Bioengineering for a Greener Future: Meeting Global Sustainability Goals

My name is Simi Brainch and I am a student at Imperial College London, studying Molecular Bioengineering. In Winter 2024, I joined the Energy Garden programme because I wanted to explore how scientific innovation could address real-world sustainability challenges in urban communities. This experience sparked a deeper interest in the intersection of science, community, and climate action, ultimately inspiring me to launch my own entrepreneurial sustainability project.

As sustainability becomes an urgent global priority, there is a need for smarter entrepreneurial efforts aligned with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Along with five fellow bioengineers, I developed a business plan inspired by SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities. Our aim was to rethink the construction industry to support greener, more resilient urban environments.

We created a bacteria-based liquid concrete repair system—a service, not just a material. Rather than targeting new builds, our model focuses on maintaining and extending the life of existing infrastructure. Using self-healing bacterial technology, our system detects and repairs concrete cracks, reducing waste, lowering maintenance costs, and significantly increasing structural lifespan.

We tested our business assumptions through expert interviews and industry surveys. Conversations with sustainability consultants and construction executives revealed both a strong interest in greener technologies and a gap between innovation and adoption. One insight stood out: although local councils commission many infrastructure projects, construction companies often aren't obligated to adopt sustainable innovations unless incentivized. This shifted our focus to small and mid-sized construction firms—more agile, more innovation-friendly, and directly influenced by bottom-line cost-effectiveness.

I'm proud to share that this project won 3rd place in the Engineers in Business Fellowship competition. Along with the recognition came a prize fund, which we plan to invest directly into further research, pilot trials, and partnerships with structural engineers and sustainability labs. This will help us validate the performance of our technology in real-world settings and move us one step closer to commercialization.

This project was not only fuelled by my passion to combine bioengineering with sustainability, but also by my experience as a trainee at Energy Garden. There, I engaged with urban sustainability professionals and was struck by a recurring challenge: how to balance long-term environmental goals with the immediate needs of local communities. It’s not enough to build green infrastructure—it must serve people meaningfully.

Energy Garden also exposed me to pressing urban issues in the UK: biodiversity loss, food poverty affecting over 4.7 million Londoners, and dangerously high pollution levels near homes and schools. These insights shaped the core mission of our project.

My time at Energy Garden inspired this journey—showing me how sustainability must be deeply embedded in business. That lesson continues to guide how I approach bioengineering: not just as science, but as a catalyst for lasting, inclusive change.