Hortense Le Ferrand

Hortense Le Ferrand serves as Associate Professor with a joint appointment between the School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and the School of Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She holds the prestigious Provost's Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, reflecting her significant contributions to the field. Her research group operates at the intersection of sustainable manufacturing and bioinspired design, developing innovative materials with applications ranging from thermal management to biomedical implants.

• Ingénieur Degree from ESPCI Paris, France
• MSc and PhD in Materials Science from ETH Zürich, Switzerland
• Visiting scholar at Purdue University, USA
• Postdoctoral visiting scholar at Center for Biomimetic Sensor Science at NTU

Professor Le Ferrand's research focuses on developing sustainable materials through bioinspired approaches. Her group combines additive manufacturing techniques with abundant, eco-friendly building blocks and water-based solvents to create composites with complex microstructures that mimic nature's designs. These materials exhibit unusual combinations of properties that enable applications in thermal management for electronics and architecture, biomedical implants, protective ceramics, and sustainable construction materials. Her most notable work involves mycelium-based composites with elephant skin-inspired textures that provide passive cooling for buildings in tropical climates.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on sustainable materials development, particularly mycelium composites and bioinspired ceramics. Her research demonstrates a clear trajectory toward practical applications in construction, electronics cooling, and biomedical fields. The interdisciplinary nature of her work is evident through collaborations with institutions worldwide including Purdue University, ETH Zurich, and various Singaporean research centers.

• MIT Innovators Under 35 list (2023)
• Nature Award: Inspiring Women in Science, Scientific achievement category (2023)
• Nanyang Research Award, Young Investigator
• World's Top 2% Scientists List Identified by Stanford University
• Listed among top 50 Asia Women Tech Leaders
• Singapore Women in Tech list curated by Singapore Computer Society

Professor Le Ferrand actively mentors numerous PhD and Master's students while collaborating with industry partners to translate laboratory discoveries into real-world applications. Her research group has filed four patent applications in the past five years, with growing industry interest in scaling their sustainable manufacturing processes. She frequently engages in outreach activities, including workshops with pre-university students and collaborations with organizations focused on sustainable design and biomimicry in policy contexts.

The research group maintains strong laboratory facilities for additive manufacturing and materials characterization, with particular expertise in magnetic-assisted 3D printing technologies. They collaborate extensively with the Future Cities Laboratory and have established partnerships with BioSEA Ltd and Mykilio for developing mycelium-based building materials. The group's work on elephant-skin inspired mycelium tiles has been installed at NTU's North Spine as a real-world test in Singapore's tropical climate.