Academic staff

Dr. Chris Beckett joined the School in early 2017. His research interests are the advanced geotechnical and structural characterisation of stabilised and unstabilised unsaturated soils used as construction materials; geotechnical characterisation of agricultural soil constraints (compaction and water repellency); and centrifugal scale modelling of soil structural behaviour. He lectures in Foundation Engineering and holds an Adjunct Reseach Fellow position at the University of Western Australia.

PhD in Geotechnical Engineering, Durham University (2011)

MEng (hons) in Civil Engineering, First Class, Durham University (2008)

• Chair: Standards Australia Committee BD-083 Earth Building
• Member: RILEM TC 274-TCE Testing and characterisation of earth-based building materials and elements

• PhD in Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete
• MSc in Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete
• Diploma (BEng/MEng) in Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

• Year 4/5, Water and Wastewater Systems 4
• Year 3, Conceptual Design and Sustainability 3
• Year 2, Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2

• Wastewater treatment
• Water disinfection
• Environmental sustainability
• Advanced oxidation processes
• Photocatalysis
• Electrolysis
• Life cycle assessment
• Microplastics

Andrea has a first degree in Chemical Engineering at the Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Portugal, followed by an Industrial Placement at Fujifilm, former Avecia in Grangemouth working on dye purification for inkjet printers using membrane technology.

During her PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, she carried out extensive research focused on the removal of organic and inorganic trace contaminants from water (e.g. hormones, pesticides, uranium) using membrane technology. She subsequently participated in the AFFIRM project “Analysis of biofilm mediated fouling of nanofiltration membranes” funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU Framework Programme 7 (project 278530; Total budget: €1.5M) in Ireland as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow between 2012 and 2013. The work focused in understanding bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes.

Andrea’s current research projects focus on developing new technologies and materials for sustainable desalination, water and wastewater treatment processes with the aim of recovering a high yield of resources such as potable water, bioenergy and chemicals. Her projects involve:

• Water and wastewater remediation with biochar from waste in collaboration with the Biochar Centre in the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh
• Aquaculture wastewater bioremediation with algae and other living organisms for the recovery of water, biomass and bioenergy in collaboration with Scottish Association for Marine Science and Aquaculture Industries;
• Desalination, water and wastewater treatment with membrane technology and novel nanomaterials;
• Molecular level characterisation of dissolved organic matter for improved water treatment in collaboration with the School of Chemistry, the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh and Scottish Water.

Andrea’s research results have been published in several journals such as Water Research, Environmental Science and Technology, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science and Journal of Membrane Science.

2005 Five-year Diploma degree in Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon (equivalent to 1^st honours MEng)

2011 PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of Edinburgh on the study of the adsorption and removal of endocrine disruptors by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membrane processes.

• Water Resources 2 (CIVE08021)
• Water and Wastewater Systems 3 (CIVE09026)
• Group Design Project (Potable Water Supply) (SCEE11003)

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow (School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering) University College Dublin

Dr. Serb is a reader in Unconventional AI Hardware Technologies at the University of Edinburgh.

He is a MIET and SMIEEE.

He has led a grant portfolio of ~£2M worth of projects, including a DSTL contract for studying the feasibility of adiabatic capacitive neural networks and the UKRI New Investigator Award "ANAGRAM".

He has further been a co-investigator in UKRI MINDS CDT.

He has supervised 20+ PhD students and 6× postdocs. His research interests span across circuit and system design and AI, with particular focus on emerging technologies such as memimpedance elements.

He has published 50+ journal articles and 50+ conference papers, and filed 5× patents.

Furthermore, he is co-founder and CTO of ArC instruments ltd., a company that manufactures instrumentation for memimpedance device characterisation and testing (https://www.arc-instruments.co.uk/).

PhD degree in EEE - Imperial college, London, 2014.

MEng degree in BioMedical engineering - Imperial college, London, 2009

MIET - Member of the IET

SMIEEE - Senior member of the IEEE

ELEE08015 - Digital System Design 2

PGEE11136 - Applications of Sensor and Imaging Systems (component module leader)

• 2007-2012: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• 2003-2007: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Physics, University of Durham
• 1995-1999: MSci Physics, University of Durham
• 1999-2003: PhD Condensed Matter Physics, University of Durham

• Microelectronics 2 (Lecture course)
• Electromagnetics 3 (Lecture course)
• Electromagnetics 4 (Lecture course)
• Applications of Liquid Crystals in Sensing (Lecture course)
• Electrical Engineering 1 (Tutorials)
• Electronics Project Laboratory 2A (Labs)
• Electronics Project Laboratory 2B (Labs)

• MicroRNA biosensors
• Adaptive photonic systems and devices
• Liquid crystal lenses
• Polymer composites
• Liquid crystals
• Liquid crystal lasers
• Wireless and flexible pressure sensors for wearable electronics

• MSc Structural Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 2004
• PhD Mechanics, National Technical University of Athens, 2008
• MEng Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 2002

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

• The Finite Elemenent Method
• Soil Mechanics
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Engineering Mathematics

• Mechanics of generalised continua
• Micromechanics of materials
• Computational Mechanics
• Mechanics of geomaterials

• Google Scholar

Dr. Yunjie Yang is a Senior Lecturer (US Equivalent: Associate Professor) at The University of Edinburgh. He is also an affiliate of the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), the Edinburgh Generative AI Laboratory (GAIL) fellow, and part of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics. He was the Chancellor’s Fellow in Data Driven Innovation (2018-2023) and Bayes Innovation Fellow (2023-2024). He received his PhD in Engineering Electronics from The University of Edinburgh, MSc in Control Science & Engineering from Tsinghua University, and BEng in Measurement & Control Engineering from Anhui University. Since 2018, he briefly worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Chemical Species Tomography at the University of Edinburgh before securing the lectureship.

His research interests focus on AI-powered sensing and imaging, soft sensors & electronics for robotics, and embodied AI. His research takes a highly interdisciplinary approach, integrating Sensors, Materials, AI, Tomography, and Robotics (SMART) to advance autonomous physical intelligence. It has led to over 150 peer-reviewed journal and international conference publications, many of which were published in high-impact journals such as Nature/Cell portfolio journals (e.g., Nature Machine Intelligence), IEEE TNNLS, TMI, TIE, TII, TBME and TIM. His research has been licensed to overseas research institutes and industry partners and received wide media coverage, including BBC, EFE, USA Today and STV. He is the awardee of the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (2024-2029) and ERC Proof of Concept Grant (2026-2027).

Dr. Yang serves as the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, the Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports, the Guest Editor of IEEE Sensors Journal, and the regular reviewer for over 70 high-impact international journals (including Nature Communications, PNAS, TRO, TMI, TIE, TII, TPAMI). He served as the track/session chair of several international conferences and was frequently invited for keynotes/seminars. He is the recipient of the 2024 IEEE J. Barry Oakes Advancement Award (For demonstrated exceptional expertise, innovation and leadership in the field of Instrumentation and Measurement), 2015 IEEE I&M Society Graduate Fellowship Award, and multiple Best Paper/Poster Awards. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of the Young Academy of Europe (FYAE), a Fellow of the International Society for Industrial Process Tomography (FISIPT), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

More information about the Yang Research Group: UoE SMART Group www.yangresearchgroup.com

Press coverage:

• UoE: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/gloves-to-help-robots-get-to-grips-with-human-tasks
• EI: https://edinburgh-innovations.ed.ac.uk/news/sensor-gloves-could-help-robots-get-to-grips-with-human-tasks
• Channel 4: https://www.channel4.com/news/uk-scientists-finally-granted-eu-funding-post-brexit
• ERC StG: Dr Yunjie Yang awarded €1.5 million European Research Council Starting Grant | School of Engineering
• BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001m1mr/click-medical-marvels (from 8:12)
• DDI case study: https://ddi.ac.uk/case-studies/smart-e-skin-for-soft-robotic-perception/
• STV: https://news.stv.tv/east-central/edinburgh-university-researchers-develo...
• EFE: Crean la primera "piel electrónica" para que los robots sientan (efe.com)
• The Independent: Best inventions and discoveries of 2023: From robot skin to mind-reading caps | The Independent
• Evening Standard Podcast: https://play.acast.com/s/tech-science-daily/e-skin-boosts-robot-self-awareness
• Metro: https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/24/scientists-develop-electronic-skin-that-allows-robots-to-feel-18340234/
• The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/robots-self-aware-ai-skin-b2288369.html

(Office: 1.13 Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) Building)

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), The University of Edinburgh, UK
• Master of Science (MSc) (Outstanding Graduate and Thesis), Tsinghua University, China
• Bachelor of Science (BEng) (Outstanding Graduate), Anhui University, China

• Senior Member of IEEE
• Senior Member of IEEE I&M Society
• Member of IET
• Fellow of ISIPT
• Fellow of Young Academy of Europe (FYAE)
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

• Signals and Communication Systems 3 (ELEE09027)
• Digital System Laboratory 3 (ELEE09035)
• Electrical Engineering 1 Tutorial (ELEE08001)
• Supervision of PhD, MSc, MEng and BEng projects

• Soft sensors & electronics
• Robotic perception (especially flexible tomography)
• Physical and embodied intelligence
• Tomographic imaging and applied machine learning

We welcome undergraduates, graduates, and postdocs who are interested in joining our group. Please feel free to contact us at anytime.

I became Professor of Interfacial Science & Engineering in Edinburgh in 2020 (and was Director of Chemical Engineering from 2020 to 2024) after eight years at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle where I was first Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Environment and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (REF). Prior to that I spent twenty two years as an academic at Nottingham Trent University where I was a Professor and Head of the Research & Graduate School (Science & Technology) in the College of Arts & Science and formerly Head of Physics & Mathematics. In my earlier career I held a Royal Society European Fellowship at the University of Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie) and both gained a PhD in Applied Mathematics and was awarded a BSc (Hons) First Class in Mathematical Physics by the University of Nottingham.

My research involves wetting, interfacial science and engineering and is undertaken as part of the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids. It has attracted many funding awards including over twenty RCUK/EPSRC grants, mainly as Principal Investigator, and including both an EPSRC Platform Grant (awarded only to world-leading groups) and an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training. I have published over 250 refereed journal papers, which are cited over 1000 times annually (Google Scholar), and have been awarded seven patents. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academic (FHEA), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (F.Inst.P) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (SMIEE). I am a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and lead a UK Fluids Network Special Interest Group. I have previously been a Board Member of the Award Winning BIM Academy Enterprises Ltd, an Editorial Board member of Advances in Colloid & Interface Science and a UK Management Committee representative on COST Actions. I was a member of sub-panel 13 ("Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials") for the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) and I am Deputy Chair of sub-panel 9 ("Physics") for REF2029.

• BSc (Hons) First Class, University of Nottingham, 1983
• PhD University of Nottingham, 1986

• Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA, 2017)
• Chartered Physicist (CPhys) and Fellow Institute of Physics (FInstP, 2002)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA, 2007)
• Senior Member Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE, 2002)
• Member of the International Society of Bionic Engineering (MISBE, 2019)
• Member of the Advisory Board for the Key Lab in Bionic Engineering, Jilin University, China (2019-2022)

• Year 1 Chemical Engineering Design 1 (Course Organiser)
• Year 3 Chemical Engineering Laboratories
• Year 4 Chemical Engineering Study Projects
• Year 5 Research Project and Industrial Project Supervisor
• MSc Research Project Supervisor

Areas of research include smart and advanced materials, functional surfaces, static and dynamic wetting of surfaces (theory and experiment) and acoustic waves (fundamentals and sensor applications). These are encompassed within three broad categories,

• Interfacial Science and Engineering
• Smart Materials and Surfaces
• Wetting, Dewetting and Droplet Friction

Applications include heat and mass transfer, evaporation and condensation, friction and drag reduction, and fluid dynamics and microfluidic systems.

• I am always open to enquiries to supervise PhDs (self-funded, via University or Other Scholarships or sponsored PhDs) or host visiting researchers. University-funded PhD positions are either advertised on FindaPhD or applications can be made for agreed projects which, if a student receives an offer, enables application for University Scholarships, e.g.

• EPSRC Doctoral Training Awards (UK, EU and Overseas Students)
• Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship (for high quality Overseas Students)
• Principal's Career Development PhD Scholarships (UK, EU and Overseas Students)
• Croucher Foundation Study Awards (Permanent Hong Kong Residents)
• The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (Industry-based PhD)

• I lead the UK Fluids Network (UKFN) Special Interest group (SIG) in Droplet and Flow interactions with Bio-Inspired and Smart Surfaces.
• I have a strong belief in public understanding of research and have co-developed Natures Raincoats exhibition and website.

I graduated from the University of Science Malaysia with a B.Eng. in Materials Science & Engineering and achieving a First in 2011. In 2013, I received the prestigious Warwick Chancellor's International Scholarship to carry out my Ph.D. research in Chemistry at the University of Warwick, UK, exploring carbon nanomaterials for electroanalysis and electrocatalysis. In 2017 I began a Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, UK, working on novel porous materials for electrochemical gas sensing. I joined Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick in 2019 as a Research Fellow working on the development of lithium ion technologies (lithium ion battery and lithium ion capacitor). In 2020, I joint Teesside University to take up an appointment as a Lecturer (then promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022) in Chemistry at School of Health & Life Sciences, working primarily on electrochemical sensor (biosensor and environmental sensor).

I joined the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in 2022. I am affiliated with the discipline of Chemical Engineering and I am a member of the Institute for Bioengineering, where I carry out research in the area of nanoscale/microscale electrochemistry, electroanalysis, electrocatalysis, development of electrochemical sensor (biosensor and environmental sensor) and electrochemical energy storage.

My work has been published in reputable journals such as Nature, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Carbon, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, and Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry. I have received several awards, including the Best Oral Prize at the RSC Materials Horizons Symposium (2025), poster and oral presentation prizes at Warwick (2015–2016), the Gold Award in British Invention Show (BIS, London, 2011), the Romanian Best Innovation award in BIS (London, 2011), the Gold medal Award in National Research and Innovation Competition (NRIC, Malaysia, 2011), and the Sustainable Green Technology Award in NRIC (Malaysia, 2011).

In 2019, being awarded the prestigious Talented Program organised by Hebei (China), I aim to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations on electrochemical sensors with Hebei University of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

• PhD in Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK, 2017
• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, First Class, University of Science Malaysia, 2011
• Postgraduate Certificate In Learning and Teaching In Higher Education, University of Teesside, UK, 2022

• Chartered Chemist (CChem)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), United Kingdom, PR253148
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member, 98359847
• The Royal Society of Chemistry, MRSC, 549655
• The Society of Chemical Industry membership, 71669

• (CHEE08020) Applied Chemistry and Biochemical Engineering 2 (Credits 10)
• (CHEE11030) Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering 5 (Credits 10)
• (CHEE10002) Chemical Engineering Design: Project 4 (Credits 40)
• (CHEE09015) Chemical Engineering Design 3 (Credits 20)

• Nanoscale/microscale electrochemistry
• Electroanalysis
• Electrocatalysis
• Gas sensors
• Biosensors
• Biomedical wearable devices
• Advanced drug delivery systems
• Biomaterials
• Nanomaterials and nanotechnology
• Energy storage materials
• Zinc-ion battery