Leading Sustainable Med-Tech: Professor Agarwala Awarded WISER Fellowship 2025

Shweta Agarwala, Professor and Associate Dean from the School of Engineering and Applied Science​​​​​​, has been awarded the WISER Fellowship 2025 (Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research) - an international recognition by the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre that supports women-led research in STEM fields. The award recognises Professor Agarwala's expertise in sustainable electronics and biomedical sensors.

As part of this fellowship, she will collaborate with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, on developing piezoelectric materials for non-invasive monitoring of internal pressures in biomedical applications. The project aims to enable safer and smarter technologies for health monitoring.

"Basically, I want to bring sustainability to the core of all research. As tech people, we tend to leave sustainability behind. We want quick, nice, high-performing solutions. Unfortunately, most of these solutions might not be green, sustainable, or eco-friendly," Professor Agarwala said. "So, the idea is to practice 'responsible innovation.' From that overarching theme, my solutions come to life. I keep sustainable materials, processes, and end-of-life cycles for projects and products in mind as I try to find solutions to problems."

A serious challenge in the biomedical community is the lack of compatible materials for creating medical devices. For instance, implantable devices are still made from hard electronics, which have a vastly different Young's Modulus than the body's soft tissues. While these devices can solve immediate health problems, they also create long-term complications. The longer they remain implanted, the greater the risk of issues like tissue scarring and cardiac perforation.

Next-generation healthcare devices should be as soft as human tissue. They must also be bio-resolvable, meaning they can safely dissolve in the body after a specific period. This avoids the need for a second surgery to remove the device once it's no longer needed.

"I have been researching novel and biodegradable piezoelectric materials for a while now. This led me to develop the concept of a polymer-ceramic hybrid piezoelectric system. One of the main challenges in creating next-generation devices is that most biodegradable and bioresorbable materials lack electronic functionality. My proposed solution addresses this by combining poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer, with barium titanate (BaTiO₃ or BTO), a high-performance ceramic filler," said Professor Agarwala.

"This combination leverages the complementary properties of both materials to enhance piezoelectric performance and introduce additional functionalities. The material will undergo comprehensive structural, mechanical, and chemical characterisation to optimise its composition and quantify its functional properties."

The real test bed for the material will be fabricating a sensitive pressure sensor to monitor subtle changes in internal pressure around sensitive areas like the aortic wall. Changes in the pressure of internal organs are critical physiological markers that can indicate the onset or progression of various chronic and life-threatening diseases. Because these pressure changes are often subtle and develop gradually, highly sensitive pressure sensors are essential for early detection and continuous monitoring. Real-time tracking of internal pressure can aid healthcare professionals in diagnosing conditions sooner, managing treatments more effectively, and improving patient outcomes

A key focus of this project will be to investigate the resonance and anti-resonance frequencies of the hybrid system, examining its behaviour under external influences like ultrasonic exposure and mechanical strain.

This research will be a collaboration with Professor Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann, whose research facilities in Germany are equipped for advanced nanofabrication, in situ characterisation, and comprehensive testing of multifunctional materials.

This partnership is crucial for understanding how the device would behave once implanted in the body. The goal is to analyse how our material changes when subjected to electrical stimulation and mechanical stress, ensuring the final device is both functional and reliable in a real-world environment.

The WISER Fellowship recognises Professor Agarwala's creativity in science and her dedication to building scientific capacity, particularly in promoting women researchers.

"I work with a lot of women, from undergraduates to professionals, and I urge them to take up and stay in the STEM fields," she says. "There's a misconception that STEM isn't creative, and we don’t have fun. STEM isn't just deeply creative but it’s impact on real lives makes every challenge, every long hour, and every experiment truly worthwhile. This field is incredibly dynamic and rewarding and needs more women contributions "