Life Solved Live: Unseen Lives and Untapped Materials

This double bill of talks tackles two issues that are increasingly hard for society to ignore. Homelessness has risen significantly in recent years. In the same period, consumers and industry alike have become ever more conscious of the need for sustainable materials in the fight against climate change. Two leading experts from the University share how they’re helping to make progress against these challenges.

Our Life Solved Live events are your chance to hear first-hand how research changes the world – and why people do it.

An Inaugural Lecture is one of the most prestigious Life Solved Live events. It’s a celebration of the career of a professor and the difference they make.

On 22 October we present two fascinating lectures in one evening.

In Cultivated Invisibility And The Life Stories Of Migrants Experiencing Homelessness In The UK, Professor of Sociology, Simon Stewart, provides insight into his research on migration and homelessness. These topics are rarely considered together. Yet migrants make up a disproportionate share of the UK’s growing homeless population – and Professor Stewart will explain the reasons why.

Professor Stewart, who is Director of the Centre for European and International Studies Research, says:

‘By adopting a life story approach, I’m able to share insights into systems of domination from the perspective of those most impacted.

‘To help make sense of the stories I tell, I’ll talk about ‘cultivated invisibility’. This is a way to conceptualise the habitual practices through which migrants experiencing homelessness manage to survive, adapt and blend into the city crowd, while also becoming increasingly exposed to illegality and ill health. 

In Nature-Based Solutions: The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Hom Nath Dhakal, shares some of the work he has led to develop natural, plant fibre-reinforced composite materials for advanced engineering applications. His work spans a wide range of sectors, from automotive to aerospace, and from packaging to printed circuit boards (PCBs). 

Professor Dhakal, who is the Director of the Portsmouth Centre for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, says:

‘I’ll take a critical look at current climate issues and the emergence of nature-based alternative composite materials in the shift to a circular economy.

‘I will explain how we develop, test and characterise natural fibres such as flax, hemp, pineapple leaf, banana and date palm, to assess their suitability as reinforcements in composites.

‘And I will share some of the innovative ways in which we’ve used by-products from plant fibres to develop composites that are high-performing, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.’

Don’t miss this unique double bill of eye-opening talks. To book your FREE tickets, select how many you want, then click the ‘Reserve a spot’ button.

Keen to hear more about world-changing research and the amazing people who do it? The Life Solved podcast has shared well over 100 stories to date. Listen now.

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Host or Publisher University of Portsmouth