Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Environmental Engineering;
- Bioelectrochemistry;
- Autonomous Bio-Robotics;
- Microbial Fuel Cells;
- Microbial Biofilms; Ultra-low power electronics
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Yannis has a background in electrical and electronics engineering coupled with communications and digital signal processing. His doctorate work addressed the challenge of autonomous robots with a biological digestion system and produced the EcoBots family of robots, powered by microbes inside Microbial Fuel Cells, fed with table sugar, grass clippings, prawn shells, rotten fruit and dead flies (amongst other substrates). Keeping practical applications as the ultimate objective of any scientific investigation enabled Yannis to address challenges of technological implementation at different scales, in different environments and fed with different feedstock substrates, going from μL wearable devices to 100’s of Litres Pee Power® urinals serving hundreds of users per day.
Yanni’s research aims to address three main questions: (i) what happens when the lights go out and there is no running water; (ii) how can we work better with nature to repair our environment; (iii) how can we develop truly autonomous biosystems that form part of an ecosystem’s carbon cycle?” Our natural environment is replete with examples of biological systems that are very efficient at managing their own energy, disposing of their own waste and nurturing their surrounding environment. As engineers we have a lot to learn from our natural environment and transfer this knowledge in new engineered biosystems for a range of applications and for future generations.
Being Chair in Environmental Engineering at one of the best Engineering Universities, means that Yannis has a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of the technologies being developed even further, pursuing integration with other treatment technologies, such as anaerobic digestion in real wastewater treatment plants, as well as other industry sectors, contributing to the local economy and beyond.