Inspiration Grant Awardees

The CNIE Inspiration Grants scheme ran from 2015 to 2022. 26 projects were funded.

The aim of the CNIE Inspiration Grants was to encourage collaboration and engagement between UCL researchers, leading researchers across the UK, and industry. The wider aim was to grow the Centre’s engagement and outreach, further validate and promote nature-inspired approaches to engineering, and initiate new research projects tackling key industrial and environmental challenges, by taking inspiration from nature.

Inspiration Grants

2022

Dr Nidhi Kapil, PDRA in Chemical Engineering, with Dr Halan Mohammed as Inspiration Grant Researcher (Award date September 2022)

Project: Stimuli responsive polymer brushes decorated with gold nanoclusters for stable
and scalable antimicrobial surfaces
Project Partner: Clinical Microbiology and Virology, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust

2021

Simona Migliozzi, PDRA in Chemical Engineering (Award date October 2021)

Project: Pickering emulsions with nature-inspired structural stability for stimuli-responsive drug delivery
Project Partner: School of Pharmacy, UCL

Yang Lan, Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering (UCL), with Xiyi Li as Inspiration Grant Researcher (Award date October 2021)

Project:Carboxysomes-inspired Photocatalytic System for CO2 reduction
Project Partner: Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge

Matthew Chin, PDRA in Chemical Engineering

Project: The immune “mind”: bioelectrical and structural networks in decision-making

2020

Yanan Liu, PDRA in Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature inspired graphene-based membrane for water treatment
Project Partner: University of Bath

2019

Eseelle Hendow, PDRA in Cancer Trials Centre

Project: Investigating How Nature Inspired Hierarchical Structures Influence Cell Behaviour

Ye Yang, PhD Student in Chemical Engineering

Project: Electrolytes in regulating protein-mimetic amphiphilic nanoparticles
Project Partner: University of York

Stavroula Balabani, Professor of Fluid Mechanics

Project: Microswimmer inspired microscale transport in complex fluids
Project Partner: University of Bristol

Max Besenhardt, PDRA in Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature inspired green, tunable & scalable synthesis of magmentic nanoparticles
Project Partner: University of Sheffield

Kaiqiao Wu, PhD Student in Chemical Engineering

Project: Bubble self-organisation in annular gas-solid fluidised beds: transition from 2D to 3D structures
Project Partner: Heriot-Watt University and Particulate Solid Research Inc (US)

Jonathan Knowles, Professor of Biomaterials Science at Eastman Dental

Project: Mussel Inspired Chemistry and bacterially synthesised polymers for Oral Mucosal Adhesion and Drug Delivery
Project Partner: University of Sheffield

Ryan Wang, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, and Magda Titirici, Chair in Sustainable Energy Materials (Imperial College London)

Project: Nature inspired ‘cation channels’ for all solid-state battery
Project Partner: Imperial College London

2018

Jason Cho, PDRA Student in Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature-Inspired Water Management in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel
Project Partner: Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (D)

Lixu Yang, Teaching Fellow in Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature-inspired Self-healing Materials from Plastic Waste
Project Partner: University of Nottingham and BASF

Asterios Gavriilidis, Professor of Chemical Reaction Engineering

Project: Novel microfluidic chemotaxis screening platform for high-throughput bacterial viability quantification
Project Title: Queen Mary University London

2017

Silo Meoto, PDRA in Chemical Engineering

Project: Bioactive aerogels: development of a remineralizing toothpaste material
Project Partner: Queen Mary University London

Kathrine Holt, Professor in Physical Chemistry

Project: Growth of iron sulphide through electrochemical control: towards exploitation of nature’s remediator, catalyst and electron transfer mediator
Project Partner: Loughborough University

Ryan Wang, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature inspired ‘synthetic enzyme’ for the oxygen reduction
Project Partner: Diamond Light Source

Darren Nesbeth, Associate Professor in Synthetic Biology

Project: An applied, engineered oscillation inspired by the natural oscillatory behaviour of HIV
Project Partner: University of Aberdeen

Anna Ploszajski, PDRA in Mechanical Engineering

Project: Nature Inspired 4D printing for biomedical applications

2016

Panagiota Angeli, Professor of Chemical Engineering

Project: Nature-Inspired Confined Jet-Mixers for Ionic Liquid-Liquid Extraction Applications
Project Partner: University of Belfast and Queen's University of Belfast

Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials & Society

Project: Robust self-healing fabrics for soft robotic applications

Stephen Marshall, Professor of Urban Morphology and Urban Design

Project: The self-organising built environment: calibrating relationships across scales
Project Partners: University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, University of Surrey, Bristol University

2015

Jayesh Bhatt, PDRA in Chemical

Project: Modelling hierarchical transport network of rocks using multiscale modelling and X-ray tomography
Project Partner: University of Surrey

Brenda Parker, Associate Professor in Biochemical Engineering

Project: 3D printing underwater: the regenerative marine fishing nets of salps
Project Partner: British Antarctic survey

Niall Kent, PDRA in Chemical Engineering

Project: Bioactive aerogels: preclinical development of a novel bone grafting material
Project Partner: Queen Mary University London, Institut Staumann AG (CH)