Hortense Le Ferrand

Tales of the lab 2: 50, dinner There is the one who is always on their phone, or smartwatch. There is the one fidgeting, who cannot stay sitting too long. There is the one who talks only about kids and family. There is the one w…

reached 50 blog posts milestone :) hortenseleferrand.wordpress.com/2026/03/05/t...

Nothing is more enraging that reviewing a research work/proposal from your research student that has been so obviously generated using AI. 🙈🙈🙈😭

Reflections from the Tenure Track: Insights and Advice for Early-Career Academics in STEM This book draws on the author’s experiences during her 5-year journey towards tenure at a top-tier university in Singapore to offer an internationally relevant, STEM-oriented perspective with reflecti...

Book is coming soon! www.routledge.com/Reflections-...

Part 2: Three visions of a university This is the second part of an eight-part essay on business strategy and the platform economics of the university, ‘So, You Run a University?’. This part lays out three visions of the university: a rom...

Interesting blog. Turns out i am a huge romantic 🙈 soyourunauniversity.substack.com/p/part-2-thr...

Singapore commits record $37 billion to drive research, innovation and enterprise over next five years New research programmes driving national strategic priorities and creating economic value will be launched. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

check this out :)
www.straitstimes.com/singapore/si...

Finally, our paper on the exploration of teaching biomimicry in an international context is out! www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/10...

Harnessing scaffold architecture to improve mycelium growth and performance in biodegradable composites Mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) are bio-based materials manufactured by growing fungal mycelium within organic substrates, serving as biodegradable a…

our latest paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Design, properties, and living mycelium.

looking forward to the event #TEDx

Made a globe :) Where are you today?

Thermal rectification in bulk metal-mycelium composites for passive thermoregulation of buildings Climate change is a global issue, and the development of urbanized areas further exacerbates its impacts through the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect du…

Metal and mycelium? 🪙 + 🍄‍🟫 ?

We grew an insulating mycelium-bound composite around a 3D printed metallic framework to create anisotropic thermal properties ➡️ ideal for macroscopic passive thermoregulation.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Magnetically assisted slip casting with pressureless sintering to produce microstructured alumina-copper composites | Hortense Le Ferrand Previously, we have been using our 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑝 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 method to fabricate ceramic-ceramic or ceramic-polymer composites with complex microstructures. 🐚 🏁 Now, we applied the approach...

We are now making microstructured ceramic-metal composites to combine their properties: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Tailoring the compressive properties of 3D printed composites using bioinspired micro/macrostructure designs - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Tailoring the compressive properties of 3D printed composites using bioinspired micro/macrostructure designs

Delighted to share our latest publication on the mechanical deformations and impact properties of porous 3D printed porous Bouligand lattices: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Robotic Materials With Bioinspired Microstructures for High Sensitivity and Fast Actuation In the review paper, design rationale and approaches for bioinspired sensors and actuators in robotics applications are presented. These bioinspired microstructure strategies implemented in both can ...

Glad to share our latest literature review on Robotic materials with bioinspired microstructures (check out the very cute ToC 🐙🤖😁) advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

An image showing each of the short listed nominees for the Nature Inspiring Women in Science Award with the award logo at the top. "Meet the shortlists for the Inspiring Women in Science Award" is in the middle. The Estee Lauder logo is at the bottom.

We are excited to present the shortlists for the 2025 Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science. Congratulations to the thirteen excellent candidates who made it to this year’s shortlist. Read more about the candidates and learn more about the award: go.nature.com/46nlAWy #WomeninStem

Comparison of the Thermal Performance and Durability of Textured Mycelium‐Bound Composite Tiles Made Using Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus This study investigates the surface properties of the mycelium of Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus on textured elephant skin-inspired mycelium tiles grown by these two fungal species respect....

Delighted to share about our recent research comparing the thermal performance and durability of mycelium composite tiles made with 2 different fungal species. Ganoderma can resist more than 2 weeks under sun and rain! advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Assessing prompting frameworks for enhancing literature reviews among university students using ChatGPT Writing literature reviews is a common component of university curricula, yet it often poses challenges for students. Since generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools have been made publicly acc...

We just released a preprint where we explored student's use of ChatGPT and prompting frameworks for writing their literature review (small sample size = 7 students, but still quite interesting outcomes) arxiv.org/abs/2509.01128

They should indicate the number of pages with the invitations for reviewing manuscripts… the 62 pages paper, i did not see it coming, honestly…

Exploring the synergistic interactions between artificial intelligence and biomimicry for sustainable solutions The environmental and climate crisis calls for the sustainable solutions. As a potential approach, this paper reviews the latest developments in the f…

How can biomimicry benefit AI and in turn AI benefit biomimicry?
We are exploring this idea in this review paper and find many possible synergies for more sustainable solutions. #biomimicry #artificialintelligence #research #sustainability www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

PROGRESS Webinars: A Practical Guide to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice Issues in Research YouTube video by UBC Institute of Mental Health

Makes me wanna re-post my talk recording that deals with this and other related issues, so here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYuF...

Wish I had read this book 7 years ago! Luckily, I could still find useful insights to apply tomorrow :) ‪thanks @jenheemstra.bsky.social‬

From 'fungi tiles' to S$400 cooling vests: How can Singapore keep its cool as temperatures rise? As record-breaking temperatures strain daily life in Singapore and across the globe, the city-state is exploring innovations in design and technology to build long-term heat resilience at an individua...

How to address the heat challenge in cities? Check out this article in CNA Today, our mycelium tiles may be one of the approach: www.channelnewsasia.com/today/big-re...

Creating colors using mycelium and no chemicals: our latest paper (download PDF for better view of the beautiful images). www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/10...

I have 16 manuscripts under review, but most of them seem to be stuck 🙈🙈

Resisting sexisms, aggression, and burnout in academic leadership: Surviving in the gendered managerial academy How is it possible to survive as a woman senior leader in the gendered managerial academy? In this autoethnographical article, I illustrate the lived reality, insecurity, and struggle of academic lea...

🙈. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mechanical properties of template-based 3D graphene foams via multiscale modeling Nanoporous graphene foams fabricated via template-based chemical vapor deposition (CVD) exhibit excellent tensile properties, including self-stiffenin…

We developed new simulation approach to model graphene foams made by CVD. The pre-proofs are available online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Materials Metamorphosis - Society of Women Engineers Researchers in a variety of industries — from fashion to construction and from oyster reefs to adhesives — are developing the next generation of sustainable

Glad to have been interviewed in this article about sustainable solutions along with many others: swe.org/magazine/mat...

very interesting review: advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

3D printed gyroid scaffolds enabling strong and thermally insulating mycelium-bound composites for greener infrastructures - Nature Communications Mycelium-bound composites grown from fungi onto solid lignocellulosic substrates show limited mechanical strength and durability for practical applications. Here, the authors report the growing of myc...

Check out our latest publication in Nature Communications where we grow mycelium on 3D printer porous biopolymer scaffolds to combine mechanical properties with functional properties.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So proud to see Slocha successfully defending her PhD thesis :D

Nacre‐like ceramic–metal composites: State‐of‐the‐art, challenges, and opportunities Nacre's unique brick-and-mortar microstructure, composed of aragonite platelets bonded by biopolymers, serves as a source of inspiration for designing composites with combined strength and toughness....

Check out our latest review on nacre-like ceramic metal composites: ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...