Introducing the six new Fellows elected to the Learned Society of Wales in 2024 who work in engineering.
Professor Sandra Esteves FLSW
Professor in Bioprocess Technology for Resource Recovery: Energy and Materials & Director of the Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic DigestionUniversity of South Wales
Professor Esteves has over 23 years’ experience in biotechnology research, development and deployment. She has directed R&D projects with over £15m of funding from the state and private sectors.
The inventor of two patents and eight trademarks, Professor Esteves was finalist for the BBSRC Innovator of the Year 2019. She also supports biological full-scale infrastructure development nationally and internationally.
I am delighted to become a member of the LSW as my goals and achievements are reflected in the ethos of the society. I aim to contribute to the Society’s work related to research, knowledge and education, that has to do with biotechnologies when they are placed at the heart of the circular economy and net zero.
Professor Antonio Gil FLSW
Head of the School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Swansea University
It is with great honour that I receive this amazing news. To receive such prestigious recognition from Fellow colleagues across Wales is something that I will always treasure whilst serving as an ambassador of the Society worldwide.
Professor Michael Hughes FLSW
Professor of Biomedical EngineeringKhalifa University
Professor Michael Hughes’ research in biomedical engineering explores the interaction between cells and electric fields; he uses this to study how cells interact with their environment, to diagnose diseases such as cancer, and to examine ways in which cells use their own electrical properties to interact with other cells. Additionally, he develops the machines needed to make these measurements, and works with companies that have been established to bring his technology to market.
Professor Aimee Morgans FLSW
Professor of ThermofluidsImperial College London
Professor Morgans researches fluid dynamics, aeroacoustics and combustion. She obtained MEng and PhD degrees in Engineering at Cambridge University, before joining Imperial College London in 2007, where she became full Professor in 2017. She has held European Research Council ‘Starting and Consolidator’ grants, was elected FREng in 2021 and was awarded the LSW 2023 Menelaus Medal for her work on the instabilities that threaten the structure of gas turbine aero-engines.
I am delighted to have been elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. My career has been built on the foundation of growing up in Wales and being educated in Welsh state schools, and I look forward to building deeper networks with others who share links with Wales.
Professor Chris Pearce FLSW
Vice Principal (Research & Knowledge Exchange) University of Glasgow
Professor Pearce has undertaken research in computational engineering. He focuses on modelling complex material behaviour and multi-physics problems. He has applied these techniques to various fields, including civil, nuclear, manufacturing, and biomedical engineering. His work involves novel numerical methods, theoretical advances, and new software tools. He has addressed critical, life-limiting structural integrity issues, most recently applied to civil nuclear reactors in the UK, thereby supporting their ongoing safe operation and securing low-carbon baseload electricity supply.
Professor Agustin Valera-Medina FLSW
Director, Net Zero Innovation InstituteCardiff University
Professor Valera-Medina has participated as PI/Co-I on 30 industrial projects. He has published 215 papers (h-index 34) and led Cardiff’s contributions in 10 projects intended to demonstrate ammonia power in thermal systems. As part of various scientific boards and large industrial panels, he has supported two Royal Society policy briefings related to the use of ammonia as an energy vector. He is the principal author of the book Techno-economic challenges of ammonia as energy vector.