Teaching and Mentoring
Teaching is as vital as research in fulfilling a university’s mission while research creates new knowledge, teaching ensures its meaningful transmission. I view teaching and mentoring as central to my academic purpose. Moreover, I believe all students, regardless of background, can thrive when given the right tools, encouragement, and challenges. Academia offers a space for growth through the exchange of ideas, and I aim to be a supportive guide, nurturing curiosity and helping students turn setbacks into opportunities for deeper understanding. My teaching and mentorship experience spans both undergraduate and postgraduate levels across the UK and the US. Reflecting on how formative it was to co-author peer-review publications during my undergraduate research at the University of Patras, I am committed to offering young researchers meaningful opportunities from the earliest stages of their academic journey, regardless of the career path they ultimately pursue. Engaging in the full research process; from conceptualization, literature reading and understanding, experimental design to data analysis and manuscript preparation, equips students with essential practical and interpersonal skills applicable far beyond academia. To date, I have had the privilege of co-advising three undergraduate students from Loughborough, Birmingham, and Princeton.
Guest Lectures & Laboratory Instruction
Semester / Year: Spring 2026
Lecture Topic: Electrical and dielectric properties of polymers
Audience: 25 Undergraduate and Postgraduate students
Course: Polymer Science (MPP501), Department of Materials, Loughborough University
Semester / Year: Spring 2018, Spring 2019
Lecture Topic: Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy in Polymer Science
Audience: 40 Postgraduate (MEng) students
Semester / Year: Fall 2018
Lab Exercise: Tensile Properties of Polymers
Audience: 20 Undergraduate (BEng) students
Mentoring and Supervision
Undergraduate Students
Postgraduate Students
Student Mentorship
Junior Independent Work (CBE 352), Princeton University
Level: Undergraduate (BSE)
Project: A dielectric and calorimetric investigation of various types of cellulose
Outcome: Manuscript in preparation; research presented at AIChE 2024.
Internship, University of Birmingham
Level: Undergraduate (BEng)
Project: Graphite-SiOx electrodes with a biopolymeric binder for Li-ion batteries
Outcome: Co-authored ACS Applied Energy Materials (2023).
Thesis project supervision, Loughborough University
Level: Postgraduate (MEng)
Project: Electrospun PVDF fibers reinforced with BaTiO3 nanoparticles embedded in a PDMS matrix
Outcome: Co-authored ACS Applied Polymer Materials (2022).
Thesis project supervision, Loughborough University
Level: Postgraduate (MEng)
Project: Thermal and optical properties of uniaxially stretched dis-UHMWPE reinforced with metallic nanoparticles
Outcome: Co-authored Molecules (2020).
Thesis project supervision, Loughborough University
Level: Undergraduate (BEng)
Project: Uniaxially stretched dis-UHMWPE reinforced with Au nanoparticles
Outcome: Experimental development and sample characterization.
* Students later obtained advanced degrees at the University of Manchester (Linlin Guan: MPhil; Jing Yang: PhD).
External PhD Reviewer
Degree: Doctoral (PhD)
Institution: Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Semester / Year: Summer 2025
Dissertation: Micro and Nanoparticles of Functional Polymers: From Fundamentals to Applications
Supervisors: Prof. Aurora Nogalez Ruiz; Prof. Tiberio Ezquerra Sanz