Multifunctional Materials Design - Aalto University

📚 Recently published!
The Booklet of the SCALES in Textiles Conference, held at Aalto University in April 2025, is now available 🔥 The conference was organized by the ArcInTex network and the Beyond e-Textiles project.

The booklet features abstracts and images from all presenters, workshop organisers and exhibitors — a big thank-you to everyone who contributed and made this event such an inspiring exchange of ideas! 🙌

🔗➡️ https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-64-9668-9

Image: by Mithila Mohan / Aalto University



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ArcInTex network: http://arcintex.hb.se/
Beyond e-Textiles project: https://www.aalto.fi/en/beyond-e-textiles
Beyond e-Textiles consortium: Aalto University | Turun yliopisto - University of Turku | VIA University College | University of Borås | Iceland University of the Arts

This event was (partly) supported by NordForsk through the funding to Nordic network on smart light-conversion textiles beyond electric circuits (project number 103894) and by European Research Council (ERC) (project “ModelCom”, grant agreement number 949648).

Last week, we presented our textile samples from the exhibition at The Biennial International Conference for the Craft Sciences in Mariestad, Sweden ✨

📷 On the photo #2: Inger Marie Ladekarl , Lena Kramer Pedersen , Malene Harsaae / VIA University College
📸 Photos: by Anne Louise Bang / VIA University College

| funded by NordForsk

Our group leader Jaana Vapaavuori will give a presentation 'On the winding trail of multifaceted materials futures: an open diary' at Tenured Professors' Installation Talks on October 29, 2025 🔥🎉

Location: Marsio, Otakaari 2, Espoo, Finland (Aalto University)

The event is open for everyone and will be held in English. Welcome! 😊

➡️ More information and registration: https://events.aalto.fi/en/3X3IKxA7/g/RA8MtXXEXF/tenured-professors-installation-talks-29102025-4a3bQtSRi1/overview

Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering |

Our group member Hamidreza Daghigh Shirazi reflects on his PhD years at Aalto University, sharing insights into research challenges, skills gained, and lessons learned — from building bio-inspired materials to stepping out of his comfort zone during a research visit to Switzerland. Hamidreza defended his doctoral dissertation in May 2025.

You can read the article through the link:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/learning-growing-and-exploring-a-path-through-doctoral-studies-at-aalto

Learning, growing, and exploring: a path through doctoral studies at Aalto | Aalto University Hamidreza Daghigh Shirazi reflects on his doctoral journey at Aalto University

🎓 Doctoral Defence: "Biocolorants for Engineering Materials"

M. Sc. (Tech.) Juha Jordan will defend his doctoral dissertation on Friday, October 17, 2025 at 12.00 in Lecture hall Ke2 (Kemistintie 1, Espoo). The defence can also be watched online via Zoom: https://hamk.zoom.us/j/65025003464. Welcome!

Opponent: Prof. Tero-Petri Ruoko, Tampere University
Custos: Prof. Jaana Vapaavuori, Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering

"Although colors surround us everywhere, most of them are still created with synthetic colorants derived from fossil resources. Biobased colorants, produced from renewable raw materials, provide a more sustainable alternative to synthetic colorants. To date, however, biocolorant research has focused mainly on textiles, leaving their use in engineering materials relatively unexplored.

This doctoral thesis investigated how biobased colorants can be applied practically and durably to engineering materials."

More information: https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/public-defence-in-chemistry-msc-tech-juha-jordan

Public defence in Chemistry, M.Sc. (Tech.) Juha Jordan | Aalto University Biocolorants for Engineering Materials (title of the thesis).

to June 2025 and the Kick-off Meeting of the Finnish Photovoltaics Network, held at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland 🌞🌟

Our postdoctoral researcher Pedro Silva presented the ongoing work of our Multifunctional Materials Design group in the field of photovoltaics.

Two scientific posters were showcased at the event:
🔹 “Biobased Polyurethane Encapsulation for Perovskite Solar Cells” by our doctoral candidate Divya Shaju
🔹 “In-situ Encapsulation and Patterning of Perovskite Solar Cells” by our postdoctoral researcher Andrew Kerr

Our doctoral candidate Zahra Madani has been awarded the C.J. Jansson prize for her recent PhD publication, recognized as an outstanding article in the field of forest industry! 🎉👏 Congratulations!

Puunjalostusinsinoorit ry, PI |

In this video by the Aalto University Bioinnovation Center, our doctoral researcher Matteo Iannacchero shares his view on what research means to him ⚗️✨

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aalto-university-bioinnovation-center_research-researchjourney-etextiles-activity-7378694550837506049-cv5K

#research #researchjourney #etextiles #bioinnovation | Aalto University Bioinnovation Center 🔧 “It’s the feeling of actually touching the stuff and producing something concrete. That’s a really nice feeling.” – Matteo Iannacchero doctoral researcher. At the Aalto University Bioinnovation Center, Matteo brings his love for hands-on making into . From building with his g...

Introducing MMD group members: Andrew Kerr 👨🏻‍🔬

Andrew obtained an M. Sc. degree in chemistry from the University of York in 2014 and completed his PhD in polymer chemistry in 2019 at the University of Warwick. His doctoral thesis focused on the synthesis of bottle-brush polymer architectures with RAFT polymerization techniques. In 2021-2025, he continued as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki.

Andrew's background is in polymer chemistry and synthesis, and his current research focuses on organic radical polymers for batteries and the design of thermo-responsive films.

Andrew joined the MMD group in April 2025 as a postdoctoral researcher in STORAGE project (Stable and Sustainable Organic Radical Battery / FinnCERES). In his free time, he enjoys hiking, board games, and climbing.

📸 Photo: Susan Heikkinen

Entangled by shape-changing: beyond smart textiles ✨

In June, our prototypes developed within the Beyond e-Textiles project were showcased in Linz (Austria) as part of the “When Soft Actuators Meet Textiles” exhibition 🌟 (Kunstuniversität Linz)

More information: https://www.kunstuni-linz.at/en/university/organisational-structure-1/institutes/space-and-design/news/news/when-soft-actuators-meet-textiles-2025
Exhibition catalogue: https://hal.science/hal-05115352v1

📸 Photos: by Mithila Mohan / Aalto University

Beyond e-Textiles consortium: Aalto University | Turun yliopisto - University of Turku | VIA University College | University of Borås | Iceland University of the Arts | funded by NordForsk

Last month, during our visit to the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden, we had a wonderful guided tour of its greenhouses 🌿🌴🌺

We learned about the garden's history and explored an impressive variety of exotic plants from various geographical regions 🌏

Among the highlights were cocoa, coffee, bamboo, aloe vera, a unique desert plant Welwitschia mirabilis, lovely giant water lilies, and even some poisonous plants 🎋🌵🪷

Special thanks to our guide Onni for making the experience so enjoyable! ✨