UCL East welcomes Princess Anne for innovation showcase

The visit on February 20 was her first to the East Bank, the UK's newest cultural quarter, where the campus is located.

The Princess Royal, who is the Chancellor of the University of London, of which UCL is a member institution, was given a tour of the campus and shown research in areas such as ecology, AI, robotics, healthcare, and hydrogen technology.

Dr Dimitrios Kanoulas demonstrates an AI-trained robotic dog to Her Royal Highness, while Professor Paola Lettieri, UCL vice-provost looks on (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media) During her visit, she watched a demonstration by UCL robotics and autonomous systems researchers who are using AI to train robots to help with search and rescue operations in dangerous terrains and to make surgery safer and more precise.

Princess Anne speaks to Year 12 students from The Urswick School in Hackney, one of UCL’s partner schools in east London (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media)

She then learned about advances being made in electrifying aircraft in the UCL advanced propulsion lab, including a vertical take-off and landing aircraft set to improve the safety and cost of air travel.

Dr Izzy Bishop and Yaqian Wu of the UCL people and nature lab show Her Royal Highness a water quality sensor that residents can use as citizen scientists to help monitor the quality of local waterways (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media) Her Royal Highness then crossed over to the campus’ One Pool Street building, which houses the UCL people and nature lab, an interdisciplinary hub exploring innovative solutions for a more sustainable relationship between people and nature.

Passing a globe artwork (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media)

The Princess Royal watched students demonstrating new technologies in environmental sensing and explored a virtual coral reef.

PhD student Dongyi Ma shows Her Royal Highness a weather sensor in the UCL people and nature lab garden (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media)

Professor Kate Jones, director of the UCL people and nature lab, said: "We all depend on the natural environment for our health, wellbeing, and survival.

"Understanding how to better care for our planet is critical, not just for preserving nature but also for maintaining food security, adapting to climate change and preventing the next pandemic.

Princess Anne meets London Legacy Development Corporation and East Bank representatives (Image: Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media) "Her Royal Highness’s interest in our work is really timely and we encourage more people to get involved as students, researchers, or citizen scientists, as we collaborate across disciplines to understand how the degradation of nature impacts us all, and to develop solutions for the future."

As the tour drew to a close, the chair of UCL Council, Victor Chu CBE, invited Her Royal Highness to unveil a commemorative plaque to mark the visit.

UCL PhD student Santiago Martinez Balvanera presented her with a gift of a camera trap, similar to one she had seen in action in the people and nature lab’s garden.