Centre for Intelligent Transport

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SEMS students win QMUL SEED award for creating interactive online textbooks 10 January 2025 Queen Mary School of Engineering and Materials Science aerospace engineering students Joost Hubbard (MEng), Emmanuel Ehimeme Airiofolo and Noah Leigh (third-year BEng) have been successful in securing the Student Enhanced Engagement and Development (SEED) Award from the Queen Mary Academy for their significant contributions as student research assistants on co-creational … [more]

A Wonderful SEMS Winter Graduation Ceremony Wraps up 2024 18 December 2024 The SEMS winter graduation ceremony took place in the Great Hall on the Mile End campus on 18 December 2024. The venue was filled with a cast of hundreds of SEMS graduates and their families and friends. The largest cohort was made up our MSc students from 2023-24 cohort, but there many … [more]

SEMS Annual Staff Awards Announced 11 December 2024 At the end of the staff meeting on the 11th December 2024 and just before the SEMS annual Christmas Staff Party, we hosted our annual SEMS Staff Prize Celebration. We had a record number of nominations this year with the awards being spread across the entire SEMS community. The Valuing People … [more]

Han Zhang, Yushen Wang, and co-authors win IOM3 Composite Award 9 December 2024 The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) celebrated its 2024 Awards Day on Thursday 5 December at its London office. IOM3 recognises excellence through a range of awards, medals, and prizes, honouring achievements, published work, and contributions to the Institute and profession. Awards span various categories, recognising individuals at all career … [more]

Queen Mary hosts Machine Learning for Combustion Meeting 6 December 2024 The Machine Learning (ML) for Combustion Meeting was held successfully on 5 December 2024 at Queen Mary University of London. The event saw an excellent line-up of 13 invited speakers, 11 poster presentations and 70 attendees. The meeting organised under the auspices of Combustion Institute British Section (CIBS) brought together academic researchers and industry professionals … [more]

Ameer Zaki wins Best UK Materials Graduate Award from the IOM3 5 December 2024 At the IOM3 Awards Ceremony on the 5th December 2024, Ameer Zaki, a recent Materials Graduate, was awarded the IOM3 Award For Excellence which is awarded to the best BEng graduate in the UK. He also was awarded the IOM3 Royal Charter Prize, which is awarded to the best of all … [more]

James Busfield wins the T B Marsden Professional Medal 5 December 2024 At the IOM3 Awards Ceremony on the 5th December 2024, Prof James Busfield was awarded the T B Marsden Professional Medal for his substantial and long term services to the Institute, profession and organisation in the UK. The award was in recognition that James has been actively involved with the IOM3 … [more]

Dr Han Zhang elected as IOM3 Fellow 5 December 2024 We are delighted to announce that Dr Han Zhang, Reader in Polymers and Composites at Queen Mary University of London, has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM). This prestigious recognition highlights Dr Zhang's contributions to the field of materials science, particularly … [more]

Undergraduate team wins first prize at AIAA Student Conference in Melbourne 27 November 2024 A team of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering third and fourth-year students has won first prize in the team presentation category at the prestigious American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Student Conference, held in Melbourne, Australia, on 25th and 26th November, competing against 13 other international entries. The team investigated the … [more]

Showcase of SEMS Research at our Industrial Liaison Forum 18 November 2024 We were excited to showcase SEMS research at the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum was held on 5th November. Our 2nd and 3rd year PhD students presented posters highlighting their research and the postdoctoral researchers gave flash presentations. The Research Showcase was attended by representatives from industry as well as academics … [more]

James Busfield is a Guest on BBC Radio 4 Show - The Infinite Monkey Cage 15 November 2024 James Busfield has made an appearance on the BBC Radio 4 show The Infinite Monkey Cage. In the episode, titled Fantastic Elastic, James joins an incredible panel, including gold medal winning Olympian Bryony Page, comedian Jessica Fostekew, and materials expert Anna Ploszajski, alongside hosts Brian Cox and Robin Ince, to delve … [more]

Zotefoams Host Site Visits in SEMS SKEMP Week 7 November 2024 Zotefoams, a FTSE listed manufacturer of polymer foams based in Croydon, hosted two delegations of students from SEMS during SKEMP week. The technical support manager, Dr Leena-Marie Wilson explained the process to make closed cell foamed polymer materials for a diverse range of applications including: lightweighting in transportation, impact protection, … [more]

Yutong Sun from the Soft Matter Group wins Best Research Poster Prize at the ILF 5 November 2024 Yutong Sun was delighted to win the best Intelligent Transport Centre poster prize at the Industrial Liaison Forum (ILF) this year. Her poster was on her development of a “Smart waistband with stretchable piezo-resistive sensors for monitoring activity and postures.” Her supervisor Prof James Busfield was delighted that … [more]

SEMS Industrial Advisory Board meets 5 November 2024 The SEMS Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) met on Tuesday 5th November to discuss our taught programmes and delivery of skills training. It was attended by 14 members of our IAB along with SEMS staff and members of our Student Voice Committee. Topics for discussion included skills development on our Design Innovation &… [more]

PhD buddy scheme launched 28 October 2024 During the SEMS PhD induction session on Wednesday 23rd October 2024, Professor Himadri Gupta, Director of Graduate Studies and Deputy Director of Graduate Studies, Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas along with the postgraduate research (PGR) team have welcomed all 60 new PhD students starting at the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) for … [more]

Student research paper accepted to AIAA Student Conference 27 October 2024 A group of undergraduate students, including fourth year (MEng) aerospace and mechanical engineering students Milcha Masresha , Andrews Agyei , Raima Rahman, Omar Abdi, Aamna Abbasi and Imad Foughali, and third year aerospace student Hardit Saini, have successfully had their research paper on wind turbines accepted to the American Institute of Aeronautics … [more]

Driving risk assessment in autonomous vehicles: Queen Mary academic leads a new working group 21 October 2024 In a crucial step towards establishing a comprehensive framework for driving risk assessment, aiming to improve safety in autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, the Kick-Off Meeting for the IEEE P3439™ Standard Development: 'Guide for Driving Risk Assessment Procedure in SAE Level 1 to 3' has been successfully organised. Dr Xinwei Wang from … [more]

Dr Rehan Shah awarded grant to present applied mathematics research at international conference 18 October 2024 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 major international European Solid Mechanics Conference (ESMC) being held in July 2025 in Lyon, … [more]

Materials Science Professor leads Gen Z tour of campus for Queen Mary TikTok 15 October 2024 During an Open Day for prospective Undergraduate students on Saturday 5 October, the Queen Mary Social Media Team took the opportunity to scout out an academic to appear in our latest video. The video is contributing to the social media meme of staff members giving tours with scripts written by Gen … [more]

Queen Mary's Centre for Intelligent Transport joins the UK Vertical Lift Network 14 October 2024 The application of several academics led by Prof Sergey Karabasov to join the UK Vertical Lift Network (VLN) has been successful. The Centre for Intelligent Transport has now joined leading research active universities, national aerospace institutions and industrial research bodies in the UK, who strive to achieve comprehensive responses to, … [more]

Inspiring young future materials scientists at New Scientist Live 14 October 2024 Materials scientists and engineers from Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) engaged students at Schools' Day at the New Scientist Live Event at London's ExCeL Centre. Schools' Day welcomes over 6,000 students with thought-provoking talks, ground-breaking discoveries, interactive experiences and hands-on activities. Representing Discover Materials, the … [more]

James Busfield gives the Plenary Keynote Lecture at IRC 2024 11 October 2024 James Busfield was invited to present the keynote plenary lecture on “Transitions in the Abrasion Behaviour of Tyre Compounds” based upon the work of three different industry funded projects (SRI, AMF1 and Birla Carbon) at the International Rubber Conference 2024 in Turkey. His Soft Matter Group also made several … [more]

Afni Restasari wins best Presenter Award at IC-3PE in Indonesia 14 August 2024 Afni Restasari has won the best Presenter Award at IC-3PE in Indonesia. Afni is a PhD student from Indonesia supervised by Wei Tan and James Busfield. Her the top prize was awarded for a talk on a new bio-inspired self-healing polyurethane-urea that she has been working on in SEMS. … [more]

Congratulations to Dr Chen Liu for passing his PhD viva 7 August 2024 Chen's PhD thesis, titled 'Wearable Orthoses with Semi-Active and Active Absorbers for Hand Tremor Suppression', demonstrates groundbreaking work addressing the limitations of existing hand tremor treatments, by developing novel flexible wearable orthoses integrating both semi-active and active schemes. Key innovations in his research include: A semi-active absorber using self-sensing … [more]

Dr Wei Tan recieves the ESCM Young Researcher Award 5 July 2024 Dr Wei Tan has been honoured with the prestigious ESCM Young Researcher Award at the 21st European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM21). This award recognises the significant contributions of young researchers (under 35 years old) in the field of composite materials. The award ceremony took place during ECCM21, held from 2nd … [more]

Advances in eddy-resolving computational approaches for flow and noise modelling 1 July 2024 Prof Sergey Karabasov is to give a keynote talk at the GPPS Chania24 Technical Conference for Propulsion and Power Industry in Crete. Taking place between 4th and 6th September , the Chania24 Technical Conference is poised to provide a unique platform for professionals in both industry and academia to reconnect with … [more]

Hyperlink wins at Hyperloop Global Competition 30 June 2024 Hyperlink, Queen Mary University of London's Hyperloop team, was recognised with the 'Braking System Award' at the 2024 Hyperloop Global Competition. Hyperlink competed in the annual event, hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University, alongside a range of local and international teams. They were the only UK team present at this year'… [more]

Soft Matter Group perform brilliantly at the European Rubber PhD Symposium 21 June 2024 The Soft Matter Group (SMG) at QMUL participated in the 12th European PhD symposium in rubber research. This year's event was brilliantly organised by Radek Stoček at the Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic. James Busfield said “This is a great annual meeting where … [more]

Soft Matter Group Team Runners Up for the 2024 EuroEAP Challenge Competition 13 June 2024 Congratulations to Giacomo Sasso for being the runner up this year at the EuroEAP Society challenge at the Twelfth international Conference on Soft Transducers and Electromechanically Active Polymers (EuroEAP) in Stuttgart, Germany from the 11-13 June 2024 The winning project was supervised by Prof James Busfield and Prof Federico Carpi. James … [more]

Queen Mary researchers present work at world-leading aerospace forum in Rome 11 June 2024 The SEMS computational aeroacoustics team presented their work at the 30th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference (Aeroacoustics 2024), which is the premier international forum for the field of aeroacoustics. Well done to Dr Hussain Abid, Dr Vasily Gryazev, and Amal Murali, whose work on high-resolution unsteady aerodynamics and aeroacoustics modelling and data-driven … [more]

SEMS Exhibits at the Advanced Materials Fair in Birmingham 16 May 2024 SEMS technology was exhibited at the Advanced Materials Show at the NEC in Birmingham. This trade fair, which takes place alongside the Advanced Ceramics Show, the Vehicle Electrification Expo and the Battery Cells & Systems Expo featured over 300 exhibitors along with 100 speakers, and attracted more than 4000 visitors. Our exhibit displayed … [more]

Dr Wei Tan gives talk at International Symposium on Current Challenges of Wind Energy Development 15 May 2024 The International Symposium on Current Challenges of Wind Energy Development: Materials Science and Structural Aspects, organised by Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Dr Alexandros Antoniou from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), took place last week, 13th-15th May in Athens. Over the … [more]

SEMS holds 7th Russell Binions PhD Symposium 25 April 2024 The 7th annual Russell Binions Memorial PhD Symposium took place on Thursday 25th April at the School of Engineering and Materials Science. Each year, The Symposium provides an opportunity for our PhD students and Postdoctoral Research Assistants to formally present their work to their peers and academics in the School. … [more]

Queen Mary's Discover Materials Ambassadors attend the Big Bang Fair 23 April 2024 On 23rd April, Leyton Sixth Form College in east London hosted a Big Bang Fair event, in which around 800 students from secondary schools across the capital came to learn about the variety of study pathways and future careers in STEM fields, engaging in interactive workshops and demonstrations from organisations across … [more]

Dr Rehan Shah invited to deliver research seminar at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford 9 April 2024 Dr Rehan Shah has been specially invited to deliver a research seminar to academic colleagues from the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (OCIAM) at his alma mater, the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford. The title of Dr Shah's seminar 'Static friction models, buckling and lift-off … [more]

British Council support joint wind energy research project with VIT Chennai 3 April 2024 The British Council supports a joint masters educational-research project between Queen Mary and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in Chennai. The masters will research distributed wind energy for urban and rural requirements, integration and energy conversion. The project consortium also consists of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras India and … [more]

Research outlining faster and more cost-effective pathways for aircraft published in Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation 22 March 2024 As air mobility technology progresses, seeing the introduction of vehicles such as air taxis and on-demand or unmanned aircraft, it is vital to ensure that they interact smoothly with existing airport infrastructures. Researchers are finding ways to optimise airport ground movement in both efficiency and energy consumption, while prioritising safety … [more]

Undergraduate research posters win prizes at ILF 18 March 2024 Students from across the School of Engineering and Materials Science, including the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR), third year BEng students, and the Intercalated BSc in Bioengineering presented their research projects at the Industrial Liaison Forum on 6th March 2024. All students engaged in lively discussion with our academics … [more]

Robotics student wins the Best Poster Presentation at the SoRo 2024 8 March 2024 Chen Liu, a final-year PhD student of the Robotic Systems Research group led by Dr Ketao Zhang, was awarded the Best Poster of the Medical Robot Conference, Conference of Mapping the Future of Soft Robotics for Healthcare (SoRo), in London on 26th and 27th February. Chen presented his recent work … [more]

New discoveries to minimise deterioration of materials through Directed Energy Deposition published in Nature Communications. 26 February 2024 Directed Energy Deposition is a manufacturing process in which materials are melted and fused onto surfaces and into desired shapes, in a layer-by-layer process. It is often used in repairs, such as in the repair of damaged jet turbine blades, and in the automotive, marine, aerospace and biomedical fields. However, … [more]

Triple success with three SEMS student projects accepted for presentation at prestigious British Conference for Undergraduate Research 16 February 2024 Three SEMS undergraduate student research projects have been accepted for presentation at the prestigious UK-wide British Conference for Undergraduate Research, being hosted by the London School of Economics (LSE). The students who will be presenting at the conference are Barbaros Zeren and Yash Vaghela, both first year students supervised by … [more]

Dr Wei Tan presents latest research on Leading Edge Erosion of Wind Turbines at International Symposium 13 February 2024 Dr Wei Tan presented his research on 'Mechanics-guided material design for leading-edge erosion' during the 5th International Symposium at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Leading-edge erosion, caused by environmental factors such as rain, hail, and debris, poses a significant threat to the performance and reliability of wind turbine blades. … [more]

Engineers Celebrate Athena Swan Success 18 January 2024 Gender equality recognised by Athena Swan Bronze Award First recognised in 2010, the School has now had this award conferred for another five years until 2029, where the conditions were met "directly and fully". The Athena Swan Charter works across the globe to support and transform gender equality in Higher … [more]

The Scotsman newspaper publishes cautiously optimistic view by Dr Avital and the Hyperlink student team, in its article on Hyperloop technology 10 January 2024 Following the closure of the startup Hyperloop One in December 2023, The Scotsman newspaper looked at the future possibility of using Hyperloop technology to connect Edinburgh with London. While the University of Edinburgh’s team expressed optimism, other UK academics expressed pessimism, pointing to the high cost of the technology. … [more]

PhD student Yuchen Liu and team win the Henry Royce Research Sandpit at the University of Manchester 14 December 2023 Yuchen Liu, a SEMS PhD student under Dr Chinnapat Panwisawa since September 2023, has been accepted to attend the Henry Royce PhD Student Research Sandpit at the University of Manchester. Henry Royce Institute (Royce) hosted a PhD Student Research Sandpit at its flagship Royce Hub building at the University of Manchester … [more]

SEMS Staff Recognised at the Annual Science and Engineering Faculty Celebration 13 December 2023 SEMS staff were recognised at the Annual Faculty of Science and Engineering Celebration on the 13th December 2023. Irene Prieto Reina was awarded the Professional Services Excellence Award. Wei Tan was awarded the Research Excellence Award. Sanaa Hafeez was awarded the Student Experience and Education Award. Paul Balcombe was awarded the … [more]

SEMS Annual Awards Announced 6 December 2023 At the end of the staff meeting on the 6th December 2023, we hosted our annual SEMS prize celebration. We had a large number of nominations this year and the awards were spread across the entire SEMS community. The Team of the Year for 2023 was the Teaching Fellow / Teaching Associate Team … [more]

William Kyei-Manu from James Busfield's Soft Matter Group passes his PhD exam 6 December 2023 William Kyei-Manu has become the latest member of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group to pass his PhD exam. William completed his PhD viva on the 6th December 2023 defending a thesis entitled, "Carbon Black Reinforcement of Tyre Tread Compounds." His external examiner, Prof Ian Kinloch from Manchester University … [more]

Collaboration on computational additive manufacturing published in Nature Communications 2 December 2023 The study, conducted by Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas (corresponding author) at QMUL School of Engineering and Materials Science, in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Centre of Excellence for Advanced Materials, and University of Leicester, has been published in the Nature Communications journal. Solute trapping and non-equilibrium microstructure during rapid solidification … [more]

SEMS team recognised at QMUL Academic Promotions Event 21 November 2023 On 21st November QMUL hosted an event to celebrate the staff who have been promoted in the most recent academic promotion rounds. As we reported back in September, this was a very successful outcome for SEMS with 12 of our colleagues being promoted across all the different academic grades, reflecting the … [more]

Award Winning Research Students in 2023 SEMS ILF Research Showcase 14 November 2023 At the recent SEMS research-led Industrial Liaison Forum, there was a showcase from 60 of our current PhD students. The panel of judges this year were made up a wide range of early career researchers (Dr Luis Murillo Herrera, Mr Eugenio Sebastian Suena Galindez, Dr Clemence Nadal, Dr Oliver Brookes and … [more]

Two Soft Matter Group students William Kyei-Manu and Evangelos Koliolios both win awards at the International Rubber Conference 2023 10 November 2023 The latest International Rubber Conference 2023 has recently completed in China. Five of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group presented their work. At the closing ceremony two of the group were amongst the five students awarded prizes for their presentations. The winners were William Kyei-Manu and Evangelos Koliolios who won awards for … [more]

Undergraduate Engineers Visit Teledyne e2v 9 November 2023 Fifteen SEMS students were hosted at Teledyne e2v in Chelmsford as part of our Industrial Site Visits Programme for undergraduate engineering students. Teledyne is a leader in semiconductor devices, full spectrum imaging and high-power radio frequency solutions. They are present in virtually all markets and industries from medical … [more]

SEMS Industrial Liaison Forum, November 2023 8 November 2023 We were pleased to once again hold the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum live in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 8th November 2023 in the People's Palace. The event was well attended by staff and students as well as industrialists. The day was broken up into five parts, starting … [more]

Queen Mary forms a new Industrial Advisory Board on Systems Engineering 31 October 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has established a new Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) on Systems Engineering in October 2023 to ensure that the School’s Systems Engineering programmes meet the international standards and needs of industry, and the School students … [more]

Research group wins €10m grant to develop revolutionary cancer treatment robot 26 October 2023 Professor Kaspar Althoefer, a leading expert in medical robotics and artificial intelligence at Queen Mary, is part of a research group that has been awarded a highly competitive €10m European Research Council Synergy Grant. Synergy Grants provide funding for groups of two to four principal investigators to jointly address … [more]

Collaboration with UCL results in publication in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 19 October 2023 A collaboration led by Dr Rehan Shah in conjunction with UCL academic Prof Gert van der Heijden has resulted in a publication in the reputed Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids (JMPS) and is available as an open access paper on https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105464 In this … [more]

Queen Mary Professorial Strategic Hires 18 October 2023 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is recruiting 10 full Professors to establish their research groups at the University. These permanent academic positions will further strengthen our rapidly expanding, world-leading research following an excellent performance in the latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) in which QMUL was ranked 7th in the … [more]

Queen Mary joins The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) UK Advisory Board 3 October 2023 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has joined the Advisory Board of The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) UK branch as a Corporate Member in April 2023. The certificate of recognition was presented to Dr Mohammad Hassannezhad from the School of Engineering and during the last Advisory Board meeting held … [more]

Dr Wei Tan wins £1.2m grant to develop 'self-healing' materials 5 September 2023 Dr Wei Tan has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for ambitious research which focuses on self-healing engineering materials. Dr Tan, a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, has been awarded with £1.2m towards his project, titled: Life-like … [more]

Sir Colin Humphreys appears on BBC Radio 4's "The Life Scientific" 29 August 2023 On Tuesday 29th August Professor Sir Colin Humphreys was Professor Jim Al-Khalili's guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme "The Life Scientific". Colin discussed his work as a materials scientist and engineer, his use of electron microscopy and of course about his work on graphene, the world's … [more]

Researchers Create Multifunctional Shape-Morphing Composite Materials Inspired by Kirigami 21 August 2023 Exciting news from the collaborative efforts of researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and University of Nottingham (UoN) has brought about a novel development in shape-morphing structures. Led by Dr. Wei Tan (QMUL) and Dr. Mingchao Liu (NTU, currently at University of Birmingham), the … [more]

Hussain Abid successfully defends his PhD thesis in Computational Aeroacoustics 9 August 2023 Many congratulations to Hussain Abid for passing his PhD exam hurdle. The external examiner, Professor George Barakos from Glasgow, eminent expert in CFD/CAA and VTOL modelling, was very impressed by the amount and quality of new results in Hussain’s thesis. The models developed in the thesis pave … [more]

Student team makes an impact at European Hyperloop Week 31 July 2023 A group of students from the Hyperlink London society, most of whom study Engineering and Materials Science programmes at Queen Mary, recently showcased their work at European Hyperloop Week. European Hyperloop Week is a yearly international event dedicated to the Hyperloop - a futuristic transportation concept which combines elements of … [more]

Queen Mary Researchers Create Innovative Sensor to Enhance Robots' Tactile Capabilities 27 July 2023 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, along with collaborators from China and USA have developed an L3 F-TOUCH sensor to enhance tactile capabilities in robots, allowing it to "feel" objects and adjust its grip accordingly. Achieving human-level dexterity during manipulation and grasping has been a long-standing goal … [more]

Three more PhD students join the role of honour for the Soft Matter Group in SEMS 25 July 2023 At the graduation ceremony on the 25th July 2023, three more PhD students graduated from James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group at QMUL. Dr Anureet Kaur completed her Phd on a self-healing elastomers funded by Weir Group, Dr Travis Hohenberger completed his PhD on leak prediction in high pressure seals … [more]

Formula Student Team excel at Silverstone 24 July 2023 Queen Mary Formula Student Team competed brilliantly at the IMechE FSUK competition at Silverstone this past weekend. The team brought the first QMUL build in 5 years and managed to achieve the 2nd best team from London just 5 points (on a scale out of 1000) behind Brunel University. Some notable points include … [more]

School of Engineering and Materials Science students visit Aston Martin F1 13 July 2023 A group of 15 SEMS students visited the new Aston Martin F1 team at Silverstone a few days before the British Grand Prix. The visit was a part of the Make a Mark Day at the AMR Technology Campus, which aimed to inspire the next generation and showcase STEM career opportunities … [more]

Soft Robotics Revolutionise Minimally Invasive Surgery 13 July 2023 Professor Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science has made groundbreaking advancements in the field of soft robotics for minimally invasive surgery An overview paper, published in the Science journal today, explores Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical robots, including Professor Althoefer’s scientific … [more]

Let's Move to the Moon! 12 July 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) is dedicated to promoting the field of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) among the next generation of scientists and engineers. As part of their ongoing outreach efforts, SEMS staff and students delivered a unique activity to inspire students about the future possibilities … [more]

Revolutionary Self-Sensing Electric Artificial Muscles 11 July 2023 In a study published recently in Advanced Intelligent Systems researchers from Queen Mary University of London have made significant advancements in the field of bionics with the development of a new type of electric variable-stiffness artificial muscle that possesses self-sensing capabilities. This innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize soft … [more]

Celebrating the Inspiring Women Engineers at QMUL 23 June 2023 On International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June 2023, we celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of Women In Engineering worldwide, who tirelessly contribute to improving and saving lives. This year, we turn our attention to the exceptional female engineers at the School of Engineering and Materials Science. These women embody the qualities … [more]

Professor Kaspar Althoefer co-chairs the prestigious IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2023 16 June 2023 The largest and most prestigious conference on robotics, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2023 (ICRA) was held in the ExCeL centre, London, May 29 - June 2, 2023. The conference was co-organised by the Centre of Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary (ARQ) and was co-chaired by Professor Kaspar Althoefer, SEMS academic and … [more]

Congratulations to Hussain Abid, who finished in the top 5 for the Best Student Paper in Aeroacoustics at the 2023 Aviation Forum 15 June 2023 Well done to Hussain Abid, whose paper AIAA 2023-3934 “Numerical Investigation of Jet Installation Noise for Chevron Nozzles” made it to the top 5 Best Student Papers in Aeroacoustics at the 2023 Aviation Forum of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the premier aerospace conference in the world. The paper … [more]

Expert reaction to the collapse of the Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam, reported in the Science Media Centre 14 June 2023 Following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, SEMS' Dr Eldad Avital was asked for his reaction by the Science Media Centre as an expert to the possible reasons of the dam’s collapse and the environmental effects of such collapse: “That dam was already damaged due to previous … [more]

Soft Matter Group Team Wins the 2023 EuroEAP Challenge Competition 8 June 2023 Congratulations to Giacomo Sasso, Yutong Sun and Renzo Ramirez Herrera whose team won the EuroEAP Society challenge (the overall top prize sponsored by Toyota) at the European Electro Active Polymer Conference held this year in Bristol in the UK. Giacomo's team demonstrated a 3D soft touch pad that changes … [more]

Success in Faculty of Science and Engineering's BAME Undergraduate Research Internships 24 May 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) has been successful in securing a BAME undergraduate research studentship for a summer internship research project to be undertaken by first year BEng Mechanical Engineering student Mr Ismail Moalin, under the joint supervision of Dr Rehan Shah and Prof Henri Huijberts from … [more]

Soft Matter Group at RubberCon 2023 in Edinburgh 11 May 2023 The largest ever group of Soft Matter Group members and former members joined together to participate in RubberCon 2023. This global conference on Elastomer Materials was held in Edinburgh from the 9-11th May. With more than 300 international delegates the event was the largest rubber conference in the UK since the … [more]

No ovens? No problems! - Scientists develop extremely energy efficient manufacturing method for natural fibre composites 4 May 2023 No more worries about high energy bills for composites manufacturing! Materials scientists at Queen Mary University of London have developed an innovative and energy-efficient method to manufacture natural fibre composites without the need for conventional ovens. This out-of-oven method is based on a smart nanocomposite film that heats and cures … [more]

Queen Mary Researchers develop a new model to understand the moisture-induced degradation of composite materials, impacting the offshore energy community. 25 April 2023 Exciting news! Our latest research on environmental-assisted modelling of composite materials has just been published in a top-tier journal: Engineering with Computers (Q1, IF=8.083). Due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and corrosion resistance, lightweight composite materials have found widespread use in aerospace, wind, and marine structural applications. However, these materials … [more]

SEMS runs first Industrial Workshop on Systems Engineering: toward sustainable digital systems 24 April 2023 SEMS' Systems Engineering team - led by Dr Mohammad Hassannezhad - ran an industrial workshop with focus on digital transformation, sustainability and skill gaps, on 24 April at QM's Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI). The workshop brought together a group of 17 industry practitioners from 14 different companies in eight … [more]

Engineering the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - the largest optical telescope in space 17 April 2023 In a seminar at Queen Mary, NASA’s Dr Raymond Ohl explained what makes the JWST’s architecture so unique. Dr Ohl has worked on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project at the Goddard Space Flight Center in various roles for about 20 years. He was invited by … [more]

Full programme accreditation received from the Royal Aeronautical Society 31 March 2023 The School is delighted to have received full accreditation for our undergraduate and postgraduate taught Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering programmes from the Royal Aeronautical Society until 2027 The School was particularly noted for its good practice in adapting to the impact of Covid-19, its strong drive to prepare its students for … [more]

Engineering solutions to mitigate airborne disease transmission in mid and low income countries 31 March 2023 In international collaboration, a group of master and PhD students, and academics from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in the UK, IIT Madras and VIT Chennai in India has published an innovative concept of air purifier design in the journal Fluids https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/8/4/111 The Covid pandemic … [more]

Congratulations to Faisal Al-Jaber on successfully defending his PhD 27 March 2023 Faisal Al-Jaber has successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled "Soft Optical-Based Sensors Fabrication and Evaluation for Curvature and Pose Estimation of Soft Actuators" Faisal was supervised by Prof Kaspar Althoefer and Dr Lei Su. In his PhD, Faisal has researched and developed several novel soft sensor systems especially … [more]

Hyperlink team wins Bright Network award 9 March 2023 The Hyperlink student team wins the Innovation Award by Bright Network for their innovative solutions of developing a hyperloop transport technology. The student team is based at the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London and has student members from other schools as the School … [more]

Congratulations to Abu Bakar Dawood on successfully defending his PhD thesis 3 March 2023 Abu Bakar Dawood has successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled "Soft Capacitive and Optical Tomography-based Sensor Skins" Dawood was supported by a studentship from the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. He was supervised by Prof Kaspar Althoefer and Dr Ketao Zhang. Throughout his PhD, Dawood has demonstrated several innovative … [more]

Queen Mary University of London and Mae Fah Luang University join forces to tackle waste reduction and promote sustainable development in Thailand 27 February 2023 Queen Mary University of London and Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand have announced the success of their collaboration to address waste reduction and promote sustainable development, which was initially funded by Queen Mary Global Challenge Research Fund and British Council Newton Institutional Link programme. In February 2023, Dr. Han Zhang … [more]

The latest research on multifunctional composites at Queen Mary featured by Materials Today 9 February 2023 "Old approach promises new self-healing composites" The latest research on multifunctional composites at Queen Mary is featured by Materials Today, explaining how one can revamp an "old" approach in composite manufacturing into a "new" smart composite with integrated easy-repairing capability. By simply applying heat … [more]

Collaboration with UCL results in a publication in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 4 February 2023 A collaboration led by Dr Rehan Shah in conjunction with UCL academic Prof Gert van der Heijden has resulted in a publication in the reputed Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids (JMPS) and is available as an open access paper on http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105224. In … [more]

SEMS' Winter Graduation 6 January 2023 The winter graduation ceremony returned to the Great Hall on the Mile End campus once again 2023. The venue was filled with a cast of hundreds of SEMS graduates and their families and friends. The largest cohort was made up our MSc students from last year, but there was a good … [more]

Philip Hurrell awarded the James S Walker Award by IOM3 5 January 2023 Philip Hurrell, a MSc graduate Materials Research in SEMS from 2021, has been presented with the 2022 James S Walker Award from IOM3 for his MSc project on "Wear of carbon black reinforced natural rubber compounds" at an Awards Ceremony on the 8th December 2022. This national award and £450 prize, … [more]

Han Zhang is presented the Silver Medal and Prize by the IOM3 2 January 2023 Han was presented with the Silver Medal and Prize at an Awards Ceremony at the IOM3 on the 8th December 2022. The Silver Medal is a Premier award for an early career researcher making an outstanding contribution within the materials field. The award was given in recognition of Han’s … [more]

Dimitrios Papageorgiou is presented the Rosenhain Medal and Prize by the IOM3 1 January 2023 Dimitrios was presented with the Rosenhain Medal at an Awards Ceremony at the IOM3 on the 8th December 2022. The Rosenhain Medal and Prize is a highly competitive award that recognises distinguished achievement in any branch of materials science. The award was given in recognition of Dimitrios’ research which has … [more]

New "Aeroacoustics of Dynamic Stall" project funded by EPSRC 20 December 2022 The team of Queen Mary engineers together with colleagues from the University of Bristol and the University of Cambridge has been awarded a significant EPSRC funding to work on dynamic stall noise, using a combination of experimental, computational, and mathematical modelling techniques. Aerodynamic noise from transport vehicles and wind turbines … [more]

Kirsty Rutherford wins the IRCO Prize at IRC2022 5 December 2022 The latest International Rubber Conference 2022 recently completed in India. Five of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group presented their work there. At the closing ceremony one of the group, Kirsty Rutherford, took home the IRCO Best Student Presentation Award for her paper on "The development of a robust method … [more]

SEMS November Industrial Liaison Forum including PhD Research Showcase and and Student Awards 9 November 2022 We were pleased to once again hold the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum live in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 9th November 2022 in the Octagon. The event was well attended by staff and students as well as industrialists. The day was broken up into five parts, starting in the … [more]

November Prize-giving for SEMS' Taught Students 9 November 2022 At the Industrial Liaison Forum on 9th November 2022, we celebrated the achievements of some of our best taught students. Over 20 prizes were awarded by the School. These were awarded across subject and year groups and included "Academic Achievement Prizes as well as "Best Project Prizes". One "… [more]

New EPSRC project launched to develop energy efficient composite tooling 13 October 2022 As one of the three new Synergy Promotion projects funded by the EPSRC Future Composites Manufacturing Hub, the project entitled “Energy Efficient Composite Tooling with Integrated Self-Regulating Heating and Curing Capabilities based on Recycled Composite Waste (ECOTOOL)” led by Queen Mary University of London has been launched with … [more]

Anureet Kaur successfully completes her PhD in the Soft Matter Group 27 September 2022 Anureet Kaur has become the latest member of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group to pass their PhD exam. Anureet completed her PhD viva on the 27th September defending a thesis entitled, " Development of Self-healing and Recyclable Elastomers." Anureet was also supervised by Julien Gautrot and Gabriel Cavalli. … [more]

Teams of bee-like drones are ready to 3D-print buildings 22 September 2022 "The homes and cities of the future could be built with the help of autonomous robots," says Queen Mary's Dr Ketao Zhang.  Researchers have created a team of drones that can print 3D constructions while they are flying. These flying robots can coordinate and make … [more]

London City Institute of Technology (LCIoT) Opens 19 September 2022 This month, the London City Institute of Technology (LCIoT) opens its doors to its first cohort of students at London City Island. The LCIoT is a partnership between Queen Mary, Newham College and a wide range of employers. The Institute will deliver higher technical education and apprenticeships with a focus … [more]

Soft Matter Group Returns to European Conference on Constitutive Modelling of Rubber in Milan 11 September 2022 After the Covid hiatus, it was great to take 12 of the Soft Matter Group to Milan with me to participate in European Conference on Constitutive Modelling of Rubber (ECCMR) 2022. It was fantastic opportunity to see so many old friends in person and to see what the community has been up … [more]

The Composite Group Welcomes its Royce Summer Intern 7 September 2022 The Composites group is delighted to introduce the newest group member, Haoze Li. Haoze is starting the third year of his BEng Materials Science and Engineering programme within the School and will join the group on a ten-week summer internship, kindly funded by the Henry Royce Institute and supported … [more]

Funding for project "Novel plasma reforming technology for tars reduction in BECCS" awarded by UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy 4 August 2022 Queen Mary researchers in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering at University College London have won funding for a proof of concept project with the Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme, part of the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), which aims to provide funding to support innovation in hydrogen BECCS (… [more]

Anureet Kaur wins the IRCO Prize at IRC2021 30 June 2022 The postponed International Rubber Conference 2021 has just completed in Germany. In the closing ceremony, Anureet Kaur from James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group took home the IRCO Best Student Presentation Award for her paper on "Development of Self-Healable and Recyclable Elastomers." The judging was done using online … [more]

Eduardo Yanes Nunez successfully completes his PhD in the Soft Matter Group 16 June 2022 Eduardo Yanes Nunez has become the latest member of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group to pass their PhD exam. Eduardo completed his PhD viva on the 16th June defending a thesis entitled, "Frictional Behaviour of Elastomer Seals." This was the fourth industrially funded PhD project sponsored by … [more]

IOM3 awards: Queen Mary scoops up four prizes for engineering and materials science 9 June 2022 The School of Engineering and Materials Science goes from strength to strength as researchers pick up four awards and medals from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) The IOM3 presents a range of awards, medals and prizes in recognition of personal achievement, for published work and for contributions … [more]

SEMS Academics Perform Exceptionally in REF 2021 12 May 2022 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]

5th Russell Binions Memorial PhD Research Symposium held at SEMS 27 April 2022 The 5th Russell Binions Memorial PhD Research Symposium was held in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 27th April 2022. Over 30 PhD students, in their 2nd and 3rd years, presented their research, to staff and students, in fields ranging from Biomedical, Materials to Mechanical and Robotics Engineering. We had a … [more]

SEMS Industrial Liaison Forum April 2022 6 April 2022 Our bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum was held in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 6th April 2022. We received over 50 external visitors from industry as well as Alumni. The day started with our final year student project showcase, where a fantastic selection of posters were presented by our BEng and … [more]

Queen Mary University of London scientist appointed to the EPSRC Early Career Forum in Manufacturing Research 1 February 2022 Dr Han Zhang, Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, has been appointed as the member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Early Career Forum (ECF) in Manufacturing Research in late 2021. The EPSRC ECF in Manufacturing Research aims to … [more]

The Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) wins QMUL Engagement and Impact Award 2 July 2021 A team of engineers and clinicians from EECS, SEMS and Royal London Dental Hospital won a QMUL Engagement and Impact Award. The team was awarded the Local Impact Award for their efforts to provide hospital staff with urgently needed personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 crisis. Under the … [more]

Queen Mary students gear up for racing car event 10 July 2018 Students from Queen Mary University of London will be competing at Silverstone this week in the 2018 Formula Student, Europe's most established educational engineering competition. Formula Student challenges universities from across the world to design, build and race a single-seater racing car in one year. The cars are then judged … [more]