Students from across the School of Engineering and Materials Science, including the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR), third year BEng students, and the Intercalated BSc in Bioengineering presented their research projects at the Industrial Liaison Forum on 6th March 2024. All students engaged in lively discussion with our academics and external visitors, and received excellent feedback from our judges and industrial collaborators.

QMCUR is a hub of innovation, exploration and academic excellence dedicated to championing undergraduate research endeavours. The Centre aims to foster a culture of curiosity, grassroots research, and discovery, empowering students to delve into real-world challenges, generate meaningful insights, and shape a future with broader perspectives.

Intercalated BSc students study aspects of biomechanics, biomaterials, computational methods in medicine, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, medical imaging and rehabilitation technologies, and apply their knowledge of engineering and materials-based technologies within the clinical environment. The research project accounts for 50% of the final mark and its highly likely the work will contribute to a publication.

The BEng research project has been designed to be a linked design project where students will work individually and as a group to integrate core disciplinary concepts to produce the detailed design of a part of a product or process. Students will bring their individual components together to develop a complex component or process, and need to think creatively to produce an effective design that meets a specification and minimises the cost and environmental impact.

In a 2-hour event, one QMCUR student, Jake Seah, was selected for a prize for the quality and enthusiasm of his presentation on addressing the accessibility issue of the organ-on-a-chip technology, and Intercalated student, Sarina Mathew, was selected for a prize for the quality and enthusiasm of her presentation on incorporating semiconducting materials in silicone so as to produce a flexible substrate to use in light addressable electrochemistry.

Over 20 projects were displayed at the Final Year Student Project Showcase in the morning, where a fantastic selection of posters, table displays and videos were presented by our BEng students. The enthusiasm of the presenting students was noted by our industrial collaborators.

The three winning BEng final year projects were:

Project A6: Digital Additive Manufacturing as an Innovative Materials and Process Advancement;

Project B1: Light-based 3D Printing of Precision Implants

Project R1: Design and Development of a Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand with Tactile Sensing and Haptic Feedback