Andreia is a bioengineer and soft matter physicist with a PhD from the University of Strathclyde on the flow dynamics of vitreous humour (VH) biofluid and VH replacements. Inspired by a real-world clinical challenge, she successfully designed a PhD project proposal that was awarded funding by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal). Her work combined experimental rheology with numerical simulations to investigate how the viscoelastic properties of VH and pharmaceutical fluids used in eye surgery affect fluid dynamics during saccadic eye movements, offering new insights into biofluid behaviour during physiological processes.
After concluding her PhD (2017), Andreia joined The University of Edinburgh to work on the multidisciplinary project Formulating Value Chains for Orphan Crops in Africa, where she investigated African crops that showed functional properties and nutritional potential to replace conventional ingredients in food formulations.
In 2019, Andreia joined ECFP where she has collaborated with industrial partners across five sectors. Her projects have ranged from improving fudge making and developing non-alcoholic hand sanitisers, to understanding the mechanisms behind high speed printing or advancing biosurfactants derived from low-value fish by-products. Across all her work, Andreia applies physical, chemical, and mechanical techniques to understand both the macroscopic and microscopic behaviour of complex fluids, elucidating the role of their components with the goal of improving formulations and advancing industrial processes.
Currently, as a Royal Society Industry Fellow, Andreia splits her time between two distinct industry collaborations. Her fellowship focuses on establishing a solid scientific foundation to understand how fluid properties influence spreading and removal through suction, in order to advance formulation design and facilitate product innovation. In parallel, she investigates biobased materials as sustainable alternatives to petrochemicals based ones in Fast-moving consumer goods.
Student projects:
Louise Overzet, Materials for the future: Finding biobased viscoelastic fluids for biomedical applications, PhD supervised by Dr Andreia F Silva and Prof Alexander Morozov
Arundhati Surendran, The effect of antioxidants and other additives on the wettability of Hyaluronic acid solutions, Industry Summer Project 2024 with Hyaltech (Dr Ben Robertson)
Fletcher Adams, Investigating vegan fudge, Industry Summer Project 2023 with The Ochil Fudge Pantry (Graeme Clark)
Konrad Linkowski, Degradation of Ophthalmic Formulations Under Shear, Industry Summer Project 2023 with Hyaltech (Dr Ben Robertson)
Pablo Sandquist Pereira, A probe into the role of counterion adsorption in the slip of carbomer microgels in hydroalcoholic mixtures, Summer Project 2023 with Prof Wilson Poon
Anne-Maelle Penot, The rheology of microgels in hydroalcoholic solutions, British Society of Rheology Undergraduate Research Summer Research Bursaries 2022 with Prof Wilson Poon
Tomas Wilson, Separation and sedimentation in Baobab drinks and how it can be reduced, Industry Summer Project 2019 with Dr Tiffany Wood and Baotic (Paul Blackler and Isatou Njai)
Nicholas Conceicao, Investigating Physical and Functional Properties of Sea Lettuce from Jersey, Industry Summer Project 2019 with Dr Tiffany Wood and The State of Jersey (Willie Peggie)
Senior Honours Projects:
Arran Short (2023)