Luigi G. Occhipinti
Principal Investigator
Email: lgo23 {at} cam.ac.uk
Luigi Occhipinti, PHD CEng Senior Member IEEE, joined the University of Cambridge in April 2014. He developed science and innovation for more than 25 years in emerging technology areas for the post-CMOS roadmap, smart systems heterogeneous integration, polymer and printed electronics, advanced bio-systems and molecular diagnostics, advanced signal processing and nonlinear computation, advanced mechanical, optical and chemical sensor technologies, with focus on miniaturization and advanced packaging technologies for smart devices and products. His current position is Director of Research in Smart Electronics, Biosystems and AI at the Engineering Department, as well as Director of Facilities of the Electrical Engineering Division, the Nanoscience and Cambridge Graphene Centres.
Dr Caizhi Liao
PhD
Email: cl2006 {at} cam.ac.uk
Caizhi Liao, PhD, joined the Occhipinti Group as a Research Associate in June 2024. He obtained his PhD from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland in 2020. He has over 12 years of research and management experience in the fields of innovative biosensors and bioelectronics. Prior to joining the University of Cambridge, he worked as a founding Research and Development (R&D) Director of a unicorn biotech company-Creative Biosciences, leading research teams developing cutting-edge biomedical diagnostics devices. Caizhi serves as the Editor of Scientifica (Wiley), the Associate Editor of the Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences, the Guest Editors of many highly reputed journals, and the Editorial Board Member of dozens of other scientific journals. In addition, Caizhi served as the Committee Chair and Technical Committee Member of dozens of international conferences. His research projects in Cambridge focus on using transistor array based digital microfluidics for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics.
Dr Ioannis Prattis
PhD
Email: ip355 {at} cam.ac.uk
Ioannis completed his PhD student in the OcchipintiGroup, Department of Engineering in 2023. His PhD project was sponsored via an EPSRC studentship with industrial support by Cambridge Display Technologies Ltd. focusing on the development of novel biosensing platforms for cancer detection, aiming to transform the current biopsy procedures.
He obtained a BSc in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an MSc in Human Molecular Genetics from Imperial College London. During his Master, Ioannis was awarded a 6-month scholarship to conduct his thesis research at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute evaluating the role LMTK2 kinase in prostate cancer.
Prior to starting his PhD, Ioannis worked for several years as an R&D scientist in a biotech company developing molecular reagents for a wide range of PCR-based diagnostic platforms.
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Ionnis is currently a Consultant in CITC Ltd, a Cambridge-based startup with the mission to innovate in high-tech fields/high-growth sectors requiring multi-disciplinary approaches and know-how, from bio-electronics, smart sensors and systems to advanced solutions for nano-medicine, cell-therapies, and drug delivery.
Tasnim Chowdhury
PhD Student
Email: tnc24 {at} cam.ac.uk
Tasnim is a 3rd year PhD student in Occhipinti’s group, working on flexible and wearable electronics, using sustainable materials. After graduating from Newcastle University with an honours degree in Medicinal Chemistry, Tasnim worked in various roles at a fast paced pharmaceutical CDMO in Alnwick, Northumberland with world class facilities and industry leading scientists. She is highly experienced in HPLC, drug formulation and development, GLP and GMP processes.
During her PhD she has led two award-winning research proposals for the CAPE Grand Challenge in 2021 (SP-Destress) and in 2022 (CamBalance), sponsored by GSK and Haleon, respectively. Tasnim is currently leading the industrial partnership project with Haleon to develop a mobile application with a smart companion device for monitoring physiological changes in menopausal people. She has a passion for innovating in the field of women’s (trans and nonbinary) health, mental health and sustainable materials.
Tharun Reddy Kandukuri
PhD Student
Email: trk25 {at} cam.ac.uk
Tharun finished the first two years of his undergraduate education at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in India. During his sophomore year, he applied for an International transfer and got admitted into State University of New York at Binghamton, where he finished his Bachelors with an Honours degree. Tharun graduated Summa Cum Laude and was also the topper of his University with a CGPA of 3.99/4.0.
During his studies, Tharun represented great societies and served in many roles. He was the Honorary lifetime member at Tau Beta Pi Chapter for Engineers and acted as the Vice president of Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society for Electrical Engineers. In the meantime, Tharun worked as a lead tutor at University tutorial services at Binghamton University. His scientific interests include Bio Electronics especially Deep Brain Stimulation. He is also passionate about photonics and high speed communication technologies.
Dafydd Ravenscroft
PhD Student
Email: dr484 {at} cam.ac.uk
Dafydd has a background in Mathematics and Computer Science. Most recently he has been involved in machine learning having carried out research in medical imaging and automated lip reading. Before embarking on this course, he worked at Cambridge start-up Bios - a neural interface company designing smart bionics. During his time there, he worked on using machine learning techniques to analyse and interpret neural signals being relayed through the nervous system with the aim of using these to control a prosthetic limb.
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This work inspired his interest in the development of novel technologies for medical purposes leading to him joining the EPSRC Sensor Technologies CDT. In his MPhil project he worked with the Occhipinti group to develop a wearable graphene strain gauge sensor for silent speech recognition based on throat movement.
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He is now undertaking a PhD entitled "Implantable Biosensors for Monitoring Neuroinflammation". In this work he aims to develop a biosensor which can measure, in-situ and in real-time, the levels of key biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid which are associated with neuroinflammation. This research has the potential to improve the understanding of the spread of neurodegenerative diseases.
Muzi Xu
PhD Student
Email: mx247 {at} cam.ac.uk
Muzi is a PhD student at the Department of Engineering, as a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. She is awarded a CSC Cambridge International Scholarship and working in the Cambridge Graphene Center focusing on wearable sensor system for silent communications.
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Before coming to Cambridge, Muzi received her Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at National University of Singapore, and Bachelor of Engineering degree in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering at Shenzhen University. Her vision lies in flexible wearable sensors, energy harvesters and machine learning.
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During her studies, Muzi took part in various aviation and entrepreneurial activities. As a member of the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots, she got her pilot’s license (helicopter) at the age of 17, being recognised as the youngest female pilot in China at that time.
Gavin Summers
PhD Student
Email: grs50 {at} cam.ac.uk
Gavin received his M.Eng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2019 from Newcastle University where his dissertation focused on the characterisation of thermoelectric materials. Following on from an internship during his undergraduate studies he then started working as a specialist in smart home and electronics at Beko PLC's research and development centre in Cambridge. As a Ph.D. student he will focus on developing a scalable multi-analyte platform for biomolecules with a view towards industrialisation.
Chenyu Tang
PhD Student
Email: ct631 {at} cam.ac.uk
Chenyu Tang joined the group in 2022 as a Ph.D. student. Currently, he is researching the intersection of wearable sensors and artificial intelligence for healthcare applications. He obtained his bachelor’s degree at Beihang University, Beijing, China in 2022, majoring in Electrical Engineering and minoring in Applied Mathematics.
He has authored over 10 papers, with 7 featuring him as the lead author in prestigious publications like Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering, NPJ Flexible Electronics, Nano Energy, IEEE Journal of Biomedical Health and Informatics, and IEEE Sensors Journal, among others. He also contributed a chapter to a handbook published by CRC Press. Furthermore, he has repeatedly been called upon to review articles for esteemed journals such as the IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, and IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, etc.
Wentian Yi
PhD Student
Email: wy278 {at} cam.ac.uk
Wentian Yi is a PhD student in Engineering and a member of Cambridge Graphene Centre. He has previously conducted research on degradable thermoset polymer for the reduction of e-waste during his undergraduate degree. After receiving his BSc degree in Chemistry from Renmin University of China in 2021, he finished his MRes course in soft electronic materials at Imperial College London. During this time, he grew interested in fibre electronics and focused on polymer fibre embedding in two-dimensional materials.
His current research in Occhipinti group is focusing on the synthesis of polymer composite embedding nanomaterials and the scale-up fabrication of fibre-based photodetectors. His research interest lies in fibre electronics and smart textile that will pave the way for the coming Internet of Things.
Josée Mallah
PhD Student
Email: jm2508 {at} cam.ac.uk
Josée is a PhD in Engineering student, as a member of Churchill College, Cambridge. She is the recipient of an Allen, Meek and Read Cambridge International Scholarship. Her project focuses on biomechanical data collection and exoskeleton design for walking assistance in older people.
She graduated with high distinction from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) in Lebanon, being ranked first among her cohort with a CGPA of 95.28% and a full scholarship recipient. Her final project consisted in designing an Active Prosthesis for Transtibial Amputees.
In 2023, Josée completed the MPhil in Engineering with the Occhipinti Group on a full scholarship. Her thesis was entitled “Modelling and Design of Silicon-Based Platforms for Multimodal Air Quality Monitoring”. In 2022, she was an intern at the UNDP Regional Hub for Arab States, supporting the Nature, Climate and Energy team.
Josée was recognized one of the Top Outstanding Young Persons of Lebanon (TOYP) 2022, by JCI Lebanon and UNIC Beirut, in the category of Academic Leadership and/or Achievement. She is also inspired by entrepreneurship, and was developing a startup project, Aquatricity, which aimed to help people optimize their water and energy consumption through smart metering and awareness raising.
Francisco Quero
PhD Student
Email: fjq21 {at} cam.ac.uk
Fran Quero studied Biotechnology at the Complutense University of Madrid and then completed the BIO3 MRes at Tsinghua University. During his undergraduate studies, Fran helped create the first open citizen biomakerspaces in Madrid (BioCrea, Medialab Prado) and later at Tsinghua University ( Bio-X-Space, OpenFIESTA faculty), and led the Madrid iGEM team for two years (2018 and 2019). After completing his master's degree, Fran worked as the lead research engineer for the DNA Detective project at the Systems Engineering and Evolution Dynamics (SEED) Lab in Paris, where he developed electronic and biotechnology tools and applied them in Cameroon, Ghana, and Patagonia for environmental sampling, pathogen detection in agriculture, and human pathogen environmental screening - with this last work becoming a XPRIZE semifinalist. Currently, Fran's PhD research focuses on integrating digital microfluidic technologies with cell-free systems as a novel artificial cell model, providing a scalable approach for bottom-up engineering of cellular biology.
Dimitrios Paparas
PhD Student
Email: dp741 {at} cam.ac.uk
Dimitrios Paparas joined the OcchipintiGroup as a PhD student in 2024. He holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Southampton and an MSc in Robotics and Autonomous Systems from the University of Lincoln, achieving First-Class Honours in both programmes.Following his BEng, Dimitrios became part of the AgriFoRwArdS Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), a UKRI EPSRC-funded initiative established by the University of Lincoln, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and University of East Anglia, to develop expertise in the agri-food robotics sector. During his MSc, Dimitrios worked extensively on Open-Source Hardware (OSH) Whisker Sensors for tactile-sensing applications. His MSc thesis, however, focused on detecting early signs of graft failure in tomato plants through computer vision-based techniques for non-invasive sensing, forming the foundation for his current research.Dimitrios’ PhD, supervised by Dr Luigi Occhipinti and conducted in collaboration with Dyson Farming, centres on the development of biosensors for "In-Field Plant Diagnostics and Physiology Monitoring." His research explores the integration of biosensing, machine learning, and robotics to enable plant health monitoring, with objectives including early disease detection and tracking of physiological processes such as healing, ripening, and senescence.The research addresses critical gaps between industry needs and cutting-edge agricultural science, aligning with the AgriFoRwArdS CDT’s focus on sensing and perception. Additionally, Dimitrios’ work investigates synergies with ongoing CDT projects in mobile diagnostics, plant-based sensors, and interactive sensing, with practical applications in areas such as fruit harvesting.
Zibo Zhang
PhD Student
Email: zz534 {at} cam.ac.uk
Zibo Zhang joined the Occhipinti Group in 2024 as a PhD student. His academic background includes a Master’s degree in Integrated Machine Learning Systems from University College London and a Bachelor’s degree in Reliability and Systems Engineering from Beihang University. He has been involved in research across a range of fields, from predictive analytics for engineering systems to wearable technologies, gaining valuable experience in developing innovative solutions for complex challenges. His current research focuses on smart wearable devices, with a particular interest in the healthcare sector. He is dedicated to creating multi-sensor, multi-modal, and multi-functional systems that can adapt to various medical applications. The future potential of wearable technologies in improving health monitoring, diagnostics, and personalised care is central to his work, and he remains committed to advancing this field through practical innovations that can enhance patient outcomes and well-being.
Dominika Kazieczko
MPhil Student
Email: dk720 {at} cam.ac.uk
Dominika graduated from Cardiff University with a bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with a Year in Industry. She completed a placement year with Össur Touch Bionics in Scotland where Dominka worked on surface EMG sensors’ data processing, improvement of prosthesis control, design of test rigs for verification of functionality of the bionic devices and automation of the testing setups. This was followed by a summer placement at Cardiff University focusing on the integration of microcontrollers to detect early stages of osteoarthritis, where she designed and manufactured PCB boards and mechanical enclosures and programmed the devices’ control to deliver a wearable system ready for official study data collection in MSKBRF lab.
The bachelor thesis focused on development of a silicone-based skin phantom mimicking the dielectric properties of this tissue to achieve a stable platform for verification of the wearable microwave non-invasive glucose sensor, developed at Cardiff University in collaboration with the UK-based company GlucoRX. For this project Dominika was awarded the Emrys Williams Prize for Outstanding Electrical and Electronic Engineering Final Year Project.
She was also awarded the IET Future Talent Award in 2024.
![IMG_4337[9]_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a867b3_d627c6cf47bc4fe490459cbd527ebcee~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_160,h_160,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/IMG_4337%5B9%5D_edited.jpg)
Silas Ruhrberg Estevez
UROP Student
Email: sr933 {at} cam.ac.uk
Silas is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Cambridge who is completing an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) at the Occhipinti lab. He has previously obtained a MEng in Engineering from the University of Cambridge during his intercalation. Silas is passionate about the intersection of medicine and engineering and is currently working on machine learning models for exoskeleton control.
Academic Visitors
Dr Fangxin Hu
Associate Professor, Suzhou University, China
Email: fh448 {at} cam.ac.uk
Fang Xin Hu joined the Occhipintigroup in 2024 as an academic visitor. She is an associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, outstanding Young Key Teachers of Jiangsu Province Qinglan Project. Deputy director of Jiangsu Laboratory for Biochemical Sensing and Biochip. Her research involves developing Integrated single-atom nanozyme based biochip-electronic System for in situ electrochemical or photoelectrochemical detection of various biomolecules. She has published 52 scientific journal articles (H index 26) including Analytical Chemistry, ACS Nano, Advanced Materials, and so on, applied 17 patents, directed 8 research fundings including National Natural Science Foundation of China (Youth Project) and so on.
Dr Xiaohui Zhou
M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, China Pharmaceutical University
Email: xz546 {at} cam.ac.uk
Dr. Xiaohui Zhou graduated from China Medical University, and then worked in the Affiliated Central Hospital of Shenyang Medical College as a cardiothoracic surgeon, and developed an active hydraulic ventricular attachment support drugs & signals delivery/monitoring system (i.e. ASD system) with a series of studies. Subsequently, Dr. Xiaohui Zhou was interested in chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome ( CP/CPPS, also known as type III prostatitis, or chronic non-bacterial prostatitis) with multiple but unclear pathogenesis and poor efficacy in men in urology outpatient clinics, so he went to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to do research work and obtain a M.D., Ph.D. degree. Subsequently, in order to obtain better basic medical research training, Dr. Xiaohui Zhou joined in Zhejiang University for two years as a postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology to do researches on the pharmacological treatment of myocardial infarction. Later, he joined in China Pharmaceutical University to engage in the development and mechanism research of ASD system, as well as the pathogenesis and new drug development on CP/CPPS, and also engaged in clinical surgery in the Affiliated Hospital of China Pharmaceutical University, the Nanjing Shuiximen Hospital and the Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University. At the same time, Dr. Xiaohui Zhou also undertakes courses such as "Introduction to Clinical Medicine", "Surgery", "Diagnostics", "Common Animal Manipulation Techniques in Pharmaceutical Research", "Effectiveness and Safety Research in the Process of New Drug Development" and other courses for undergraduate and graduate students in China Pharmaceutical University. Dr. Xiaohui Zhou joined our team as a visiting scholar in October 2024. Dr. Xiaohui Zhou joined our team as a visiting scholar in October 2024.
Chenxuan Hu
Phd Student, University of Science and Technology, China
Email: ch2034 {at} cam.ac.uk
Chenxuan is a visiting PhD student at Department of Engineering. She majors in biomedical engineering in University of Science and Technology of China. Her current research focuses on single cell detection and analysis on the large area active matrix digital microfluidics platform.
Yu Zhu
Phd Student, Aalborg University, Denmark
Email: yz993 {at} cam.ac.uk
Yu Zhu is a PhD student from the Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University. His research focuses on the design and control of wearable robotics. Currently, he is developing an energy-efficient hip exoskeleton aimed at providing daily assistance to elderly people.
He joined the Occhipinti group in October 2024 as an academic visitor, working on developing novel control systems that utilize wearable sensors for the exoskeleton.
Agastasya Dahiya
Research Student, Bennett University, India
Email: ad2344 {at} cam.ac.uk
Agastasya Dahiya is an undergraduate student with a focus on hand gesture recognition technologies. His recent project involves designing a wearable system using IR sensors for gesture detection, focusing on applications for individuals with limited muscle movement. Previously, he worked on a wearable hand gesture recognition system using an IMU sensor, combining accelerometer and gyroscope data for precise motion tracking. In addition to gesture recognition, Agastasya has worked on RTL design of RISC-V processors, voice conversion using machine learning, and navigation control for robots.
Alumni/
Pelumi Oluwasanya
Abdul Alzahran
Xiang Cheng
Varindra Kumar
Edward Tan
Miguel Monteiro
Nuno Bartolo
Diogo Coelho
