Dr Darshil Shah

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Biography

Dr Shah is a Lecturer in Materials in the Department of Architecture. He also teaches for the Department of Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, and Institute of Continuing Education. He enjoys teaching on materials, manufacturing and design, and encouraging creative interdisciplinarity. Shah’s research aims to combine sustainability with performance and functionality in natural materials. At the Centre for Natural Material Innovation, Shah works with scientists across disciplines on developing biomaterials, such as engineered wood, bamboo and natural fibre composites, as light-weight, sustainable and structural alternatives to conventional materials for various application sectors, including wind energy, construction, transport, health care, and consumer products. Shah was a member of Oxford University’s Silk Group (Department. of Zoology), where he developed silk-based composites for defense applications, and explored biomaterials such as elephant ivories for bioinspiration. His PhD from the University of Nottingham led to development of the world’s first flax biocomposite wind turbine blade.

Shah is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Higher Education, and a Fellow of the Institute for Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Qualifications:

PhD, University of Nottingham

BEng (Hons), University of Nottingham

Selected Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Wu, Y.*, Shah, D.U.*, Wang, B., Liu, J., Ramage M.H., Scherman, O.A., Biomimetic supramolecular fibres exhibit water-induced supercontraction. Advanced Materials (IF = 19.8), 2018: 1707169. (*Joint first authors) , 2018
Bourmaud, A., Beaugrand, J., Shah, D.U., Placet, V., Baley, C. Towards the design of high-performance plant fibre composites. Progress in Materials Science (IF = 31.1), 2018. 97: p. 347-408 , 2018
Dhakal, H., Bourmaud, A., Berzin, F., Almansour, F., Zhang, Z., Shah, D.U., Beaugrand, J. Mechanical properties of leaf sheath date palm fibre waste biomass reinforced polycaprolactone (PCL) biocomposites. Industrial Crops and Products, 2018. 126: p. 394–402. (Extensive media coverage) , 2018
Vollrath, F., Mi, R., Shah, D.U., Ivory as an important model biocomposite. Curator: The Museum Journal, Special Issue on ‘Ivory in the Museum: The Elephant in Our Room’, 2018. 61(1): p. 95-110. , 2018
Wu, Y.*, Shah, D.U.*, Liu, C., Yu, Z., Liu, J., Ren, X., Ramage M.H., Abell, C., Scherman, O.A., Bioinspired supramolecular fibres drawn from a multi-phase self-assembled hydrogel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2017. 114 (31): p. 8163-8168. (*Joint first authors) , 2017
Melelli, A., Shah, D.U., Hapsari, G., Cortopassi, R., Durand, S., Arnould, O., Placet, V., Benazeth, D., Beaugrand, J., Jamme, F., Bourmaud, A. Lessons on textile history and fibre durability from a 4000-year-old Egyptian flax yarn. Nature Plants (IF =13.3), 2021. 7: 1200–1206. www.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00998-8 Extensive media coverage , Extensive media coverage 2021
Koronaki, A., Bukauskas, A., Jalia, A., Shah, D.U., Ramage, M.H. Prefabricated Engineered Timber Schools in the United Kingdom: Challenges and Opportunities. Sustainability, 2021. 13(22), 12864. www.doi.org/10.3390/su132212864 , 2021
Bukauskas, A., Al Asali, M.W., Bashford, T., Gatoo, A., Gattas, J., Gin, Y., Jalia, A., Koronaki, A., Lee, T-U., Newman, J., Ott, D., Shah, D.U., Ramage, M.H. Curved-crease origami face shields for infection control. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0245737. www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245737 , 2021
Tinkler-Davies, B., Ramage, M.H., Shah, D.U. Can bamboo replace willow in cricket bats? Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, 2021. www.doi.org/10.1177/17543371211016592 , 2021
Comish, E., Lester, R., Shah, D.U. A brief review of processing, structure, properties and sustainability of artificial silk fibres. Journal of Natural Fibers, 2020. www.doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2020.1848740 , 2020
Müssig, J., Amaducci, S., Beaugrand, J., Bourmaud, A., Shah, D.U. Transdisciplinary top-down review of hemp fibre composites: from an advanced product design to crop variety selection. Composites Part C, 2020. 2: 100010. www.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomc.2020.100010 , 2020
Toumpanaki, E., Shah, D.U., Eichhorn, S.J., Beyond What Meets the Eye: Imaging and Imagining Wood Mechanical-Structural Properties. Advanced Materials (IF = 30.8), Special Issue on ‘Wood Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies’, 2020: 2001613. www.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202001613 , 2020
Pantaloni, D., Shah, D.U., Baley, C., Bourmaud, A. Monitoring of mechanical performances of flax non-woven biocomposites during a home compost degradation. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 2020. 177: 109166. www.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2020.109166 , 2021

CONFERENCE PAPERS

The design of a structural biocomposite in the 8th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Advanced Materials (ICSAAM 2018). 28-31 August, 2018. Tarbes, France. (Invited Keynote) , 2018
Developing plant fibre composites for structural applications in Perspectives in Renewables. 4-5 June 2018. University of Natural Resources and Life Science (BOKU) Vienna-Tulln, Austria. (Invited Keynote) , 2018
Spider silk inspired damping fibres drawn from a supramolecular hydrogel composite at room temperature - a step closer to sustainable fibre technology in the 18th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM-18). 24-28 June 2018. Athens, Greece , 2018

Memberships

GradIMMM, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) since 2013

AFHEA, Associateship of Higher Education Academy since 2018

Institute of Continuing Education
Madingley Hall
Madingley
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ

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