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SUMMARY:Engineering biomaterials: Innovation with wood\, hemp and silk - D
 r Darshil Shah\, Centre for Natural Material Innovation\, Cambridge Univer
 sity
DTSTART:20181116T150000Z
DTEND:20181116T160000Z
UID:TALK113203@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Karen Mitchell
DESCRIPTION:Most natural materials are composites with complex hierarchica
 l structures\, typically built from simple\, yet efficient constituent bio
 -polymers and -minerals. While we have used biomaterials like wood\, hemp 
 and silk for diverse applications since pre-historic times\, their potenti
 al has not been fully-exploited yet. Natural materials are of increasing i
 nterest to today’s ‘material world’ not only for direct usage (to al
 leviate some of the environmental issues associated with using man-made ma
 terials)\, but also for bioinspiration (to make novel and more efficient m
 an-made materials). This talk will explore some of my research on biomater
 ials such as wood\, hemp and silk and how they can be employed in a variet
 y of structural applications\, from building components to turbine blades.
 \n\nBiography:\nDarshil Shah is Senior Research Associate at the Centre fo
 r Natural Material Innovation (Dept. of Architecture)\, where he explores 
 the use of engineered wood and bamboo composites for construction\, and na
 tural fibres (such as hemp and flax) as reinforcements for structural comp
 osites. Combining sustainability with performance in natural materials is 
 a major focus of his research and teaching. Shah was a member of the Oxfor
 d University’s Silk Group (Dept. of Zoology\, 2013-2014)\, where he deve
 loped high-toughness silk-based polymer composites for defense and aerospa
 ce applications\, and explored biomaterials such as elephant ivory for bio
 inspiration. Shah obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham (2009
 -2013)\, during which he developed the world’s first 3.5-meter 11kW flax
  biocomposite wind turbine blade.\n
LOCATION: Cambridge University Engineering Department\, LT6
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