Professor Siddharth Patwardhan
Professor Siddharth V. Patwardhan is a scientist of Indian heritage and a leading academic in sustainable chemical engineering, holding the position of Professor of Sustainable Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Pune University in 2000, followed by an MS and PhD in materials science from the University of Cincinnati in 2003. He undertook postdoctoral research in inorganic chemistry at the University of Delaware and the University of Nottingham between 2003 and 2008, before taking up a lectureship in chemistry at Nottingham Trent University and subsequently a lectureship in chemical engineering at the University of Strathclyde from 2010 to 2015.
Patwardhan joined the University of Sheffield in 2016, where he has since led the Green Nanomaterials Research Group in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. His research focuses on sustainable routes to functional nanomaterials — particularly bioinspired synthesis approaches that reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. He is a Fellow of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has received the university's Dedicated Outstanding Mentor award four times and its Teaching Excellence Award twice, and has contributed to national and international bodies including the EPSRC College, the American Chemical Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry's Process Chemistry and Technology Special Interest Group.
Alongside his academic career, Patwardhan has commercialised his research through entrepreneurial ventures. He co-founded SiPat Consulting and Training to provide industrial consultancy based on his nanomaterials expertise. More recently, he co-founded AmpliSi Ltd — a University of Sheffield spinout — alongside Dr Gwen Chimonides and company builder Cambridge Future Tech. AmpliSi is developing porous silicon anode materials for lithium-ion batteries based on research conducted in Patwardhan's lab on magnesiothermic reduction and the properties of porous silicon. At AmpliSi, Patwardhan serves as Chief Scientific Advisor, with Dr Ruth Sayers leading the company as CEO.
AmpliSi raised £2 million in pre-seed funding in March 2026, led by Northern Gritstone and the Clean Growth Fund, to transition the technology from laboratory development toward industrial scale-up. Patwardhan's porous silicon manufacturing process — which converts widely available silica using a proprietary low-temperature method — addresses the two key barriers to silicon anode commercialisation: volume expansion during charging and manufacturing scalability. His work positions AmpliSi as a candidate to supply next-generation anode materials to battery manufacturers serving the electric vehicle and grid storage markets.
