Academy supports engineering excellence with 18 new research fellowships

Next-generation fibre-optic gyroscopes, waste-heat recovery systems, germanium-tin quantum detectors and an affordable solar home for use in rural India are among the research areas to be supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, which has announced 18 new engineering Research Fellowships, with each awardee receiving five years’ worth of funding and mentorship to advance their research careers.

Five of the awards have been made as part of the Academy’s Engineering for Development Research Fellowships. 

Funded through the government’s Global Challenges Research Fund, these fellowships are awarded to research projects that directly tackle the challenges faced by developing countries and highlight the vital role of engineering in achieving sustainable global development.

The Academy’s Research Fellowships are designed to advance excellence in engineering by enabling early-career researchers to concentrate on basic research in any field of engineering.

Awardees also receive mentoring from experienced Academy Fellows, providing valuable advice and industry links that will enable the researchers to establish themselves as future leaders in their fields.

Professor Philip Nelson CBE FREng, Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowships Steering Group, says: “I am delighted to announce these five-year Research Fellowships to 18 of the most promising engineering academics working in the UK today.

“Engineering research plays a vital role in addressing societal and industrial challenges, both today and in the future, and the variety and impact of the research being done by these awardees demonstrates the depth and breadth of world-leading engineering expertise we have within our universities.

“We have been able to appoint a record number of new engineering Research Fellowships this year, thanks to the government’s Investment in Research Talent initiative, which has provided the Academy with a significant increase in funding over the next few years to attract and retain the best research talent in the UK and support their work.”

The full list of Research Fellows and their projects is as follows:

Research Fellowships

• Dr Ruy Sebastian Bonilla, University of Oxford: Ion-charged Dielectrics for Next Generation Electronic Devices
• Dr Richard James Colchester, University College London: High-fidelity, Miniaturised, Endoscopic, Multi-modality, All-optical Ultrasound Imaging Platform
• Dr Joao Henriques, University of Oxford: MEMO – Meta-learning Enhanced Memorization in One-shot
• Dr Alexander John Knowles, University of Birmingham: Titanium, Steel and Tungsten Superalloys: Engineering Fracture and Irradiation Resistance
• Dr Richard Paul Middlemiss, University of Glasgow: Microscopic Semi-Absolute Pendulum Gravimeter
• Dr Ross William Millar, University of Glasgow: Germanium-Tin Quantum Detectors
• Dr Christopher Ness, University of Edinburgh: Illuminating Forces in Suspensions: Pathways to Rational Formulation and Processing
• Dr Eric Rodrigue Numkam Fokoua, University of Southampton: Next-generation Fibre-optic Gyroscopes for Ultraprecise Positioning
• Dr Chaitanya Choudary Paruchuri, University of Southampton: Characterisation and Control of Tip Noise in Ducted Fans
• Dr Michael Thompson, Lancaster University: Graphene Transistors for Cryogenic Electronics
• Dr Martin White, City, University of London: Next Generation Waste-heat Recovery Systems Based on Two-phase Expansion
• Dr Wenchuan Wu, University of Oxford: Rapid Mapping of Brain Connectivity and Microstructure Using Diffusion MRI

Engineering for Development Research Fellowships

• Dr Oluwasola Olakunle Daniel Afolabi, Loughborough University: Advanced Technological Synergy for Renewable Energy Production in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Dr Efstratios Batzelis, Imperial College London: Addressing the Solar Integration Challenges in Developing Countries
• Dr Wei He, University of Warwick: Smart Multi-Functional Affordable Solar Home for Rural India
• Dr Marta Vignola, University of Glasgow: Eco-engineered Biofilters for Sustainable Removal of Pesticides in Drinking Water
• Dr Tingting Zhu, University of Oxford: A Clinical AI for Tackling Multimorbidities in Hospitals in LMICs

The scheme is currently open for applications until Monday 23rd September 2019. For more information, click HERE.