On 3 July, students were given the opportunity to showcase their research at the Department of Chemical Engineering's annual PhD Symposium.

As is customary, the symposium was opened with a keynote speech from a distinguished speaker. This year, Professor Liangfang Zhang from UC San Diego discussed his work on biomimetic nanoparticles used in drug delivery, detoxification and vaccination.

Professor Liangfang Zhang, UC San Diego

Professor Zhang's keynote speech was then followed a series of 20-minute talks from 12 PhD students, each of whom presented their work and answered questions from the audience. The students, whose talks covered a range of topics from predicting false lumen thrombosis to transport mechanism in graphene oxide membranes, were evaluated by a panel of academics and industrial partners.

Mark Allenby, first prize winner (panel vote)

During the lunch break, the Department also held a poster session, where 20 students showcased their work in the form of research posters. These were judged by academic and non-academic staff members of the Department, with the students on standby to answer any questions the audience had about their work. The symposium day was closed with a drinks reception where the prize winners were announced:

Ravi Shankar, first prize winner (panel vote)

Winners (panel vote)

Oral presentations

1st prize: Mark Allenby

Joint 2nd prize: Hao Bian

Joint 2nd prize: Shiqi Wang

Poster presentations

1st prize: Ravi Shankar

2nd prize: Selene Pirola

Winners (student vote)

Oral presentations

1st prize: Mark Allenby

2nd prize: Lorena dos Santos de Souza

3rd prize: Claudia Menichini

Poster presentations

1st prize: Humera Ansari

2nd prize: Manuela Nania

See all the pictures in high-resolution on Flickr and share them on Facebook.

[Article written by Dora Olah an Undergraduate student in the Department of Chemical Engineering.]