Vena
Project Overview
University
Year
About
Most shoes are difficult to recycle because dozens of petrochemical parts with different properties are permanently bonded together. Vena grows bacterial cellulose from waste coconut water around a 3D-printed biodegradable scaffold. By varying the scaffold geometry, a single continuous material can be flexible where the foot bends and supportive where it bears load. Mechanical testing confirmed that its strength and stiffness can be adjusted, while factory trials in Vietnam demonstrated compatibility with existing production. The approach could reduce footwear waste and support wider applications in fashion, interiors and medicine.
Team
Alfie McMeeking
Alfie McMeeking is a PhD researcher in Design Engineering at Imperial College London, working at the intersection of biomaterials, computational design and sustainable manufacturing. Together with a multidisciplinary team, he developed VENA, footwear uppers made from bacterial cellulose grown on 3D-printed scaffolds. Drawing on strain data from industry and academic partners, VENA tunes the material's stiffness and flexibility to the foot's demands. The project has been manufactured in a factory in Vietnam and exhibited at the Future Fabrics Expo. Alfie's research explores how living materials can move from the lab into real-world products.