Dr Adriana Encinas-Oropesa

Areas of expertise

• Design, Strategy & Innovation
• Product and Service Design
• Low Carbon Technology

Background

Dr. Adriana Encinas-Oropesa is a Senior Lecturer in Design and Materials whose research bridges materials science, industrial design, and sustainability to address pressing environmental and societal challenges. Her work explores how materials behaviour and degradation influence product performance, lifecycle sustainability, and human experience—linking scientific rigour with design-led innovation to deliver tangible circular economy impact.

With more than 15 years of experience at Cranfield University, Adriana has led and contributed to projects on materials characterisation, corrosion performance, and sustainable product design in collaboration with major industrial partners. Her applied research has helped to establish new British Standards for materials testing (BS ISO 13573:2012, BS ISO 1480:2012). She has published over 40 peer-reviewed outputs across materials science, design engineering, and sustainability transitions.

Adriana holds a PhD in Advanced Materials from Cranfield University, an MSc in Industrial and Product Design from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain), and a BSc in Industrial Design from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (Mexico). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), and a member of the Mexican National System for Researchers (SNI–CONACyT).

Research opportunities

Adriana’s research focuses on sustainable design and circular material systems, integrating materials science, human-centred design, and environmental sustainability. Her work advances new methods for developing and evaluating bio-based composites, upcycling agricultural by-products, and embedding end-of-life management strategies at the conceptual design stage.

She welcomes PhD and MSc students interested in:

- Sustainable and circular materials development

- Design for resource efficiency and lifecycle innovation

- Design-led research methods and innovation processes

- Waste valorisation and sustainable manufacturing

Current activities

As Programme Director for the Jiangsu University–Cranfield Tech Futures Graduate Institute (JSU–CU), Adriana leads MSc programmes in Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Engineering Management. She oversees curriculum design, quality assurance, and academic mentoring, fostering international collaboration and innovation in teaching and learning.

She is also Module Leader for Engineering Design and Project Management and Circular Innovation within Cranfield’s MSc in Sustainability.

A passionate advocate for STEM education and equality in engineering, Adriana is an active STEM Ambassador for the East of England, regularly engaging with schools and community events. Through these activities, she inspires young girls and students to pursue careers in science, design, and engineering, championing diversity, creativity, and inclusion as key drivers of sustainable innovation.

Clients

Unilever UK

Rolls-Royce plc (UK, Germany, and Canada)

MTU Engines (Germany)

Cool Milk ltd (UK)

National Council of Science and Technology CONACyT (Mexico)

Autonomous University of State of Mexico (UAEM)

Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)

Innovate UK

EU Framework Programmes (EU)

European Coal and Steel Community (EU)

Siemens Energy Inc (USA, Germany)

Alstom Power (UK)

Porvair Filtration (UK)

Publications

• Articles in journals
• Conference papers
• Books