CEPS CDT student awarded WCSIM Postgraduate Scholarship for outstanding young engineers

WCSIM Postgraduate Scholarship

A WCSIM Postgraduate Scholarship has been awarded to Ruben Ruiz-Mateos Serrano, a PhD student on the Centre for Doctoral Training in Connected Electronic and Photonic Systems (CEPS CDT) programme. Ruben receives £2,000 for his outstanding research on scientific instrumentation development.

Ruben’s research focuses on developing and validating a novel wearable electronic textile (e-textile) technology for the early detection of valvular heart diseases (VHDs). The research integrates photonics, materials science, biomedical engineering and veterinary and clinical medicine to create a high-resolution, non-invasive cardiac monitoring system.

Central to the project is the use of high-density conducting polymer electrodes embedded into soft, flexible fabrics. These electrodes enable the capture of detailed spatiotemporal cardiac signals, offering a significant improvement over conventional electrocardiogram (ECG) in terms of signal quality and wearability.

Ruben said, “My research aims to address the limitations of current diagnostic methods such as echocardiography, which are costly and inaccessible in many primary and veterinary care settings. The project includes iterative prototype development, pre-clinical evaluation and real-world pilot testing in dogs at The Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital in Cambridge.

“Key research objectives include assessing signal fidelity, user comfort, long-term wearability and the feasibility of machine learning for disease detection.”

Ruben added that future research will focus on wireless integration, data analysis algorithms and expanded trials in both animal and human cohorts. The project will seek to establish a new standard in affordable, scalable and accessible high-density electrophysiology diagnostics, with wider applications in cardiovascular, neurological and rehabilitative health monitoring.

He added: “Belonging to the WCSIM is especially meaningful, as it is committed to advancing science and engineering for the benefit of society and humanity. This mission resonates strongly with me – it is the reason I became a biomedical engineer and chose to pursue research.”

Ruben will complete his PhD in October 2025. The e-textile technology he has developed was submitted for patenting through Cambridge Enterprise last year and he is keen to commercialise it through a spin-out.

Ruben Ruiz-Mateos Serrano is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge on the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Connected Electronic and Photonic Systems (CEPS CDT) programme. His PhD research is on a wearable cardiac activity mapping system, supervised by Prof George Malliaras, funded by EPSRC programme grant EP/S022139/1.

Connect with Ruben: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/rr632

Read more

Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers (WCSIM): https://wcsim.co.uk/

Original article published by University of Cambridge, May 2025: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/electrical-engineers-welcomed-worshipful-company-scientific-instrument-makers-wcsim

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