Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research News

Ms Umaiza Bhatti Wins SEED Award for Notable Contribution to QMCUR's Educational Infrastructure

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 23:00:00 +0100

We are delighted to announce that Ms Umaiza Bhatti, a second-year Biomedical Engineering student currently serving as Development and Engagement Lead at QMCUR, has been awarded the SEED Award in recognition of her contributions to enhancing the learning environment and supporting tools for undergraduate researchers. During her tenure, Umaiza has developed several high-impact resources that are now integral to the Centre's operations, including: - Induction Package: a detailed document that introduces newly enrolled students to the philosophy, operational procedures, and resources available at QMCUR, alongside a "learning agreement" that sets mutual expectations and commitments. - Structured Logbook and Opportunity Tracker: these tools support students in managing their research projects and professional development. Both facilitate systematic activity tracking and navigation of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, regarded at QMCUR as the current gold standard for researcher development. The Structured Logbook provides a streamlined way to document progress, focusing on key aspects while maintain high-quality records. The Opportunity Tracker helps students identify and pursue a wide range of additional opportunities, including bursary applications, research internships, and placements. The QMCUR core team will explore the use of these tools in partnership with the students in appraisal-like process to oversee development and co-design potential future growth pathways. - Tools for Managing Complex Schedules: these instruments were developed to empower students to balance QMCUR research projects with curricular and other extracurricular commitments. These resources include time management strategies, prioritisation techniques, task-switching methods, and guidance on preserving leisure time and personal well-being. The content was originally developed for a series of in‑person workshops and was then adapted into a dedicated QM+ module, to widening participation, allowing for a deeper, more structured engagement with the material, and offering a more immersive, self-paced learning journey. All new QMCUR members are required to complete this module within their first month of enrolment. The module includes a range of quizzes, exercises, and assessed tasks, with a certificate awarded upon successful completion, subject to Umaiza's approval. This SEED award reflects Umaiza's dedication, creativity, and strong commitment to improving the undergraduate research experience at QMCUR. We believe her work will influence and benefit all students who encounter these tools, helping them not only at QMCUR but also in other contexts, as lifelong skills. Umaiza is currently undertaking her placement year at Unilever, working within the R&D team. She will be stepping down from her QMCUR role but will remain available in an advisory capacity to support her successor, who is currently being recruited.

QMCUR attends the official inauguration of the Westminster Centre for Gene Editors of the ...

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0100

QMCUR was honoured to attend the celebratory and official launch of The Westminster Centre for Gene Editors of the Future, with a notable delegation of around ten affiliates. The inauguration was a fantastic full-day event featuring insightful talks from the University's leadership team, industry representatives, international collaborators, and students, alongside a celebratory awards ceremony for students receiving their Gene Editors Iteration 5 Basic Certificate Awards. A heartfelt congratulations to the Gene Editors of the Future on reaching this landmark milestone in democratising cutting-edge science, and a special well done to the incoming students embarking on their exciting journey into gene editing! During the event, our Partnerships Convenor, Umer Asif, had the privilege of speaking on behalf of QMCUR. He shared our vision of promoting undergraduate research, emphasising our goal to expand our capabilities and enhance opportunities for students. QMCUR's endorsement continued in the evening with an online talk by Dr Giuseppe Viola, who highlighted the strengths of the Gene Editors Team, the spirit of the initiative, and key milestones in our collaboration. Dr Viola outlined the core values of the Gene Editors initiative, including genuineness, humbleness, grace, inclusivity, and technical competence, among others. He also emphasised the shared principles driving our partnership: early research-based education, a rejection of hierarchical learning in favour of flat structures, and the removal of barriers to student development. The overarching ethos is to consider students as potential peer researchers. We are immensely proud of our growing partnership with the Gene Editors of the Future. Our collaboration is already thriving; we organise joint events, exchange ideas and experiences, tackle challenges, and offer each other emotional support. Yet, we will strive for our synergy to grow with increasing intensity and interactions. We thank the Gene Editors of the Future for their kind invitation. We wish them a healthy, happy, and long-lasting success, and we are confident they will make a profound impact in gene editing and healthcare. We look forward to our continued collaboration and gratefully thank all QMCUR students who attended the event and honoured this inauguration!

QMCUR at the Festival of Education

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 23:00:00 +0100

On 9 June 2026, our Director Dr Giuseppe Viola and Partnerships Convenor Mr Umer Asif presented a poster at Queen Mary's Festival of Education 2026 in the Octagon. The poster showcased our reflective work, "From Co-Creation to Student Leadership: Designing and Interpreting Academic-Style Roles within QMCUR," which introduces the C.R.A.F.T. Taxonomy—a new framework for student leadership built directly from undergraduate experiences in academic-style roles designed to enhance our Centre's capacity. We shared insights on how such roles can pedagogically foster learner autonomy and structured responsibility, enabling students to progress from co-creators to different levels of leadership. It was a valuable opportunity also to discuss future research on student-led activities and the design of educational structures that develop emerging leaders. We were particularly inspired by the parallels with Dr Ana Cabral's work, "Co-Flourishing Toolkit," which promotes human flourishing in teaching and learning—a refreshing perspective in an era where pedagogy is often dominated by AI, engagement, and employability. Many thanks to the Queen Mary Academy for hosting this vibrant event and to everyone who visited our poster for a chat!

Dhyey Joshi presents international collaborative research at Belle II VTX Workshop in Germany

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

Last week, Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) member and second-year mechanical engineering undergraduate Dhyey Joshi presented at the 2nd General VTX Workshop, hosted at the DESY campus in Hamburg, Germany. This prestigious three-day event gathered researchers from around the globe to discuss the upgrading plans of the Belle II iVTX detector. As part of a collaborative, multi-partners research project involving an international team, Dhyey's research focuses on refining a fallback active liquid cooling solution for the iVTX, ensuring a robust backup should any issues arise with the primary Thermal Pyrolytic Graphite (TPG) system. Based on ANSYS thermal simulations, his work optimises critical parameters such as fluid flow rate and glue conductivity. Condensing six months of rigorous work into a compelling 15-minute presentation, during his talk, Dhyey shared key findings on the comparison of coolants like liquid water and paraffin, identifying the latter as a limiting factor for cooling. He also provided structural insights for the cooling system design, demonstrating that a single curved pipe results in uneven cooling on one side. By improving these variables through iterations, his work culminates in a significantly more efficient cooling system. Building on his previous experience presenting at Posters in Parliament and joint conferences with the University of Westminster, Dhyey's presentation was met with widespread acclaim, testifying to his outstanding achievements and the invaluable research activities conducted at QMCUR. Furthermore, the collaborative environment of the workshop sparked new cross-disciplinary insights that Dhyey is eager to implement to push his research even further. Reflecting on the experience, Dhyey commented: "Attending the Belle II VTX workshop at DESY was a significant milestone for this project. Presenting my work to the wider Belle II team was a fantastic opportunity to discuss progress, receive valuable feedback, and better understand how my work connects with the broader particle detector development effort. I am incredibly grateful to Professor Oliver Fenwick and Professor Adrian Bevan for enabling this opportunity through their continued support and encouragement throughout this project." QMCUR extends its warmest congratulations to Dhyey for this tremendous achievement on the international stage. Special thanks also to Professor Oliver Fenwick and Professor Adrian Bevan for their excellent supervision and continued support of undergraduate research.

QMCUR at British Conference of Undergraduate Research 2026 at the University of Glasgow

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0100

A contingent of our students' team participated in the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR), hosted by the University of Glasgow on 1st and 2nd April 2026, presenting four research projects. The contributions included two oral presentations and two posters: Oral Presentation 1: "Seeing Through Touch: A Wearable Sensory Substitution System to Aid Navigation of the Visually Impaired", presented by Bohdan Skulimovskyi (3rd Year Robotics Engineering), who is leading his team towards significant progress. His depth of knowledge and confident delivery were remarkable. Oral Presentation 2: "Miniaturising Pharma: Design and Early-Stage Development of 3D-Printed Microfluidic Lab-on-Chip Platforms", presented by Rindhiya Shankhar (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering) supervised by Prof Julien Gautrot and Davide Carta, who handled a large audience and probing questions with impressive maturity, upholding her recent award at Posters in Parliament 2026. Poster 1: "Bioimpedance Measurements and Brain Tissue Phantoms for Cancer Neuroscience", by Sheena Varghese (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering), supervised by Dr Chris Chapman, attracted considerable interest, prompting numerous questions driven by the audience's interest on brain tumour detection. Poster 2: "Vision-Based Stiffness-Controllable Dynamic Range Force Sensor for Tissue Palpation", by Hashir Hamid (3rd Year Computer Science) and Taima Holden (2nd Year Robotics Engineering), supervised by Dr Abu Bakar Dawood, presented new recent results that sparked insightful discussions on their significance and future directions. The entire QMCUR team highlighted the excitement and memorable nature of their experience at the event. The conference concluded with a pivotal moment for QMCUR: the official handover from the BCUR 2026 organising team to host the next edition at Queen Mary. This initiative received support from the Queen Mary Vice‑Principal for Education during the national bidding phase. Planning for BCUR 2027 has now officially begun. The event will be hosted by QMCUR with the support of all its students, SEMS, the QM Events Team, the QM Marketing Team, other key figures from Queen Mary, and the advice of the BCUR National Executive Committee. Hosting this conference represents a significant legacy for undergraduate research and will enhance national and international visibility, not only for QMCUR and SEMS but for the entire university, in promoting research‑based education. QMCUR will strive to make it a memorable event for all participants.

QMCUR exhibits at the Queen Mary Industrial Liaison Forum

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

On the 11th of March, QMCUR participated in the Queen Mary Industrial Liaison Forum, marking our 5th consecutive presence at the event. In total, approximately 35 undergraduate researchers from our team presented 15 diverse posters, showcasing research across a wide range of engineering disciplines ranging from robotics and bioengineering to fluid dynamics and materials science. The awards for the Best Poster this time were obtained by: Allegra Celesia – for her work on "Data-Driven Path Planning for Methane Monitoring Drones", Supervised by Dr Nikos Bempedelis Jensen Jill Rajesh – for his work on the development of a "Sensorised Residual Limb Phantom", Supervised by Thilina Dulantha Lalitharatne Both projects exemplify the high calibre of undergraduate research conducted within QMCUR, addressing real-world challenges in environmental monitoring and healthcare technology. The attached photograph captures a group photo of some of our presenting members, reflecting the collaborative spirit and enthusiasm of the team. We extend our congratulations to the whole team of presenters for their hard work and dedication. Special thanks are also due to their supervisors for their continued guidance and support throughout the research process. We look forward to seeing the future progress of their research at upcoming dissemination events, and conferences.

QMCUR Students at Posters in Parliament and a standing ovation for Rindhiya Vishnu Shankar

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

For the third consecutive year, our team participated in Posters in Parliament. This prestigious event brings together the most innovative undergraduate researchers from across the UK, offering them the opportunity to present their work directly to legislators, policymakers, and leading academics. This year, we showcased the following selected posters: 1. "A Search for New Physics: FEA-Driven Modelling of a Liquid Cooling System for the Belle II iVTX Detector", by Dhyey Joshi (2nd-year Mechanical Engineering), supervised by Prof Oliver Fenwick. This project is in collaboration with the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences at QMUL and other partners abroad, including KEK (Tsukuba, Japan), IPHC (Strasbourg, France), IJC Lab, INFN (Pisa, Italy) and University of Bonn (Germany). Dhyey has impressed all collaborators by the progress he has made in only few months of research. Based on his experience, Dhyey commented: "It was a valuable opportunity to present my work and connect with passionate researchers contributing significantly on solving vital challenges. I am grateful to Professor Oliver Fenwick and Professor Adrian Bevan for their guidance and support, and Dr Giuseppe Viola for helping organise these opportunities". 2. "Designing Microfluidic Devices for Drug Diffusion Testing" by Rindhiya Vishnu Shankar (3rd Year Biomedical Engineering), supervised by Davide Carta (PhD student) and Prof Julien Gautrot. This research tackles a critical challenge in pharmacology, by developing a microfluidic chip for efficient, reproducible, and scalable drug diffusion testing. The device incorporates hydrogel-based barriers to replicate biological tissue characteristics, with the long-term objective of reducing reliance on in-vivo animal testing. After winning the internal selection by a substantial margin, Rindhiya's poster was shortlisted among the eight best submissions nationally and ultimately received a Commended Poster Award, placing it among the top three posters presented at the event. This remarkable recognition, introduced this year for the first time at the event, was awarded for the strength and clarity of the scientific poster design, excellent subject mastery, a compelling long-term research vision, and a clear pathway for continued development. Feeling excited for the award, Rindhiya commented: "PiP was an incredibly rewarding experience. Meeting researchers working on innovative and emerging projects was truly inspiring. The event also encouraged me to view my research through a regulatory lens, helping me better understand its future impact. I am grateful that my work was recognised, which further motivates me to continue working for better results. I would like to sincerely thank Prof Julien Gautrot, Davide Carta, and Dr Giuseppe for their guidance, support, and for providing this valuable opportunity". QMCUR extends its warmest congratulations to Rindhiya for this tremendous achievement and thanks to Davide Carta and Prof Julien Gautrot for their excellent supervision, which made such a significant accomplishment possible. Congratulations also to Dhyey for the excellent posters presented, and Prof Oliver Fenwick and Prof Adrian Bevan for their guidance on this impactful research.

Jensen J. Rajesh co-authors paper accepted for RoboSoft 2026

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Jensen Rajesh, a 3rd-year student in Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR), supervised by Dr Thilina Lalitharatne, has co-authored a paper accepted for presentation at RoboSoft 2026 (IEEE-RAS International Conference on Soft Robotics) in Kanazawa, Japan. The paper, titled: "Sensorised Residual Limb Phantoms: An Exploratory Study Towards Developing Physical Twins of Residual Limbs for Prosthetic Socket Testing", addresses a critical challenge in soft robotics. It targets the problem of painful and inefficient prosthetic socket fitting by enabling prosthetic arms to be tested and refined on a sensorised soft residual-limb phantom using quantitative force measurements, rather than requiring direct testing on amputees. The research team developed a sensorised phantom using Ecoflex silicone instrumented with eight Force Sensitive Resistors. This setup enables the repeatable measurement of local contact forces at the prosthetic socket–limb interface. By integrating the phantom with a UR5 robotic manipulator, the team established a physical testing platform capable of simulating representative upper-limb daily motions, such as horizontal lifts and vertical swings. This approach achieved consistent and motion-correlated force sensor responses, reliably capturing directional pressure changes and load redistribution during dynamic movements. Jensen will present his contribution to this work at the upcoming conference in Kanazawa. Reflecting on this opportunity, he commented: "I'm very excited about this achievement and about the opportunity to build on this work using the knowledge gained throughout the project. Attending RoboSoft will be a valuable experience, as I'm looking forward to engaging with researchers doing outstanding work in the field. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Professor Thilina for supervising this project, as well as to Giuseppe Viola for his support and for recommending me as part of QMCUR. I am also deeply thankful to Chenhao Hong and Saitarun Nadipineni for their incredible support throughout the project." QMCUR congratulates Jensen and thanks Dr Lalitharatne for his continued openness in hosting undergraduate students in his group and for his excellent supervision, as evidenced by the repeated significant outputs of his undergraduate students. This testifies to the important contributions they can make to research when given the opportunity and appropriately guided.

QMCUR Showcase at the November 2025 Industrial Liaison Forum

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0100

A team of our student researchers marked QMCUR's fourth consecutive presence at the Industrial Liaison Forum (5th November 2025) by presenting 11 research posters on a wide range of topics, reflecting the breadth of activities conducted at our Centre. Approximately 20 students participated as authors and co-authors of the posters and enthusiastically engaged with academic staffs and visitors to explain their projects and receive feedback and exchange ideas with their peers. The prize for the Best Poster was awarded to the work presented by the Cybathlone group, titled "Seeing Through Touch: A Method for Navigation of the Visually Impaired" by Mr Bohdan Skulimovskyi (current President of Cybathlone) Ms Seagull Presanna Nithyanandam (current Vice-President, Rindhiya Shankar and Jensen Rajesh. This project aims to develop a device that helps visually impaired individuals travel independently in public transports using a tactile assistive sensing mechanism, designed to provide feedback in real-time, thereby enhancing mobility reducing isolation. QMCUR thanks everyone involved for their participation. This ongoing engagement significantly enhances the Centre's visibility and reputation within SEMS, across QMUL, and with external industrial collaborators, reinforcing our commitment to research and knowledge dissemination.

Excellence on Display at the Undergraduate Research Forum 2025

g.viola@qmul.ac.uk (Giuseppe Viola) — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 23:00:00 +0100

The Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) successfully hosted the second Undergraduate Research Forum: Engineers Meet Gene Editors (URFEMGE 2025). Building on the previous year's success, the forum was again held in collaboration with the University of Westminster's Gene Editors of the Future group, led by Dr Kalpana Surendranath. The three-day event featured a rich program, including 33 student presentations from various universities, two expert seminars, a student panel, and a leadership and team-building workshop. The 30-minute format for each presentation allowed sufficient time for detailed discussions during the Q&A sessions. All students demonstrated in-depth knowledge, remarkable engagement, and a surprising level of maturity, displaying the confidence and rigour of experienced researchers. Dr Kalpana Surendranath, Director of Gene Editors of the Future, commented: "It was wonderful to witness such energy, creativity, and passion at the second edition of URFEMGE 2025. The talks delivered by students from both the QMCUR and the Gene Editors of the Future programme were true gems of innovation and inspiration. The event clearly demonstrated the growing enthusiasm among students at all levels and across disciplines to collaborate for the advancement of science and society". Dr Giuseppe Viola, Director of QMCUR, reflected on the event's significance: "The forum was a memorable experience that left a lasting impression. It showed that students are ready to play an important role in research activities and to embrace interdisciplinarity. The quality of the presentations was exceptional, and the students' preparation and professionalism were truly remarkable. A huge thank you to all the academic staff who guided them to achieve this. Special thanks to our expert speakers, Dr Sandeep Sundararajan, for sharing the latest developments in gene editing, and Dr Shahrar Ali, for his thought-provoking insights into epistemology. I look forward to hosting more events of this kind to broaden participation further, allowing everyone to enjoy the inspiring atmosphere of these unique learning environments".