皇家华人

Following several local outreach events at 皇家华人 for underrepresented groups in Summer, the UCL has engaged in a range of impactful events on the international stage throughout September that illustrate the growing impact of its ground-breaking research and unique methodology to attack our toughest challenges.

To progress the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UK鈥檚 Industrial Strategy, responsible innovation is essential and UCL鈥檚 Grand Challenge on Transformative Technology recognises this. The systematic Nature-Inspired Solutions for Engineering (NISE) methodology developed in the CNIE at 皇家华人 - together with its academic and industrial partners - is emerging as a compelling pathway to develop such transformative technology. 听

Broadening research in Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE), the NISE methodology uses the fundamental underpinning for desirable properties in natural systems (efficiency, resilience and scalability) to develop solutions that are applicable within the context of technology for society. The CNIE has been key in launching a , kicked off in July. In September, the CNIE organised the bringing together some of the world鈥檚 leading experts from biomedicine to greenhouse gas control, functional materials and robotics. It then showcased its work at the and summarised the centre鈥檚 vision in a 鈥淰oices鈥� column in the first issue of the prestigious journal.

The success of these events demonstrates the growing appreciation of nature-inspired engineering as an enabling methodology for innovation 鈥� and for hope in times where humanity faces some of its most daunting challenges. Industry is taking note as well, sponsoring several new projects that, in conjunction with EPSRC鈥檚 鈥淔rontier Engineering鈥� grant, support research on fundamental questions and training of individuals, as the CNIE is increasingly known as a place where diversity and integration thrive, promoting innovation via its unique methodology.

Below is a summary of some of the activities听that have taken place:

Johnson Matthey鈥檚 鈥淩eaction and Transport Expertise鈥� Symposium

Head of Department of Chemical Engineering and Director, EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE),听听was invited to give a talk at the 3rd edition of the Reaction and Transport Expertise Symposium (RaTES), held on 3听September.

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The talk that opened the event was on 鈥淎 NICE Way to Re-Design Catalytic Materials and Processes鈥�. The meeting covered a wide range of topics on the interaction of reaction and transport phenomena, from experimental to modelling studies of reaction (micro) kinetics and diffusion. The understanding of these processes is key to elucidate the link between mechanism and catalytic performance in all the areas relevant to Johnson Matthey: automotive and process catalysis, battery materials, fuel cells, health and beyond

ECI-NIE Conference 鈥� 8-13 September, Grand Hotel San Michele, Cetraro, Calabria, Italy

听chaired the ECI-NIE听conference, with co-chair, welcoming world-leading practitioners and researchers from academia, national laboratories and industry to the conference with an interest in nature-inspired solutions for engineering.听

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Over an agenda packed week, attendees had the opportunity to take part in an array of talks, poster presentations, panel discussions facilitated by (Knowledge Transfer Network, lead on Nature-Inspired Solutions Special Interest Group) and an engaging workshop led by on: How to use Nature-Inspired Engineering to solve problems in practice.

The conference included inspiring keynote speeches by:

• 鈥� UCL Chemical Engineering
• - TU Dresden
• - University of Stuttgart
• - Ohio State University
• - Arizona State University
• - Beihang University
• - Harvard University
• - Stanford University

Covering application areas that include:

• Scalable Manufacturing & Process Intensification
• Built Environment: Construction, Architecture & Urban Design
• Functional Materials
• Biomedical & Healthcare Engineering
• Energy & Environmental Technology
• Robotics and Other Applications

The conference ended with delegates pledging to work together in the future, forming partnerships, sharing of ideas on how they can collaborate in research and a sense that working in broadly cross-disciplinary teams, underpinned by a design methodology that borrows lessons from nature, is a driver towards innovative solutions to solve challenging problems. With the success of the first ever CNIE conference, no doubt we will build on this for future ones.

Watch highlighted memories of the ECI-NIE Conference below:
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Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019

Following the ECI NIE conference, CNIE had the opportunity to showcase its research at the Royal Academy of Engineering听, which took place on 16-18 September 2019.

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This was the launch of a second series of summits jointly hosted by the听, the听听and the听, inspired by the听. As a part of EPSRC鈥檚 evening exhibition event entitled EPSRC Engineering Research for Grand Challenges, CNIE researchers showcased a selection of that over 拢50 million investment into research aiming to tackle the grand challenges facing our future. Visit the听听to find out more about the exhibition.听

Nina Jotanovic showcases work at the Biodesign Here Now exhibition

PhD student听听showcased her work at the听听from the 19-21听September 2019. The exhibition was curated and organised by听, the first public research centre for consumer-facing biotechnology and bio-designers.

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Nina's research is in collaboration with CNIE,听Bartlett school of Architecture at 皇家华人听and the听听at the Chemistry Department, University of Cambridge.

The team involved in this research are as follows:

• 听| Bartlett School of Architecture, PhD Candidate
• Prof Marcos Cruz听| UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, Bio-Integrated Design
• 听| UCL Chemical Engineering, Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering
• and听| University of Cambridge, BIP

For more information, visit the听.听

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Other PhD research news

PhD students听听and听听presented their posters at the 鈥� which took place in Erlangen, Germany from 1-5听September 2019. Find out more on听the听.听

One Earth Voices 鈥淰ision for a Positive Future鈥�

was also invited to contribute to an opinion piece in the first edition of One Earth Voices 鈥淰isions for a Positive Future鈥�.听

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The article tackles questions that includes "How do we face the growing environmental challenges?" and "What visions do we have for a better future?鈥� For more information about this contribution, read our .

The 2nd International Panel Meeting for Mesoscience

On the 22-24听September,听听attended the听听in Beijing, China. Under the leadership of Professor Jinghai Li (Institute for Process Engineering, IPE, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and President of the National Science Foundation of China, NSFC), the Mesoscience programme aims to tackle challenging problems for which traditional bottom-up and top-down approaches do not suffice.听

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听discussed Nature-Inspired Solutions for Engineering (NISE), as a systematic methodology for transformative technology developed in the CNIE at 皇家华人. This methodology is grounded in fundamentals and is cognisant of the context of engineering applications, to tackle complex problems in engineering, inspired by natural systems. The NISE approach is complementary to the mesoscience approach and may benefit from developments in mesoscience as a framework to describe emergent phenomena in complex systems. The workings of the lung and of lung-inspired fuel cells, as developed in the CNIE, were chosen by the panel as striking examples of multi-objective optimisation under constraints to reach efficiency, robustness and scalability, both in nature and engineering, which could be treated as a mesoscience problem.

It is clear that there are exciting opportunities for collaboration between the Mesoscience programme and the CNIE, which were discussed. For more information regarding the IPM and its members, visit the听听and听.听

Malica Schmidt receives an outstanding total of 4 awards in September听

PhD candidate听Chemical Engineering and Architecture听, presented her research on passive humidity absorption to improve regenerative life-support for missions to Moon, Mars, and beyond at the听. At the event,听Malica听was awarded Best Oral Presentation in Physical Sciences and 2^nd听Best Gravity Related Image.听

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Malica听also received a poster presentation prize at the听, Italy, resulting in the win of an impressive 4 awards over the summer including a participation certificate at the finals.

The Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering at 皇家华人 draws lessons from nature to engineer innovative solutions to our grand challenges in energy, water, materials, health, and living space. We hope that through this summary, you are provided with a taste of the centre鈥檚 vision; entrepreneurship as well as continuing collaborations with a wide range of industrial partners allow us to accelerate the translation of research findings into practice.

For more information, please visit the , read our new brochure and follow us on , and to stay updated for upcoming exciting news.