optical fibres, where … [more]

Dr Joe Briscoe Receives Prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant Dr Joe Briscoe, a Senior Lecturer in Functional Materials in SEMS, QMUL, has been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the 'excellent science' pillar of the EU's current Research and Innovation programme, Horizon 2020. Dr Briscoe is one of only 327 individuals across Europe to … [more]

UK Materials Science Community delivers its strategic response to net-zero emissions challenge In May 2019 the UK Government became the first global economy to set a net zero emissions target for 2050, upgrading the previous target of delivering an 80% cut in emissions. The move followed the publication of the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) ‘Net Zero’ report. In response, the Henry Royce Institute … [more]

Queen Mary researchers develop non-distructive single-crystal perovskite surface nanopatterning technologies Single-crystalline perovskites are widely regarded as the future semiconductor materials and will be the next big wave in optoelectronics. To manufacture high-quality single-crystal perovskite optoelectronics, non-destructive surface nanopatterning technologies are required. Conventional photolithography-based nanopatterning methods cannot be used due to perovskite’s sensitivity to high temperature and solvents. Researchers at … [more]

Gleb Sukhorukov's H-index reaches 100 One measure of the impact of an academic's research is to count the number of citations. Citations refect who thinks our work is of interest and worth referencing. One common measure of this is to use the h-index which is defined as the maximum value of h such that the … [more]

Scientists at Queen Mary developed extremely energy-efficient manufacturing for future composites, reported by the Materials World magazine in its latest issue Research led by Dr Han Zhang at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, has devised a sustainable manufacturing method for future composites towards the clean growth of the composite sector. An extremely energy-efficient and intrinsically safe curing process has been developed based on nanostructured … [more]

Queen Mary and Paragraf awarded £500,000 to explore using Graphene to replace rare metal Indium Queen Mary University of London and the graphene-device company Paragraf have been awarded £500,000 by Innovate UK to explore using graphene to replace the rare metal Indium. The Queen Mary research will be led by Sir Colin Humphreys from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, with co-investigators Dr Oliver Fenwick … [more]

Materials science research project wins national Engineering Excellence Award A Queen Mary research project has won a national Engineering Excellence Award at Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Best of the Best awards. The award was presented at The Royal Society of Chemistry in London to LMK Thermosafe, which entered into a KTP with Queen Mary and KTP … [more]

Synthetic bone graft research gets stamp of approval The pioneering work of a Queen Mary researcher has been celebrated with a stamp as part of a new series launched by Royal Mail. The six stamp set, launched today, marks innovations in British engineering from the last 50 years including the development of a synthetic bone graft by Dr Karin … [more]

New video report on soft robotics for keyhole surgery Breaking news on the EU robotics project STIFF-FLOP Research on soft robotics for keyhole surgery by Professor Althoefer, head of Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) is highlighted in the new TechRepublic video on '5 things to know about soft robotics': 1. It doesn't mean pillows. 2. Search and rescue. 3. Medicine. (STIFF-FLOP features … [more]

Queen Mary awarded funding to build instrument which will revolutionise monitoring of cellular processes Queen Mary University of London has been awarded funding to lead a joint project to build an instrument which will revolutionise the monitoring of cellular processes in tissues that line organs. The grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has a total value of £823,329 over three years, … [more]

Dr Andy Bushby wins Innovation of the Year Award Dr Andy Bushby, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, was presented with the 2018 Innovation of the Year Award for his project 'Weight-saving metal components achieved by length-scale engineering' at the QMUL Engagement and Enterprise Awards. He has developed a simple manufacturing process for complex 3D shaped metal engineering … [more]

Queen Mary researcher helps develop rollercoaster which charges your phone A researcher from Queen Mary University of London has used his expertise in energy harvesting applications to help develop a rollercoaster which charges your phone. Dr Joe Briscoe, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, was approached by Thorpe Park Resort to work on their latest ride ‘The Walking … [more]