Shruti Mandhani

Shruti first learned about auxetics – materials which, counter-intuitively, get fatter when they are stretched – when working on her dissertation for an MSc in Biomedical and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Sheffield. Wanting to pursue the field further, she therefore took up a PhD scholarship in Materials Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. Her research now focusses on using a 'nature-inspired' approach to design novel auxetic materials.

Shruti is passionate about the mechanics of this unusual behaviour and its potential applications in sectors such as biomedical, aerospace, sports and automotive. She is also committed to communicating her research to the public and to school groups. In her “spare time” she enjoys swimming and playing the piano.