In this episode we ask experts in Conservation and Conservation Research about the challenges they face in preserving our history, and why heritage conservation is important in today's times. Do we need more science and engineering researchers in the field of conservation? How is their work impacted by climate change?

This episode is part of our SERCH series (Science and Engineering Research for Cultural Heritage). For more episodes, please look at our episode list.

Guests

Micheal Paraskos - Profile | Imperial College London Evening Class Manager Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication, at Imperial

Jasmin McKenzie - LinkedIn Modern and Contemporary Sculpture and Installations Conservator, PhD student V&A, Imperial

Kate Jennings - Kate Jennings | Tutor at West Dean College Subject Leader, Conservation Studies specialising in Metalwork

Marc Vermeulen - LinkedIn Head of Heritage Science - Conservation Research, at The National Archives

Sonja Schwoll - LinkedIn Head of Conservation and Treatment Development, at The National Archives

Katerina Williams - LinkedIn Book and Paper Conservator, at The National Archives

David Thickett Senior conservation scientist at, English Heritage Home - GoGreen

Lorraine Cornish - LinkedIn Head of Conservation Natural History Museaum

Other Links

Science and Engineering Research for Cultural Heritage (SERCH)

Imperial Futures | About | Imperial College London

Icon - The Institute of Conservation

At the Science and Engineering Research for Cultural Heritage Conference 2025, a panel discussed "Balancing Innovation and Craft: Do Practical Skills Still Matter in the age of AI?" Panel members include;

• Professor Ambrose Taylor (Chair), Professor of Materials Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London

• Professor Pier Luigi Dragotti, Professor of Signal Processing in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London

• Lorraine Cornish, Head of Conservation at Natural History Museum

• Kat Harris, Senior Teaching Technician in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London

Hosted by the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE) This is the first episode in our SERCH series, produced by Imperial Futures.

The time has come to make new year resolutions! How about starting a collaboration with a researcher in a different field? Or expanding research beyond the lab into industry applications and policy recommendations?

If these ideas have crossed your mind, then your new resolution could be to take a transdisciplinary approach.

At IMSE's annual research showcase, we spoke to academics, journal editors and industry stakeholders to understand what transdisciplinary means and how they are using this approach to solve grand challenges. Have a listen at the diverse projects!

If you had access to a 3D printer, what would you print? Something fun, something useful? How about both?

Alex Christopherson, a final year undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London and David Samuel, an artist based in Park Royal Design Studios, collaborated to create a 3D printed sculpture that doubles as a microscope and allows you to see a 3D printed Queens Tower 100,000 times smaller than the real one! Engineering and art coming together to 3D print a sculpture.

In this episode, we talk to both Alex and David. They discussed the design and production of the sculpture and how an engineer and an artist communicated throughout the project.

Follow this link https://blogs.imperial.ac.uk/molecular-science-engineering/2024/09/06/engineering-a-3d-printed-sculpture/ to have a look at the sculpture!

Women in Engineering day is celebrated on the 23rd of June. To commemorate this special date, we talked to two women in engineering working and studying with the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE). Our guests for this episode are electrochemist and co-director of the Molecular Engineering masters, Dr. Anna Hankin, and masters' student and representative of her cohort, Kawtar Houbad.

Listen to their stories on how they became engineers, their current projects, engineering skills outside of the lab - from fixing boilers to building steam engines at home - and learn about the power of mentoring.

Link to the Masters in Molecular Engineering https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-taught/molecular-engineering/

What sorts of science and engineering challenges do museums have in looking after their collections? In this episode I explore how Imperial’s research into data science, polymers and lasers is being used to understand and preserve historical and archaeological objects.

In this episode my guests refer to two chests in the collections of the Victoria & Albert museum. The first is the Mazarin Chest with its Japanese lacquer surface. The results of the conservation of the lacquer have been published in Scientific Conservation. The second is a 17th century embroidered box. Vibrational modelling on this casket was carried out by Kerstin Kracht (Technical University of Berlin) to build a crate to allow this to be safely shipped overseas for display.

A team at Imperial are building a robotic laboratory called DIGIBAT. This will automate research into materials for energy storage and energy generation. Robots won't just discover new materials. They'll also do the laborious work of testing all the many combinations of those materials to find out which make the best batteries and fuel cells.

What do fertilizer, body lotion, paracetamol tablets and mayonnaise have in common? Well, they’re all engineered mixtures, and they all have a long list of unpronounceable chemicals on the back of the packet. How can adjusting these chemicals affect the climate impact of the product? We dive deep into formulations.