Amy Lim Kong

Amy grew up in Mauritius and moved to the UK to complete an Integrated Masters in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. As part of her degree, she undertook a summer placement at Cambridge-based startup, Xampla, where she developed and tested formulations for sustainable packaging applications. She also completed a Year in Industry in Hull within Reckitt’s Polymer Science Platforms where she explored the use of more environmentally friendly packaging materials. This year‑long placement was offered to her after winning a student sustainability competition. Wanting to move away from packaging and to try something new, Amy decided to work on sustainable composites manufacturing for her final year project. This involved improving and validating an automated powder towpregging line for thermoplastic composites. She soon realised that polymers were her preferred field of interest. Her PhD project blends polymer synthesis, polymer processing and analytical quality control to provide fundamental insights into the degradation induced by mechanical recycling and to ultimately improve plastic circularity. She works under the joint supervision of Dr. Niamh Fox and Prof. Michael Shaver.