Professor Meng Zhang

Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

Dr Meng Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Scinece. She studied BSc in Biotechnology at ShanDong Agriculture University, which included a half year research project at Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science. Meng came to England and study for a master’s degree in Health, Environment and Development at Sunderland University between 2001 and 2002. She was then rewarded Overseas Research Scholarship by UK Universities, and studied her PhD in 'Proteomics Analysis of Streptococci Pathogens' at Northumbria University. After her PhD, Meng stayed in Northumbria University as a Post-doctoral Research Associate and continually worked on Proteomics for one year.

At end of 2007, Meng started her postdoctoral research in Biocatalysis which using biological systems, bacterial cells and enzymes to convert chemicals to high value products. She acted as R&D manager in Nzomics Biocatalysis, which is a university enterprise in Northumbria. In the duration of 6 years, she has successfully completed one Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, and two Innovation Vouchers projects. In addition, she has managed many commercial research projects for national and international clients including GSK, Kraft Foods, Almac Sciences, Prozomix, and Hycagen. Based on her university based commercial experience, Meng did a part-time MBA in Newcastle Business School, and her dissertation research focus on Influence Factors of Knowledge Transfer Activities in the UK University.

From 2010, Meng began lecturing in Department of Applied Sciences, Health and Life Science faculty, and she became a full-time lecturer in 2013. She continuously built up her biocatalysis research by collaborating with various academic and industrial partners and at same time she started to establish new interdisciplinary research interest in BioDesign.

Based on her work in BioDesign, along with colleagues from Architect and Engineer, they were successful won £8M strategic funding from Research England to establish the world first research centre ‘Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment’. Within the Hub, she co-lead Living Construction theme, and work as biological expert on all the research projects. She also initiated and organised the Biodesign Challenge European Hub and establish Biodesign European network. To push Biodesign research agenda, she is also co-leading ‘Biodesign for Bioeconomy’ research theme in Northumbria as one of multidisciplinary research themes (MDRTs).

I have been Co-I and Co-PI on three EPSRC funded projects Computational Colloids (EP/N005791/1) and Thinking Soils (EP/R003629/1, EP/R003777/1) on the topic of Engineered bacteria as computational agents in the design and manufacture of new materials and structures through MICP’ and ‘Principles for a Microbial 3D Printer’ (EP/V050710/1).

Campus Address

EBA501
Ellison Building

Email Meng

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Dr Meng Zhang is currently co-lead in the Living Contruction research group in HBBE. Her research focuses on applying microbial biotechnology to the built environment, particularly in the living construction which aim to develop design methods and processes which embrace the complexity of biological systems and digital fabrication. The key to her research is seeing growth as a manufacturing process, producing materials’ properties which are enhanced as a result of the use of these biological system through sensing, responsive of living cells.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Alternative Leather Fashion, Yu, J., Paul, S., Zafar, R., Shi, Y., Ahmed, Z., James, A., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 23 Jan 2026, Sustainable Fashion Materials, Singapore, Springer
Formation Finding: Exploring Soft Cast MICP fabrication in a Water Kiln, Arnardottir, T., Wang, C., Haystead, J., Eiriksdottir, S., Zhang, M., Dade-Robertson, M. 1 Jan 2026, In: Biotechnology Design
Functionalization of Bacterial Cellulose Filaments for Knitting Responsive Textiles, Freixas, L., Gilmour, K., Zhang, M., Scott, J., Pena, J. 22 Feb 2026, In: Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
One-Pot Production of Melanised Bacterial Cellulose through Rational Enzyme Engineering, Gilmour, K., Loh, J., Singh, W., Santos, S., Cheung, W., Ellis, T., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 23 May 2026, In: Cleaner Materials
Acoustofluidics Powered Synthesis of Bacterial Cellulose, Zhang, J., Gilmour, K., Zhang, M., Jiang, Y., Arnold, P., Ong, H., Wu, Q., Parsa, M., Tao, R., Luo, J., Fu, Y. 1 Dec 2025, In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
A U-shape Optical Fiber Sensor for Ultrasensitive Streptavidin Detection, Ma, H., Huang, L., Zhang, M., Yao, Y., Faruq, A., Li, X., Yuan, J., Wu, Q. 27 Oct 2025, 2025 17th International Conference on Advanced Infocomm Technology, ICAIT 2025, Piscataway, NJ, IEEE
EmbryOme 1: Submerged Soft Cast MICP Fabrication, Arnardottir, T., Wang, C., Haystead, J., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 13 Feb 2025
EmbryOME3: Prototree, Dade-Robertson, M., Gilmour, K., Poma, M., Zhang, M. 2025
Enhanced production of bacterial cellulose with a mesh dispenser vessel‑based bioreactor, Loh, J., Arnardottir, T., Gilmour, K., Zhang, M., Dade-Robertson, M. 1 Mar 2025, In: Cellulose
Environmentally Conscious Hydrophobic Spray Coatings on Bacterial Cellulose for Sustainable and Reusable Textiles, Gilmour, K., Dell’Agnese, B., Bonney, G., Unthank, M., White, N., Scott, J., Sherry, A., James, P., Jiang, Y., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 10 Jul 2025, In: Journal of Cleaner Production

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: Biogenic mineral precipitation and self-healing in lime-based mortars: showcasing its potential through the Healing Masonry prototype. 2025
Other: Future Materials within Growing Home: A New World of Materials Exhibition (Edinburgh Science Festival 2024) 2024
Oral presentation: Demonstrating the potential of biological self-healing for conservation through the healing masonry prototype. Presenter: Magdalini Theodoridou. 2023

PGR Supervision

Jenifer Mariya Francis The Study Of Streptococcal Pathogenesis using Proteomic and Metabolomic Approaches Start Date: 08/12/2015 End Date: 19/05/2026
Jenifer Mariya Francis The Study Of Streptococcal Pathogenesis using Proteomic and Metabolomic Approaches Start Date: 08/12/2015 End Date: 17/10/2025
Vaibhav Tyagi Development of a Robust Pipeline for Maximizing Recombinant Protein Production Efficiency Start Date: 01/10/2024
Vaibhav Tyagi Development of a Robust Pipeline for Maximizing Recombinant Protein Production Efficiency Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025