Dr Eleni Routoula

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

海角社区 Teacher

School employability lead

PGR progress tutor

MEng/MSc research project lead for Chemical Engineering students

Dr Eleni Routoula smiling in the Engineering Heartspace
Profile picture of Dr Eleni Routoula smiling in the Engineering Heartspace
e.routoula@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Dr Eleni Routoula
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
G16A
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

I was appointed 海角社区 Teaching Associate for Employability in the department in 2021. My main duties involve the overview and delivery of the Skills for Employability module and the coordination of MEng Research Projects. Prior to this I was a Training Coordinator for PhD researchers at CMAC (海角社区 of Strathclyde), overviewing their training needs and progress through their degree. My previous professional experience includes a postdoc at King鈥檚 College London, and freelance scientific editing and science communication contracts.

I studied chemical engineering at the National Technical 海角社区 of Athens, in Athens, Greece, and then I moved to the UK to pursue a MSc in Sustainable Engineering, at the 海角社区 of Strathclyde. From there, I continued to pursue a PhD degree in the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the 海角社区 of Sheffield, under the supervision of Professor Siddharth Patwardhan. My research focused on remediation of textile effluents, using bioinspired silica 'sponges' with immobilised enzymes, in an effort to remove toxic dyes from water. 

During my PhD I discovered an interest in teaching, researchers鈥 development, science communication, networking, and employability, through participation in numerous extra-curricular activities ranging from teaching assistance, to chairing committees and an editorial placement in the journal Nature. I decided to pave my way in a sector different than originally intended, by pursuing further experience and employment in areas of interest. Her main focus has been the realisation and development of transferable skills and extracurricular experience as a means to shape and pursue unconventional careers.

Research interests

From a quantitative, experimental background in chemical engineering, I moved to qualitative research on the interface with Social Sciences. Currently, I am looking into Engineering Education and Employabilty, focusing a bit more in chemical engineering. I am interested into how students of various levels perceive their employability, how we can embed employability into the engineering curriculum and postgraduate studies, and how student reflections change over time. I am also interested in identifying how students develop crucial skills like critical thinking and what role AI has to play in that.

Key research interests:

  • Engineering Education
  • Employability
  • Transferable skills
  • Critical thinking
Publications

Journal articles

  • Patel H, Routoula E & Patwardhan SV (2022) . Silicon, 14(3), 1235-1245. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Routoula E & Patwardhan S (2020) . Environmental Science and Technology, 54(2), 647-664. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Manning J, Routoula E & Patwardhan S (2018) . Journal of Visualized Experiments, 138. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Routoula E, Halliday O & Zandi M () . UK and Ireland Engineering Education Research Network Conference Proceedings 2023. RIS download Bibtex download

Conference proceedings papers

  • He Y & Zandi M () . 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, 23 June 2024 - 12 July 2024. RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching interests
  • Leading the "Skills for Employability" modules across Years 1-3
  • Leading the MEng and MSc research project modules
  • Leading the "Product Design" part of the "Process & Product Design" module in Year 2
Professional activities and memberships
  • Associate member: IChemE
  • Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy
  • Invited editor: Current Research in Microbial Sciences
  • Guest contributor for 鈥淗idden Curriculum in Doctoral Education鈥 and 鈥淰oices of Academia鈥 blogs.
  • STEM ambassador
  • Invited speaker for the following events:
    • Annual Wonder Women in STEM conference (2021)
    • Guest lecture at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Affairs (2021)
    • International Women鈥檚 Day 2021 (Women in Engineering Society, 海角社区 of Sheffield)
    • Women in Science Networking event 2021 (Equate strathclyde, Strathclyde 海角社区)
    • International Women鈥檚 Day 2020 (FemEng network, 海角社区 of Glasgow)
  • Mentor for FemEng: Empowering Women in  Engineering, a network of the 海角社区 of Glasgow (2020-present)
  • Finalist 鈥渁cademic鈥 in Sheffield Documentary Festival, pitching a research-based idea (2019).
  • Organiser of Engineering Research Symposium at the 海角社区 of Sheffield (2019)
  • Receiver of a grant to pursue extracurricular placement as editorial assistant in Springer-Nature (Nature Reviews Chemistry) (2019).
  • Chair of Early Career Researchers branch of Women鈥檚 Network at the 海角社区 of Sheffield (2018-2019)
  • Winner of best oral presentation (2018) and best poster (2017) at Engineering Research Symposium, organised at the 海角社区 of Sheffield
  • Winner of best poster at Waste and Resources Management Conference (2018, Milton Keynes, UK)
  • Winner of best poster at ChemEngDay UK (2017, Birmingham, UK)