LAURA CATTANEO
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​"You become what you give your attention to"
Epictetus

Seabound

Seabound's mission is to decarbonise the shipping industry. Its retrofittable device captures CO2 directly from a ship's exhaust gas.
At Seabound, I am responsible for the full hardware life cycle of key components within the system, helping bringing the equipment from proven prototype to scalable product. I am involved in the design, analysis, prototype, manufacturing, integration and testing phases. This includes sizing mechanical components, simplifying existing designs and perform calculations to ensure system requirements are met. Additionally, I support and develop build processes and hardware test campaigns, from integration to operation and decommissioning, while owning product delivery timelines.

BladeBUG

Work at BladeBUG took place at the intersection of hardware, electronics, software, testing and design. As a robotics engineer I was involved in multiple projects for ultrasound inspection and early stage repair of composite blades, as well as internal bolt inspection, in collaboration with EchoBolt.
A recent shift into project/product management, operations and planning allowed me to use my technical background as an advantageous tool for organisational agility, especially in the management and coordination of the technical team’s autonomy together with the ‘bigger-picture’ strategic objectives of the organisation. I took the challenge in determining performance indicators for the company and suggested strategic initiatives to improve resource workflow and teamwork, shifting the focus on to prioritising meaningful work.
Watch World Economic Forum video below to learn more about the robot:
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Foster + Partners

As a mechanical and environmental engineer at F+P, I worked seamlessly with architects and other engineering disciplines to make buildings holistically more energy efficient, by applying strategies from embodied carbon and circular design via life-cycle analysis of mechanical systems, to the use of smart systems and controls. This has lead to efficient, healthy and sustainable small scale as well as large scale plans that achieve minimal environmental impact whilst meeting local code standards, safety and comfort criteria at the same time.

Was involved in around 35 competitions and projects around  the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East and United States, ranging from high-end retail stores such as Apple Brompton Road, corporate offices for investment banking companies, community spaces such as Centennial Yards, master plans such as MilanoSesto and luxury hotels like One Beverly Hills.
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How should the role of the building services engineer evolve to meet the challenges of the "new normal"?
CIBSE Graduate of the Year Finalist (2020)
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Imperial College London

Projects
The final year thesis in collaboration with FAC Technology and Imperial College Hazelab investigated improvements in mechanical properties of stepwise added silica and rubber nanoparticles in unmodified epoxies, as well as resistance to ignition and flame spread. Flammability was studied via time to ignition and constant irradiation (Cone heater), via UL94 test coupled with mass loss and surface temperature measurements. Performed Differential Scanning Calorimetry, as well as Thermal Conductivity and Diffusivity testing on different samples. Mechanical tests were conducted through Single Edge Notch Bending (SENB), tensile testing as well as Plane Compression (PSC) testing.
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The main findings of the research were published and presented at the 22nd International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM) in Melbourne, Australia, in August 2019.
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Other Projects:
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Aircraft Engine Technology

Full design process of a novel gas turbine engine specifically tailored for the application of parabolic flights.
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Design, Make and Test

Developed the core power production section, energy storage system and drivetrain of a hydrogen fuel cell car.
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Manufacturing Technology and Management

Process analysis of a fully-automated turning operation of a drive shaft end.
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Computational Fluid Dynamics (1)

Modelling of a 1-D convection-diffusion problem by numerical discretisation schemes.
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Computational Fluid Dynamics (2)

CFD Analysis of the flow around an aircraft.
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System Design and Optimisation

Mathematical optimisation as applied to system design, using objective functions and genetic algorithms.
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Literature Research Project

Investigation of powertrain architectures and battery packs, and discussion on their optimum integration into real life EV configurations with varying electrification level.
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Hand Tool Project

Design and manufacturing process of a  cordless hand tool aimed to ease the removal of fabric pilling and bobbles for the UK household market.
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Design, Art and Creativity

Designed with a group of four people a product which would ease gardening for the elderly people.


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Imperial Racing Green
Shell Eco Marathon (SEM) is an ultra efficiency race that challenges university students around the world to design, build, test and race ultra-energy-efficient vehicles designed to achieve the furthest distance possible on a single litre of fuel. In 2018, the Imperial Racing Green team have managed to race a hydrogen fuel cell zero-emission car for the first time in the university history, with myself as the Team Principal.
“It has been wonderful to work with students from a range of different disciplines, including EEE, Mechanical, Aeronautical and Design Engineering, Materials and Applied Physics, as well as from many different nationalities… This is a great platform to build new scientific networks and reflect on the intense experience of supporting each other in the pit lanes of the Olympic park track on one of the hottest days of the year.”
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Laura Cattaneo, Team Principal of Imperial Racing Green (2018)
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As a female team leader in one of the university’s racing teams, inspired future students in getting involved in engineering as well as promoted the role of female leadership on campus. Featured on the main the university website as part of successful campaign to support women in mechanical engineering:
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Attended the IMechE Simulation and Modelling 2017 conference and produced an article which has been published in the Imperial Engineer Magazine by the C&G Association:
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Featured in QS World University Rankings video to give a sense of what Imperial is to future students:
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