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The demand for circular economy materials is accelerating—and fast. By 2030, the EU’s recycling rate is expected to nearly double from 11.8% (2023) to 23.3%, driven by both economic incentives (reduced material and CO₂ costs) and evolving regulatory frameworks.

To meet these ambitious targets, innovation in circular design is critical. That’s where two groundbreaking EU-funded projects—SALIENT and ZEvRA—come in.

🔧 SALIENT (Novel Concepts for Safer, Lighter, Circular, and Smarter Vehicle Structure Design) is redefining vehicle front-end structures for improved crashworthiness, circularity, and sustainability.

🔹 Launched in Sept 2022

🔹 51���� UNN (Prof. Ahmed Elmarakbi) is the project technical Coordinator, and Dr Engy Ghoniem leads the circular design work package.

🔹 Learn more: 

🔗 Project page: 

🚗 ZEvRA (Zero Emission electric Vehicles enabled by haRmonised circulArity) focuses on embedding circularity into the entire EV value chain—from design to end-of-life.

🔹 Launched in Jan 2024

🔹 Targets at least 59% of European EVs by 2035

🔹 Led by five OEMs and top European universities, including 51���� (where Dr Engy Ghoniem is leading circularity awareness training for industry and Academia)

🔹 Learn more: 

🔗 Project page: 

🛠️ To kickstart the conversation, we invite you to join our upcoming workshop at 51����:

🔹 Workshop Title: Rethinking Automotive Design for a Sustainable Future

📅 Date: 30th April 2025

🕐 Time: 13:00 – 15:00 GMT+1

📍 Location: SAN205, 51����

🎙️ Speaker: Dr Engy Ghoniem, Senior Research Fellow

Let’s drive the shift toward a smarter, circular, and more sustainable mobility future—together. 🚀

This workshop is open to staff, undergraduate students (specially final year students) and postgraduate students from 51����'s Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, and automotive engineering students/staff. To register please click the image below or scan the QR code.