Kunal Masania

Dr. Kunal Masania is an Associate Professor in Bio-inspired Matter at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft. His research focuses on developing materials and structures that mimic natural organisms' adaptive architectures, leveraging additive manufacturing techniques. He holds a PhD from Imperial College London on nanoscale toughening of polymers and has prior experience at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and ETH Zürich, where he explored bio-inspired processing of composites.

• Education:
• PhD in Materials Science, Imperial College London
• Advanced research at FHNW (Switzerland) on natural-fibre composites
• Postdoctoral/Research work at ETH Zürich

His work bridges fundamental science and applied innovation, aiming to replicate nature's structural efficiency in engineered materials. He co-founded two startups to translate research into societal impact. Current projects emphasize additive manufacturing of 'living materials' where growth dictates architecture, addressing challenges in lightweight composites and functional adaptability.

Labs/Teams: His TU Delft group develops bio-inspired materials and manufacturing processes. Notably, they explore proof-of-concept materials that integrate growth-driven structural optimization, mimicking biological systems like bone and plant cellulose.