Alan Zhang, Swasthi Surendran (FIBE3 Cohort 1) and Kenneth Yap (FIBE2 Cohort 5) attended the Royce PhD Student Research Sandpit 2025 and ultimately walking away with the event prize.
The Royce workshop was created to encourage multidisciplinary exploration for people of different backgrounds, particularly Material Science and Engineering, to come together, work together for combining team creativity, rapid ideation, and multidisciplinary exploration to generate new research directions.
This year there was a grand challenge for teams that was focused on sustainability in the materials community, specifically on how we might rethink and re-engineer the recycling of mattresses. Designed from the outset to be industry-led and focused on a complex issue with the potential for real impact.
We are, of course, proud to announce that our students went on to win the challenge!
Attending the research sandpit, FIBE3 Cohort 1 student Swasthi Surendran reported the following:
"Attending the Henry Royce Institute’s Research Sandpit was a great opportunity to collaborate with other scientists towards a common goal of sustainability. Over two days, we were tasked with forming and working with a team to provide a potential solution to improve the circularity of polyurethane foams. This was something I knew very little about, but we were able to consider its potential for reuse in the construction industry. The team brought together a broad range of skillsets, and this was a rewarding experience overall. Finally, we pitched our comprehensive plan to an esteemed panel of judges, where it was impressive how each of the four groups had formed such a variety of ideas within two days. Our group won a prize, which we hope will help with furthering our proposal."
Alan Zhang, a FIBE3 Cohort 1 student, added the following:
“Attending the Royce sandpit event was an inspiring experience. Throughout the two days, I had the chance to work with people from various research areas to focus on a chemistry-related proposal. Although my background is completely different from this field, I thoroughly enjoyed the sandpit. I was able to contribute by applying the problem-solving methods I use in my own research. I learned a great deal about collaborating with people who have different thinking styles. I believe it was exactly this diversity of personality and thought that helped us win first prize during the final presentation.”