On 13 January 2025, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, to the UCL East campus and the Manufacturing Futures Lab (MFL). 

The Manufacturing Futures Laboratory (MFL) is a multidisciplinary research and teaching hub, driving strategic research and fostering innovative industry collaborations to deliver the sustainable products and manufacturing processes of the future.  
 
The MFL is also home to two MSc programmes hosted by the UCL Department of Chemical Engineering, which are: the Digital Manufacturing of Advanced Materials MSc and the Nature-Inspired Solutions MSc. 

Also attending the event was the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who, along with Sir Keir and Mr Kyle, was welcomed to UCL East by UCL’s President and Provost, Dr Michael Spence; Professor Geraint Rees, UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement); Professor Rachel McKendry (London Centre for Nanotechnology and Division of Medicine at UCL); and Professor Paola Lettieri (UCL Chemical Engineering), UCL Vice-Provost (Strategy). 

During the visit, the Prime Minister announced a new government plan for artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at boosting growth, improving living standards, and revolutionising public services. 

Researchers from the UCL Department of Chemical Engineering had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister and showcase their work. 

Dr Solomon Bawa, Lecturer (Teaching) in Digital Manufacturing of Advanced Materials, demonstrated to the Prime Minister the AI interface that controls the Manufacturing Futures Lab (MFL) liquid handling robot for high-throughput experimentation, accelerating materials discovery, develop novel synthetic procedures, and provide the data for knowledge-driven routes to develop processes at manufacturing scale. 

Dr Bawa also emphasised the importance of high-quality data for developing reliable, data-driven models, efficiently achieved through robotic platforms, and explained how the technology frees up researchers’ time, enabling them to focus on more complex and challenging tasks beyond running experiments. 

Prof Gary Lye (UCL Biochemical Engineering), Director of the MFL , highlighted to the Prime Minister the outreach activities conducted using the liquid handling robots. 

Dr Dian Ning Chia and Dr Fanyi Duanmu, UCL Chemical Engineering researchers working with Dr Maximilian Besenhard, MSc Programme Director and Lecturer in Digital Manufacturing of Advanced Materials, contributed to the discussion with the PM, presenting their research on the AI empowered self-driven chromatography method development platform (our Smart HPLC Robot). 

For more information on the Prime Minister’s visit, read the full story on the UCL website. 

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Image credit

Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media.