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19th June 2024, London – The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) recently held an exciting, ECR-led workshop on “Tackling Grand Challenges on Water, Energy, and Health" organised by and from CNIE, along with DPhil students Gayatri Sundar Rajan and Haris Saeed from University of Oxford. This event brought together researchers and students from both institutions for a day of learning and collaboration.

The initiative emerged following a Chemical Engineering Seminar by Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens, Director of CNIE, in Oxford in February, which elicited an animated discussion with many questions from students. Several DPhil students from Oxford attended and joined Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø researchers at the CNIE to discuss a variety of important topics. These included multifunctional materials, healthcare engineering, energy solutions, water issues, greenhouse gas conversion, decarbonisation, and catalysis.

Marc-Olivier kicked off the event with an introduction to the NICE (Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering) framework. His talk summarised the methodology and highlighted how nature-inspired solutions can help solve big global challenges.

The event featured brief, three-minute presentations from both CNIE researchers and Oxford DPhil candidates, as well as a lecture by Dr Nisa Salim, Senior Lecturer from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, who was visiting us at the CNIE for three weeks. Participants also visited CNIE's labs and saw some of the cutting-edge research facilities. These lab visits were a highlight, giving attendees a better understanding of the work being done at the CNIE.

The event encouraged collaboration and sparked interest among the students, laying the groundwork for future joint research projects. It demonstrated the value of bringing together expertise from different institutions to tackle complex problems in water, energy, and health.

Overall, the event was a great success and showcased CNIE's commitment to innovative, nature-inspired engineering solutions!