Articles
Professor Stephen Eichhorn
Exeter engineering expert secures prestigious international award
A materials scientist from the University of Exeter has been bestowed with a prestigious international award.
Professor Stephen Eichhorn, Exeter’s Head of Engineering, has been selected to receive a Hayashi Jisuke Award from the Cellulose Society of Japan.
Professor Eichhorn is one of only four scientists worldwide (other winners are from Finland, Japan and South Korea) to receive the award this year, for his pioneering research into the mechanical properties and interfaces in natural and sustainable materials, particularly cellulose fibres and composites.
The award will officially be bestowed at a special ceremony in Fukuoka, Japan, later this year.
Speaking after receiving the award, Professor Eichhorn said: “I am delighted to win this award. I would especially like to thank all my students, collaborators and research team both past and present for all their hard work – you don’t win awards on your own steam!”
Professor Eichhorn, who originally trained as a physicist, works closely with engineers, biologists, physicists and chemists. His research focuses on the mechanical properties and interfaces in natural and sustainable materials, particularly cellulose fibres and composites.
He is particularly interested in applying principles from biological structures in engineering applications – or biomimetics – for a variety of applications including composites, smart packaging, energy storage and biofunctional materials.
He is currently the divisional Chair of the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) – the world’s largest scientific society. He is the first UK-based Chair of the division since its inception in the 1920s.
He is both a Fellow of the Institute of Materials and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is also a member of the Institute of Physics.
Date: 12 June 2017