Dr Yansheng Zhou

Dr Yansheng Zhou is the Material Chemist at Biohm. He investigates and replicates nature’s building blocks, chemical processes, reactions, and structures to develop advanced biomimetic technologies, guiding them from research to commercialisation.

He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Institute of Material Discovery at UCL, where extensive research on biopolymers established his interest and expertise in replacing synthetic materials natural alternatives. Through methodological experimentation with the characteristics of natural polymers and his previous work on understanding their mechanical and chemical behaviours, he approaches problem solving with curiosity, finding innovative ways to apply his theoretical research to industry settings.

Yansheng’s practice is rooted in biomimicry. He is inspired by nature’s genius and strives to emulate it in material development, so when working with natural polymers, he studies nature’s established expertise in creating strong, lightweight, and versatile materials, such as the robustness of spider silk or the lightweight structure of bird bones. In addition, he integrates nature’s cycles of growth and decomposition in manufacturing processes and products, ensuring materials can be reintegrated into ecosystems at the end of their life cycle. He strives to forge new relationships between humans and non-human systems by shifting the perception and behaviour of humans from dominators to participators in the complex web of life.

If Yansheng was to be reincarnated as a non-human, he would choose to be a forest, the complex and dynamic system whose components, from the smallest microorganism to the largest trees, coexist in harmony.