Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE): Addressing Challenges in Sustainability and Scalable Manufacturing

Lead Research Organisation: University College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Evolution over the eons has made Nature a treasure trove of clever solutions to sustainability, resilience, and ways to efficiently utilize scarce resources. The Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering will draw lessons from nature to engineer innovative solutions to our grand challenges in energy, water, materials, health, and living space.

Rather than imitating nature out of context or succumbing to superficial analogies, research at the Centre will take a decidedly scientific approach to uncover fundamental mechanisms underlying desirable traits, and apply these mechanisms to design and synthesise artificial systems that hereby borrow the traits of the natural model. The Centre will initially focus on three key mechanisms, as they are so prevalent in nature, amenable to practical implementation, and are expected to have transformational impact on urgent issues in sustainability and scalable manufacturing. These mechanisms are: (T1) "Hierarchical Transport Networks": the way nature bridges microscopic to macroscopic length scales in order to preserve the intricate microscopic or cellular function throughout (as in trees, lungs and the circulatory system); (T2) "Force Balancing": the balanced use of fundamental forces, e.g., electrostatic attraction/repulsion and geometrical confinement in microscopic spaces (as in protein channels in cell membranes, which trump artificial membranes in selective, high-permeation separation performance); and (T3) "Dynamic Self-Organisation": the creation of robust, adaptive and self-healing communities thanks to collective cooperation and emergence of complex structures out of much simpler individual components (as in bacterial communities and in biochemical cycles).

Such nature-inspired, rather than narrowly biomimetic approach, allows us to marry advanced manufacturing capabilities and access to non-physiological conditions, with nature's versatile mechanisms that have been remarkably little employed in a rational, bespoke manner. High-performance computing and experimentation now allow us to unravel fundamental mechanisms, from the atomic to the macroscopic, in an unprecedented way, providing the required information to transcend empiricism, and guide practical realisations of nature-inspired designs.

In first instance, three examples will be developed to validate each of the aforementioned natural mechanisms, and simultaneously apply them to problems of immediate relevance that tie in to the Grand Challenges in energy, water, materials and scalable manufacturing. These are: (1) robust, high-performance fuel cells with greatly reduced amount of precious catalyst, by using a lung-inspired architecture; (2) membranes for water desalination inspired by the mechanism of biological cell membranes; (3) high-performance functional materials, resp. architectural design (cities, buildings), informed by agent-based modelling on bacteria-inspired, resp. human communities, to identify roads to robust, adaptive complex systems.

To meet these ambitious goals, the Centre assembles an interdisciplinary team of experts, from chemical and biochemical engineering, to computer science, architecture, materials, chemistry and genetics. The Centre researchers collaborate with, and seek advice from industrial partners from a wide range of industries, which accelerates practical implementation. The Centre has an open, outward looking mentality, inviting broader collaboration beyond the core at UCL. It will devote significant resources to explore the use of the validated nature-inspired mechanisms to other applications, and extend investigation to other natural mechanisms that may inform solutions to problems in sustainability and scalable manufacturing.

Planned Impact

The Centre will be a national hub, an enabler, with a unique "platform" approach to innovation. It will stimulate many areas of critical, national importance, in particular in the focus areas of sustainable manufacturing and resource efficiency. This is underscored by letters of support from over a dozen industries (Maxeler, Shell, Johnson Matthey, AFC Energy, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Harris, Aedas, Sabic, Synfuels China, Antecy/BIOeCON, Air Products/MATGAS, GE, PSRI, ExxonMobil, and Quantachrome). More than half of these are based in the UK, or have very significant commercial, manufacturing and/or R&D activity in the UK. There is a balance of SMEs and multinationals, start-ups and companies with a long history.

Senior technical representatives from these companies will serve on the Centre's Advisory Group, and will be involved in workshops, sandpits and annual "show and tell" events. Companies will share expertise and resources. There will be joint UCL "Impact" studentships (co-funded by industry and UCL), as well as internships and secondments. This boosts the success and practical relevance of the projects, and opens roads to implementation and commercialisation. This mechanism also trains researchers to be future leaders.

UCL Business will facilitate the generation and exploitation of intellectual property, and has ample experience in doing so. An example is the Electrochemical Innovation Lab, headed by co-I Dan Brett, and established in 2011 to identify commercial opportunities early in the development cycle and accelerate progression through Technology Readiness Levels, via targeted research programmes. This already led to two spin-outs this year.

The nature-inspired engineering approach is a "natural" pathway to scalability, via its core themes of hierarchical transport networks, force balancing, and dynamic self-organisation. It enables the more efficient use of scarce resources (energy, water, materials), while delivering innovative methods to create smart materials, products and processes. The Flagship Projects developed initially in the themes are intimately related to energy, water, sustainable chemical production and the built environment. Contributing to the long-term viability of the Centre, there is an opportunity to expand beyond these areas in other projects that are seeded by the Centre, with support from industrial partners and involvement of academics from other universities. Such short- and medium-term projects will be evaluated by the Management Group and a subset of the Advisory Group to ensure quality and a close fit to the Centre Objectives.

Public engagement is an important objective of the Centre. We believe that nature-inspired engineering is a concept that can inspire the general public, including school children, in realising the significance of scientifically led engineering research. Research findings will not only be disseminated via high-impact scientific and engineering journals, but also via the popular media, a professional website, social media, public exhibitions (UCL Slade School of Fine Art, and UCL Grant Museum), and other engagement activities. This will be facilitated by our Faculty Communication Officer, Kate Oliver, and Co-I Mark Miodownik, who is himself a writer and broadcaster with regular appearances on TV and radio.

With this, the Centre aims to become recognised as the world-leading centre in nature-inspired engineering, and, thanks to its agenda focusing on sustainability, resource efficiency and scalable manufacturing, be a strong enabler to innovation, the economy and a higher quality of life.

Organisations

Publications

10 25 50

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Lynch MM (2016) Chaperonin-Inspired pH Protection by Mesoporous Silica SBA-15 on Myoglobin and Lysozyme. in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids

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Perera A (2016) Catalysis - Volume 28

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Cho J (2018) Capillaries for water management in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

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Penn A (2018) Can we identify general architectural principles that impact the collective behaviour of both human and animal systems? in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

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Hanna S (2015) Book Review: Paradigms in Computing: Making, Machines, and Models for Design Agency in Architecture in International Journal of Architectural Computing

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Narraway C (2019) Biotic analogies for self-organising cities in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

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Liang X (2022) Bioinspired 2D Isotropically Fatigue-Resistant Hydrogels. in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)

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Valitov G (2022) Axial dispersion in curved channels in the presence of pulsating flow in Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification

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Wilkinson S (2014) Approximating Computational Fluid Dynamics for Generative Tall Building Design in International Journal of Architectural Computing

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Eds: Mark Miodownik & Russel Morris (2021) Animate Materials in Royal Society Perspective

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Dedigama I (2014) An experimentally validated steady state polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyser model in International Journal of Electrochemical Science

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Obeisun O (2014) Advanced Diagnostics Applied to a Self-Breathing Fuel Cell in ECS Transactions

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Ransley M (2017) Active chainmail fabrics for soft robotic applications in Smart Materials and Structures

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Bethapudi VS (2019) A lung-inspired printed circuit board polymer electrolyte fuel cell in Energy Conversion and Management

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Bethapudi V (2019) A lung-inspired printed circuit board polymer electrolyte fuel cell in Energy Conversion and Management

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Trogadas P (2018) A lung-inspired approach to scalable and robust fuel cell design in Energy & Environmental Science

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Trogadas P (2018) A lung-inspired approach to scalable and robust fuel cell design in Energy & Environmental Science

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Oldfrey B (2019) A Deep Learning Approach to Non-linearity in Wearable Stretch Sensors. in Frontiers in robotics and AI

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Celik F (2017) A Career in Catalysis: Alexis T. Bell in ACS Catalysis

 
Title "Aquaphile", Gravity Related Image, 26th ELGRA & 14th ITTW conference in Granada, Spain 
Description The image "Aquaphile" was displayed during the "26th European Low Gravity Association (ELGRA) & 14th International Two-Phase Systems For Space and Ground Applications (ITTW)" Conference in Granada, Spain in September 2019. 
Type Of Art Image 
Year Produced 2019 
Impact During the display at the conference, a competition took place, where the image achieved an award (2nd place). 
URL https://en.elgra2019.com/image_contest
 
Title "Bio-Integrated Design", Biodesign Here Now, Open Cell in London, UK 
Description "Bio-Integrated Design" was displayed during the Biodesign Here Now exhibition at the Open Cell in London, UK, in September 2018. 
Type Of Art Artistic/Creative Exhibition 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The exhibition was seen by visitors at the Open Cell in London, UK. 
URL https://www.opencell.bio/biodesignherenow/2018
 
Title "BioTA Lab", Collapse: Climate, Cities & Cultures, New York University in NYC, US 
Description The image was displayed during the "Collapse: Climate, Cities & Cultures" exhibition at New York University in New York City, US in June 2018. 
Type Of Art Image 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The exhibition was seen by visitors of the exhibition at the New York University in New York City, US. 
 
Title "Bio_inspired Engineering, Bio-Integrated Design", La Fabrique Du Vivant, Mutations / creations 3, Centre Pompidou in Paris, France 
Description The video was displayed during the "La Fabrique Du Vivant, Mutations / creations 3" exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France from February to April 2019. The video part presented related to this research was on the nature-inspired, micro-printed surface consisting of nature inspired microstructures for humidity control. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2019 
Impact The video was seen by visitors of the exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. 
URL https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/agenda/event.action?param.id=FR_R-0e1ca28a3e1128d624b2d8375beead0&...
 
Title "Elixir of Life", Research Images as Art / Art Images as Research at UCL in London, UK 
Description The image "Elixir of Life" was displayed during the "Research Images as Art / Art Images as Research" exhibition at UCL in London, UK in May 2019. 
Type Of Art Image 
Year Produced 2019 
Impact This image won the People's Choice Award and was shown multiple times, for example as the front cover of the centre's leaflet, at the departmental Instagram account etc. 
URL https://www.grad.ucl.ac.uk/comp/2018-2019/research-images-competition/
 
Title Advice for film on Matter Patterns (Olga Yakimenko, London Film School) 
Description A fresh documentary short exploring the surprising ways the beauty and wonder of mathematics manifests in nature. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2014 
Impact General inspiration and improving thinking among students, new generation of engineers and professionals. 
URL https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1084724926/matter-patterns
 
Title Biogenic Architecture this year at the Ars Electronica 2020 
Description Nina Jotanovic exhibited three stand-alone elements, which are part of her experiment. After the exhibition these were placed in the outdoor environment where the development of micro-crusts will be monitored. The elements are designed to provide optimal conditions for the development of specific microbiological species. The spatial elements in the upper zone provide rainwater collection and create dynamic shading in the middle part of the elements. The central part is selectively glazed in order to simultaneously provide directed gliding of water droplets and water retention in shaded, porous parts in order to maintain the level of humidity necessary for the development of microbes. Ceramics were chosen as the substrate due to their biocompatibility, neutral pH value, porosity, manipulative absorption and micro roughness. Each of the three vertical elements was inoculated with different cultures of algae and bacteria, whose development will be monitored in the external environment for a period of 12 months. Her work is in collaboration with the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture. 
Type Of Art Artistic/Creative Exhibition 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact The exhibition opened the eyes of the visitors to the possibilities of the use of surfaces to be used as living element in architecture. The 12 months monitoring period will take palce in a public space and will in addition lead to scientific outcomes. 
URL https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=GymepV1zepQ
 
Title CNIE Brochure 
Description The CNIE designed a new brochure to highlight and promote the key activities and achievements of the Centre. It aims to give audiences an insight into our research and to maximize on outreach and engagement. 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The CNIE brochure was distributed at the Annual CNIE Advisory meeting and conference, with over hundred copies being shared. Members of the CNIE group also take copies to key events and meetings both nationally and internationally. 
 
Title CNIE Research Facility video 
Description The CNIE produced a new video to promote our range of state-of-the-art equipment to help lead to further collaborations 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact We've had close to 170 views on YouTube and it has led to interest in research and lab equipment 
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOwvA-LHK_U
 
Title Chef versus Science: The Ultimate Kitchen Challenge 
Description A 90 minute documentary film about the science and art of food. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2016 
Impact Viewed in 200 countries worldwide on BBC World. 
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0752bbd
 
Title CityX Venice - Marcos Cruz, Brenda Parker: BIO-ID, CITYX Venice Italian Virtual Pavilion, 17th Biennale Architettura 2021 
Description Video displayed at the Italian Virtual Pavilion during the Biennale Architettura 2021. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact The video, which so far received around 1.500 views, is visible on youtube. It has increased the awareness of the project, involving bio-integrated (UCL BioID) and nature-inspired engineering (UCL CNIE) for applications in the built environment, on earth and in space. 
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF_C5rmaItM&t=10s
 
Title Dance - Plastic Drastic Fantastic 
Description Dance aimed at young people about plastic waste at Polka Theatre 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact Young people influenced 
URL https://polkatheatre.com/event/plastic-drastic-fantastic/
 
Title Front cover design for Energy and Environmental Science Journal 
Description Malica Schmidt designed the front cover image for the leading journal, Energy & Environmental Science (impact factor =29.5). 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The image was shared to all members of the Energy & Environmental Science journal. 
URL http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee90001a#!divAbstract
 
Title Self RepairingCities 
Description Animation aimed at primary school children. Artwork and Model Making by Ruby Wright Animation and Compositing by Levan Tozashvili Sound Design by Patrick Lee 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact Schools impact 
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6brzZCUPg
 
Title TV Programme - Secrets of the Super Elements 
Description Forget oil, coal and gas - a new set of materials is shaping our world and they're so bizarre they may as well be alien technology. In the first BBC documentary to be filmed entirely on smartphones, material scientist Prof Mark Miodownik reveals the super elements that underpin our high-tech world. We have become utterly dependent on them, but they are rare and they're already running out. The stuff that makes our smartphones work could be gone in a decade and our ability to feed the world depends mostly on a mineral found in just one country. Mark reveals the magical properties of these extraordinary materials and finds out what we can do to save them 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2017 
Impact Greater public understanding of materials science and engineering 
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rv9r6
 
Title Video talk on 'Drawing lessons from nature to engineer innovative solutions to our grand challenges' 
Description Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a talk on 'Drawing lessons from nature to engineer innovative solutions to our grand challenges' at The IET Engineering the Future Festival (IET London: Savoy Place, 6th October 2016). The video of his presentation is available here: https://tv.theiet.org/?eventvideoid=9319 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2016 
Impact Further engagement with a wide audience 
URL http://tv.theiet.org/?eventvideoid=9319
 
Description The Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) has developed an unprecedented, systematic methodology to discover fundamental mechanisms in nature, which underpin desirable properties (such as scalability, efficiency or resilience), and apply these mechanisms to implement transformative, innovative solutions to a broad range of engineering challenges. The systematic methodologies developed in the CNIE are demonstrating their appeal beyond the original areas of sustainability and scalable manufacturing, which remain the CNIE's core objectives, to applications in health and biomedical engineering, and the built environment. The CNIE is a vehicle for innovation, accelerating discovery and offering unexpected solutions by promoting lateral thinking. Its inherently cross-disciplinary work is leading to new findings, patents, commercial interests and entrepreneurial activity. These include novel catalysts for clean chemical and energy processes, ways to intensify and facilitate the scale-up of multiphase reactors, biomedical and healthcare applications, and multi-functional smart wall coatings. Over the course of the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" grant, the CNIE's Inspiration Grant scheme has been a powerful mechanism to attract a diverse body of talented researchers to the CNIE, broaden the Centre's disciplinary reach, and raise its visibility. Each of the Inspiration Grant projects, often led by Early Career Researchers, has provided short-term funds for new projects (around 3-12 months in duration) that apply the nature-inspired approach to solve a different challenge; they always include a project partner from an external academic institution or industrial partner, in collaboration with a researcher at UCL. Inspiration Grants have created not only publications and other research deliverables, but also formed the basis for follow-on, externally funded projects and entrepreneurship. To date, the Centre has issued 22 Inspiration Grants, bringing together UCL researchers with at least 25 external academic and industrial partners. These Inspiration Grants have formed the basis for spreading the use of the nature-inspired engineering methodology and its applications, with a number of successful follow-on applications totalling at least £3.4M by 2019. In addition, technologies are being developed further for commercialisation, and a separate KTN on Nature-Inspired Solutions has been kicked-off in 2019, which collaborates with the CNIE and adopts its vision. The CNIE is continuing its core research via an EPSRC "Frontier Engineering: Progression" grant, awarded in 2019, and has initiated a new, 4th Theme that aims to learn from ecosystems, networks, control and modularity in nature to provide robust solutions to a range of applications, where resilience and adaptability are key. Applications are consistently framed in the context of Industrial Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Exploitation Route The Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering is reaching beyond UCL to become a UK National Hub, as an enabler with a unique platform approach to innovation. It stimulates many areas of critical, national importance, in particular in the focus areas of sustainable manufacturing and resource efficiency. The outcomes are not only in terms of "products" and outcomes of individual projects within the CNIE, but, importantly, also in terms of systematic methodology for responsible innovation and design. The training of people has been and continues to be extremely important. Furthermore, the many industrial collaborations and engagement, the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst CNIE researchers, the new KTN on Nature-Inspired Solutions, international conferences and workshops, engagement and outreach activities are all catalysing further growth and adoption of the CNIE's methodology.

Many of the companies engaging with the CNIE are located in the UK or have very significant commercial, manufacturing and/or activity in the UK. There is a balance of SMEs and multinationals, start-ups and companies with a long history. Senior technical representatives from these companies serve on the Centre's Advisory Group, and are involved in workshops, sandpits and show-and-tell vents. Industrial advice and co-creation on many projects boost success and practical relevance, and open roads to implementation and commercialisation. This mechanism also trains researchers to be future leaders. UCL Business is facilitating the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.
Sectors Chemicals,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Transport

URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/nature-inspired-engineering
 
Description The new Frontier Engineering: Progression grant has allowed the CNIE to expand considerably both the breadth and depth of its activities, to a level beyond what could have been hoped for at its inception - in research, education, public engagement, and translation to practice. The CNIE's research objectives are framed by Grand Challenges related to the UK Industrial Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We continued our work with the InnovateUK funded SIG on Nature-Inspired Solutions (NIS), which already held well-attended joint events with the CNIE in 2019 and 2020 (in person and online). The methodologies developed in the CNIE are demonstrating their appeal beyond the original areas of sustainability and scalable manufacturing, which remain the CNIE's core objectives, to applications in health and biomedical engineering, and the built environment. These new, core Application Areas (added in this grant) kept thriving with several publications and non-scientific events like the ArsElectronica 2020 and the DLR's 35th parabolic flight campaign (collaboration with German Aerospace and ESA). The CNIE's research is leading to new fundamental insights, new patents, commercial interests and entrepreneurial activity, on dental bone graft substitute materials, toothpaste and nacre-inspired, adaptive materials that allow for actuating controlled release, multi-functional materials for Space technology, as well as more efficient and robust fuel cell technology, and solutions for process intensification. Industrial interest has been steadily growing, leading to several industry (co-)funded projects and useful exchanges with around 40 companies and national laboratories in the UK and internationally. On the educational front, an elective course with taught and project components on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering at UCL is attracting 65 MEng and MSc students, while workshops are held at international conferences and in collaboration with the new SIG on NIS (see above). Diversity and inclusion in every sense of the word is both a natural component and a source of success for the CNIE. Furthermore, the CNIE enthusiastically organises numerous outreach activities, hosts In2Science and Nuffield students and is the home for a UCL Engineering-based Summer Challenge for promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds and other Widening Participation activities. Many of these activities moved online this year.
First Year Of Impact 2018
Sector Chemicals,Construction,Education,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
Impact Types Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services

 
Description Membership of a guideline committee - Elected Management Board Member of BBSRC BioProNet (2015)
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Membership of a guideline committee
Impact BioProNet is key to advising and shaping the funding opportunities between BBSRC and EPSRC
 
Description £2m Underpinning Multi-User Equipment At UCL
Amount £440,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/P030084/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2017 
End 03/2018
 
Description BBSRC London Interdiciplinary Doctoral (LIDo) Program
Amount £5,000 (GBP)
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2017 
End 02/2018
 
Description BBSRC London Interdiciplinary Doctoral Programme, rotation project
Amount £5,000 (GBP)
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2017 
End 02/2018
 
Description Balancing the impact of City Infrastructure Engineering on Natural systems using Robots
Amount £4,217,380 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/N010523/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2016 
End 02/2021
 
Description Biomedical Catalyst
Amount £460,000 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/M025306/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2015 
End 06/2017
 
Description Bug-Busting Spandex: Biodegrading Textile Blends for Molecular Recycling
Amount £303,615 (GBP)
Funding ID BB/X011348/1 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2023 
End 02/2025
 
Description Discovery 2 Use
Amount £44,458 (GBP)
Organisation UCL Business 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2016 
End 02/2017
 
Description EPSRC
Amount £1,171,792 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/G02619X/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2009 
End 03/2015
 
Description EPSRC Discovery-To-Use grant
Amount £44,500 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2016 
End 02/2017
 
Description EPSRC IAA 2017-20 Discovery to Use (D2U) award
Amount £35,292 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2017 
End 08/2018
 
Description EPSRC IAA: Nature-Inspired Water Management in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell
Amount £84,582 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2018 
End 11/2019
 
Description EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (Grant Ref n. EP/R511638/1)
Amount £29,420 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2019 
End 03/2020
 
Description EPSRC Strategic Equipment
Amount £1,100,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/N010906/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2015 
End 11/2018
 
Description Enterprise Fellowship
Amount £60,000 (GBP)
Organisation Royal Academy of Engineering 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2016 
End 06/2017
 
Description Frontier Engineering: Progression Grant in Nature-Inspired Engineering
Amount £758,983 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S03305X/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2019 
End 11/2021
 
Description IFP Energies Nouvelles studentship
Amount £30,000 (GBP)
Organisation IFP Energies Nouvelles 
Sector Academic/University
Country France
Start 12/2018 
End 09/2021
 
Description ITI Research Grant - Large Grant
Amount £121,715 (GBP)
Funding ID 1357_2018 
Organisation International Team for Implantology 
Sector Academic/University
Country Switzerland
Start 03/2019 
End 06/2020
 
Description Impact Acceleration Account
Amount £15,000 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2016 
End 12/2016
 
Description Leverhulme Foundation
Amount £39,141 (GBP)
Organisation The Leverhulme Trust 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2018 
End 10/2018
 
Description Novel intensified liquid-liquid contactors for mass transfer in sustainable energy generation
Amount £195,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/P034101/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2017 
End 12/2018
 
Description On the morphological stability of supported metal nanoparticles in electrochemical systems
Amount € 400,000 (EUR)
Funding ID STR 596/4-1 
Organisation German Research Foundation 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country Germany
Start 11/2014 
End 12/2018
 
Description Osteology Foundation Academy Grant
Amount £2,000 (GBP)
Organisation Osteology Foundation 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country France
Start 06/2014 
End 09/2014
 
Description Research project sponsorship
Amount £1 (GBP)
Organisation Sabic Americas, Inc. 
Sector Private
Country United States
Start 06/2015 
End 05/2019
 
Description Saudi Aramco PhD studentship 2017
Amount £260,000 (GBP)
Organisation Saudi Aramco 
Sector Private
Country Saudi Arabia
Start 09/2017 
End 09/2021
 
Description Saudi Aramco PhD studentship 2019
Amount £260,000 (GBP)
Organisation Saudi Aramco 
Sector Private
Country Saudi Arabia
Start 09/2019 
End 08/2023
 
Description Supported gold catalyst materials with locally controlled chemical and geometric environments for enhanced propylene epoxidation
Amount £460,000 (GBP)
Organisation Sabic Americas, Inc. 
Sector Private
Country United States
Start 06/2015 
End 06/2019
 
Description Synfuels China Technology PhD funding
Amount £432,000 (GBP)
Organisation Synfuels China Technology 
Sector Private
Country China
Start 09/2019 
End 08/2023
 
Description UCL Grand Challenges Doctoral School Small Grant on Transforming Immunotherapy with Nature-Inspired Engineering
Amount £1,993 (GBP)
Organisation University College London 
Department UCL Global Engagement Office
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2017 
End 07/2018
 
Description UK Japan Civil Nuclear Energy Collaboration Phase 4
Amount £253,038 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R019223/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2017 
End 03/2020
 
Description Underpinning Multi-User Equipment At UCL
Amount £1,997,856 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/P030084/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2017 
End 03/2018
 
Description Video Liquid Transmission Electron Microscopy
Amount £37,497 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/N010906/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2015 
End 11/2018
 
Title Acoustic emission based fuel cell characterisation 
Description The developed acoustic emission based fuel cell characterization involves a cost effective and easy to use method for direct evaluation of water generation inside fuel cells. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This technique will reduce the need for highly expensive and complex water evaluation tools in fuel cell industry like neutron imaging, X-ray scans and etc. This method is a bench top process with handheld devices performing the characterizations and evaluations. 
URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248119302450
 
Title Doehlert marix model 
Description The Doehlert matrix model was used, to investigate optimum synthetic conditions of titanosilicates. The Doehlert matrix is a second-order statistical model, widely utilized as a tool in analytical sciences, to discover the most effective experimental conditions. The model allows simultaneous change of two or more experimental parameters, determined by sets of multiplication factors. The probe limits of the experimental parameters are controlled by the researcher. 
Type Of Material Technology assay or reagent 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Using such an efficient, multivariate statistical approach significantly reduces the required number of experiments for an optimization study. 
 
Title Materials Library 
Description The Materials Library is a collection of some of the most wondrous materials on earth, gathered from sheds, labs, grottoes and repositories around the world. It is a resource, laboratory, studio, and playground for the curious and material-minded to conduct hands-on research through truly interdisciplinary inquiry and innovation. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2006 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Materials Libraries have become a tool worldwide for connecting materials scientists and materials practitioners from the arts and cultural industries. 
URL http://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/materials-library
 
Title Printed circuit board based fractal fuel cells development 
Description Printed circuit board material based development of fractal geometry fuel cell flow-field plates. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Reduced the cost for production of fractal flow-field plates by 40 times and the time to manufacture by 5 times with a considerable reduction in weight of the system. 
URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019689041931204X
 
Title Doehlert matrix model 
Description The Doehlert matrix model was used, to investigate optimum synthetic conditions of titanosilicates. The Doehlert matrix is a second-order statistical model, widely utilized as a tool in analytical sciences, to discover the most effective experimental conditions. The model allows simultaneous change of two or more experimental parameters, determined by sets of multiplication factors. The probe limits of the experimental parameters are controlled by the researcher. 
Type Of Material Data analysis technique 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Using such an efficient, multivariate statistical approach significantly reduces the required number of experiments for an optimization study. 
 
Description Accelerate the adoption of novel intensified mixers to biodiesel production industry. 
Organisation Greenergy International
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Investigation of the hydrodynamic feature in intensified impinging jets mixers.
Collaborator Contribution in-kind contribution to this project in the form of staff time, providing materials, and use of their site facilities whenever required.
Impact Familiarization with biodiesel industry. development of separation technologies and demonstration of their efficiency in applications suggested by the industrial partner.
Start Year 2016
 
Description AstraZeneca protein crystallisation 
Organisation AstraZeneca
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Supply many porous materials as nucleants for crystallisation study, including the work involved in synthesising and characterising. Assisting in the set up of screening experiments. Assisting in the analysis of data collected.
Collaborator Contribution Provided protein, screen plates, plating equipment, image recording equipment, and crystallisation expertise. Assisting in experimental setup, data collection, and analysis.
Impact Data not yet synthesised into publication. Study will involve disciplines of nanotechnology and biotechnology.
Start Year 2015
 
Description BASF (Dr Bernd Bruchmann) 
Organisation BASF
Country Germany 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution The work conducted in partnership with Dr Bruchmann related to the inspiration grant "Nature-inspired Self-healing Materials from Plastic Waste". The main aims were: • To develop a method to thread macrocycle host molecules onto otherwise non-functional polyethylene backbones in order to form polyrotaxane polymers with modular characteristics. • To synthesise macrocycle with hydrogen bond arrays to exploit hydrogen bonding between the threaded macrocycles as a means to obtain polymer materials with healable properties. The main body of work was successfully conducted at UCL, while Dr Bruchmann was consulted on aspect of potential scalability and industrial relevance.
Collaborator Contribution Dr. Bernd Bruchmann currently heads the "Joint Research Network on Advanced Materials and Systems" (JONAS), a collaboration of BASF with ISIS Strasbourg, the University of Freiburg. He builds on a 30 year career within BASF, mainly related to the research and commercialisation of polymeric materials. To-date, BB has published 38 scientific papers and more than 250 patent applications. During this collaboration, BB served as industrial mentor concerning potential commercial exploitation. The project proposal and results were presented in two online presentations. Dr Bruchmann referred the principal scientist on this project to other potential collaborators within BASF, which led to further interactions.
Impact - Manuscript in preparation for publication. - Follow-up applications for joint funding in preparation. - Further partnership engagement with other stakeholders at BASF (presentations, material exchange/characterisation, proposals for funding etc)
Start Year 2018
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - Centre of Precision Healthcare, UCL 
Organisation University College London
Department Institute of Healthcare Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution THE CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant to fund the research in Investigating How Nature Inspired Hierarchical Structures Influence Cell Behaviour
Collaborator Contribution It is envisaged that the project will help reveal underlying fundamental mechanisms associated with material processing (TIPS / ice templating akin to ice formation in the natural world) and remodelling (due to hydrolytic induced degradation) that can be applied in a broader context to develop new healthcare materials that will provide an engineering-based solution to improving manufacturing efficiency and potency of clinical products. The CNIE will be credited for its financial suppport to this research.
Impact If successful, the new data generated during the proposed small project will be included in a research publication under preparation describing the new healthcare material technology. This will support future funding applications intended to translate the technology into clinical use.
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - Chemical Engineering Department 
Organisation University College London
Department Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant to fund the research in Electrolytes in regulating protein-mimetic amphiphilic nanoparticles.
Collaborator Contribution The partnership aligns with the CNIE vision adn will bring together other closer working with an external university.
Impact The partnership will extend to University of York, who are collaborating in this research and aligns with the CNIE visions.
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - Heriot-Watt University 
Organisation Heriot-Watt University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE has awarded an Inspiration Grant to carry out research on Bubble Self-Organisation in Annular Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds: Transition from 2D to 3D structures
Collaborator Contribution We expect to continue collaborating closely with Particulate Solid Research, Inc. and Heriot-Watt University looking at numerical and theoretical aspects in structured flows and pilot scale implementation in suitable applications
Impact None as yet
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - Imperial College London 
Organisation Imperial College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant to fund the research on Nature inspired 'cation channels' for all solid-state battery with the Imperial College London and with the Department of Chemical Engineering,UCL.
Collaborator Contribution Enhanced the collaborative working with both universities to research adn produce a solid state battery, a solution for electrified vehicles, the CNIE will be credited with giving support to the research.
Impact None as yet
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - UCL Eastman Dental Institute 
Organisation University College London
Department Eastman Dental Institute
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant for the research on Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery
Collaborator Contribution If successful the methodology has implications for a much wider range of clinical applications, such as dressings for skin wounds, cardiac patches and also patches for internal wounds such as hernias, which would benefit from direct and localised growth factor delivery. The CNIE will be credited for its financial suppport to this research.
Impact None at this stage.
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - UCL Eastman Dental Institute 
Organisation University College London
Department Eastman Dental Institute
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant for the research on Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery
Collaborator Contribution If successful the methodology has implications for a much wider range of clinical applications, such as dressings for skin wounds, cardiac patches and also patches for internal wounds such as hernias, which would benefit from direct and localised growth factor delivery. The CNIE will be credited for its financial suppport to this research.
Impact None at this stage.
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - UCL Mechanical Engineering 
Organisation University College London
Department Mechanical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant to fund the research of Microswimmer inspired microscale transport in complex fluids.
Collaborator Contribution The research is closely aligned with the vision of CNIE; it draws inspiration from nature and attempts to develop new tools within a truly interdisciplinary program, bringing together mathematicians, engineers, biologists and industry (JSR Genetics), to understand self-propulsion, guidance and natural selection at the microscale, exploiting ideas drawn from the reproductive tract and hence develop engineering solutions that can exploit these features to enhance microscale pumping and mixing, probe complex fluid rheology and develop active and self-organised fluid applications.
Impact This inspirational grant will enable a new collaboration between UCL, Bristol and JSR Genetics, and lay the foundations for a long-term partnership in investigating fluid-structure interaction phenomena inspired by micro-swimming behaviour and related applications within a truly innovative approach. We will capitalize on the preliminary data and momentum gained with this important inspirational grant to apply for a fully-fledged interdisciplinary EPSRC grant (e.g. Healthcare Technologies, Physics of Life or Manufacturing schemes). The proposed research will allow the PI to explore new avenues of research and build momentum within the fast growing active matter community.
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - University of Sheffield 
Organisation University of Sheffield
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant to fund the research of NATURE INSPIRED GREEN, TUNABLE & SCALABLE SYNTHESIS OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES.
Collaborator Contribution Joint resources shared for this research, further maintaining realtionship and collaboration.
Impact None as yet
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant - University of York (Dr Seishi Shimizu) collaboration 
Organisation University of York
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The CNIE awarded an Inspiration Grant for the research on protein-mimetic nanoparticles to 1) probe the self-assembly and clustering of amphiphilic gold nanoparticles induced by electrolyte screening; 2) to investigate the specific ion effect in regulating NP-NP interaction by comparing various counterions.
Collaborator Contribution The extensive expertise of Dr Seishi Shimizu in colloidal stability and molecular interaction brings solid theoretical guidance for the experimental work.
Impact Seminar titled Modulating the colloidal behaviour of amphiphilic nanoparticles given by us at the University of York
Start Year 2019
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant collaboration 
Organisation University of Bern
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Experimental facilities: X-ray micro-tomography, SEM, mercury porosimetry. Grain boundary modelling expertise.
Collaborator Contribution A specialist computer algorithm to digitally reconstruct porous rocks. Expertise on Lattice-Boltzmann modelling. Expertise on molecular modelling.
Impact Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving: Chemical engineering, chemistry, physics and geology.
Start Year 2015
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant collaboration 
Organisation University of Cambridge
Department BP Institute
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Experimental facilities: X-ray micro-tomography, SEM, mercury porosimetry. Grain boundary modelling expertise.
Collaborator Contribution A specialist computer algorithm to digitally reconstruct porous rocks. Expertise on Lattice-Boltzmann modelling. Expertise on molecular modelling.
Impact Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving: Chemical engineering, chemistry, physics and geology.
Start Year 2015
 
Description CNIE Inspiration Grant collaboration 
Organisation University of Surrey
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Experimental facilities: X-ray micro-tomography, SEM, mercury porosimetry. Grain boundary modelling expertise.
Collaborator Contribution A specialist computer algorithm to digitally reconstruct porous rocks. Expertise on Lattice-Boltzmann modelling. Expertise on molecular modelling.
Impact Multi-disciplinary collaboration involving: Chemical engineering, chemistry, physics and geology.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Centre for Grid Scale Energy: Energy for low carbon grids (EP/J021199/1). 
Organisation University College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We have been working on new designs to Redox flow battery systems, this includes running experimental and modelling analysis.
Collaborator Contribution Supply of Equipment, Facilities and knowledge to allow for investigatation of nature inspired designs to vanadium redox flow batteries.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2014
 
Description Collaboration EIL 
Organisation University College London
Department Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In-situ Raman spectroscopy for the investigation of PtO formation during fuel cell operation (Dr. Dan Brett) Use of Micro-Tomography as a Diagnostic Tool for Electrode Degradation in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (Dr. Paul Shearing)
Collaborator Contribution Raman, Microtomography studies
Impact Paper published on Electrochemistry Communications about the use of microtomography as a diagnostic tool for electrode degradation in vanadium redox flow batteries. Another paper is prepared on the use of in-situ Raman for the investigation of PtO formation mechanism during fuel cell operation
Start Year 2014
 
Description Collaboration McGill 
Organisation McGill University
Country Canada 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Synthesis of metal/metal alloy nanoparticles using electrospraying Synthesis of composite graphite fibers using electrospinning Modeling of electrolyte flow through the porous electrode
Collaborator Contribution Electrospinning training/consultation (McGill) Electrolyte flow modeling (UCL)
Impact No outputs yet. Collaboration just started.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Collaboration UCL Chemistry 
Organisation University College London
Department Department of Chemistry
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution - Functionalized graphene doped with metal nanoparticles as a novel electrode material for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries - Control of the distance between graphene layers - Synthesis Optimization of Hierarchically Ordered Micro-Meso Porous Ti-Silica for Heterogeneous Catalysis
Collaborator Contribution TEM, AFM, Raman, XPS and BET studies
Impact Manuscript entitled "Synthesis optimization of hierarchically ordered micro-meso porous Ti-Silica via a statistical model" will be submitted to Chemistry of Materials (ACS) in the coming weeks. Joint grant funding proposal submission to EPSRC by April 6th on "Advanced materials for energy generation and harvesting"
Start Year 2014
 
Description Collaboration Washington University at Saint Louis 
Organisation Washington University in St Louis
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Lead author of joint funding proposal to EPSRC-NSF scheme entitled "Nitrogen-Doped Functionalized Graphene Doped with Bimetallic Oxides as Electrode for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries"
Collaborator Contribution Synthesis of electrocatalysts / characterization (UCL) Characterization / battery testing (Washington U Saint Louis)
Impact Joint proposal to be submitted to EPSRC-NSF funding scheme during 2017
Start Year 2017
 
Description Collaboration with 'Green Nano-materials' research group from University of Sheffield 
Organisation University of Sheffield
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Design input of how to guide precipitation of silica nano-spheres onto designed and fabricated scaffolds of a particular shape.
Collaborator Contribution An insight and know-how on laboratory techniques of bio-inpired silica precipitations.
Impact This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration including architects and chemical engineers, with an output in a form of exhibited prototypes at the London Design Festival in 2018 at 'Biodesign Here Now' exhibition and a short movie exhibited at Centre Pompidou at the 'La Fabrique du Vivant' exhibition in 2019.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Collaboration with Diamond Light source 
Organisation Diamond Light Source
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution We collaborated with Synchrotron Radiation facility at Diamond Light source to investigated the crystallisation process using time-resolved in situ small angle and Wide angle X-ray scattering methods
Collaborator Contribution They provided the beam line and laboratory facilities, data collection strategy and data processing of the collected data
Impact We have recently collected X-ray absorption spectroscopic data at Diamond Light Source. The data being processed for publications
Start Year 2008
 
Description Collaboration with Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT) 
Organisation Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Country Germany 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The collaboration with the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT) was established to support the parabolic flight. This included the following: Malica Schmidt, PhD student in the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering (CNIE), led a successful research project on nature-inspired multifunctional surfaces that was conducted as part of the 35th DLR parabolic flight campaign in September 2020. This included formulating the research, the design of the rack, the procedures, the analysis, and the administrative and technical documentation required by Novespace. She was also the active participant during the parabolic flight.
Collaborator Contribution KIT was responsible for the manufacturing of half of the nature-inspired multifunctional surfaces (15 surfaces).
Impact - Successful parabolic flight, which led to a new proposal for scaling up as well as the continuation of collaboration.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Collaboration with Universitity of Bristol, Engineering Mathematics (2019-now) 
Organisation University of Bristol
Department Queen's School of Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We have developed microfuidic and experimental tools to study microswimmer behaviour and the flow induced by it in order to develop nature inspired solutions for process engineering.
Collaborator Contribution The partner is a mathematician with extensive expertise in microswimmers. He has provided fundamental insight on microswimming as well as mathematical tools and industrial contacts.
Impact Multidisciplinary collaboration; resulted in experimental data that can lead to publication and follow on grant.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Collaboration with electronic materials and devices research group: bio-inspired separation membrane preparation 
Organisation University College London
Department Electronic Materials and Devices Research Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Membrane preparation, modification and characterization.
Collaborator Contribution Template preparation with lithography.
Impact Composite silica-si/polymer membranes for water purification or bio-separation. The design of this membrane is inspired by the structure of the biological prototypes. The Si or polymer template applied here is prepared by lithography, the high-energy physical method. The silica nanochannel array growing on the template is conducted by chemical synthesis. And the separation or filtration characterization is conducted with the separation and filtration techniques in chemical engineering.
Start Year 2016
 
Description Collaboration with industry-JSR Genetics 
Organisation JSR Genetics
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution New tools for sperm motility
Collaborator Contribution THye have provided materials for the research, staff time and expertise on handling sperm samples
Impact Pilot data for follow on grant
Start Year 2019
 
Description Collaboration with membrane science and technology research group in University of Bath: bio-inspired separation membrane 
Organisation University of Bath
Department Department of Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Lead author of the joint project entitled "Polymeric nanotubes on anodic alumina substrate", in charge of membrane design, synthesis, and characterization.
Collaborator Contribution Filtration characterization and porosity measurement.
Impact The collaboration is still in process, no outcomes yet.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) 
Organisation European Space Agency
Department European Astronaut Centre (EAC)
Country Germany 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) was established to validate microgravity aspects. It included the following: - Malica Schmidt was the PI for a successful research project that was conducted as part of the 35th DLR parabolic flight campaign in September 2020. She ran the project, this included the fabrication of the research, the design of the rack, the procedures, the analysis, and the administrative and technical documentation required by Novespace. She was also the active participant during the parabolic flight.
Collaborator Contribution It included the following from ESA's side: - ESA was responsible for providing technical expertise for this project.
Impact - Successful parabolic flight.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Collabration with NETL multiphase flow research group 
Organisation National Energy Technology Laboratory
Country United States 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. -Provided experimental data for validating their developing multiphase flow model.
Collaborator Contribution -Tested CFD simulations with their latest developed two-fluid models and coarse grain DEM models. The computed results are promising.
Impact No impact yet
Start Year 2016
 
Description Collabration with Particulate Solid Research Inc. (PSRI) 
Organisation Particulate Solid Research
Country United States 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. -Provided experimental data and information for simulating pattern formation in fluidized beds using CPFD approach.
Collaborator Contribution - Performed CPFD simulations with Barracuda software. The computed results are promising.
Impact No impact yet
Start Year 2014
 
Description Collabration with TU/e multiphase flow research group 
Organisation Eindhoven University of Technology
Country Netherlands 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. - Conducted experiments and two-fluid simulations to understand pattern formation in fluidized beds. - Provided experimental data of pulsed quasi-2D fluidized beds to guide the simulations carried out in TU Eindhoven. - Supervised a visiting BSc student (Annelien Schijve) for the dissertation from TU Eindhoven - Supervised a visiting BSc student (Van Dijk, Mark) for the dissertation from TU Eindhoven
Collaborator Contribution - Provided the computation resource (cluster) and guidance on the modelling software. - Sent a BSc student (Annelien Schijve) to conduct simulations in our group. - Sent a BSc student (Van Dijk, Mark) to conduct simulations in our group.
Impact Conference proceedings - K. Wu et al. Multiscale Modeling of Pattern Formation in Pulsed Fluidized Beds: Continuum and Discrete Approaches. Fluidization XV 2016.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Collabration with TU/e multiphase flow research group on investigating two-fluid model closure 
Organisation Eindhoven University of Technology
Department Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Country Netherlands 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. - Conducted two-fluid simulations to test different model closures in terms of reproducing the pattern formation. - Provided experimental data of pulsed quasi-2D fluidized beds to guide the simulations carried out in TU Eindhoven.
Collaborator Contribution - Conducted two-fluid simulations to test different model closures in terms of reproducing the pattern formation. - Guidance on the modelling software.
Impact No impact yet
Start Year 2018
 
Description ConceptionX PhD entrepreneurship programme 
Organisation Barclays
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution we have established a pioneering PhD entrepreneurship programme with funding of £1.2m from Barclays to roll it out across UK universities. As part of our ongoing collaboration with PUC-Rio we will be helping PUC-Rio to establish the PhD entrepreneurship programme across the State of Rio de Janeiro
Collaborator Contribution PUC-Rio raising funding from State of Rio de Janeiro
Impact none
Start Year 2019
 
Description ConceptionX PhD entrepreneurship programme 
Organisation Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Country Brazil 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution we have established a pioneering PhD entrepreneurship programme with funding of £1.2m from Barclays to roll it out across UK universities. As part of our ongoing collaboration with PUC-Rio we will be helping PUC-Rio to establish the PhD entrepreneurship programme across the State of Rio de Janeiro
Collaborator Contribution PUC-Rio raising funding from State of Rio de Janeiro
Impact none
Start Year 2019
 
Description Dept Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering of UCL 
Organisation University College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. This project requires combining fluidization and vibration experiments. Fluidization experiments are conduced in Dept Chemical Engineering
Collaborator Contribution Vibration experiments are conducted in the Dept Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, using their equipment and facilities
Impact Experimental data
Start Year 2014
 
Description Dept. Computer Science, UCL 
Organisation University College London
Department Department of Computer Science
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Supervision of a MSc student to work on the development of a C++ code to simulate agent-based emergent structures
Collaborator Contribution Supervision of a MSc student to work on the development of a C++ code to simulate agent-based emergent structures
Impact No outcome
Start Year 2015
 
Description EPFL (Prof Francesco Stellacci) collaboration 
Organisation Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
Country Switzerland 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Comprehensive study of the colloidal behaviours of amphiphilic gold nanoparticles in the presence of small biomolecules by small angle scattering in aim to uncover the mechanism of hydrotropic stabilisation and hydrophobic forces.
Collaborator Contribution The extensive expertise of Dr Zhi Luo and Prof Francesco Stellacci in colloidal stability and molecular interaction brings solid theoretical and experimental guidance.
Impact This project sits at the interface of nanomaterials, biology and chemistry and has profound impacts in the colloidal stability of biomolecules.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Guest Research Role and Collaboration with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) 
Organisation German Aerospace Centre (DLR)
Country Germany 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The guest research role and collaboration with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) was established to validate microgravity and microbial research aspects. It included the following: - Malica Schmidt was the PI for a successful research project that was conducted as part of the 35th DLR parabolic flight campaign in September 2020. She ran the project, this included the fabrication of the research, the design of the rack, the procedures, the analysis, and the administrative and technical documentation required by Novespace. She was also the active participant during the parabolic flight. - Malica was the Co-I for the successful research project "Touching Surfaces" that was implemented on the International Space Station (ISS) during the Alpha and Cosmic Kiss Missions. She was responsible for the manufacturing of the research, attachment to the hardware, technical documentation, and logistic support. - She is the Co-I for the upcoming project "Contamination Tracking and Antimicrobial Testing Surfaces (ConTACTS)" that will be implemented on Concordia Research Station in Antarctica for winter-over 2022/2023. - She also has conducted initial microbial experimentation at the DLR facilities for one week.
Collaborator Contribution It included the following from DLR side: - The DLR was responsible for funding the parabolic flight project, providing medical testing, and building the rack as well as providing professional and logistical support. - The DLR is PI of the "Touching Surfaces" project on the ISS. - The DLR is PI of the "ConTACTS" project that will be on Concordia Research Station in Antarctica.
Impact - Successful parabolic flight - Successful ISS flight - Successful proposal for Concordia Research Station
Start Year 2019
 
Description Hierarchical Hybrid Particles for Targeted Drug Delivery 
Organisation University College London
Department Division of Medicine
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Synthesized, characterized and provided mesoporous silica microparticles for use in hybrid PLGA particle synthesis. Characterized Hierarchical hybrid particles.
Collaborator Contribution Synthesized and characterized hybrid PLGA particles.
Impact Multi-disciplinary: Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine Research is in progress.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Hierarchically ordered titanosilicate microspheres for heterogeneous catalysis 
Organisation University College London
Department Department of Chemistry
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Design, synthesis and characterisation of the titanosilicate material.
Collaborator Contribution Characterisation of titanosilicate material: Raman spectroscopy, High resolution transmission electron microscopy, Nitrogen physisorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Impact This is a multidisciplinary collaboration between departments of Chemical engineering and Chemistry, UCL.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Hierarchically ordered titanosilicate microspheres for heterogeneous catalysis 
Organisation University College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Design, synthesis and characterisation of the titanosilicate material.
Collaborator Contribution Characterisation of titanosilicate material: Raman spectroscopy, High resolution transmission electron microscopy, Nitrogen physisorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Impact This is a multidisciplinary collaboration between departments of Chemical engineering and Chemistry, UCL.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Induced Protein Crystalization 
Organisation AstraZeneca
Department Research and Development AstraZeneca
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Synthesized and Characterized mesoporous nucleant materials. Traveled to AstraZeneca Cambridge to conduct experimental over 10,000 experimental trials.
Collaborator Contribution Provided experimental facilities, equipment, expertise, guidance, and training to conduct the experiments.
Impact Multi-disciplinary: Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Protein Crystallization, Medicine Research is in progress. Manuscript in production.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Knowledge Transfer Network - Special Interest Group on Nature Inspired Solutions 
Organisation Knowledge Transfer Network
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The Centre co-hosting a national Nature Inspired Solution event, which led to further network opportunities and positioning the Centre to becoming a National Nature Inspired Solution hub.
Collaborator Contribution The use of thier contacts and network led to over 123 registered participants
Impact New partnerships formed with other academics and industry.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Magnetically responsive flexible, robust materials, inspired by nature 
Organisation The Royal Institution of Great Britain
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of magnetic foam materials, responsive to an external magnetic field
Collaborator Contribution Provide laboratory facilities to conduct experiments. Collaboration in experimental design & implementation
Impact Multi-disciplinary: Materials Chemistry Chemical Engineering Mechanical Engineering
Start Year 2014
 
Description Metal 3D printing via Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) 
Organisation Imperial College London
Department Department of Mechanical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We tested and 3D printed nature-inspired fractal flow field
Collaborator Contribution 15 nature-inspired fractal flow field 3D printed at Imperial College London
Impact We published a paper on the obtained results - "A Lung-Inspired Approach to Scalable and Robust Fuel Cell Design"
Start Year 2016
 
Description NICE collaborations between UCL and Zhejiang University 
Organisation Zhejiang University
Country China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Currently working on collaborative projects in the context of Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering are students Shuxian Jiang (MsC) and Shuman Xu (PhD) from Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China.
Collaborator Contribution Currently working on collaborative projects in the context of Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering are students Shuxian Jiang (MsC) and Shuman Xu (PhD) from Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China.
Impact PhD scholarship awarded for Shuman Xu to join the NICE group for one year.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Neutron imaging experiment at HZB 
Organisation Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Department Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy
Country Germany 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We visualized water distribution in mesh and parallel based PEMFC (with water management strategy) using neutron radiography
Collaborator Contribution They provided facility for us to conduct the experiment
Impact We are in a process of writing a research paper based on the results we obtained.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Neutron imaging experiment at PSI 
Organisation Paul Scherrer Institute
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We visualized water distribution in fractal flow-field based PEMFC using neutron radiography
Collaborator Contribution They provided facility for us to conduct the experiment
Impact We are in a process of writing a research paper based on the results we obtained.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Particulate Solid Research Inc 
Organisation Particulate Solid Research
Country United States 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution - Provided experimental results to simulate pattern formation in fluidized beds by CFD
Collaborator Contribution - Performed CFD simulations with Barracuda software, not available in our department
Impact Not outcomes yet
Start Year 2015
 
Description PhD Collaboration with Goldman Sachs 
Organisation Deutsche Bank
Country Germany 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution research collaboration with Goldman Sachs on AI Algorithm performance we are working with GS to establish an Industry-funded CDT in Financial Computing
Collaborator Contribution funding contribution for PhD student aim to recruit 5-6 financial institutions to fund PhD students
Impact We have produced two publications: Algorithms and The Law, IEEE COMPUTER, ( Volume: 52 , Issue: 2 , Feb. 2019 ) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8672418 The Computer Journal, Volume 61, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 399-408, https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxx103 have produced a number of publications most significant: Algorithms in Future Capital Markets, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3527511
Start Year 2019
 
Description Product Development Collaboration Agreement 
Organisation Geistlich
Country Switzerland 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Our part of the project was to provide the intellectual property that was developed within this award. In addition we provided funding for an in-vivo animal study that will form part of an eventual CE mark application.
Collaborator Contribution Gesitlich are covering the costs of all regulatory steps towards applying for a CE mark for a novel bone graft material developed within this project. This includes packaging, sterilisation, and establishing manufacturing protocols.
Impact Outpus are currently being generated.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Project authors 
Organisation University College London
Department Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution I am a researcher within the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering in the Chemical Engineering department. The Centre group, led by Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens, seeks to discover fundamental mechanisms behind desirable features in certain biological systems, such as scalability, robustness and efficiency, and apply these to development of technological solutions to challenges related to sustainability and scalable manufacturing. Thus, a combination of theoreticians, computational and experimental researchers is required. Currently, I investigate the characteristics of the protein contact interface with mesoporous materials through all-atom molecular dynamics simulation. This research is essential to improve applications in drug delivery, bioseparations, and biocatalysis.
Collaborator Contribution Their expertise on mesoporous materials and molecular thermodynamics provide valuable guidance for my project.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2015
 
Description Project authors 
Organisation University College London
Department Department of Chemistry
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution I am a researcher within the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering in the Chemical Engineering department. The Centre group, led by Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens, seeks to discover fundamental mechanisms behind desirable features in certain biological systems, such as scalability, robustness and efficiency, and apply these to development of technological solutions to challenges related to sustainability and scalable manufacturing. Thus, a combination of theoreticians, computational and experimental researchers is required. Currently, I investigate the characteristics of the protein contact interface with mesoporous materials through all-atom molecular dynamics simulation. This research is essential to improve applications in drug delivery, bioseparations, and biocatalysis.
Collaborator Contribution Their expertise on mesoporous materials and molecular thermodynamics provide valuable guidance for my project.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2015
 
Description Research collaboration with Dr Zena Hadjivasiliou, University of Geneva 
Organisation University of Geneva
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Producing mathematical model of mating type evolution
Collaborator Contribution Computational simulation and mathematical modelling
Impact http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/518654
Start Year 2018
 
Description SAXSLAB / Xenocs 
Organisation Xenocs SAS
Country France 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Use of steat-of-the-art, evolving equipment for X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS/GISAXS), and providing insights through frontier research that are also useful to the company for further improving their instruments.
Collaborator Contribution The partner allowed us access to their expertise, especially in area of Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) systems, and exclusive support for maintenance and improved use of the instrument.
Impact CNIE researchers have been trained to use Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) scattering systems. Several journal articles have used the equipment, including one in Science (2023) that was enabled by it.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Selective photocatalytic reactions 
Organisation University College London
Department Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Designing and conducting organic reactions to test selectivity of photo-active catalysts
Collaborator Contribution Synthesis of catalysts
Impact Project still at early stages
Start Year 2016
 
Description Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Structural Investigation of Protein Confined in Mesoporous Silica 
Organisation Julich Research Centre
Country Germany 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Preparation and characterization of mesoporous silicas and protein porous material composites. Aided in conducting the SANS experiments. Aided in evaluation of SANS analysis and results.
Collaborator Contribution Provided equipment for and conducted the SANS experiments. Completed SANS modeling analysis.
Impact Multi-disciplinary: Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Neutron Science, Structural Physics Research is in progress. Manuscript in production.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Study for the industrial uptake of a novel intensified technology 
Organisation National Nuclear Laboratory
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Test the applicability of the process in the separation of certain metal components (e.g. depleted uranium) from nitric acid solutions of spent fuel by organic solvents.
Collaborator Contribution In-kind contribution to this project in the form of staff time, providing materials, and use of their site facilities whenever required.
Impact The project will offer convincing case studies in support for applying these novel technologies in standard engineering practice.
Start Year 2016
 
Description Supported gold catalyst materials to enhance propylene epoxidation 
Organisation University of Utah
Department Department of Chemical Engineering
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We have designed new approaches to make new different catalyst for the epoxidation reaction.
Collaborator Contribution The discussion with collaborators is extremely helpful to modify the designs of the catalyst. It gives me new directions and ideas to work on the project. The guidance by the collaborator help me to be on the right track in the project.
Impact We are in the process of writing a research paper based on the results.
Start Year 2016
 
Description Supported gold catalyst materials with locally controlled chemical and geometric environments for enhanced propylene epoxidation 
Organisation Sabic Americas, Inc.
Country United States 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution We are trying to make new gold based catalyst for the epoxidation reaction. This has led us to write a research paper.
Collaborator Contribution The discussion with collaborators is extremely helpful giving new directions and insight in the project. We use their facilities for catalyst testing.
Impact We are in a process of writing new article based on the current research.
Start Year 2015
 
Description TU Berlin collaboration 
Organisation Technical University Berlin
Country Germany 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Catalyst (metal/metal alloy nanoparticles) mobility on novel non-carbon supports for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Collaborator Contribution SAXS and EXAFS studies
Impact No outputs yet. The collaboration started in November 2014
Start Year 2014
 
Description TU Eindhoven 
Organisation Eindhoven University of Technology
Country Netherlands 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. - Conducted experiments and two-fluid simulations to understand pattern formation in fluidized beds. Our results are used to guide the simulations carried out in TU Eindhoven. - Supervised a visiting BSc student (Annelien Schijve) from TU Eindhoven
Collaborator Contribution - Sent a BSc student (Annelien Schijve) to conduct simulations in our group. - Provided computational resources (cluster)
Impact Conference proceedings - K. Wu et al. Multiscale modeling of pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds: continuum and discrete approaches. Fluidization XV 2016.
Start Year 2014
 
Description TUDelft 
Organisation Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
Country Netherlands 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration concerns the project Pattern formation in pulsed fluidized beds. - Provided a researcher to conduct experiments in Delft - Supervised a MSc student from Delft (Coen Ottevanger)
Collaborator Contribution - Provided experimental equipment and facilities not inmediately available in our department. Built a set-up especially designed for this project. - Shipped equipment to UCL - Provided a MSc to work on this project. Part of the experiments are done in Delft and part in UCL.
Impact We are expected to publish the results arisen from this collaboration.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Transmission Electron Microscopy of small gold clusters 
Organisation University of Cape Town
Department Department of Psychology
Country South Africa 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We have synthesized some new gold clusters and gold based catalyst.
Collaborator Contribution Our collaborators help us to characterize our samples by High Annular dark-field imaging scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) facility.
Impact We are in a process of writing a research paper based on the results we obtained.
Start Year 2016
 
Description University of Bath CNIE Inspiration Grant 
Organisation University of Bath
Department Department of Chemical Engineering
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution CNIE Inspiration Grant was awarded to perform a collaboratory project - Nature inspired graphene-based membrane for water treatment, between the CNIE and the University of Bath.
Collaborator Contribution Scientific input
Impact No impact yet
Start Year 2020
 
Description University of Fribourg (Dr Stephen Schrettl) 
Organisation University of Fribourg
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The work conducted in partnership with Dr Schrettl related to the theme "Nature-inspired Self-healing Materials from Plastic Waste" The main aims were: • To develop a method to thread macrocycle host molecules onto otherwise non-functional polyethylene backbones in order to form polyrotaxane polymers with modular characteristics. • To synthesise macrocycle with hydrogen bond arrays to exploit hydrogen bonding between the threaded macrocycles as a means to obtain polymer materials with healable properties. The main body of work was successfully conducted at UCL, while Dr Schrettl acted as collaborator and mentor on themes related to his expertise.
Collaborator Contribution Dr. Stephen Schrettl is a Senior Scientist at the Adolphe Merkle Institute and and Research Group Leader of the Supramolecular Materials group with currently 7 PhD students and 1 PDRA. His research interests include the structure-property relationship of supramolecular polymers, the development of bio-inspired materials based on non-covalent interactions, as well as the preparation of responsive polymers and composites. SS has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles (incl. Nature Chemistry (2x 1st authorship), Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie and JACS.) as well as two conference proceedings, one book chapter, and two patents. In this collaboration, the contribution of Dr Schrettl related to the characterisation of supramolecular composites (calorimetry, NMR) and overall mentoring of related research. Dr Schrettl also visited the department and gave a seminar, which stimulated further interaction.
Impact - Manuscript in preparation for publication. - Follow-up applications for joint funding in preparation. - Further partnership envisaged with Swiss National Competence Centre for Bioinspired Materials (exchange of research, training programmes etc)
Start Year 2018
 
Description University of Nottingham (Prof Neil Champness) 
Organisation University of Nottingham
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The work conducted in partnership with Prof Champness related to the theme "Nature-inspired Self-healing Materials from Plastic Waste" The main aims were: • To develop a method to thread macrocycle host molecules onto otherwise non-functional polyethylene backbones in order to form polyrotaxane polymers with modular characteristics. • To synthesise macrocycle with hydrogen bond arrays to exploit hydrogen bonding between the threaded macrocycles as a means to obtain polymer materials with healable properties. The main body of work was successfully conducted at UCL.
Collaborator Contribution Prof. Neil Champness is the Professor of Chemical Nanoscience at the University of Nottingham. His research focus on chemical nanoscience and all aspects of molecular organisation. NC has published over 250 articles with more than 19,000 citations (h-index 72). His contributions have been recognised by multiple awards. He was named as a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher (2014-2016) and one of the Top 100 Most Cited Chemists of the previous decade worldwide (2011). NC provided some of the synthetic building components and served as scientific mentor. He hosted experiments on materials preparation (via ball milling) and characterisation thereof.
Impact - Manuscript in preparation for publication.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Zhejiang University 
Organisation Zhejiang University
Country China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Expertise on nature-inspired chemical engineering, catalysis, student guidance and mentoring.
Collaborator Contribution Funding for visiting PhD student for 18 months. Access to excellent other student who did MSc at ZJU co-advised by Marc-Olivier Coppens and is now doing her PhD at the UCL CNIE.
Impact Joint research articles, PhD students, combining expertise on fluid mechanics and catalysis.
Start Year 2018
 
Title Bone graft system 
Description Novel low density silicate-based synthetic biomaterial that precipitates bone and teeth mineral. Potential applications include bone substitute and remineralization. 
IP Reference GB1513040.4 
Protection Patent application published
Year Protection Granted 2015
Licensed Commercial In Confidence
Impact In progress to form a spin-out company
 
Title AeroGraft 
Description AeroGraft is a synthetic granular bone substitute made partly of the same mineral bone is made of. We have developed technology to be able to completely alter the composition and the density of the material; this gives us ultimate control over its properties. Consequently we are developing two products a AeroGraft-F and AeroGraft-S which both have high osseointegration rates (>90%) but differing remodeling rates (3-4 months and indefinite) that meet the need of dentists for their various clinical procedures. Our technology is different and advantageous compared to any conventional materials used which have poor osseointegration values (~45%) and remodeling rates (2-3 years). We have competed in-vitro testing and developed a number of compositions which we are taking to animal in-vivo stage. A pre-clinical pilot in-vivo study has been planned to begin in February. This will be a four animal miniature pig study performing alveolar socket grafting, to be performed in Sweden, using six test materials and two control materials. The results of this will be used to refine which composition to take forward for further pre-clinical in-vivo testing. Secondly the results will be used to provide figures to base statistical significance upon for future animal in-vivo studies. We will measure osseointegration as bone-to-graft contact and remodeling rates using fluorochrome labels. This will be compared against the results the two control materials. 
Type Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices
Current Stage Of Development Refinement. Non-clinical
Year Development Stage Completed 2014
Development Status Actively seeking support
Impact We have received £15,000 as prize money from the Royal Academy of Engineering after winning the JC Gammon Award. The preclinical development is currently being performed at UCL where a post-doc and MSc student currently working on it. 
 
Title AeroGraft further development 
Description Commercialization funding secured. Confidential 
Type Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices
Current Stage Of Development Refinement. Non-clinical
Year Development Stage Completed 2016
Development Status Under active development/distribution
Impact N/a 
 
Title Bioactive Aerogel - Remineralisation Agent 
Description Bioactive Aerogel is a novel material developed for enamle remineralisation (amoungst other applications). It is a silicate based amorphous with an ultra-low density. It is made of a silica polymer network and is bioactive (able to produce hydroxyapatite on its surface) due to the incorporation of calcium and phosphate ions in the silicate network. The silicate network can be designed to control the rate of hydroxyapatite formation on the material surface and the degradation rate of the silica in-vivo. The advantages of our technology are: • Rapid action compared to comparative products • More resistant to acid challenge • 'Smart' technology that releases Ca2+, PO4- and F- ions when in acid environment 
Type Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices
Current Stage Of Development Refinement. Non-clinical
Year Development Stage Completed 2019
Development Status Under active development/distribution
Impact We have shown the cost to produce these materials compared to conventional materials used for the same application is 56% cheaper. 
 
Title xCT - VRFBs 
Description x-Ray Microtomography can be used as a diagnostic tool for electrode degradation in vanadium redox flow batteries 
Type Of Technology New/Improved Technique/Technology 
Year Produced 2014 
Impact US Pacific Northwest National Lab requested collaboration in order to use the 3D microtomography data to model the electrolyte flow through the catalyst structure 
 
Company Name AeroGraft 
Description AeroGraft is a (or will be) an innovative medical device and dental products company. Our first product, currently under development, is a granular bone graft substitute for dentistry that is used to rebuild bone in anticipation for an implant fitting after tooth loss. It has been designed to integrate well with the host bone and then be remodelled by the body and replaced by host bone to allow implant placement. This product has been developed to tailor different remodelling rates and with osseointegration values far superior to existing products and ideal for surgeons. 
Year Established 2013 
Impact JC Gammon Award and Enterprise Fellowship Award from Royal Academy of Engineering
 
Company Name ZeOss 
Description AeroGraft, our first product currently under development, is a granular bone graft substitute developed for dentistry that is used to repair the jaw bone in anticipation for fitting an implant after tooth loss. It has been designed so that once it is in the body it is integrated into the bone and then be remodeled by the body and replace by host bone to allow implant placement. We have developed a product that is able to exactly tailor the remodeling rate to give osseointegration values that is far superior to existing products and ideal for surgeons. 
Year Established 2013 
Impact Won JC Gammon Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering
 
Description 'Biogenic Architecture' at the Ars Electronica Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Nina Jotanovic presented her work on Biogenic Architecture this year at the Ars Electronica. Ars Electronica 2020 offered a duality of local-physical and globally networked events all over the world. Across the Ars Electronica's international network, "real" events took place in many places, with "real" artists and scientists for "real" audiences, all of which were networked into a festival from September 9 to 13 2020.
The project is a collaboration between the Bartlett School of Architecture and the CNIE and is closely linked to the team of Bio-ID.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=GymepV1zepQ
 
Description 'Novel Analytical Techniques' conference, 10th November, London 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 'Novel Analytical Techniques' conference was co-organised by by Quantachrome and CNIE at 10th November at UCL. This covered such areas as BET, Mercury Porosimetry, Chemisorption, True density measurement and Dynamic sorption methods. This helped to engage and educate postgraduate students and researchers. The event generated requests for further infromation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/assets/uploads/general/10th-November-Seminar-programme-r...
 
Description 'Sustainable Materials Inspired by the Living world for Energy (SMILE 2016)', IFPEN/RUEIL - 6-8 April 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens was an invited Keynote Speaker at 'Sustainable Materials Inspired by the Living world for Energy (SMILE 2016).This Conference is endorsed by the French Academy of Science.

Topics were on bio-inspired materials (biomimetic functional materials, biocatalysts, green materials, synthetic materials) with improved (bulk or surface) properties and use. Non restrictive examples are biopolymer hybrids, biotemplates and bioreactors used for a number of applications, including heterogeneous catalysis, dual catalysis, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, energy storage, etc.

This improved CNIE visibility and generated additional interest to CNIE research and methodology developed. Also new industrial links and further discussions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-participates-in-sustainable-materials-inspired...
 
Description 19th German Aerospace Centre (DLR) Biology Gravimeeting in Erlangen, Germany 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Malica Schmidt presented at the DLR Gravimeeting Congress in Erlangen with the topic on microgravity research as a direct outcome from the 35th DLR Parabolic Flight Campaign.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description 1st International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing (ICAM22) for Air, Space and Land Transportation, ESA and NASA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The aim of the 1st International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing (ICAM22) for Air, Space and Land Transportation organised by ESA and NASA was to promote and facilitate discussion and exchange of experience among members of the various engineering disciplines concerned with air, space and land transportation. This will cover design, development, assembly, integration and verification aspects. Bringing together the space, aeronautics and land transportation engineering manufacturing community, will maximise the cross-fertilisation opportunities, promoting an inter-sectorial technical and commercial exchange worldwide. Malica Schmidt presented her research, which increased the awareness of the research, especially in the additive manufacturing community.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://atpi.eventsair.com/icam22/
 
Description 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco USA, November 13-18, 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. Academic and industry experts will cover wide range of topics relevant to cutting-edge research, new technologies, and emerging growth areas in chemical engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2016
 
Description 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, US 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. A number of CNIE researchers presented and showcased their research at the event. Dr Panos Trogadas (CNIE Postdoc) chaired a new session with MO Coppens on Nature-Inspired Electrochemical Systems. MO Coppens also presented two invited presentations, one for a session in honour of Prof Mori, and one on the occasion of his reception of the PTF PSRI Lectureship Award for Fluidization. CNIE alumni presented as well.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/2017-aiche-annual-meeting
 
Description 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, US 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation entitled: Conditions for Pattern Formation in Pulsed Fluidized Beds
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2017
 
Description 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, US 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation entitled: FULL-ATOM MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS OF LYSOZYME CONFINED IN REALISTIC SILICA MESOPORES - INSIGHTS IN CONFORMATION AND ACCESSIBILITY OF ACTIVE SITES
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/2017-aiche-annual-meeting
 
Description 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, US 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation entitled: Bio-Inspired Optimization to Improve Water Permeability and Anti-fouling of Membrane
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2017
 
Description 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting, November 10-15, Orlando, US 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Paper presentation entitled: Bubble Self-Arrangement in Annular Gas-Solid Fluidized Beds
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2019
 
Description 235th Electrochemical Society (ECS) conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Technical oral presentation on the project titled "lung-inspired PCB fuel cells" at the 235th ECS conference, 2019, Dallas, TX, USA. The conference had an audience from academia, industry, business and students. The presentation introduced a new facet of fuel cell engineering to a wider audience, with considerable interest shown, especially by industry and business, to know more about the ongoing developments.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://ma.ecsdl.org/content/MA2019-01/30/1474.short
 
Description 23rd International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (ISCRE 23), 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact served as invited keynote presentation, session chair and in scientific committee. Attracted significant interest to CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.iscre23.com/home/
 
Description 25th International Conference on Chemical Reaction Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CNIE's Nidhi Kapil and Dr Victor Francia presented at the 25th International Conference on Chemical Reaction Engineering in Florence on 20-23 May 2018. A talk from CNIE on 'Supported gold catalytic nanoparticles with molecular control over the chemical and geometric environment', was presented at the event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.aidic.it/iscre25/index.php
 
Description 26th European Low Gravity Association (ELGRA) & 14th International Two-Phase Systems for Space and Ground Applications (ITTW) Conference in Granada, Spain 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The 26th European Low Gravity Association (ELGRA) conference was held jointly with the 14th International Conference on Two-Phase Systems for Space and Ground Applications (ITTW) in Granada, Spain. It included more than 200 oral presentations and plenary talks in celebration of ELGRA's 40th anniversary. ELGRA is a non-profit international society devoted to the promotion of scientific research under various gravity conditions in Europe. During the conference, Malica Schmidt presented her research and received two awards. The first was the Best Oral Presentation in physical sciences and the second was the 2nd best Gravity Related Image "Aquaphile" (see awards section), which increased interest in her research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.elgra2019.com
 
Description 3rd CNIE Advisory Board Meeting and mini-Conference, London, 22-23 March, 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presentations were made by CNIE members and collaborators. The open session were available for students, researchers, staff and invited guests. This sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Also, the event had an open Poster Session where student, researchers and collaborators presented their research projects. This facilitated a borader engagement with participants and their involvement into CNIE on-going activities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/3rd-cnie-advisory-board-meeting-london-22-23-march-...
 
Description 43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Oral conference presentation at the 43rd Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Scientific Assembly, Sydney, Australia.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.cospar2020.org/
 
Description 4th EPSRC Future in Manufacturing Conference, Cambridge, UK, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Gave an invited presentation at the 4th EPSRC Manufacturing the Future Conference, entitled: Nature Inspired Engineering: Addressing challenges in sustainability and scalable manufacturing. Some of the UK's leading academics, industrialists and senior government representatives discussed how new research and government programmes can support the needs of the UK's key manufacturing sectors.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://ukmanufacturing2015.eng.cam.ac.uk
 
Description 4th European Young Engineers Conference, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact gave a presentation on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering at Warsaw University of Technology (WUT), leading engineering school in Poland, on the occasion of the 4th European Young Engineers Conference, focused mainly on Process Engineering PhD students, and intended for undergraduate and graduate students. Generated significant interest and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.eyec.ichip.pw.edu.pl/
 
Description 4th International School on Sustainable Chemistry and Energies, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation titled, "Nature-Inspired Design and Synthesis of Porous Materials for Catalysis and Separations" and participation in the round table session devoted to discussion on the theme "Multiscale Approaches of process intensification". This sparked questions and discussion afterwards, helped to create new collaborative links.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.polechimie-balard.fr/actualites/922/ecole-internationale-total-2016.htm
 
Description 5th CNIE Advisory Board Meeting and Conference, London, 24-25 January, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presentations were made by CNIE members and collaborators. The open session were available for students, researchers, staff and invited guests. This sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Also, the event had an open Poster Session where student, researchers and collaborators presented their research projects. This facilitated a borader engagement with participants and their involvement into CNIE on-going activities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-annual-advisory-board-meeting-and-conference
 
Description 61st London International Youth Science Forum 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens was invited to be a speaker and facilitator at the "Science at the Interface" Specialist Study Day, at the 61st London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF). The LIYSF is a two-week residential event in London, held this year between 24th July to 7th August 2019 at Imperial College London and the Royal Geographical Society.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.liysf.org.uk/
 
Description 8th Sino-U.S. Conference of Chemical Engineering, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The theme of the 8th conference was "New Era of Chemical Engineering", emphasizing not only the role of chemical engineers in the development of clean and sustainable processes, but also exploring the frontiers for developing fundamentals needed to tackle these challenges. So it perfectly suits CNIE. I was chairing the session on Particle Technology and gave two invited presentations. This let to requests for further informational and significant interest to CNIE initiatives.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description 8th World Congress on Particle Technology 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens, Dr Victor Francia and Kaiqiao Wu from the CNIE presented at the 8th World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT), held in conjunction with the 2018 AIChE Spring Meeting & 14th Global Congress on Process Safety. At the event, Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens presented a plenary talk on, 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering - a Pathway to Innovation in Particle Technology', as well as an educational workshop with Prof Daniel Lepek from The Cooper Union on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) applications in particle technology. Together they discussed the NICE methodology and the development of a NICE course for senior undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students.

Victor Francia and Kaiqiao Wu also gave talks on CNIE's theme 3 'Dynamic Self-Organisation'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/marc-olivier-coppens-to-present-at-the-8th-world-c...
 
Description 8th World Congress on Particle Technology, Orlando, FL, USA, April 22-26, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation -Structured Flow of Bubbles in Pulsed Fluidized Beds: Pattern Stabilization
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/world-congress-on-particle-technology/2018
 
Description A visit and talk at University of York 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact We gave a seminar titled Modulating the colloidal behaviour of amphiphilic nanoparticles at the University of York, which sparked engaging questions and discussion with dozens of researchers coming from multidisciplinary backgrounds.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/events/seminars/2019/yangandguldin19-09-19/
 
Description A.N.P Radhakrishnan - Poster Presentation at the CNIE Conference on Microfluidic Chemotaxis Screening Platform for Quantification of Bacterial Viability 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A presentation was given at the 1st ECI Conference on Nature-Inspired Engineering, Calabria, Italy; 08/09/2019.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description AAAS 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting in a UKRI Session on the "Future of Cities: Green Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure" 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens represented the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) on 9 February 2021 at the AAAS 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting in a UKRI Session on the "Future of Cities: Green Buildings and Sustainable Infrastructure", responding to presentations and discussing with other academics working in archtitecture and urban planning, like Rachel Armstrong (Newcastle University), Michael Ramage (University of Cambridge), Jaideep Gupte (University of Sussex), on topics varying from living architecture, dynamic ecosystems, urbanplanning, sustainable infrastructure in developing countries, and the remarkable opportunities to use timber in tall buildings.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://meetings.aaas.org/
 
Description ACS National conference (Washington DC, USA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact gave oral presentation titled: Titanium(IV)-Induced Formation of Cristobalite in Titanosilicates and its Potential Effect on Heterogeneous Catalysis - Induced Impact or Spectator?
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description AIChE 2016 (San Francisco, CA, USA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented two poster presentations at the AIChE 2016. 1) Meet the faculty candidate - Nanoscale science & engineering" session and the "Catalysis and reactor engineering" poster session
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://aiche.confex.com/aiche/2016/webprogram/Paper464635.html
 
Description AIChE 2017 "Nature-Inspired Electrochemical Systems" session organization 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact "Nature-Inspired Electrochemical Systems" session organization during AIChE 2017 international conference
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description AIChE Annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented research at international chemical engineering conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2016
 
Description AIChE Annual Meeting 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Delivered presentations as follows:
-The Nanoscale in Chemical Reaction Engineering: From Analysis to Design
-Hierarchical Carbon-Based Electrode Materials for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
-A Nature-Inspired Approach to the Confinement and Control of Catalytic Active Sites
-To See a World in a Grain of Sand
-Protein Confinement in Mesoporous Silica - Effects of Surface Curvature Investigated By Neutron Scattering and Catalysis
Attracted significant interest of participants, requests about participation and involvement
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-contributes-to-2015-aiche-annual-meeting-salt-...
 
Description AIChE Annual Meeting 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. Academic and industry experts cover wide range of topics relevant to cutting-edge research, new technologies, and emerging growth areas in chemical engineering.
Number of presentation were made:
-Pattern Formation in Fluidized Beds and Vertically Vibrated Granular Layers: Similarities and Differences
-The Nanoscale in Chemical Reaction Engineering: From Analysis to Design
-Hierarchical Carbon-Based Electrode Materials for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
-A Nature-Inspired Approach to the Confinement and Control of Catalytic Active Sites
-To See a World in a Grain of Sand
-Protein Confinement in Mesoporous Silica - Effects of Surface Curvature Investigated By Neutron Scattering and Catalysis
These led to establishing new collaborative links with other research institutions/groups and industry, participants were interested in getting more information and followups.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2015
 
Description AIChE Annual Meeting 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral presentation of research at this conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description AIChE conference (Atlanta, GA, USA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Oral research presentation at the annual meeting of AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description AIChE conference - Minneapolis, Minnasota, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented one poster and two oral talks: 1. Smart magnetic nanomaterials for sustainable applications in biomedicine and catalysis (Meet the Faculty Candidate Poster Session), 2. Nacre-inspired composite materials for biomedical applications, 3. Investigation of factors that induce cristobalite formation during titanosilicate synthesis and their potential impact on heterogeneous catalysis
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Acoustic Emission Analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Technical oral presentation on the project titled "Acoustic Emission Analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells" at the ECS PRiME conference, 2020. The conference had an audience from academia, industry, business and students. The presentation introduced a new facet of direct hydration diagnostics and performance evaluation of fuel cell performance. This talk was addressed to a wider audience and considerable interest shown, especially by industry and business, to know more about the ongoing developments.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/09809.0177ecst
 
Description Aerospace Microbiology Research Group, Radiation Biology, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Cologne, Germany 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Malica Schmidt presented her research at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which sparked a collaboration, technical support, and a guest research role since 2021.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020,2021,2022
 
Description Alan Jones Memorial Session at this year's BACG conference, University of Leeds, 30th June 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Invited talk given on 'Polymorph screening and characterisation of Diastereomeric salt pairs' at joint conference of 12th International Workshop of the Crystal Growth of Organic Material & 47th Annual British Association of Crystal Growth Conference. Attracted attention to CNIE and our research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.crystalgrowth2016.co.uk
 
Description Ambassador at UCL's Space Domain 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Outreach activity involving committee meetings, planning, and attending events. It entailed planning and organising for UCL's Space Week, an event to support and increase awareness of the space sector. Malica Schmidt specifically organised the Space Debate, invited 6 speakers, and co-chaired the event. She also gave a presentation on her research. The Space Week sparked another year of being the UCL Space Ambassador.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021,2022
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/events/2021/nov/space-week
 
Description Animals and Engineering Lecture and Outreach event 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Around 250 people attended a panel discussion followed by a reception afterwards.

There were many questions asked by members of the public afterwards about the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering which was one of the sponsors of this event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Animals and Engineers: learning from nature 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Ignited a dialogue on how to solve challenging problems, such as those related to energy, sustainability, health or scalable manufacturing, by learning from fundamental mechanisms behind desirable features in natural systems, and using lessons from nature to design innovative and effective solutions to these pressing problems.

Participants were inspired by the structures that animals have built into their own bodies, and this is leading to new materials and new solutions to long-standing problems. It generated strong interest from potential collaborators and general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mecheng/mecheng-news-publications/animals_and_engineers
 
Description Animate materials schools talk 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Charles Dickens Primary school Science Week talk
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Applied Catalysis and Biocatalysis Reaction Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented research at national conference. Attracted discussions afterwards and brought some collaboration links to followup.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015
 
Description Applied Catalysis and Biocatalysis Reaction Engineering - Annual Student Conference (IChemE), 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Gave a keynote presentation on NICE, and together with Michele Lynch (PhD student) presented her work on enzyme stabilisation inspired by chaperonins. This attracted significant interest from PhD and early career researchers and brought together the research community in these important areas of CNIE research themes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.icheme.org/communities/special-interest-groups/catalysis/events/2015/applied-catalysis-se...
 
Description Applied Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Meeting (Cambridge, UK) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Presented a lecture titled, "Using active site confinement and organic ligand approaches to control catalysis" to around 50 researchers.

Met other young researchers in the field and had good networking opportunities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.icheme.org/appliedcatalysis2014#.VFiww4c7lUQ
 
Description Architects Underground, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The Architects Underground is a multi-disciplinary event from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) with people presenting from architecture, engineering, design, art, robotics, and more.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.architecture.com/whats-on/the-architects-underground
 
Description Asia Pacific Conference of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (APCRE) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Professor Coppens joined a plenary session and opened the Asia Pacific Conference of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering(APCRE) in Shanghai.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Asian Pacific Community of Chemical and Process Engineering (APCChE) 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Professor Coppens was invited to attend the APCChE conference and deliver a keynote speech. The APCChE is a bi-annual conference at which process engineering and industrial chemists come together to discuss latest developments in the field, recognise outstanding achievement and share lessons learned. He was one of several prestigious speakers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.apcche2017.com/keynote-speaker
 
Description BBC Earth film 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact BBC Earth film aimed at young people in collaboration with Facebook - presented by post-doc Charnett Chau
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://m.facebook.com/bbcearth/posts/5529052523794925/?comment_id=2054118474746706
 
Description BBC Radio 4 PM Programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Several appearances to discuss plastic waste issues
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qskw
 
Description BBC Radio 4 Start The Week: Materials Culture 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We discussed for 45 minutes the relationship between politics, art, and materials science and engineering in materials culture.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bgbvx
 
Description BBC and CBC Radio interviews 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Radio interviews by Mark Miodownik on the BBC and CBC about the Big Compost Experiment
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nov-12-rocket-debris-falling-to-earth-non-compostable-plastic-animal...
 
Description BBC podcast 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact People Fixing the World BBC podcast
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3j2s
 
Description BBC podcast Infinite Monkey Cage 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f1wfhc
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f1wfhc
 
Description BBC website: how to make a perfect cup of tea 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interactive website with video content
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zsbv9qt
 
Description BP's International Centre for Advanced Materials webinars 2020 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens presented on Nature-Inspired Engineering of Multifunctional Materials at the BP-ICAM seminar series on Thursday 25th June 2020.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Big Green Money Show 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Right to Repair programme
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ckgj9t
 
Description Big Repair Project webinar 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Citizen Science podcast
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.bigrepairproject.org.uk/
 
Description Bio+Climate+Space, Women in 3D printing, Immersive Kind, Crowdcast 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact "Bio+Climate+Space" was an outreach event hosted by Women in 3D printing and Immersive Kind that involved multidisciplinary researchers talking about their 3D printing projects. Malica Schmidt was part of this panel, which sparked another outreach activity - a school interview about the career as a researcher.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.crowdcast.io/e/immersivekind_1
 
Description Biotrans 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented poster on research at international conference. Attracted significant attention of the participants and followups.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Bloomsbury Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact The Bloomsbury Festival is an annual, free celebration taking place across Bloomsbury. It was a programme of over 200 cultural events and activities taking place over 6 days (15-20th October 2013). CNIE presentation resulted in strong interests from participants and follow-up engagement activity afterwards.

CNIE developed a good links with other research institutions, individual researches and professionals who have interest in area of Natural Inspired Engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description CHEMREACTOR-21, 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Delivered an invited plenary lecture. Attracted significant interests and helped to create no collaborations. CNIE will host CHEMREACTOR 22 in 2016 (as co-organiser).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://conf.ict.nsc.ru/en/page/CR-21-2014;jsessionid=CCA62D0F1553484ABED4206A0343BEBD
 
Description CNIE Advisory Board Conference and Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CNIE run the two-day Advisory Board Conference and Workshop on 27 & 28 January 2020. Centre researchers showcased their ground-breaking research and discussed strategies for the future of the centre and potential funding opportunities. As always, this is a welcome occasion to get the views of our academic and industrial advisors.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description CNIE Advisory Board, Conference and Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The workshops had a wealth of fascinating presentations, some exciting ideas for new potential projects emerge, and had fruitful discussions for future strategy.
Here's to the wealth of CNIE achievements we celebrated, and taking stock of the good practice and strategy that was shared.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-advisory-board-conference-and-workshop-a-grea...
 
Description CNIE Advisory Board, Conference and Workshop, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The CNIE Advisory Board, Conference and Workshop was held in UCL to foster industrial collaboration and brought together practitioners and researchers from academia, national laboratories and industry, with interest in nature-inspired solutions for engineering. Malica Schmidt gave a presentation, which increased the awareness of the research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description CNIE Frontier Engineering workshop 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact A workshop was organised by the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) on 28 July 2015, to stimulate discussions between researchers of other Centres from across the UK, industrial partners, and CNIE researchers. These discussions led to lots of ideas for new projects that could benefit from a nature-inspired engineering approach. Four collaborative 'Inspiration' projects were funded and started with external partners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-workshop-and-call-for-inspiration-grants
 
Description CNIE Launch and Symposium 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact to add
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description CNIE Welcomes Inspire Summer School 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Inspire Summer School was run in collaboration with the Engineering Development Trust for thirty female A-Level students to provide them with an understanding of what chemical engineering is and what a career in chemical engineering might entail.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description CNIE advisory board meeting (mini conference) UCL, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Pattern Formation in Pulsed Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds: Insights from Experiments and Computations
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description CNIE advisory board meeting (mini conference) UCL, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Multiscale Modeling of Pattern Formation in Pulsed Fluidized Beds: Continuum and Discrete Approaches
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description CNIE call for "Inspiration" Grants - August-September 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact A Call for "Inspiration" Grants was launched,and opened to all academic researchers in the UK. The aim of these short postdoctoral projects is to explore opportunities, in collaboration with CNIE researchers at UCL, to apply nature-inspired engineering within other projects and/or to obtain preliminary results prior to applying for a longer-term grant.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-workshop-and-call-for-inspiration-grants
 
Description CNIE call for 'Inspiration' Grants - February-March 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The Call for Inspiration Grants was launched, and opened to all academic researchers in the UK. The aim of these short postdoctoral projects is to explore opportunities, in collaboration with CNIE researchers at UCL, to apply nature-inspired engineering within other projects and/or to obtain preliminary results prior to applying for a longer-term grant.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/2nd-cnie-call-for-inspiration-grants-february-2016
 
Description CNIE presented at at the 2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CNIE's work on membrane, fluidized beds and catalysts was presented by Halan Mohamed, Yanan Liu, Kaiqiao Wu and Nidhi Kapil. Prof MArc-Olivier Coppens gave 2 invited keynote lectures.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2020
 
Description CNIE presents at 2018 AIChE Annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for Chemical Engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. At the event, Prof. Marc-Olivier Coppens chaired a session on the Fundamentals of Fluidization. Five Group members from the UCL Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) also be presenting papers at the AIChE Annual Meeting.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2018
 
Description CNIE website, LinkedIn, Twitter 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Use of CNIE website, LinkedIn and Twitter to raise awareness about news and events.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/
 
Description ChEnected interview on Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The interview took place during the 8th World Congress on Particle Technology, where Prof Coppens was invited to deliver a plenary keynote.The video was shot by Chenected.com, a unique online community created for and by young professional chemical engineers. Presented by AIChE, ChEnected is where chemical engineers can read, view, contribute, and engage with everything Chem-E. Learn new skills, solve challenges, find mentors, engage with other chemical engineers, and gain more exposure to hiring companies. During the interview, Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens discussed 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering - a Pathway to Innovation in Particle Technology', with Dr Ben Freireich from Particulate Solid Research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRIcc15-Irs
 
Description Cheltenham Science Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Talk on the Science of Chips
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Cheltenham Science Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Two events: How To Green Your Home, Engineering With Nature
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-/whats-on/grid
 
Description Cheltenham Science Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Talks on drones, plastic waste and the science of gin
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com
 
Description ChemEng Day UK conference, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact My presentation titled: Self-Organisation Behaviour and Scope of Application of Mycobacterial Porin MspA, sparked intriguing questions and discussions afterwards.

People were interested about future experiments & applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013,2014
 
Description ChemEngDay UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented a poster at this conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented poster on research at national conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015,2016
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2016, Bath, 31 March - 1 April 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This conference brought together researchers, engineers and scientists from around the UK to explore the latest technological advances and research results in core areas of chemical engineering. Through a combination of a distinguished plenary speaker, parallel technical sessions with invited talks by leading experts from academia and industry, and interactive poster sessions, participants will showcase their research efforts and technologies, and share visions with researchers in the UK.
Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens (CNIE Director) chaired the session 'Reactions and Catalysis Engineering'. This improved CNIE visibility and generated new collaborative links for CNIE around the UK. New request for further engagement were received.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.chemengdayuk.co.uk/
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral and poster presentation entitled: Pattern Formation in Pulsed Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds: Insights from Experiments and Computations
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://chemengdayuk2016.squarespace.com/
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Preparation and Characterizations of Hybrid Mesoporous Silica Membrane on Polymer Substrates
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://chemengdayuk2016.squarespace.com/
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2017 'Better Life, Better World' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact At the ChemEngDayUK 2017 Awards Ceremony, CNIE and UCL Chemical Engineering showcased their research and won more than half of all prizes on offer, scooping seven awards in total.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://chemengdayuk2016.squarespace.com/
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Bio-inspired surface functionalisation to improve membrane anti-fouling
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2018, Leeds, UK, March 27 -28 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Pattern formation in pulsed gas-solid fluidised bed: a way of tailoring bubbly flow
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/274/chemengdayuk_2018_molecules_to_manufacturing
 
Description ChemEngDayUK 2019, Edinburgh, UK, April 8 -9 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Speedy paper presentation entitled: "Dynamically structured fluidised beds: A way to control bubbling flows"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://ichemeblog.org/tag/chemengdayuk-2019/
 
Description Chemical Engineering Conference (University of Manchester) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Presented a poster at UK ChemEng Day 2014. Poster title: Understanding catalysis through inorganic-organic hybrid catalytic materials.

Discussed research with about 20 people that were interested in my poster.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.gnomikos.com/CEDay2014/
 
Description Conference AIChE Annual Meeting 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Oral presentation
- Experimental and Computational Study of Pattern Formation in Periodically Pulsed Gas-Solid Fluidized Beds
- Multidimensional Nature of Fluidized Nanoparticle Agglomerates
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Conference AIChE Annual Meeting 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Oral presentation
- Pattern formation in fluidized beds and vertically vibrated granular layers: similarities and differences
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Conference ChemEngDayUK 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation of the poster entitled: Multidimensionality in fluidized nanoparticle agglomerates

Increased research visibility
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Conference ChemEngDayUK 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation of the poster entitled: Dynamic self-organization: from bacteria to granular matter
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Contributor to BBC Radio 4 news and cultural programmes 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 1. BBC Radio 4 - The Science of Dr Seuss - Contributor - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b085z058?ns_mchannel=social& - 2nd Jan 2017

2. BBC Radio 4 - Print Me A New Body - Contributor - - 5th June 2017 - BBC Radio 4 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rq6dl

3. BBC Radio 4 - The Science of Cake - Contributor - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1pSjKGxlHPVkFYvzp34CVjM/how-science-can-help-you-bake-the-perfect-sponge-cake - 25th Sept 2017

4. BBC Radio 4 Today Programme - The Science of Crisp Packets - Contributor -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05qbsq8 - 7th Dec 2017

5. BBC Radio 4 PM Programme - The Problem with Plastics - Contributor - 17th, 18th and 19th 2018 Jan http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qskw
6. BBC World Service Newshour Programme 17th Jan 2018: - The Problem with Plastics - Contributor : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172vr1kyqhhhfs

7. BBC Radio 4 - A Good Read - 24th Feb 2018 - Contributor: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09snj94
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description DLR 35th Parabolic Flight Campaign 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Malica Schmidt, a PhD candidate in UCL's Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering, undertook over 30 minutes of microgravity research relating to the recycling of water in space aboard a parabolic flight in September 2020. During the flights Malica tested novel Nature-Inspired, Multi-Functional Surfaces (NIMFS) she produced using the new 3D nanoprinting facility.
The event got attention from various news outlets and Malica was interviewed by the Frankfurter Rundschau (article behind paywall).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemical-engineering/news/2020/oct/ucl-cnie-student-undertakes-microgravity-te...
 
Description Delft Process Technology Institute Annual Event 2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Delivered keynote lecture. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Demonstrations for Inspire Summer School 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Inspire Summer School was run in collaboration with the Engineering Development Trust for thirty female A-Level students to provide them with an understanding of what chemical engineering is and what a career in chemical engineering might entail. Over the course of three days, they attended lectures about chemical engineering including talks by the Deputy Head of the department, and the CNIE's PhD student Halan who spoke about her journey into Chemical Engineering undergraduate and postgraduate studies at UCL. The students also participated in lab demonstrations within Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) with PhD students Nidhi Kapil and Halan Mohamed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-welcomes-the-inspire-summer-school
 
Description Diffusion Fundamentals 2019 in Erlangen, Germany 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Participation in a 90 seconds brief talk and poster session about "Surface barriers in hierarchical zeolites"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.aot-tp.tf.fau.de/diffusion-fundamentals-8/
 
Description Diffusion Fundamentals Conference, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Served in scientific committee and made presentation on Nature-Inspired Transport Optimisation. This attracted questions and discussion afterwards, and the researchers reported increased interest in related CNIE themes of research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.uni-leipzig.de/diffusion/DF6/df6.html
 
Description ECI Conference on Nature-Inspired Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The ECI-NIE conference brought well known academics, national laboratories and industry partners from around the globe with an interest in nature-inspired solutions for engineering. The event hosted cutting-edge presentations and facilitated panel discussions from the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN, part of Innovate UK.

The conference will focus on the following application areas:

Scalable Manufacturing & Process Intensification
Built Environment: Construction, Architecture & Urban Design
Functional Materials
Biomedical & Healthcare Engineering
Energy & Environmental Technology
Robotics and Other Applications
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://www.engconf.org/conferences/civil-and-environmental-engineering/nature-inspired-engineering/
 
Description ECS (The Electrochemical Society) outreach program facilitator 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Type Of Presentation workshop facilitator
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Demonstration of fuel cell technology in local high-schools/universities during ECS meetings

Collaboration interest in materials synthesis/fuel cells research projects
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013
 
Description EPSRC Grand Challenges Summit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019 was the launch of a second series of summits jointly hosted by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, the US National Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, inspired by the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering. The Summit took place on 16-18 September 2019 in London, at the Southbank Centre's wonderful Queen Elizabeth Hall, with 900 of the next generation's engineers, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in attendance.

EPSRC hosted an evening event as part of the Summit, entitled EPSRC Engineering Research for Grand Challenges, and will be showcasing a selection of their over £50 million investment into research which tackles the grand challenges facing our future.

As part of the EPSRC's evening exhibition on Tuesday 17th September, CNIE staff and students had a display to showcase the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE).

The exhibition ran from 6.30pm to 9.30pm at the Royal Festival Hall, Weston Roof Pavilion. Halan Mohamed, Sasank Bethapudi, Nazanin Owji & Malica Schmidt all exhibited their work at the summit.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.raeng.org.uk/events/events-programme/2019/september/global-grand-challenges-2019-recepti...
 
Description EarthFlows, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Delivered The EarthFlows lecture: 'A random walk through porous media: Diffusion under confinement' at The 1st EarthFlows seminar held at the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 June 2015. It helped to provide fundamentally new understanding of the dynamics of fluid-solid interfaces for a number of important geophysical flow processes. Attracted a significant interest to CNIE and research we do.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.mn.uio.no/fysikk/english/research/groups/pgp/events/meetings-and-workshops/2015/schedule_...
 
Description Engineering Success - IOM3 Women in Materials group 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Women in Engineering - or lack thereof - is the hot topic. The event was to discuss options and find out what others are doing to address this challenge. It sparked more interest among women in Engineering science

The event influenced the decisions among the scientific society on how to address the challenge locally but also internationally.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.nwed.org.uk/events.html
 
Description European Symposium on Biochemical Engineering Sciences (ESBES), Dublin, Ireland, 11-14 September 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The presentation entitled "Chaperonin-Inspired Enzyme Protection by Mesoporous Silica" was doen at the European Symposium on Biochemical Engineering Sciences
(ESBES), Dublin, Ireland, 11-14 September 2016. This sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Featured article in IChemE's "The Chemical Engineer" 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Marc-Olivier Coppens was interviewed for the IChemE's "The Chemical Engineer" magazine to discuss Careers in Chemical Engineering. The article, written by Chemical Engineer, Yasmin Ali
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/features/careers-in-chemical-engineering-marc-olivier-coppens/
 
Description Festival of Stuff 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Festival of Stuff - importance of materials in society
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/events
 
Description Films about startlite 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A series of films about starlet for BBC Online
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.bbc.com/reel/playlist/searching-for-starlite?vpid=p06llnj7
 
Description Fluidization XV conference, Quebec, Canada 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Oral and poster presentation entitled: Multiscale Modeling of Pattern Formation in Pulsed Fluidized Beds: Continuum and Discrete Approaches
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.engconf.org/past-conferences/2016-conferences/fluidization-xv/
 
Description Fourth SOMER Lecturer, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey (October 2014). 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Three presentations to over 300 students and staff, entitled "Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering - Pathways to Innovation and Sustainability", "A Chemical Engineering Approach to Addressing Global Challenges" and "Adsorption, Diffusion and Catalytic Activity of Enzymes in Nanoporous Materials" generated substantial interest among undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff. It attracted new collaborators to CNIE.

After the presentations academic staff expressed interest to collaborate in areas relevant to CNIE. Also, it ignited a notable interest from students who would consider Nature Inspired Engineering as future direction of their studies.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/prof-marc-olivier-delivers-somer-lectures-at-metu
 
Description GCSE Science Live Events 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Talks at Oxford & London organised by GCSE Science Live
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://gcsesciencelive.net/
 
Description GCSE Science Live Events 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Talks to school children in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester organised by GCSE Science Live
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017
URL http://gcsesciencelive.net/
 
Description GCSE Science Live! Symphony Hall, Birmingham 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The primary objective of GCSE Science Live! is to generate greater enthusiasm for science amongst GCSE pupils. The events are nationwide and the students are encouraged to ask questions and engage in debate with the panel of speakers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL http://gcsesciencelive.net/event_categories/birmingham/
 
Description Good Housekeeping and RSC Chemistry World 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviews with Good Housekeeping and RSC Chemistry World on Big Compost Experiment
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/citizen-science-project-investigates-what-happens-to-biodegra...
 
Description Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis (New Hampshire, USA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact I represented the CNIE at the Gordon Research Conference: "Catalysis - From Theory to Commercialization". The conference takes place at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, US, 12-17 June 2016. I presented a poster titled "Statistically guided synthesis optimization of a hierarchically ordered micro-meso porous titanosilicate for heterogeneous catalysis." The program for the 2016 GRC in Catalysis focused on four critical areas of catalytic science; these being Synthesis of New Materials, In Situ and Operando Characterization, Computational Modeling, and Reaction Mechanisms and how the interplay of each of these areas leads to better understanding and finally a working catalyst.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=11049
 
Description Guardian Newspaper 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interview with Guardian about our publication on the Big Compost Experiment.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/03/greenwash-home-compostable-plastics-dont-work-ao...
 
Description Guardian Newspaper 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Quoted in Guardian article on greenwashing
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/28/tesco-accused-of-greenwashing-over-biodegradable...
 
Description Guardian Newspaper 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Quoted in Guradian Article on wish-cycling
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/07/stop-wishcycling-and-get-wise-how-to-recycle-alm...
 
Description Guardian newspaper 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Mark Miodownik quoted in "Reuse? Compost? Dump? Solving the eco-conundrum of nappies"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/20/disposable-nappies-plastic-waste-diapers
 
Description Hierarchical Zeolites workshop in Erlangen, Germany 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Participated in live discussions in regards to hierarchical zeolites with multiple workshop discussion sessions
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://www.himat.fau.de
 
Description Host for Guest Researchers 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Host for Guest Researchers. The list for guest researchers so far:
- Daniel Lepek, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Cooper Union, NY
- Dr Soon-Hwa Jung: she brought over 10 years of R&D experience from LG Chem, Korea, on fluidisation, catalysis and coatings
- Annelien Schijve started with the Bachelor Chemical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology and in 2015 she spent several months at CNIE, UCL to conduct research for her Bachelor thesis.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
 
Description IChemE & UCL conference on 'Kinetic, Transport Modelling and Experiments in Catalytic Systems' 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The IChemE Catalysis Special Interest Group, in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering, organised a one-day event focusing on catalysis research that spans the area from reaction kinetics to transport processes in catalysts and reactors, from a theoretical as well as experimental perspective. The event was an excellent opportunity for chemists and chemical engineers working on catalysis to discuss their work and network
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/icheme-and-ucl-host-conference-on-kinetic-transpor...
 
Description In2Science programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact In2scienceUK exists to unlock the potential of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and boost diversity and inclusion in the sector to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) based industries.
The CNIE is hosting 2 to 6 pupils each summer for 2 weeks in our laboratories to get hands-on experience of work as an academic researcher. In 2020 the programme moved online and we mentored 5 pupils.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017,2018,2019,2020
URL https://in2scienceuk.org/
 
Description In2scienceUK/Teachfirst 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Award winning charity, which empowers students from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their potential and progress to STEM and research careers through high quality work placements and careers guidance. After wonderful experiences in 2015 and 2016, CNIE again hosted two students for two weeks in summer 2017. This involved lab experiments, numerical simulations, and paper presentations.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://in2scienceuk.org/about-us/
 
Description Inaugural Symposium of the EPSRC/Jeol Centre of Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 10 July, UCL hosted a symposium to celebrate the official opening of the LPEM Centre. The event inaugurated the world's first video liquid TEM capable of looking at the formation and evolution of structures in flowing liquids, including soft materials, cells and catalytic nanoparticles. It will help to characterise and develop new nature-inspired materials. This unique facility was funded by a grant by the EPSRC, led by Professors Giuseppe Battaglia, Ivan Parkin and Marc-Olivier Coppens (CNIE Director), with additional support from JEOL, DENS Solutions, Gatan and UCL.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/inaugural-symposium-of-the-epsrc-jeol-centre-of-li...
 
Description Industrial meetings, Foster+Partners and P+Studio, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Regular meetings every half a year to a year with our official EPSRC industrial partners StudioP+ and Foster+Partners, who provide technical support from the industrial perspective and give feedback.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019,2020,2021
 
Description Industry advisory group meeting at National Physical Laboratory, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Technical presentation(s) at the industry advisory group meeting of National Physical Laboratory, UK, about the ongoing research in metrology studies in the development of lung-inspired fuel cells. This meeting occurs twice a year with industry and business attending to learn more and suggest on the projects related to electrochemical research carried at NPL in collaboration with other institutes and universities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
 
Description Innovative Materials: Which Scale-Up Methodology? Organised by IFPEN, Lyon, France 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a lecture at Innovative Materials: Which Scale-Up Methodology? Organised by IFPEN, Lyon, France, in November 2020. Also work of our PhD student Aleksandra Glowska was presented.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Institute of Making - Research Workshops and Events 2013/2014 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The 2013-2014 series of research workshops (listed below) engaged researchers from multiple disciplines together for the day to explore common materials and making-related research interests. These workshops typically gather together a range of speakers on a theme that spans disciplines, giving an idea of the breadth and wealth of materials and making research. The purpose of these days is explicitly to encourage new interdisciplinary research projects that draw on the expertise we have
at UCL, as well as in the Institute's wider community of researchers, makers and manufacturers.
Materials at the Centre, April 2013
3D Manufacturing, October 2013
Art History Forum, October 2013
Digital Humanities Forum, November 2013
Making Repairs, February 2014
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013,2014
 
Description Institute of Making - Research Workshops and Events 2014/2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The Institute of Making curated 14 research workshops and events in 2014-2015, reaching participants both within and outside of UCL's research community. The series of research workshops (listed below) engaged researchers from multiple disciplines together for the day to explore common materials and making-related research interests. These workshops typically gather together a range of speakers on a theme that spans disciplines, giving an idea of the breadth and wealth of materials and making research. The purpose of these days is explicitly to encourage new interdisciplinary research projects that draw on the expertise we have at UCL, as well as in the Institute's wider community of researchers, makers and manufacturers.
Dinner with Picasso: The Unspoken Language of Food, March 2014
Dinner with Picasso: Cheese - Enbracing Entropy, March 2014
Dinner with Picasso: Five Ways with Algae, March 2014
Dinner with Picasso: Green Eggs and Ham, April 2014
Materials Histories: Emotions, April 2014
Dinner with Picasso: An Oulipean Wine-Tasting, May 2014
Materials Histories: Restorations, May 2014
Materials and Society Conference, June 2014
E Fibre: Material Engagement, July 2014
Pop up Pop up, September 2014
Dinner with Picasso: Final Workshop, September 2014
Health, Safety and Creativity, October 2014
Pyrotechnics with Matthew Tosh, December 2014
Hidden Histories of Things, January 2015
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015
 
Description Institute of Making - Research Workshops and Events 2015/2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The 2015-2016 series of research workshops (listed below) engaged researchers from multiple disciplines together for the day to explore common materials and making-related research interests. These workshops typically gather together a range of speakers on a theme that spans disciplines, giving an idea of the breadth and wealth of materials and making research. The purpose of these days is explicitly to encourage new interdisciplinary research projects that draw on the expertise we have at UCL, as well as in the Institute's wider community of researchers, makers and manufacturers.

Stone as a Material, March 2015
Glass Sponges, November 2015
Exploring Curious Materials, December 2015
Open AFT/LEGO2NANO, December 2015
Engineers Save Lives, January 2016
Hands on Learning, February 2016
Co-Lab Biomaterials, February 2016
Co-Lab Biomaterials, February 2016
Design-Led Materials Finale, March 2016
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
 
Description Institute of Making - Research Workshops and Events 2016/2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 18th April, 2016. Akins Away Day. (Corporate).
28th April, 2016. Materials Library Evening. (Library) Public event.
4th May, 2016. Concrete with Leigh Cameron. (Masterclass) Public event.
9th May, 2016. Copper Spoon Making. (Masterclass) Public event.
24th May, 2016. Hands of X, Dundee. (Research event)
6th June, 2016. Hands of X, London. (Research event)
15th June, 2016. Hands of X, Glasgow. (Research event)
21st June, 2016. Wooden Whistle Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
21st June, 2016. Morning - Felt Ball and 3D Hand Embroidery Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
21st June, 2016. Morning - Chair Caning Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
21st June, 2016. Dustpan and Brush Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
21st June, 2016. Afternoon - Felt Ball and 3D Hand Embroidery Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
21st June, 2016. Afternoon - Chair Caning Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
22nd June, 2016. Laminate Wood Forming Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
22nd June, 2016. Morning - Experimental Fabric Colouring Masterclass. (Festival of Stu ) 22nd June, 2016. Afternoon - Experimental Fabric Colouring Masterclass (Festival of Stu ) 22nd June, 2016. Performing Matter - Greatest Hit and New Findings. (Festival of Stu )
23rd June, 2016. Morning - Experimental Pewter Casting Masterclass. (Festival of Stu ) 23rd June, 2016. Morning - Fish Printing Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
23rd June, 2016. Morning - Plant Moisture Sensor Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
23rd June, 2016. Afternoon - Experimental Pewter Casting Masterclass. (Festival of Stu ) 23rd June, 2016. Afternoon - Fish Printing Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
23rd June, 2016. Afternoon - Plant Moisture Sensor Masterclass. (Festival of Stu ) 24th June, 2016. Morning - Concrete Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
24th June, 2016. Sensors Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
24th June, 2016. Afternoon - Concrete Masterclass. (Festival of Stu )
25th June, 2016. Festival of Stu . (Open day)
13th July, 2016. Failure Non-Event. (Research Hub event)
26th July, 2016. Object-based and Creative Methods for Communicating Emotions. (Research event).
18th July - 18th August, 2016. Beer Brewing. (Masterclass) Member event.
26th July, 2016. Touching Emotions: Object-based and Creative Methods for Communicating Emotions. (Research event) Public event.
16th August, 2016. Day in the woods with Geo rey Fisher. (Masterclass) Member event. 17th September, 2016. Cutlery Design Challenge. (Exhibition) Public and members challenge.
20th September - 22nd January, 2017. Victorians Decoded: Art and Telegraphy. (Research Hub event)
4th - 7th October, 2016. UCL Lunchtime Looks. (Open to all UCL).
4th - 7th October, 2016. Jeremy Atkinson - Clog Maker. (Maker in Residence).
28th October, 2016. Sand Casting with Silver. (Masterclass) Member event.
28th October, 2016. Sand Casting with Silver. (Masterclass) Public event.
5th November, 2016. Geology. (Open day) Public event.
23rd November, 2016. Museums on Prescription. (Outreach).
28th November, 2016. Co-Lab. (Research hub event).
5th December, 2016. Introduction to pattern cutting with Juliana Sissons. (Masterclass) Member event.
5th December, 2016. Interpreting of a shop-bought pattern with Juliana Sissons. (Masterclass) Member event.
19th December, 2016. Make Merry. (Workshop) Member event.
20th - 21st January, 2017. Coding & Representation Conference. (Research Hub event)
13th February, 2017. Stool in a day. (Masterclass) Member event.
20th February, 2017. Introduction to the art of Kintsugi. (Masterclass) Member event.
24th February, 2017. Materials Library talk with Mark Miodownik. (Library) Public event. 25th February, 2017. Design inclusive workshop. (Outreach)
27th February, 2017. Morning - Glass working. (Masterclass) Member event.
27th February, 2017. Afternoon - Glass working. (Masterclass) Member event.
11th March, 2017. 4th Birthday. (Open day) Public event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017
 
Description International Panel for Mesoscience, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Marc-Olivier Coppens served on the first meeting of the International Panel for Mesoscience (IPM). Mesoscience is a large new programme of the National Science Foundation of China, led by Professor Jinghai Li (Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences). The IPM consists of several distinguished scientists from academia and industry in the UK, USA, Australia, China, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary. The vision of the Mesoscience programme, which was refined at the IPM meeting, has a lot of complementarity with areas explored in the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Interview at the Burgate School and 6th Form, Fordingbridge, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Burgate School and 6th Form in Fordingbridge invited Malica Schmidt for an outreach interview to school students and teachers about her career path into academia and support in STEM outreach.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Investigation of Biological Computation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact we have a working group working on arguably one of the great scientific challenges, namely understanding how biology does information processing specifically at the level of DNA. We seek to identify the fundamental laws of biological computation and in doing so then design a 'biological microcomputer'

currently the working group is investigating learning in biological and artificial systems, and also establishing a UCL-wide research activity in what we call 'living software'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Invited Lecture - Seminar - Chemical Engineering - Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Seminar lecture at Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, invited by Prof. Mariano Martin, entitled "Multiphase Flows in the Process Industry. From process intensification to smart materials" to showcase the potential of exploring the dynamic nature of multiphase flows to design smart devices and processes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.usal.es/master-ingenieria-quimica
 
Description KTN Nature Inspired Solutions to Industrial Challenges 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The CNIE coorgaised the Industrial Challenges event with KTN on 27 February 2020. The event brought together academics and researchers working in nature-inspired technologies, SMEs developing new solutions and larger companies with industrial challenges. The day will feature breakout discussions to address challenges in: Batteries, Hydrogen and fuel cells, Solar fuels, Plastic recycling, reuse and packaging, Industrial process intensification and scalable manufacturing, Novel materials (applicable to at least 2 different sectors, including construction), Carbon capture; CO2 sequestration & utilisation, Biomedical & Healthcare Engineering, Textiles & Fashion Industry, Built Environment: Construction, and Architecture and Urban design.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description KTN workshop on 'Clean Energy and Resource Efficiency' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact In collaboration with the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), the CNIE co-organised a webinar on 'Clean Energy and Resource Efficiency' on Tuesday 4th August.
As part of the Nature Inspired Solutions webinar series, this discussion will explore how nature inspired solutions can contribute to clean growth within the UK and the impact this could have on the UK economy.

The session brought together experts in academia and industry from across the UK and beyond to discuss the latest developments in the field. The panel comprises Professor Coppens (CNIE), Professor Raffaela Ocone (Heriot-Watt University), Dr Nagore Sabio (ExxonMobil), Dr Massimiliano Materazzi (UCL), Dr Greg A. Mutch (Newcastle University) and was chaired by Emma McKenna from the KTN.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://youtu.be/_HeENyo0ZcA
 
Description La Fabrique du vivant (Designing the Living) Exhibition 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Our team at University College London presents research projects of bio-integrated and nature-inspired systems. These include a video installation of a micro-printed surface consisting of nature inspired microstructures for humidity control and exhibited panels in bio-receptive concrete, designed to foster the growth of micro-organisms.

Involved in the project are Malica Schmidt (b,c), Nina Jotanovic (b,c) Shneel Malik (a,c) Brenda Parker (a), Marc-Olivier Coppens (b) & Marcos Cruz (c)

a) Biochemical Engineering

b) CNIE, Chemical Engineering

C) Bio-ID, Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/exhibition-designing-the-living-la-fabrique-du-viv...
 
Description Launched new class on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering for senior undergraduate (MEng) and MSc students 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact The new class on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering for senior undergraduate (MEng) and MSc students. This was accomplished with help of Daniel Lepek, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Cooper Union, NY who spent his sabbatical with CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
 
Description Lecture: Addressing Challenges in Sustainability by Taking Guidance from Nature, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Discussed the fundamental mechanisms found in Nature that can help engineer innovative solutions to grand challenges in energy, water, and health. Attracted interest from across researchers at UCL.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/lunch-hour-lecture-by-prof-marc-olivier-coppens-add...
 
Description LowPerm2015 Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Served as an invited keynote speaker at the LowPerm2015 conference held as part of its Rencontres scientifiques series of events in Rueil-Malmaison, near Paris (France), on Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June 2015.
This helped to establish a platform for exchange and interaction between research and industry players from a variety of different disciplines working on the characterisation and modelling of low to very-low permeability media and nanoporous materials.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.ifpen-communication.com/emailer/newsletters/stats/link.jsp?sending=93&id=31909&url=http%3...
 
Description MIMENIMA Symposium - Porous Structures - Where Science meets Application (DFG), 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Gave a presentation on Nature-Inspired Design and Synthesis of Porous Materials for Catalysis, Separations and Biomedical Applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Manchester Science Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Debate on plastic waste
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.manchestersciencefestival.com
 
Description Materials Chemistry Consortium HPC Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact During the Materials Chemistry Consortium meeting the allocation of national HEC resources (CPU time on ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service) are redistributed. Once submitted the project proposal, the executive committee have had the opportunity to ask question about the proposed project and requiring HEC time.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
 
Description Materials Research Society of Japan's 15th International Conference on Advanced Materials 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Marc-Olivier Coppens delivered a keynote speech during the event. The IUMRS conferences are growing year by year and keep providing materials scientists and engineers with unique opportunities to highlight their R&D achievements and to develop the international networking
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.iumrs-icam2017.org/
 
Description Max Besenhard - Oral presentation at FLOWMAT 2019 in Paris 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Oral presentation at FLOWMAT 2019 conference in Paris to 50-100 attendees, all very active and reputable in the flied of flow chemistry.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://msmsm.sciencesconf.org/data/pages/Programme_FLOWMAT2019_V2.pdf
 
Description Max Besenhard - Participation to "in2science" charity organisation: hosting several summer students from disadvantaged backgrounds 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Hosting of two students in the summer from disadvantaged backgrounds supporting them to achieve their potential and progress to STEM and research careers through a high quality work placement and careers guidance.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://in2scienceuk.org/
 
Description Max Besenhard - Poster Presentation at CNIE Advisory Board Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation of current highlights of the inspiration grant "Nature Inspired Green, Tuneable & Scalable Synthesis of Magnetic Nanoparticles".
1.) Due to the presence of industrial partners, it was possible to attract the attention of e.g. JM to the shown continuous manufacturing routes using non-fouling flow reactors.
2.) The poster attracted interest from undergraduate students working in a group at the department of Chemical Engineering at Kings College. They mentioned that the costs or iron oxide nanoparticles are the bottleneck for most of their studies on the stabilization of such particles. Particles synthesised with the demonstrated method might be a cost-effective alternative.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Max Besenhard - Presentation at UCL Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presentation of current, and most importantly planned, research activities to industrial experts and decision makers. Several contacts were made, discussing future proposals and common research activities. Especially the possibility of using flow reactors to analyse early reaction states of precipitation processes attracted considerable attention.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Membrane work presented at ICOM 2020 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The CNIE is represented by Dr Yanan Liu and Halan Mohamed. Yanan will talk about her work on nature-inspired graphene oxide membranes with vertical pores for fast water treatment on Thursday at the Biomimetic and Bioinspired Membrane session. During the Wednesday morning poster session Halan will display her work on kidney-inspired polymer brush modified membranes which have enhanced anti-fouling properties.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL http://www.icom2020.co.uk/
 
Description Mentoring A/L students under "in2scienceuk" program 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The "in2scienceuk" program offers summer University placements for A/L (i.e. high school) students from underprivileged backgrounds, who are interested in pursuing sciences. I was a mentor for two such students during 2016 and one student during 2015. The students shadowed me for two weeks and was engaged in lab based research and interacted with other researchers in the Department under my guidance.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0913/11092013-in2scienceUK-out-of-the-classroom-and-into-th...
 
Description Mentoring of A/L students under the "in2scienceUK" program 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The "in2scienceuk" program offers summer University placements for A/L (i.e. high school) students from underprivileged backgrounds, who are interested in pursuing sciences. I was a mentor for two students during 2015 and 2017. The students shadowed members of CNIE for two weeks and were engaged in lab based research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2017
URL http://www.engineering.ucl.ac.uk/schools-engagement/news/staff-at-ucl-engineering-offer-record-stude...
 
Description NICE Group Away Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact On the 23rd July 2019, the NICE research group enjoyed a team away day at the WWT London Wetland Centre. WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, an urban oasis for wildlife and people, close to Central London.

The away day was a chance to get to know new team members, brainstorm cross-disciplinary research within the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering, and to spend some time out of the office in a Nature Inspired setting.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description NICER Right to Repair webinar 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact NICER Right to Repair webinar
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://ce-hub.org/nicer-programme/
 
Description National Women in Engineering Day, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Gave a talk and participated in interactive sessions as well as speed-networking sessions. Sparked questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/national_women_in_engineering_day
 
Description Nature Inspired fuel cell work presented at Electrochemical Society Annual Meeting 2020 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Panos Trogadas & Sasank Bethapudi presented their latest work on nature-inspired fuel cells at the Electrochemical Society Annual Meeting 2020.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.electrochem.org/prime2020
 
Description Nature-Inspired Engineering Conference by Engineering Conference International (ECI), Cetraro, Italy 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact This conference on Nature-Inspired Engineering by Engineering Conference International (ECI) brought together practitioners and researchers from academia, national laboratories and industry, with interest in nature-inspired solutions for engineering. Nature-Inspired Engineering is the application of fundamental scientific mechanisms, underpinning desirable properties observed in nature (e.g. resilience, scalability, efficiency), to inform the design of advanced technological solutions. Malica Schmidt presented her research as well as a poster and received the Best Poster award.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://dc.engconfintl.org/nature_inspired/
 
Description Nature-Inspired Solutions Special Interest Group Meet Industry Challenges, Knowledge Transfer Network, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN - part of Innovate UK) has established a new UK Special Interest Group (SIG), bringing together solution providers, academics and industry partners that could benefit from Nature Inspired Solutions. The event "Nature Inspired Solutions Meet Industry Challenges" sold out within an hour with about 100 participants and over 150 people joined the webcast. The webcast was recorded and can be viewed on Youtube with over 1000 views.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPyTb_-qhgo&t=3491s
 
Description Nazanin Owji - EPSRC Global Grand Challenges Summit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact EPSRC's exhibition on Sept 17th 2019 as part of the Global Grand Challenges Summit: Showcased the work as part of the CNIE addressing challenges in sustainability and scalable manufacturing.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Nazanin Owji - Poster presentation at the CNIE Advisory Board meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation at the CNIE Advisory Board meeting on Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Nazanin Owji - Poster presentation at the CNIE Conference, Italy - Abstract title: Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A presentation at the 1st CNIE international Conference in Italy, September 2019 - Abstract title: Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description New Scientist 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Danielle Purkiss quoted in "Do your own experiment to see if teabags are really compostable"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://institutions.newscientist.com/article/mg25433894-600-do-your-own-experiment-to-see-if-your-t...
 
Description Newspaper article on Superhydrophobic Materials 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Raised awareness of our Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering.

Colleagues interested in these materials, and those already working on them, got in touch.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/05/stay-dry-for-ever-waterproof-technology
 
Description Nina Jotanovic showcases work at the Biodesign Here Now exhibition 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact PhD student Nina Jotanovic showcased her work at the Biodesign Here Now exhibition from the 19th to the 21st of September 2019. The exhibition was curated and organised by Open Cell, the first public research centre for consumer-facing biotechnology and bio-designers.The exhibition gave a first taste of the field of Biodesign - from sustainable pollination to grown fashion to personal medicines and delving into more broad topics of interest such as the future of materials, manufacturing, architecture & fashion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.londondesignfestival.com/event/biodesign-here-now-2
 
Description North American Catalysis Society Meeting, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented research at this conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.nam24.org/
 
Description Nuffield Summer Placement 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The CNIE offered a four-year research training experience to student within the Centre. Nuffield encourage students who don't have a family history of going to university or who attend schools in low income areas.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/nuffield-research-placements
 
Description One O'clock Lecture, Space Domain & Environmental Domain, UCL, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The UCL Space Domain "One O'clock" lunchtime Webinar series is intended to be an informal platform for sharing on space related topics to a general, non-specialist audience including undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff members, and is open to the general public. Malica Schmidt presented her research, which instigated the role as UCL's Space Ambassador.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/one-oclock-space-webinar-tickets-106227282662
 
Description Opening lecture of the 'First workshop on rational design for improved functionalities of porous inorganic materials', Cavaillon, France, November 7th - 9th 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave the Opening Lecture on 'Nature-Inspired Engineering of High-Performance Porous Materials'.

The focus of this workshop is on the rational design of porous inorganic materials, especially of

- Catalysts and Adsorbents

- Membranes & Filters

- Thermal Insulators

- Electrochemical Systems

A half-day session will be devoted to each topic. Oral presentations will be given by academic and industrial researchers dealing with synthesis methods, porosity modulation strategies, physicochemical characterization, functional characterization and modeling. One poster session will complete the program. This workshop will allow the participants to exchange on up-to-date research as well as on industrial requirements for materials and processes. By gathering these two communities we hope for fruitful networking and further collaborations between the participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://lsfc.cnrs-mrs.fr/Workshop-Rational-Design
 
Description Opening plenary at South Africa-UK Scientific Seminar 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Gave the opening plenary on "Adsorption, diffusion and catalytic activity of enzymes in nanoporous materials". A seminar on "Smarter Materials for a Sustainable Future - Ordered and semi-ordered materials for application in sustainable chemical technologies" was organised by Karen Edler (Bath) and Rueben Pfukwa (Stellenbosch) with support from the Royal Society (UK) and the National Research Foundation (South Africa). Some participants express interest in further collaboration and engagement.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/opening-plenary-at-south-africa-uk-scientific-semin...
 
Description Oral presentation at IChemE's ChemEngDay UK 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented research findings at the annual IChemE ChemEngDay within the topic of Bioinspired Engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description PSA 2014 Conference and Exhibition 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Delivered invited plenary lecture. Attracted some interesting discussions and requests for further information.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.psa2014.com/
 
Description Pacifichem Conference, Honolulu, HI, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Oral presentation titled: Synthesis Optimization of Hierarchically Ordered Micro-Mesoporous Ti-Silica for Heterogeneous Catalysis
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Physics in Action Schools Talks 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Schools talks
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.thetrainingpartnership.org.uk/study-days/subjects/physics/
 
Description Plenary Talk-4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE WITHOUT BORDERS. Brazil 2020 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation in a world forum for women to discuss research on Energy, Water, Health, Agriculture and Environment for Sustainable Development as well as gender equality in science.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Podcast interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interview about plastics included on 4 episodes of The Discarded podcast
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://link.chtbl.com/DiscardedPodcast
 
Description Poster presentation, CNIE Advisory Board Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact poster "Supramolecular Approach to Functionalization of Plastic Polymers" received discussion about novel approach to plastic recycling
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Presentation: 'Materials for the 21st Century,' as part of 'Chemistry in Action,' Emmanuel Centre, London. N1 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Prof Mark Miodownik led a session entitled 'Materials for the 21st Century' to A Level and IB students, as part of 'Chemistry in Action,' a series of events organised to inspire scientists of the future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://thetrainingpartnership.org.uk/study-day/chemistry-in-action-2-03-2020/
 
Description Process Intensification in Chemistry Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Pofessor Coppens had the honour of being invited to attend the conference in Russia and gave a plenary talk titled, 'A Nature-inspired approach to process intensification: Avenues to scalability, efficiency and robustness'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gives seminars at Fluidization XVI conference, Zhejiang University and ECUST 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a seminar, "A NICE Approach to Fuel Cell Design" on 14 June 2019 at the State Key Laboratory for Chemical Engineering, at East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) in Shanghai, led by Professor Xing-Gui Zhou, where Dr Guanghua Ye (formerly in the CNIE) is now Te Ping Associate Professor.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens to give Plenary Lecture at Fluidization XVI Conference in Guilin 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Fluidization XVI conference, aims to bridge fundamental research on fluidization and emerging applications of fluidization and novel fluidization technologies. As the 16th iteration of this conference, it will bring together world renowned experts in the field. The conference will be held in Guilin, China, from 26th - 31st May at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/fluidization/2019%E2%80%8B
 
Description Professor Coppens gave a lecture at Trinity School for Facets of Science event 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens gave one of three 30 minute lectures titled 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering', alongside Professor Clare Elwell and Dr Helen O'Neill, at Trinity School, Croydon, during their Facets of Science event. The event was aimed at students studying GCSE and A-Level Science.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Professor Coppens gives Inaugural Lecture at Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On Friday 14th February, Professor Coppens was honoured to give his inaugural lecture at Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Saxon Academy of Sciences) to which he was elected in 2018 for his work on Nature Inspired Solutions for Engineering. The Academy counts Planck, Ostwald, Hertz, Heisenberg, Debye, Chadwick as former members, and has little over 200 distinguished members in total so this is a great honour indeed.

Professor Coppens' talk at the Academy in Leipzig (Germany) centred around his work at the CNIE and the fundamentals of diffusion - efficient, scalable transport phenomena across length scales being so important in nature and technology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/professor-coppens-gives-inaugural-lecture-at-s%C3%...
 
Description Professor Coppens invited to give a lecture at Trinity School for Facets of Science event 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens gave one of three 30 minute lectures titled 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering', alongside Professor Clare Elwell and Dr Helen O'Neill, at Trinity School, Croydon, during their Facets of Science event.

The event was aimed at students studying GCSE and A-Level Science.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/professor-coppens-invited-to-trinity-school-for-fa...
 
Description Progress and Challenges in Environmental Catalysis Conference (Reading, UK) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Around 60 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, academics, and industry representatives attended this meeting. I presented a talk on "Understanding catalysis through organic ligand modified catalytic materials."

Met many leaders in the field at this conference and had networking opportunities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.icheme.org/communities/special-interest-groups/catalysis/events/2014/environmental-cataly...
 
Description Public Talks 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 1. Cheltenham Science Festival, June 25,000 visitor - https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science/ - June 2017

2. New Scientist Live - Sept 30,000 visitors - https://live.newscientist.com/ - 22nd Sept 2017

3. IET Engineering Festival -http://www.engfest.org/ - 17th Oct 2017

4. Three Physics in Action talks to 800 A-level student held in London - - Nov, Dec 2017 & March 2018
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017,2018
 
Description Radio Programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Start the Week on Ice
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001qh3
 
Description Radio Programme - Science of Dr Seuss 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Contributor to radio programme - on the science of non-newtonian liquids.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Radio Series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Three part radio series on plastic waste called Plastic Fantastic for BBC Radio 4, rebroadcast on BBC World Service
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b2jg2m
 
Description Ralph Anderson Memorial Lecture, 9th November 2016 at the Royal Society of Medicine London 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens presented the 19th Ralph Anderson Memorial Lecture, organised by the Worshipful Company of Horners, on Wednesday 9th November 2016 at the Royal Society of Medicine London. He will talk about "Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering: A NICE approach to innovation and sustainability". Public engagement activity.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.horners.org.uk/eventlisting.php
 
Description Repair Cafe 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact UCL Repair Cafe
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sustainable/events/2023/nov/repair-cafe
 
Description Royal Academy of Engineering Newcastle Bio-entrepreneurs Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact I was a speaker and adviser to winners of Royal Academy of Engineering Newcastle Bio-entrepreneurs Award.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Sasank Bethapudi present a talk at the 235th ECS Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact PhD student Sasank (Viswanath) Bethapudi, will present a talk at the 235th Electrochemical Society (ECS) Meeting, taking place from 26-30 May in Dallas, Texas, US.

The title of his talk is: "Lung-inspired PEM fuel cells built from layered printed circuit boards"

ECS biannual meetings are a forum for sharing the latest scientific and technical developments in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/sasank-viswanath-bethapudi-to-present-a-talk-at-23...
 
Description Self-repairing Materials 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Animate Materials Discussion
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2021/03/animate-materials/
 
Description Space Microbiology Subgroup, Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie (VAAM) 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Association for General and Applied Microbiology (Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie - VAAM) promotes the scientific exchange of information and the cooperation of its members with the aim of implementing research results from microbiology for the benefit of society and the environment. As part of her German Aerospace Center (DLR) guest research role, Malica Schmidt presented her preliminary research on microbial control in space.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.vaam-kongress.de
 
Description Space Week: Humans in Space and Space Debate "The settlement of Mars is essential for the future of humanity", Space Domain, UCL, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The UCL Space Week was a week of events exploring ongoing topics of Space research and studies, delivered through a mixture of face to face and online events. As Space Ambassador, Malica Schmidt was heavily involved in the planning of the Space Week. During the "Humans in Space" panel, she presented her research and during the closing flagship event of the week, the Space Debate, Malica acted as chair. She organised the event and invited six guest speakers who argued for and against the motion that "settling on Mars is essential for the future of humanity". As outcome of the event, one panelist followed up with an invitation to present her work as part of his talk at the British Interplanetary Society.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of-advanced-studies/events/2021/nov/coss-hybrid-ucl-space-debate-set...
 
Description Speaker at the Pint of Science Festival (London) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact "The Pint of Science Festival" is a popular science public engagement event in London, aimed at educating the general public on current research conducted in universities. I gave a talk entitled, "Self-healing and self-adaptive materials inspired by nature", promoting the nature inspired engineering concept of the CNIE. Afterwards there was a Q&A session where members of the public asked questions related to the concept of nature-inspired engineering
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/batteries-not-included
 
Description Stoke Lunar Lecture 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Public talk with MP for Stoke on Trent Tristram Hunt - for Lunar Society in preparation for City of Culture 2021 bid.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Student research placements 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Shantona Shahid, a student from Eltham High School, undertook at two-week project in the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-offers-student-research-placements
 
Description Summer Challenge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 20 school students attended this summer challenge. They were made aware of the future in science and research which included talk from experts (industry and academia). They were working on finding a solution for a common problem (Example waste water treatment). This sparked a lot of interest in them and they prepared a scientific report at the end of the challenge.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Summer Challenge on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering for Year 12 students 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact We hope that Summer Challenge students will choose to apply to UCL in Year 13, for whichever degree programme is right for them.

Summer Challenge is a set of academic evening courses for Year 12 students. The courses gave a realistic taste of university study, and allowed 12 students to explore a subject that interests their through the completion of a personal research project. Summer Challenge develops independent research, academic writing and presentation skills that are essential for university. It also provides impressive material to discuss in UCAS personal statement.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://www.jact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Summer-Challenge-brochure-small.pdf
 
Description TU Dortmund Jubilee Lecture 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Marc-Olivier Coppens was invited to present one of the five lectures of the Jubilee Lecture Series sponsored by InPrompt, at TU Dortmund (Germany) for the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Bio- and Chemical Engineering. His presentation entitled "Nature-inspired Chemical Engineering, a Transformative Methodology for Innovation", took place on Wednesday, 6th February 2019.

The other four, notable speakers were: Klavs F. Jensen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Philippe A. Tanguy (Polytechnique Montreal); Ignacio Grossmann (Carnegie Mellon University); Frances Arnold (California Institute of Technology, Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry in 2018).

His lecture on 'Nature-inspired Chemical Engineering, a Transformative Methodology for Innovation' sparked further interest in nature-inspired engineering and the CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/jubilee-lecture-with-presentation-by-prof-marc-oli...
 
Description TV interviews - CNN, ABC 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact TV interviews with CNN, ABC and other by Danielle Purkiss on the Big Compost Experiment results.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Talk at CNIE Advisory Board Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact I gave a talk titled Modulating the colloidal behaviour of amphiphilic nanoparticles at the CNIE Advisory Board Meeting, which sparked engaging questions and discussion with dozens of researchers coming from multidisciplinary backgrounds.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Talk at the 'Designing with the Living', The Design Museum 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact A one-day symposium at the Design Museum London featured talks on how designing with living organisms can respond to some of today's ecological challenges.
Various talks and panel discussions generated great interest and discussion within postgraduate students who have attended the event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://designmuseum.org/whats-on/talks-courses-and-workshops/design-with-the-living#
 
Description Talk in Chongqing University 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact PhD students, PG students and academic attended the forum organised by Chongqing University, China. The talk sparked discussion about non-covalent interactions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://hgxy.cqu.edu.cn/info/1179/3725.htm
 
Description Talk in Sichuan University, China 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 140 PhD students, PG students and academic attended the forum organised by Sichuan University, China. The talk sparked discussion about novel approach to plastic recycling.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://chem.scu.edu.cn/info/1036/3863.htm
 
Description Talk on "Supported Gold Clusters with Modulated Environment for Catalysis" at the AIChE Annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The talk highlighted the achievements made in the project "Supported Gold Clusters with Modulated Environment for Catalysis". It was attended by more than 50 people from industry and academia. There were many interesting questions followed by discussion with the audience after the talk, specifically related to the filed of catalysis.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.aiche.org/conferences/aiche-annual-meeting/2018
 
Description Talk on "Supported gold catalytic nanoparticles with molecular control over the chemical and geometric environment" at 25th International Conference on Chemical Reaction Engineering in Florence 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The talk mainly highlighted the advancement in the project on 'Supported gold catalytic nanoparticles with molecular control over the chemical and geometric environment', under the session of Adv. Catalytic materials 1. The talk was attended by more tan 50 people from industry and academia. It raised a huge interest and discussion in the field of catalytic materials.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.aidic.it/iscre25/index.php
 
Description Talk on Nature Inspired Chemical Engineering at the Chemistry Auditorium, UCL, 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Gave talk on Evolution that has made Nature a treasure trove of solutions to sustainability and efficient use of scarce resources at the Chemistry Auditorium, UCL.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/nature-inspired-chemical-engineering-at-the-chemist...
 
Description Teacher placement lab demonstrations and filming 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Faculty of Engineering Sciences hosted teachers from surrounding schools to help guide science education in their respective schools. PhD students Halan Mohamed and Nidhi Kapil demonstrated how their science backgrounds have translated into their research. Filming took place to interview the teachers to highlight their experiences within the Faculty.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description The 4th CNIE Advisory Board Meeting and mini-Conference, UCL, London, 30-31 Jan 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentations were made by CNIE members and collaborators. The open session were available for students, researchers, staff and invited guests. This sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Also, the event had an open Poster Session where student, researchers and collaborators presented their research projects. This facilitated a borader engagement with participants and their involvement into CNIE on-going activities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description The Bureau of Investigative Journalism 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Metals waste of disposable waste
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-07-15/rise-of-single-use-vapes-sending-tonnes-of-...
 
Description The HPC Materials Chemistry Consortium Conference (Cardiff, UK) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Attended the Materials Chemistry Consortium conference untitled "Modelling of Advanced Functional Materials using Terascale Computing" hosted by University of Cardiff, UK, where I presented a poster on Computational Study of Enzymes Confined in Mesoporous Materials for Therapeutic Applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2012,2016
URL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/klmc/MCC-2016/Welcome.htm
 
Description The IET Engineering the Future Festival (IET London: Savoy Place, 6th October 2016) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a talk on 'Drawing lessons from nature to engineer innovative solutions to our grand challenges' at The IET Engineering the Future Festival (IET London: Savoy Place, 6th October 2016). The video of his presentation is available here: https://tv.theiet.org/?eventvideoid=9319

The IET Engineering the Future Festival brought the next generation of engineers alongside some of the greatest innovators in the world to celebrate the achievements of the global engineering community.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.engfest.org
 
Description The International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT) 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Professor Coppens was honoured to be invited to deliver a keynote speech, and an invited presentation with Dr Panos Trogadas at the 9th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies in Singapore. ICMAT is a major biennial event drawing more than 2500 delegates from 50+ countries, and is organised by The Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S). It provides a major forum to discuss the latest developments and fosters collaboration between materials scientists. The keynote was entitled 'Nature-Inspired Engineering of High-Performance Porous Materials', and the invited presentation 'Hierarchical, Nature-Inspired Electrocatalysts for Electrochemical Devices'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://icmat2017.mrs.org.sg/
 
Description The Problem of Plastic Waste - How to Make a Difference, as part of Incontinence: The Engineering Challenge XII, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London. UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This two-day conference featured a mix of sessions on the latest engineering challenges, solutions, technologies, and research managing the problem of incontinence. It involved several interactive sessions aimed at stimulating discussion and sharing ideas, including workshops and Q&A sessions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://events.imeche.org/ViewEvent?code=CON6799
 
Description The Summer Challenge 'Engineering Solutions from Nature' 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact opened the Summer Challenge with the presentation on Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering. The Summer Challenge 'Engineering Solutions from Nature' was planned in collaboration with the UCL Office of Widening Participation and organised with support of the EPSRC Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/the-summer-challenge-engineering-solutions-from-nat...
 
Description The Summer Challenge 2016, 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering' supported by CNIE, London, 13 June - 27 July 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The Summer Challenge 2016, 'Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering', planned and executed in collaboration with the UCL Office of Widening Participation and Department of Chemical Engineering in June 2016.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description The XXII International Conference on Chemical Reactors (CHEMREACTOR-22), 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The CHEMREACTOR conference has a long history and solid tradition. It has been held in different countries and cities associated to major research centers, where activity is connected with the development of innovative chemical technology. I'm Co-Chair of the conference to be held on 19-23 September 2016 in London, UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://conf.nsc.ru/en/page/CR_22
 
Description The XXII International Conference on Chemical Reactors (CHEMREACTOR-22), London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation: Multiscale Modeling of Pattern Formation in Pulsed Fluidized Beds: Continuum and Discrete Approaches
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://conf.nsc.ru/CR_22/en
 
Description The XXII nd International Conference on Chemical Reactors (CHEMREACTOR-22) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 19-23 September 2016, CNIE hosted The XXI International Conference on Chemical Reactors (CHEMREACTOR-22) at UCL. This event was co-organised with the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The conference was well attended, with top speakers in the field, and around 200 national and international participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://conf.nsc.ru/CR_22/en
 
Description The second meeting of the Special Interest Group, UK Fluids Network 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster and oral presentation entitled: Pattern Formation in Pulsed Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://multiphasetransport.org/
 
Description Transformative Technology Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Several researchers from the CNIE (Kaiqiao Wu, Jason Cho, Toby Neville, Victor Francia) participated in a program from UCL Culture, "The Pod", at the Grant Museum of Zoology in central London. The Pod is an event organised to engage the general public visiting the museum in discussing the link between nature and technology using items from the museum collections to describe the research developed at the CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description U.S. Department of Energy, DoE, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Dr Victor Francia (CNIE postdoc) took part in a Workshop on Multiphase Flow Science at NETL, Morgantown, USA, presenting the work carried out in the CNIE on computational fluid dynamics within the open-source framework of the DOE. Collaborations were set up with NETL and MIT on experimental and numerical work to control dynamic bubble flows in granular systems.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description UCL Chemical Engineering Taster Lecture series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave the first in the Spring 2020 Taster Lectures series for the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://youtu.be/ZCKzvyNTh9E
 
Description UCL Education Award - Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact UCL Education Award for curriculum development, with a focus on research-based education (2020) - this was mostly for the development and delivery of a unique module on Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/news/2020/may/shortlist-announced-education-awards-2020
 
Description UCL Grand Challenge of Transformative Technology 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Launched in 2016, the UCL Grand Challenge of Transformative Technology looks at how innovation and technology can have far-reaching benefits for society and the planet.
This new Grand Challenge will fund cross-disciplinary work at UCL focusing on the social impact of new technology, nature inspired engineering and the exciting new field of living software.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/grand-challenges/transformative-technology
 
Description UCL Materials Hub conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Presented poster on "Computational modeling on enzyme confinement".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description UCL Summer Challenge: Engineering Solutions from Nature 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Year 12 Summer Challenge is a programme of subject specific courses for Year 12 students attending state schools in or near London, whose parents have not been to university, and who are academically high achieving. The courses are organized jointly with the Widening Participation Office with the intent of increasing application and acceptance of disadvantaged students in higher education.

There are a number of courses on offer in a diverse range of STEM and humanities subjects, which are all taught by UCL academics and PhD students.

Courses run for six weeks at UCL's campus in Bloomsbury during June and July, on either Tuesday or Wednesday evenings from 4pm-6:30pm.

The Chemical Engineering Course (Engineering Solutions from Nature) is filled by 20 students which are exposed to the broader elements of chemical engineering. Additionally, each student is guided through a societally relevant design project (sustainable energy/water supply) that culminates in an oral presentation and 1500 word formal report.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015
 
Description UCL's 'How to Change the World' training programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact This is a unique hands-on training programme within the engineering undergraduate curriculum at UCL (the IEP) that equips rising engineering talent with the skills to develop creative and technically robust solutions to 21st-century challenges, to bring about positive social change. Dr Ayomi Perera and Dr Silo Meoto (CNIE postdocs) took part as UCL mentors in the programme.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/steapp/how-to-change-the-world
 
Description UCL's 'It's All Academic Festival' 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Dr Ayomi Perera (CNIE postdoc) presented at the first-ever It's All Academic Festival, a celebration of all that is great at UCL, with campus-wide free indoor and outdoorevents run by staff and students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/campaign/festival/festival-news/festival-launch
 
Description UK Catalysis Conference 2015 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Gave the opening plenary lecture on "A Nature-Inspired Approach to Catalysis Engineering"at the inaugural UK Catalysis Conference in Loughborough, 8-9 January 2015. This provided an opportunity for Catalytic scientists and Engineers from across the UK's academic and industrial communities to interact and network over the whole spectrum of Nature-Inspired Approach to Catalysis Engineering.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/UKCC2015/
 
Description UK Catalysis Conference 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presented research poster to national conference. It led to questions and discussion afterwards.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description UK Falling Walls Lab, Springer Nature, London, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Malica Schmidt was selected to participate at the national Falling Walls Lab among the last 20 in the UK and received a participation certificate. The event was hosted by Springer Nature as a platform that enables the next generation of problem solvers and innovators to showcase their ground-breaking research in just 3 Minutes to a broad audience on the national stage.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://falling-walls.com/lab/
 
Description UK Particle Technology Forum 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster presentation entitled: Pattern Formation in Pulsed Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds: Insights from Experiments and Computations
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.icheme.org/communities/special-interest-groups/particle%20technology/events/2017/particle...
 
Description UK Plastic Pact Launch (Host) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact I hosted the Launch of the UK Plastic Pact -
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/the-uk-plastics-pact
 
Description UK-China International Particle Technology Forum VII 2019, Edinburgh, UK, July 28-31 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Paper presentation entitled "Bubble self-organisation in annular gas-solid fluidised beds: Transition from 2D to 3D structures"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.ptf7.eng.ed.ac.uk/home
 
Description UK-Sri Lanka mini-symposium on Nanomaterials, UCL School of Pharmacy - 22nd September 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact I was an invited speaker at the event, which was aimed at establishing research collaborations between UCL and the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description University of Chester Christams Lecture 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Materials Science and Engineering schools talk.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Video profile for International Women in Engineering Day at UCL Faculty of Engineering - Halan Mohamed 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact PhD student Halan, who is researching nature-inspired engineering, discusses what inspired her to start studying engineering, what she enjoys most about her research, and what advice she'd give to a young person wanting to enter the field of STEM.
The video was one of 8 video profiles of women in UCL Faculty of Engineering and was watch by over 200 people.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://youtu.be/QOUfXupv_Vs
 
Description Virtual placement programme, In2ScienceUK, UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact In2scienceUK empowers young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their potential through life changing opportunities that give them insights into STEM careers and research and boosts their skills and confidence. Malica Schmidt supported multiple groups of 5 students (aged 16 - 18 years old) in their personal and career pathway over multiple sessions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://in2scienceuk.org/
 
Description Visit to the North London Collegiate School to give a talk on 'Supported Gold Nanoparticle for Catalysis' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact The North London Collegiate School runs a weekly lecture programme, Science Café, providing a platform for GCSE and A-level science students to explore what is beyond the curriculum. My talk took a pitch beginning from the basic level of chemistry to advance research performed in the CNIE lab.

This sparked the curiosity and interest among students towards science and engineering. The students showed immense interest in the field by asking many questions, followed by a discussion which was quite impressive.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Visiting scholars - PhD student at East China University of Science and Technology 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Direct engagement with East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China allowed us to secure a PhD research project sponsored by Chinese Scholarship Council.
See details below:
Guanghua Ye, PhD student at East China University of Science and Technology,Shanghai
September 2014-2015. Optimisation of Hierarchically Structured Porous Catalysts. Sponsored by Chinese Scholarship Council.

After presenting of The Centre for Natural Inspired Engineering (CNIE)The Centre for Natural Inspired Engineering (CNIE) and our areas of research interest, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai decided to start research collaboration with CNIE from a PhD project sponsored by Chinese Scholarship Council. We aim to gain more interest and increase our collaboration links with other researchers and High Education institutions in China to create an impact expected from CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Vist and presentation to industry-JSR Genetics 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The purpose of the activity was to make industry aware of our research its aims and the tools employed and also to explore what the key interests of the insutrial partner were.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Voyage a Mars series (webinar), Givaudan, Geneva, Switzerland 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a lecture for Voyage a Mars series (webinar), Givaudan, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2020
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description WNCST 2021 talk: A systematic, scalable, nature-inspired design methodology for functional nanomaterials 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof MArc-Olivier Coppens presented at the WNCST 2021 talk. The talk was titled A systematic, scalable, nature-inspired design methodology for functional nanomaterials.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://vit.ac.in/WNCST2021/congress-info.php#About-WNCST-2021
 
Description Webinar for Hypergravity/Microgravity, Access to Space for All - part of the Space4SDGS, United Nations Office of Outer Space (UNOOSA) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact United Nations Office of Outer Space (UNOOSA)'s Access to Space for All - part of Space4SDGS - is a joint initiative of UNOOSA and space agencies, research institutions and industry to offer access to space research facilities, infrastructure and information with the aim of developing technical know-how, engineering processes and infrastructure in the areas of hypergravity and microgravity, satellite development and space exploration and promote international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. Malica Schmidt was invited for this talk, in which she presented her research at the Material Science Subgroup for R&D in Hypergravity/Microgravity, due to her involvement at the ELGRA conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/index.html
 
Description Widening Participation Masterclass: Chemical Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact In February 2021, UCL hosted Online Masterclasses for students in Year 12 in England and Wales, S5 in Scotland and Y13 in Northern Ireland covering various subjects. Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens gave a talk on teh subject "Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering: A NICE Approach to Solve Challenging Problems".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/widening-participation/learners/year-12-and-13/masterclasses
 
Description Woodland Trust article 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Article called "What shall we do about tree shelters?" for WoodWise Magazine.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
 
Description Workshops with instrument manufacturers 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CNIE organised several well-attended workshops with instrument manufacturers this year (Quantachrome, SAXSLAB/Xenocs and Shimadzu). These unique capabilities, and being part of their development, are crucial to deliver on the promise of the ambitious scientific and technological goals of the CNIE.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description World Congress of Chemical Engineering 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Victor Francia (CNIE postdoc) presented research on the self-assembly of granular matter and intensification of fluidised bed reactors.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://wcce10.org/
 
Description ZMPC conference, June 2015, Sapporo, Japan 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Oral presentation entitled: Optimised Synthesis of Mesoporous Ti-Silica Micro-Spheres for Catalysis: A Doehlert Matrix Study
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description attended the Gordon Research Conference on Bioinspired Materials 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact attended the Gordon Research Conference on Bioinspired Materials 2018
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.grc.org/bioinspired-materials-conference/2018/