lynchpin - university of bristol · lynchpin bristol engineering. 02 lynchpin autumn 2010 lynchpin...
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LynchPinBristol Engineering
Aeolus - racing against the wind
The Cabot Institute
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Autumn 2010
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LynchPin Autumn 2010
LynchPin is produced by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol
LynchPin teamJohn McWilliams, Emma Weeks,Carrie Wattling, Sam Hodder, Caroline Higgins
Design and productionCarrie Wattling
Print and reproductionPortishead Press LtdPrinted on Revive 100% recycled paper stock using vegetable based environmentally friendly inks
Cover: The University of Bristol 2010 Aeolus vehicle
LynchPin is available online at www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/staff/publicity/lynchpin.html
If you are interested in writing an article for LynchPin please contact: [email protected]
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Fortunately the trajectory in this regard is very positive, which bodes well for the future. That being said, we must not be complacent. I’m sure there will be both internal and external demands to entertain us for several years to come!
Professor Nick LievenDean of Engineering
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The new academic year has arrived and along with it an intake of outstanding students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. To all of you, you are extremely welcome. The Faculty is a far livelier and more exciting place with students buzzing around. It may interest you to know that this year’s intake was not only the highest quality that we’ve seen in the Faculty, but also the highest qualified within the entire University. No pressure then, but we expect great things from all of you! You’ll notice one of our articles in this edition is about a truly high-flying alumnus, Ed Strongman, who is the chief test pilot for Airbus. He graduated from Bristol and went on to achieve great things – he is a role model for our current students in every respect.
Work continues apace on the National Composites Centre: those of you visiting North Bristol will see a £25 million site on the science park appearing out of the ground. The effect on Bristol has been nothing short of spectacular, and we now find ourselves at the hub of an internationally growing area of research. Indeed, any new call in this area is met with a flurry of telephone conversations asking if partners can join us. It is gratifying to see that many years of work
by the Composites group has now led to a truly leading international profile. Critical mass in research brings the best people in the world to work with us. Long may this continue.
I am also delighted that Bristol has been awarded the UK’s Doctoral Training Centre in Communications. The Centre will act as the national focal point for research in the area working with industry from the UK and overseas.
In the last month, of course, the long-awaited Browne report emerged to the trepidation of the Higher Education community. It is fair to say that it caused more than a minor frisson. My main observation on its likely effect would be that there will be a migration to quality. Fortunately Bristol is better placed than most in this regard. We only have to look at the calibre of our incoming students and the profile of our research to realise that potential students will naturally be attracted to universities and faculties of the highest quality. As those of you who know me will be aware, I am completely committed to maintaining and increasing the quality of all the activities in the Faculty. Now more than ever this commitment must remain solid.
04 Newsclips from around the FacultyAppointments, awards, conference news and visits
06 Student newsAlexey Likhoded, Salman Iqbal and Tom Gorochowski take the top awards, and high flyer Ed Strongman looks back to his days as an undergraduate
08 Engineers Without BordersPeter Cooper and Eva Linnell bring us up to date with the latest news from the Bristol branch
11 Life in the fast laneGeorge Mills outlines the thrills and spills of starting up a new company
12 Racing against the windFeature article from the Bristol Aeolus team and their participation in the International Aeolus competition
14 Indian summer Hamish Ferguson describes his internship at the University of Manipal
17 Breast cancer detectionProfessor Ian Craddock writes about the latest developments
19 Faculty links with Japan News of a high profile visit to ACCIS, and Dr Nikolaos Nikitas tells us about his Research Fellowship to Kyoto
20 Teach First - study laterSteve Bullock comes full circle
21 From the archiveThe University of Bristol Engineering Society
23 Faculty peopleAlan Champneys speaks personally about his life
24 Focus on the Cabot InstitutePaul Harper reports on this major new partnership between the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Social Sciences and Law
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The latest news and events from
around the FacultyNew appointmentsNeill Campbell, Reader in Computer Science is the new Head of the Computer Science Department.
Andy Nix, Professor of Wireless Communication Systems, is the new Head of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department.
Raf Theunissen has joined the Aerodynamics research group in the Department of Aerospace engineering as Lecturer in Experimental Aerodynamics. He obtained both his MSc degree from Delft University of Technology (TUD) in the Netherlands in 2003, while conducting his research on optical flow measurement at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) in his home country, Belgium. He was awarded his PhD in 2010 in a collaborative framework between TUD, the VKI and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). His work on adaptive sampling and windowing interrogation methods in Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) earned him the 2007 Measurement Science and Technology outstanding paper award. Before joining the University in September, Raf worked as a gas turbine development engineer for nearly two years at Alstom Ltd in Switzerland.
Raf’s research is focussed on the continuing development of adaptive algorithms to improve the flow analysis with PIV and extending it to three dimensions. In addition he works on techniques to post process the obtained experimental data.
At present he is working on getting the department’s Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) system running again and has made initial steps to obtain a PIV system.
ACCIS conferenceThe third annual ACCIS conference took place on 15 September in Queen’s Building. Over 150 delegates attended, with a common interest in the research and application of composite materials. Representatives ranged widely across industrial and academic communities, many of whom are involved in the collaboration and sponsorship of ACCIS research. ACCIS staff gave presentations during the morning session to provide an overview of current research work, including bio-inspired multifunctional composite materials (Richard Trask), carbon nanotubes
based multifunctional composites (Sameer Rahatekar) and future directions in NDT of composites (Bruce Drinkwater). Researchers and students from ACCIS presented posters showing their own recent research developments.
An afternoon session was hosted by the Technology Strategy Board funded I-Composites Grand Challenge Research programme. This programme, led by GKN Aerospace and supported by the National Composites Centre, aims to provide the basis for reducing energy consumption and wastage in manufacturing whilst simultaneously improving the functionality of composite materials. Presentations were given by the programme’s industrial partners detailing the research they are undertaking within the I-Composites Grand Challenge programme.
Changing Worlds exhibitionThe Centre for Communications Research (CCR) participated in the Changing Worlds exhibition in Westminster on the 13th October 2010, held to demonstrate the wide-ranging global impact of university research and how it has changed lives around the world.
The invention of the speech scrambler by the CCR, finalist for the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation in 1992, was one of the 20 exhibits. It demonstrated how the scrambler began a new era of higher police security, and how the encryption techniques involved allowed for the massive expansion of commercial and personal mobile phone usage we see today.
The event was hosted by the SETsquared Partnership, (Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey universities), with attendees including policy makers, major figures from industry, journalists and a key note speech by Minister for Universities & Science, David Willetts MP.
Richard WadhamIt is with great sadness the we report the death of Richard Wadham who died suddenly on 5th October 2010. Richard joined the University 27 years ago as a technician in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He worked initially as a manufacturing technician in the main workshop, where he helped many students design and build test rigs. Later he took over
Dr Neill Campbell
Professor Andy Nix
Dr Raf Theunissen
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the Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory which became his pride and joy. A medium sized man he had the largest of hearts, always willing to give students and staff his time and he worked tirelessly in ensuring that the labs and equipment were ready for use. He frequently worked after hours to help students get their projects working or manufacture items to maintain the test engines in his lab. Outside the University he was never far away from something mechanical and spent many hours building and repairing his bicycles, many of them rare masterpieces, or working on his much loved Triumph GT6.
A careful, caring man he was devoted to his mother who sadly died earlier this year, which was a great upset to him. Due to retire this academic year, he had expressed a wish to continue helping the department in the future. Richard gave so much to the Faculty and he will be greatly missed by staff and students alike. Our deepest sympathies go to his family.
IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Mario di Bernardo, Professor of Nonlinear Systems and Control in the Department of Engineering Mathematics has been elected Vice President of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society for a two-year term starting in January 2011. IEEE CAS is one of the largest among the 38 societies of the IEEE with over 9000 members (for more details see http://www.ieee-cas.org).
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.materials under high pressure and complex stresses. He extended Morrison’s work on thick-walled cylinders under repeated high pressures (gun barrels) to the design of thick-walled tubes used in the production of polymers such as Nylon for ICI. He also worked with IM Ward in Physics on the behaviour of polymers under shear and hydrostatic pressure. John was a practical engineer par excellence, not only in the laboratory, but also in the workshop.
The Cabot InstituteThe official launch of the Cabot Institute took place on Monday 15th November in the University’s Wills Memorial Building. Full article on back page.
High Performance Computing conference 2011The Computer Science Department is to host Europe’s largest high performance computing conference focusing on the emerging technologies of many-core parallel processors and reconfigurable computing.
The 2011 Many-core and Reconfigurable Supercomputing Conference (MRSC) will bechaired by Simon McIntosh-Smith, a world-expert in many-core parallel processing technologies and Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department.
Daiwa Adrian PrizeJeremy O’Brien, Professorial Research Fellow in Physics and Electrical Engineering, has been named joint winner for the Daiwa Adrian Prize.
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Visit of Professor Olgica MilenkovicProfessor Olgica Milenkovic of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, visited the Centre for Communications Research (CCR) recently as part of the EPSRC cross-disciplinary grant “Algorithmic and Information Theoretic Perspectives of Compressed Sensing in Genotyping”. (CCR, School of Mathematics and School Biological Sciences).
Professor Milenkovic is one the pioneers of the compressive sensing field and sparse representations in information theory, coding and bioinformatics. The researchers are undertaking cross-disciplinary collaboration in the development of formal mathematical understanding of problems arising in the analysis of genetic data, as well as practical implementations of efficient algorithms. Many of those solutions are based on insights from similar problems arising in communications and coding theory. Such techniques can drastically speed up the problem of rare alleles detection in wheat genome.
Fulbright Commission Postgraduate Scholarship AwardA talented aerospace engineer has received a Fulbright Commission Postgraduate Scholarship Award, one of the most prestigious awards programmes in the world, to carry out research into the future design and build of aircraft at the University of Bristol.
Adam Grasch, from Kentucky in the US, has joined the Department of Aerospace Engineering as a Research Collaborator, where he will be working to quantify the
Clockwise from top left: Richard Wadham (second from left) with a team of undergraduates in the Engines Lab
Dr Piechocki (MVSE), Dr Johnson, Dr Sejdinovic (School of Mathematics), Professor Milenkovic (Urbana-Champaign), Dr Barker (School of Biological Sciences)
Dr John Parry
Fulbright scholar Adam Grasch
The Vice-Chancellor, Eric Thomas and Professor Michael Wisnom, Director of ACCIS chat with delegates at the ACCIS Conference
control characteristics and aeroelastic phenomena of deformed or morphing wing shapes. His work will contribute towards a research project on the design and build of aircraft whose wings can change shape and configuration mid-flight, making possible tremendous gains in fuel efficiency and performance. Adam was selected from a record number of applications to receive the US-UK Fulbright Commission award, which is offered to a US citizen for the first year of a postgraduate degree or research programme.
Fulbright Scholarships are awarded to people from any area of scholarship or research who are, or have the potential to become, leaders in their field. Fulbright scholars represent a broad range of geographic regions, institutions in the US and UK, fields of study and backgrounds and make vital contributions to today’s global challenges, such as the economic crisis, HIV/AIDS and global warming.
Dr John ParryDr John Parry sadly passed away on the 9th August. Former colleague Professor Bob Adams writes for LynchPin:John Parry joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1943 as an undergraduate and, apart from his studies, had to spend many nights up the Wills Tower as a fire spotter (Bristol then being under aerial attack by German bombers). Apart from a brief spell in industry, he remained in the Department until he retired in 1985 as a Senior Lecturer; he continued to teach on a part-time basis until 1991. His colleagues knew him as an excellent teacher in the field of Materials and Mechanics and a researcher in fatigue and the behaviour of
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L to r:Etienne Coetzee, (Airbus UK)Dr Tom Richardson,Alexey LikhodedMr Sandy Mitchell, Robin Brown (Airbus UK), Dr Askin Isikveren and Salman Iqbal
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Alexey takes the top award
This was an outstanding achievement by both students and a fantastic result for the Engineering Faculty at the University of Bristol.
Alexey Likhoded summarises both this experience and his time as an undergraduate in the Faculty below.
“Going to the University of Bristol was the best decision of my life. I chose to study Avionic Systems Engineering because I have always had an interest in Aerospace and Computing. From year one I decided to make the most of my university experience by getting involved in as many activities as possible while at the same time maintaining a good balance with academic studies. Throughout my first two years I was involved in the Faculty of Engineering football team, the motorsport club, and I was the representative for first year Avionic students. I dedicated the rest of my time to getting a strong academic engineering foundation. I spent my last two years developing my physical, personal and leadership skills. I went to the University of Illinois in USA for my third year on the study abroad scheme, where I was heavily involved with the International Students Society, organising various events and helping out with other issues. I attended five leadership courses offered by the University of Illinois in order to develop relevant skills and to network with various people. The gym there was the
largest university gym in USA, so it seemed a good place to start my physical development.
My final year I spent back in Bristol, once again getting involved with the Erasmus students in Bristol University by working for the International Office and organising large events outside of the job responsibilities. The rest of the time I dedicated to my final year project, which concerned the design of a control algorithm to enable the autonomouslanding of a small unmanned helicopter onto a moving target. The helicopterused a video camera to recognise a target of a pre-determined shape andcalculate the three translational and three rotational displacements to thetarget. The project was the perfect way to complete my degree, since it allowed me to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired from my degree to a practicalproblem. The most difficult part was going from the theoretical world intothe real-life world and dealing with the imperfections such as the noise indata, external influences excluded in the calculations and the integration of different parts of the system.
The four years of my study have fully prepared me for the real world ofengineering and I could not have imagined a better way to start my graduate program at GE Aviation than receiving the Airbus award on my last day before the program launch.”
The finalists of the 2010 Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year included two members of the Faculty of Engineering. Record numbers of entries were received from every major university in Europe and judges paid tribute to the exceptional quality of this year’s work. Forty five students were shortlisted in 15 different categories.
Two out of the three finalists for the Airbus Best Aeronautical Engineering Student in the Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year Awards (SET) in 2010 came from Bristol. Alexey Likhoded for ‘Vision Based Recovery of a Rotary Wing UAV’ supervised by Dr Tom Richardson and Salman Iqbal for ‘Design and Integration of Novel Unidirectional Thrust Vectoring System’ supervised by Dr Askin Isikveren.
Both students and lecturers attended the awards ceremony in London’sHilton Hotel where Alexey was given the Airbus Award for the Best Aeronautical Engineering Student 2010.
AIRB
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aircraft in 2000. He continues to work on all the Airbus aircraft and has been extensively involved in the A380 flight test development programme. He is presently Chief Test Pilot Military with responsibility for the development of the A400M and Airbus tanker aircraft. Ed hasspent more than 7000 hours of his 11000 flight hours in flight test.
“I chose to study engineering because it is practical as well as a theoretical subject finding optimum solutions and opening up new technical capabilities. My first year at university was quite a shock both socially and academically. I found the academics challenging, covering all types of engineering, and as a student on an RAF scholarship in the flower-power years around 1968, I was not fully in alignment with all the student politics of the day. However, the student way of life, the opportunity to take part in new activities, to listen to live music, and to exchange ideas and make new friends, all opened up a whole new world for me. The broad engineering knowledge and the need for independent thought, both gained at Bristol, have been fundamental in my career and fundamental to my present job as Chief Test Pilot Military at Airbus.”
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Ed Strongman was born in 1949 in Cornwall, England, and gained a degree in Electrical Engineering at Bristol University before qualifying as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
Ed started his operational flying career in 1974 on the Hercules C130. In 1979 he was selected for test pilot training and attended the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. On graduating he returned to the UK and spent six years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford flying a wide range of aircraft, including transport and fighter planes and a range of helicopters, developing both military and civil systems. In 1986 Ed left Bedford as Commanding Officer of the test squadron and joined the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). As a certification test pilot he was involved in the approval of a wide range of jet and turboprops (including Airbus, Boeing, Dassault, Embraer, Cessna, CASA, Pilatus Britton Norman and Harbin aircraft).
He joined Airbus in 1995 where he was appointed project pilot for the A330/A340 family. Ed was particularly involvedin the development of the A340-600 and he made the first flight of this
Hi flyingalumni
PhD student wins award at International Conference on Systems BiologyTom Gorochowski has been commended for his work at the world’s leading systems biology conference. His poster, illustrating a computational toolkit for investigating network dynamics and evolution, was selected as the best in its category in the Computational Methods and Tools Session at the International Conference on Systems Biology.
Tom, a PhD student at the Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences, focuses his work on understanding the dynamic and networked structure of complex systems, and how this evolves over time. This has resulted in the development of several computational tools such as Net Evo presented in the poster.
With dynamics and evolution integral to many biological systems, these tools can be used to model and analyse a wide range of behaviours; from the dynamics of protein interaction networks to the evolution of gene regulation, or even the co-ordinated behaviour of social animals.
Professor Mario di Bernardo of the Engineering Mathematics Department, joint supervisor of Tom’s PhD withProfessor Claire Grierson from the School of Biological Sciences, said: “Tom’s work on evolving dynamical networks is of fundamental importance to understand, model and control the behaviour of complex networked systems in applications whose structure evolve and adapt in time.”
Tom is delighted: “with ICSB being my first biology focused conference and having seen the excellent research on display, it was a real honour to be chosen for the prize. Using mathematical and computational methods to understand biological systems is a real challenge at times, but recognition like this is a brilliant motivation to battle onwards!”
Tom Gorochowski
Ed Strongman
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involved in an Outreach Workshop, which were interactive, creative and outrageously fun demonstrations of the power and appeal of engineering. This year, one in three new undergraduates found the time to sign up to become a member of EWB. Now over 800 strong and with many fresh faces on the committee, we feel we are going from strength to strength.
In addition, over 15 speakers visited the University. Jaguar-Land Rover Research, the epicentre of the UK’s automotive developments, took a break from their day-to-day work to come to EWB. Talks are currently centred around creating sponsorship agreements, but the fun doesn’t stop there. A long standing graduate partner, specialist head-hunting agency FutureBoard, will be hosting a Careers Fair in the Faculty in the near future. Entitled ‘Innovation and Leadership in Engineering’, the event aims to fulfil the growing need for ethical and analytical engineers in a world of increasing uncertainty; the kind of engineer that epitomises what EWB is all about.
Continuing the reputation for progressive discussion of the profession, EWB’s talks opened with Faculty favourite Joe Quarini. Entertaining and educational, Joe’s talk captured the historical influences of Engineering, offered a fresh look at the benefits of wealth generation and Joe fascinated the audience with his off-the-cuff anecdotes. Opening to over 100 eager students and closing to cheers and applause, Joe set the bar very high for the remainder of the Talks Programme.
Next year will be particularly borderless. So borderless in fact, we may not even be in the country. A combination of EWB’s reputation and a chance encounter led to the EWB Bristol committee finding themselves at lunch with a representative from the Government of Ghana. Aiming to harness the enthusiasm and intelligence of EWB members, a Branch Project was proposed - a chance for members to choose, design, implement and manage a real world development project with potentially life-saving results. Discussions are still in the pipeline, but a world of opportunities could soon be available to EWB members in relation to this project – watch this space.
When better to get involved?
Peter Cooper,President, EWB Bristol
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EngineersWithoutBorders
Eva Linnell in Ecuador with Anibal who works hard for $80 a month, a third of the national minimum wage
Eva inspects a rural water system
Engineers Without Borders is the only organisation that gives young people with no prior experience in development work the chance to get out and share the education we have been fortunate enough to receive. For me their ethos of supporting young people is embodied by the fact that part of the placement selection criteria is who will gain the most.
The only real plan that I was passionate about after finishing my Engineering Design degree was to do an EWB placement. As one of two people selected to go to Ecuador (along with Tom Russell) I am continuing the tradition of a Bristol University student going on this placement every year, starting with Eddie Matos in 2005, who was also on the Engineering Design course.
The six month placement, which started in July, is a volunteer role to realise the construction of small rural water systems in the Intag region of northern Ecuador. It is amazing to find a community of 35 families such as “Limones” who run their own water system - from establishing a water constitution in line with national law, to appointing a committee, maintenance and billing. Unfortunately the basic water rate of $2 a month doesn’t even cover the operator’s modest wage, leaving no funds to cover capital investment. The reach of charities like PRODECI is greatly increased through unpaid technical support from people like us.
Our work has involved getting to know members of the community to understand their wants and needs, and at times this has been a convoluted process. For example, in “Limones” we have improved the spring capture, though it was not identified as a priority by the water committee. For this reason we are planning an education program for operators to highlight contaminants together with how they can be removed.
Many thanks to the Engineering Design course for their generous sponsorship.For more info on what a placement involves see:www.ewb-uk.org/programmes/placements/wanttovolunteer
Eva Linnell - [email protected]
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is primarily a development organisation that removes barriers to progress through cutting-edge engineering. Our programmes provide opportunities for young people to learn about technology’s role in tackling poverty and improving lives. Supported by the EWB-UK community, our members can work on projects at home and around the globe
With record breaking outreach figures, a plethora of new successful talks and ever-growing national recognition, EWB at Bristol continues to flourish.
Estimates suggest that last year over 15,000 children in the Bristol area were
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In Ma Co
On 2nd September 2010 the Mongol Rally team known as the ‘Super Mongol Wonder Squad’ drove triumphantly into Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia after an adventure of epic proportions. 10,000 miles of adventuring bliss through deserts, mountains and steppe was tackled in a vehicle your Granny would use for shopping.
The team of six undergraduates - James Lethbridge, Josh Tomlinson and George Scott (Engineering Design) and three friends - had set off six weeks before from Goodwood racetrack in their ancient Renault Master ambulance. Despite being severely under-equipped, lacking any credible driving experience and being totally reliant on a totally unreliable vehicle, the team made it successfully to the finish line. But that’s not to say there weren’t any problems along the way...
For example, they had to push start the ambulance just a few miles from the start, and this journey involved more push starts than hot dinners (including onto and off the ferry at Dover, to the amusement of all the other passengers). It also involved a tyre blow-out and a snapped leaf spring in Kazakhstan, a mangled drive shaft in Russia and several white knuckle river crossings in Mongolia. Countless nights were spent crammed into tents everywhere from German truck stops to dirt tracks in the Mongolian steppe. Hitchhikers, Czech castles, border crossings, one-armed nomads and a
It’s all for Charity!noticeable lack of roads all contributed to the adventure of a lifetime.
The team experienced astounding levels of generosity from start to finish, both from the sponsors at home and the local people living in the some of the remotest parts of Asia. So far they have raised almost £2,000 for Cancer Research UK and the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation (a truly worthy cause that provides homeless and abandoned children in Mongolia and Vietnam a new chance at life) and would like to thank all of those who contributed in their own way.
James LethbridgeEngineering Design with Study in Industry
(MEng)
For the full story or to donate go to www.mongolrally.com/supermongolwondersquad
After six months of preparation and many cold, early morning runs, Neil Buckney, a PhD student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering ran the Berlin Marathon on a wet September day in order to raise money for the British Red Cross. With huge support from the Faculty of Engineering, including a coffee morning raising £110, the target sponsorship was reached with just over £1000 donated. Neil would like to say a massive thank you to all those who donated, helped at the coffee morning and gave support both in Bristol and by cheering at the roadside in Berlin.
Aeronautical engineer Paul Andrade writes about the world that flew by
Long before the crack of dawn on a chilly Sunday in late October a group of Engineering students took off with the University of Bristol Boat club for a grand rowing challenge of 80 kilometres, or just under two marathons, in one day to take place on the River Thames. The aim of the challenge was to raise money for both Help for Heroes and the boat club itself. The target is £4000 and so far just shy of £3000 has been raised.
The rowing started at Oxford with the first glimpse of light at 6.30 am; the team rowed hard throughout the day in varying weather conditions and with differing levels of morale, arriving at Henley-on-Thames at 5 pm. The course was very exciting with a number of interesting stopping points, and very beautiful scenery. With true Boat Club competitive spirit, the team even managed to put in a couple of racing style chases between the different boats taking part, in the hope of completing the course before dark, which they did, making it into Henley just after sunset. The celebrations continued late into the night, and everyone was thrilled with the completion of such a great fundraiser.
James Diaz-Sokoloff Mechanical Engineering MEng
Engineering Design students Joshua Tomlinson (in yellow), George Scott (in navy blue), and James Lethbridge (arms raised) with rally team mates and members of the Mongolian family who they stayed the night with after crossing the Mongolian border.
The University of Bristol Boat club team rowing hard towards Henley-on-Thames
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.Last year Bristol saw the foundation of two new student run organisations that use robotics to encourage school children to think twice about engineering, science and technology as a possible career path for them. Both groups are part of much wider organisations running in various universities around the world.
Student Robotics run an annual robotics competition for sixth-form schools and colleges. All of the kit the schools & colleges use is designed, built, tested and distributed by us. Student Robotics is run, in its entirety, by a team of
Teams taking part in the 2010 Student Roboticscompetition
The Unviersity of Bristol Engineering Society (TUBES)Football team 2009
Members of TUBESenjoy a night out in fancy dress
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associated with these subjects. Robogals also organises and runs robotics workshops and competitions for local primary schools that would not otherwise have a robotics programme. See: http://bristol.robogals.org.uk
Both organisations are looking for new recruits and ideas so do get in touch. Meanwhile look out for our events around the Faculty in the coming year.
Sam Phippen, Student Robotics Branch LeaderRosanna Tulloch, Robogals President
university students with a branch here in Bristol. One of the main aims for us is to allow schools and colleges to participate for very little or no cost: each team is given the electronics kit for free and a budget to help towards other parts such as materials for the robot and motors.See: http://studentrobotics.org
The main aim of Robogals, as the name suggests, is to get more girls involved in engineering. The Bristol section of this global organisation arranges for student volunteers to go into schools and talkabout their experiences and to try anddispel some of the stereotypes that are
Roboticsin Engineering
Staff and students might have seen the acronym around the University, but one could be forgiven for not having a clue as to what it means: TUBES is The University of Bristol Engineering Society. Both undergraduate and postgraduate students comprise the cohort of over 1000 members, but since signing up
We’re also trying to improve our visibility so we’ve updated the TUBES logo and produced some promotional banners to strengthen our identity. This year we’ve had a record intake of over 300 new members, and we are proud to have secured sponsorship from Analysis Mason, KPMG and Barclays Capital. In addition we’re developing a Careers section to help students to find jobs and internships.
So check us out on the web and find out what we’ll be up to over the year!www.tubes.org.uk
Toby Lin, Vice President
Read a history of TUBES on page 21.
at the Fresher’s Fair, some may have forgotten what TUBES is and does!
TUBES functions primarily as an events organiser. It has been very successful in maintaining inclusive sports teams of a high quality who consistently manage to do well in the intramural leagues, and in organising events and nights out for engineers to provide some fun and relaxation from the busy work schedule all engineering students take on. This year we’ve really increased accessibility to the society by re-vamping our website, where you can find details for all past and upcoming events, and contact the TUBES committee directly with any queries or suggestions you might have.
TUBES - Bristol University’s largest Society
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David Dijemeni at the Spark start-up course at Burwalls
The FIxbio teaml to r:George Mills, Ziwei Fan, Bianca Murad, Robert Blenkinsopp, Yoav Farbey, Neil Kimmett, Shaun Dowling
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Spark 2010 David Dijemeni, an undergraduate in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, attended the University of Bristol’s annual Spark start-up course at Burwalls this summer. The course helps students turn their bright ideas into new businesses, and guest speakers included Nick Sturge and Greville Commins from the SETsquared Business Acceleration Centre, Enterprise Role of Honour Alumni Jaya Chakrabarti from Nameless, and Mark Warne from venture capital firm IPGroup. Members of the Army also attended to teach teamwork skills.
I found this course to be an amazing, astonishing and electrifying experience! Spark 2010 comprised several sessions including: `What is an entrepreneur?’, `Opportunity spotting’, `Creativity & Innovation’, and `Solving real business problems’. The most exciting session for our team was the Dragons’ Den, where we finished second in the final round for successfully pitching a profitable social enterprise idea. This course brought out my vibrant business side and taught me a whole host of useful skills for the future.
So why would I recommend the Spark course to you?
Firstly, the course is a great opportunity to discover and develop the skills needed to start your own business or effectively run your current business. During the course we met a fourth year civil engineering student who turns a gross profit of £350,000 from his own business.
Secondly, the networking experience is enormously valuable. It is an opportunity to mingle with some of the top investors in the country and students with inspirational and motivational dreams. Quite simply, a meeting with one influential or driven person could effectively change your life forever.
Finally, participating in the Spark course is a life changing experience. It uncovers hidden talents, develops current skills, and increases commercial awareness. The atmosphere is dynamic, and even the meals are delicious. In addition, the Spark course can be used to gain the Bristol Plus Award.
See: www.bristol.ac.uk/red/students/
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INLife in thefast lane
In May 2010 a close friend and I started a company making software applications for mobile phones. We create smartphone applications for businesses, and specialise in mobile e-commerce solutions. Fibixio develops apps for Apple iOS devices, Google Android devices, and the mobile web, with the potential to access 16.9 million users in the UK alone. I’m a recent graduate of the University (Mechanical Engineering 2008) and my co-founder, Yoav Farbey is a current student in Department of Computer Science. We were joined for the summer holidays by a great group of interns, all members of the University. In fact the photo above only shows a small proportion of the people who have worked with us to date. We feel really lucky to have had the support of the University in setting up the company. We were given a loan of £5000 by Basecamp (www.businessbasecamp.co.uk) and have use of their office space in Merchant Venturers Building. This makes it very easy to move between University and company work since most of our developers are Computer Scientists. Basecamp also helped us find a further grant from the University’s careers service to support us in the early stages of our business, and we’ve been able to get help from experienced business people at Research and Enterprise Development (www.bristol.ac.uk/red).
In May this year George Mills and Yoav Farbey foundedFibixio, a software development company focused on producing high quality iPhone, Google Android and mobile web applications
Having all this support has allowed us to take the business seriously and make it an absolute priority; it’s my full time job. It has also allowed other people to take us seriously and meant that we have had meetings with people we otherwise wouldn’t have managed to. Life in our startup is exciting and as all founders will tell you there are real highs and lows. This is definitely an emotionally charged career choice, but the highs really are incredible because they are purely down to the hard work of the team. In terms of managing to run the company while studying, it means that there is a lot of work on all the time. It also means that as founders we’re not working in the same room the whole time so we have to work flexible hours and have regular check-ins. However, I think it helps us to be efficient with our time.
Being in the heart of the University also gives us access to all the help and support available. We have benefited hugely from the help of everyone who has worked with us so far, and hopefully will continue to do so in the future.
Running a startup while studying really is a balancing act, but we’re getting better at it every day.
George Millswww.fibixio.com
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was a lack of raw resource, wind energy. The vehicles that made it over the line were using extremely low gear ratios and even then were stop-start for large periods of the race. To improve the vehicle’s ability to operate at low wind speeds tomorrow, we are going to modify our throttle management system and reduce the pitch angle of our blades. These changes may reduce our chances of winning but will increase the likelihood of us having the first electric drive train vehicle to run on the track despite previous attempts by other teams (all the other vehicles are using purely mechanical drive trains between the turbines and wheels).
Race Day 2: Up against it againRace day 2 was as frustrating as the first day. The wind varied between 0m/s and 3.5m/s and on both of our races we came to a standstill after the push start. Higher winds are promised tomorrow so crossing the line is still a target firmly within our sights. We are now contemplating our strategy for tomorrow, deciding what to do, if anything, to the vehicle tonight. All is still working well and, amazingly, the team spirit is high, so we are looking forward to demonstrating our immense power tomorrow.
Race Day 3: Success at lastDisaster strikes! Before the start of the day’s first race, one of our two motor controllers fails, but we are still able to attempt the race with a single controller. Things then become even more desperate when we lose the second controller just after the start. The car is sadly wheeled off the track and back into the hanger for an attempt at a speedy repair.
What a morale boost. In the day’s second and final race, we managed to cross the
involved in the development of Aeolus and they worked under the guidance of four main academic leads: Dr Dave Drury (Electrical Engineering), Mr Peter Bunniss (Aerospace Engineering), Professor Stuart Burgess (Mechanical Engineering) and Dr Askin Isikveren (Engineering Design). As the race drew closer, the short timescales involved placed ever more urgency on vehicle manufacture and the students became heavily reliant on the expertise, support and general goodwill of our workshop staff, in particular Lee Winter and Clive Rendall, to complete the vehicle in time for the race. We also became increasingly dependent on the help of Susan Pywell, a Faculty Finance Administrator, who showed amazing patience with our constant requests to order parts for the vehicle, and to help arrange travel to the race. To reward these efforts (Susan may phrase this differently!)we appointed Susan as our official race driver and she joined the team for the trip to Denmark.
The 2010 Race A taste of the team’s experience at the 2010 race is provided by a selection of edited extracts from the blog compiled by Dave Drury during the competition. A full version can be accessed through the team website listed at the end of this article.
Race Day 1: A tough startWith wind speeds almost non-existent, our first race was a difficult one. After the push start there was simply not enough power to keep the vehicle accelerating. The good news is that the vehicle is working well and the longer we run it, the better it gets. As the evening draws to a close and the vehicle relaxes in the hanger, we turn to a bit of liquid refreshment and reflect on what was a tough day. Our main downfall
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Racing Against the Wind
The Bristol Aeolus Team report on their involvement in Aeolus - the International competition for vehicles powered by wind turbines
The Aeolus vehicle at Membury Airfield during testing before the race
Aeolus is a unique international
competition for vehicles powered
by wind turbines and is aimed at
inspiring interest in wind energy
both amongst engineers and the
wider public. The competition takes
place annually, bringing together
teams from across the globe to
race their custom designed vehicles
and determine which can make
most efficient use of the wind. In
September 2010, Bristol University
became the first UK team to enter the
competition and using its unique twin-
turbine design, was the first entry
ever to complete the race using an
electrical vehicle. Paul Harper reports.
Our involvement in Aeolus began in spring 2009, when we were encouraged by the leading renewable energy consultancy GL Garrad Hassan to take on this challenging project. During the summer vacation period, a multidisciplinary team of students and academics from across the Faculty of Engineering conducted a range of design studies to complete the vehicle’s preliminary design. This was then developed through a number of undergraduate research projects in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, which were focused on optimising specific aspects of the vehicle’s design such as the turbines, electrical transmission system and chassis structure.
In total, approximately 20 undergraduate students from across the Faculty were
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.finish line in a 4-6m/s crosswind. Our yaw system failed halfway through which slowed us down but we made the 500m stretch of the runway in a cool 29mins 46secs. We did what we came to do which was to prove the viability of an electric vehicle. The race today has also provided us with some valuable experience and ideas about how we can crush the competition next year.
The FutureEven before manufacture of the 2010 Aeolus vehicle was complete, a six-strong team of Engineering Design undergraduates had already begun work to develop an improved entry for the 2011 race, as part of their fourth year design project. Using lessons learnt from this year’s race, these students have now joined forces with the rest of the Faculty’s Aeolus team to implement design improvements that will enhance the existing vehicle. Primary focus will be placed on the re-design and optimisation of the two turbine modules. This includes a variable pitch mechanism and the development of aerodynamic ducts to surround the turbines, which will increase the wind energy extracted. Refining and implementing these improvements in time for the 2011 race, which is to take place in Den Helder, Holland, will again rely on enthusiasm and commitment from students, academics and support staff across the Faculty.
In addition to providing a platform for a range of research and design projects, Aeolus directly complements existing undergraduate teaching modules in topics such as Electrical Energy Management and Engineering Design for Wind and Marine Power, giving students a real practical application for the knowledge gained. The project has also sparked interest amongst
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the wider general public through public displays, outreach events, news articles and even a recent BBC TV documentary. For these reasons, we sincerely hope that Aeolus will remain a flagship project at Bristol for many years to come, of which the Faculty can be truly proud.
The Inside View:“My 3rd Year Mechanical Engineering research project involved the design of the Aeolus chassis, using a range of software to model the structure and its dynamic performance. Although this involved a significant workload, I hugely enjoyed the work and the unique experience of getting involved in a practical engineering project. I have just started an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) degree with the Faculty’s Systems Centre and will be applying some of the design and modelling skills gained through Aeolus in my research project with Triumph Motorcycles.”
Tim Hutchinson, Systems EngD Postgraduate (formerly Mechanical Engineering
undergraduate)
“The focus of my final year Electrical Engineering design project was the characterisation of permanent magnet generators and brushless direct-current motors. Applying some of this work to Aeolus provided a perfect opportunity to expand my knowledge beyond the scope of my degree programme and gave me an ideal platform to develop my practical skills. I have recently started a PhD in Electrical Engineering and look forward to supporting the future development of Aeolus.”
James Baker, Electrical Engineering PhD student (formerly Electrical Engineering
undergraduate)
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Clockwise from top left:The teams prepare for the start
Team Br1stol standing l to r:Faisal Mazlan, Simon Knibbs, Jon CresswellNeil Wydenbach, James Baker, Andrew FranksKneeling l to r:Dr David Drury Susan Pywell Clive RendallFaiz Abd Razak
Final preparations take place in the hangar
“As part of a Summer Vacation project, I helped to refine the vehicle’s electrical system, which unlike our competitors, consisted of a fully electric drive train for taking power gathered by the turbine generators to the electric motors on the wheels. The project was a great way of applying all the theoretical knowledge learnt over the first two years of my degree course to a practical application, whilst also expanding my knowledge of aerodynamics and mechanics. I was also part of the team that travelled to the race itself, which provided a unique opportunity to meet, learn from and socialise with seven other teams from across the Continent. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I look forward to remaining part of the project in the future.”
Neil Wydenbach, 3rd Year Electrical Engineering Student
AcknowledgementsIn addition to the Faculty of Engineering, the project has been generously funded by GL Garrad Hassan (main sponsor), the Bristol Port Company and Boeing UK. Any company interested in joining our team of sponsors and supporting the future development of the project can contact us through the ‘contacts’ page on the team website.
How do I find out more?For further information about the project, please visit the Bristol Aeolus team website at: www.teambr1stol.co.uk
Stop Press: The Aeolus Team have just been awarded funding from the University’s Alumni Foundation for a team of students to travel to next year’s race, so with work to develop an improved vehicle already underway, we can look forward to another great experience in 2011.
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Hamish Ferguson at the University of Manipal
Steven Fisher (left) with Derek Boyd, Chief Executive Officer, National Microelectronics Institute
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Hamish Ferguson, a final year student in Avionics Systems Engineering, spent the summer on a very worthwhile and enjoyable project found through the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE).
While looking for a summer placement that could offer me more than a standard internship, I jumped on the opportunity that turned up in my inbox to carry out technical work experience abroad. Applying to IAESTE, organised by the British Council, I secured a research internship at the University of Manipal in India. Manipal is situated in the state of Karnataka located in the rocky hinterland of the Malabar Coast in the southwest of the country, about eight kilometres from the Arabian Sea.
I became part of an ongoing project investigating the use of different image processing techniques applied to a variety of agricultural processes such as sorting and quality control. The three months I spent in Manipal gave me not only a worthwhile technical experience, but an intimate insight into the very different work attitudes and educational backgrounds of such an incredibly diverse country as India. Engineering, of course, plays a vital role in any country that is industrialising so quickly, and it was exciting to be part of it.
The IAESTE initiative aims to provide engineering and science students with the opportunity for relevant work experience as well as promoting a cultural exchange amongst students worldwide. So while my days were occupied working alongside Indian
Indian summer
researchers in the lab, out-of-hours were spent socialising with both Indian students and those from a multitude of other countries, including Columbia, Tanzania, Germany and Korea. For me, the biggest gain from this experience was sharing my time with like-minded students from such varied backgrounds and nationalities. It was both mind-opening and fun.
Work experience is increasingly important for us undergraduates, but there is so much more to be gained from working abroad and I’d recommend it to anybody. Even the hardest day in the office is not so bad when the likes of Goa, Mumbai and the beaches of Kerala are only a train ride away.
Bristol Graduate named NMI Young Engineer of the Year
Steven Fisher has just been named the National Microelectronics Industry (NMI) Young Engineer of the Year. In 2006 Steven Fisher, 26, graduated from the University in Bristol with a first-class MEng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In his final-year he won the prestigious Siemens medal for the best combination of academic and practical skills. He then joined ProVision Communcations, itself a University of Bristol spin-off company, as a research and development engineer. For the last four years Stephen has played a leading role in the development of innovative wireless-video products. Stephen helped to design
a system that reliably streams multiple channels of high definition television wirelessly around the home. The system supports large screen TVs, as well as computers, smartphones and tablets.
Bill Parsons, Executive Vice President of ARM, presented the award and described the strength of candidates as “uplifting and inspirational.” With reference to Steven he said: “It’s simply fantastic to see what the cream of young engineering talent is capable of in the right environment. He is a credit to himself, his company and the industry as a whole.”
Steven (below) received his trophy from Derek Boyd, Chief Executive Officer, National Microelectronics Institute.
Musical LoopFrogsStephen Beckett, a Computer Science graduate this year, was commissioned to create an interactive application for the BBC/Cultural Olympiad Big Screens project at the Glastonbury Festival 2010.
The application he created, called ‘LoopFrogs’, allows users to move or dance behind six virtual frogs in order to generate music; the more energetically they dance in regions of the screen, the more emphasis is placed on certain aspects of the generated music.
Steve said “This commission was a really exciting opportunity, as it drew directly on the experience I had gained from my final year dissertation on how groups and crowds interact with systems in public settings. Also, to be given the opportunity to work with a number of well known interaction designers, artists and developers while at Glastonbury was an invaluable experience. The LoopFrogs application went down well with the huge Glastonbury crowds, making daily appearances on the screens, and I look forward to furthering my experience in the field of interaction in future projects.”
For more information see the 2010 Village Screen Blog at http://villagescreen2010.wordpress.com
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The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premiere undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. This project design and competition format is an exceptionally motivating and effective teaching method.
Competing with 128 teams in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in November, the Bristol team has brought home a gold medal, the Best Food or Energy Project prize and overall Third Place.
A student-led summer project, iGEM engages students in the synthesis of biological circuits using standardised
T
parts, encompassing lab work, modelling and public engagement.
The Bristol entry, ‘agrEcoli’ - modified Escherichia coli in gel beads that emit visible signals in response to nitrates - aims to reduce excess fertiliser use, associated carbon emissions and eutrophication. With computational modelling to predict bacteria-environment interactions, and a hypothetical publicity campaign to consider the human impact, the judges were impressed by the project’s completeness and focus on the development of a functional prototype.
The interdisciplinary student team were Kira Kowalska, Antoni Matyjaszkiewicz, Roz Sandwell (Engineering Mathematics), Neeraj Oak, Tom Todd (Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences), Tom Layland (Biochemistry), and Kat Coyte (Biology), advised by Mario di Bernardo, Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova, Caroline Colijn (Engineering Mathematics), Nigel Savery, Paul Verkade (Biochemistry), Claire Grierson (Biology) and John Hogan (Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences). Postgraduate students taking part were Oli Purcell, Thomas Gorochowski and Petros Mina (BCCS), and funding was provided by the
Department of Engineering Mathematics, Merchant Venturers School of Engineering, BBSRC, EPSRC, School of Biological Sciences, School of Biochemistry, BCCS, Predictive Life Sciences, SIGNET and Syngenta.
As one of six finalists, Bristol is firmly on the iGEM map having achieved so highly amongst many world-class projects.
Further details at http://www.igem.org.
For information about joining the 2011 team, contact Mario di Bernardo, ([email protected]).
Gold medal team
The agrEcoli teaml to r: Kira Kowalska, Tom Todd, Neeraj Oak, Roz Sandwell, Antoni Matyjaszkiewicz, Kat Coyte, Tom Layland
Team logo
Screen shot of the output of the team’s modelling software
At the current time the United Kingdom imports large quantities of gas and coal to meet the ever increasing demand for electricity. However, the security of these supplies has been shown in recent years to be highly questionable.
In response to the ever growing threat of global climate change, closely attributed to anthropogenic CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, the Government passed the Climate Change Act of 2008, which pledges to reduce the UK’s emissions to 80 per cent of 1990 emission levels by the year 2050. Further to this the EU has stipulated that by 2020, the UK must obtain 20 per cent of its energy from sustainable sources. In real terms this means that in the future 40 per cent of electricity will need to be sourced from renewables; at present the figure stands at five per cent.
In order to meet this challenge the UK Government has embarked on a massive scheme of investment in offshore wind power development. At the moment 1GW of electricity comes from offshore wind farms, but to meet the EU target an additional 28GW will be required by 2020. The number of wind turbines will need to increase from the existing 350 to more than 6000. This presents a number of problems for the British offshore engineering industry. First and foremost is that the current method of constructing offshore wind farms will be unsuitable for the proposed schemes. Presently the majority of our offshore turbines are built with steel monopile
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foundations but for the new projects, which will be situated a greater distance from shore in much deeper water, and with far larger turbines, monopiles become uneconomical due to the size and complexity of installation.
To overcome this problem, the Carbon Trust has launched a competition with the aim of generating alternative foundation solutions, the most promising of which will then be demonstrated at full scale. Several proposals have been submitted, each outlining a novel solution to the problem of deep water construction. Some of the more innovative are: a drilled concrete monopile; a concrete gravity base structure; a suction bucket tripod; a single suction bucket monopole; a three legged piled jacket structure; and a floating tension leg platform. Each of these new solutions has the promise of reducing costs and speeding up the rate at which new energy projects can be constructed.
To increase the knowledge base associated with these new types of foundations, the Civil Engineering Department has embarked on a scheme of research into the dynamic properties of offshore wind turbine foundations. The ultimate aim is to provide beneficial information to further the capabilities of the offshore industry. So far preliminary research has been carried out on both monopile and suction caisson foundations.
Future developments
in offshore wind energy
One of the biggest challenges facing our generation is the development of an
alternative power source to supply domestic energy for the 21st century.
Civil Engineering’s Suby Bhattacharya and James Cox explore the problem
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A woman has a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime and it is a leading cause of death amongst women. Unfortunately the existing imaging methods are not ideal - they are expensive, may be uncomfortable, involve some exposure to ionising radiation and, in younger women, are not actually very reliable. It is for these reasons that national screening programmes only target women from around age 50 and in younger women the emphasis is
on self-examination.
A team led by Professor Ian Craddock in the Faculty’s Communications Research Group has been developing radar technology to detect this potentially life-threatening disease. The technology would be relatively cheap, portable, comfortable and non-ionising. The team is undoubtedly the world leader in this field and was the first to field a radar-based device in a full clinical trial, undertaken by Professor Alan Preece and Dr Mike
Shere at Frenchay’s Breast Care Centre. There the team sought to understand the numerous issues that arise when a prototype meets real clinical application for the first time.
That experience led the team to start work on a new prototype in early 2010. State of the art computational electromagnetics codes running on NVIDIA GPUs were used by Dr Maciek Klemm to optimise the electromagnetic performance of the system. The new system, featuring 60 antenna elements, was designed around a new 8-port Vector Network Analyser from Rohde and Schwarz that is arguably the most powerful radio frequency measurement device in the world. Dr Tony Horseman and Jack Leedertz designed a high performance switching system to interface the antennas and the analyser while Dr David Gibbins undertook the 3D CAD mechanical modelling that allowed the complex hemispherical design to be specified. Hundreds of custom RF switches, connectors and cables were sourced from around the world, along with the unique ceramic materials that interface between patient and the device.
Construction benefited from the skills of Ken Stevens (the CCR’s RF technician), Will Thompson, Neil Pearce, Mike Penney and Ian Plummer in the Engineering Faculty workshops. Despite the obvious mechanical and electronic complexity of the design every single component fitted first time. This is a considerable testament to the patient, hard work of the entire team.
Construction is now complete and the array is operational. The previous prototype took 90 seconds to complete 465 swept frequency measurements of the breast and was itself regarded as a remarkable feat of engineering; the new design completes 1700 such measurements in an astonishing ten seconds.
After laboratory testing, the system will be transported to the clinic at Frenchay where, thanks to the co-operation of the clinicians, nurses and cancer patients, the team will undertake trials of this truly cutting-edge imaging device.
Clockwise from top left:The complete system, apart from the couch for the patient
Microwave switches and cables
Mass production of 60 UWB antennas, cables and connectors
Breast CancerDetection
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I Robot.. and beyond
behavioural adaptations. By working with data on the human hand position, gaze tracking, voice systems, and pressure sensors on the robot hand, Elena investigated when it would be safe for the robot to release the drink, and also what the robot should do when set safety constraints are not satisfied to still remain useful, e.g. is it safe enough to offer the drink more imperatively? The results of this project are now under submission to an international conference on robotics.
The project was supervised by Dr Kerstin Eder, Department of Computer Science,
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Digital technology is transforming the news, media and publishing industries, through the movement of activity to the web accessed both through PC and 3G phone, specialised eReader devices such as the Kindle, and the flexibility that digital printing offers over traditional offset approaches. This transformation is coming at a time of increased concern over energy availability and greenhouse gas emissions. Will the transformation decrease or increase the energy requirements of the news and media industry? Can the industry embed an understanding of the future energy/climate implications in the strategic decisions it makes?
The SYMPACT project aims to support this understanding by considering a number of questions. What is the environmental impact of both print and online media? How will changes in technology alter this impact over time? How is digital technology changing customer behaviour now, and how might this happen in the future? What new business models do technological advances open up, and how will they affect the environmental impact? How
Elena Corina Grigore, a second-year Computer Science student, was awarded an EPSRC Bursary this summer for a ten week project to explore the trade‐offs between adaptability and verifiability during the design of trustworthy human‐assistive robots. The subject of study was a “Hot drinks Robot” with head gaze trackingcapability and an adaptive robot arm with hand.
The project’s focus was the exploration of requirements that, while keeping the robot’s adaptive behaviour within safe boundaries, still allow useful
Corina Grigore testing the robot setup at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory
Dr Chris Preist, Dr Mike Yearworth and Paul Shabajee have been awarded an EPSRC grant of £350k under the EPSRC ‘Transforming Energy Demand through Digital Innovation’ programme to assess how digital technology could transform the newspaper industry over the next ten years, and the resulting impact on climate and energy use that such transformations may bring.
The SYMPACT project, led by Dr Chris Preist in Computer Science and Dr Mike Yearworth in the Systems Centre, will partner with Guardian News and Media and the University of Surrey Centre for Environmental Strategy to build models of different future scenarios as to how the news industry might look as a result of digital technology innovations. The modelling approach will integrate life-cycle assessment techniques into systems approaches, allowing the combination of quantitative energy and emissions analyses with more speculative models of technological and behavioural change, such as models of the shift from paper to online news reading or the uptake of electronic reader devices.
will environmental factors, such as carbon pricing, act as business and behavioural drivers within this system? Beyond energy and climate, what other sustainability implications might this transformation have?
To tackle these questions, the project will develop a new modelling framework which combine systems modelling, environmental life cycle analysis, scenario development and qualitative representation of uncertainty.
The modelling framework will be embodied in a distributed web-based tool, which will allow large numbers of stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to play a role in building, critiquing and exploring models of the environmental impact of the digital transformation. This will be done in such a way to allow future application to other industries.
This project is being carried out in conjunction with Guardian News and Media and the University of Surrey, and is funded through the Transforming Energy Demand through Digital Innovation programme.
in collaboration with Professor TonyPipe, Deputy Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, where the project was run.
Elena said “this project has been extremely interesting and rewarding for me. I had the opportunity toexperience a research environment and to work in close collaboration with experts from whom I have learned a great deal. It gave me an insight into the complex field of Robotics, and also a direction for when I graduate.”
EPSRC grant for SYMPACT project
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Faculty links with
Japan
Research FellowshipAnyone who has played a guitar knows that the most fragile parts of it are the strings. After playing for a while, a string will either snap or deteriorate so much that it has to be replaced. This analogy could be applied to today’s long-span cable-stayed bridges, where size-wise the cables look extremely vulnerable compared to the rest of the bridge structure (and if you argue that no hand will ever try to play music with the bridge cables, wind-action should definitely make you think again). Also while the cost of a broken string on a guitar is very small, cable breaks on a bridge can cost millions of pounds and even lives.
My research with Dr John Macdonald in the Faculty attempts to unveil the mysteries of an alarming wind-induced excitation mechanism of cables, so called “dry-galloping”. A series of large scale wind-tunnel tests, performed recently, shows that chaos and complexity “fight” along cables. Modelling their interplay is currently a formidable task, which requires further research into the microscopic details of the wind-flow characteristics.
I have been granted a Fellowship to Japan following my recent research proposal to the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The aim of this Fellowship is to extend and improve knowledge of bridge-cable design and enhance the wind-proof capacity of existing and future bridges. To carry out this collaborative research I will be spending six months at the University of Kyoto, one of the world’s most famous institutes for wind engineering.
Japanese innovation in bridge engineering has been outstanding for many years. After all, the longest span
The Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece - an example of a multi span cable-stayed bridge
The doors are open at the ‘new look’ Systems Centre
‘New Look’ for Systems
CentreIn March 2010, Research Engineers (REs) Phil Hampshire and Matt Montgomery from the Industrial Doctorate Centre in Systems designed and facilitated a workshop in which almost 20 REs and Systems Centre staff took part. The workshop examined why the space allocated to the Knowledge Exchange Suite (KES) didn’t work in its current form and helped generate design solutions. The aim was to create an environment dedicated to RE self study, peer to peer learning and provide a focal point for networking with all Systems Centre stakeholders. A feasibility study report was subsequently provided by the architects White Design Associates and the University Estates team gave the go-ahead for the reconstruction project to commence.
Phase 1 of the refurbishment project was completed in five weeks and the new look Systems Centre opened its doors on Monday 11th October 2010.Since the opening of the Centre over 20 REs have been working in the newly created IDC in Systems research laboratory and many are coming here every day to work in groups, to share their ideas and to discuss ongoing research and challenges, or simply to study in a quiet office.
On 13th October 2010 we were able to host the first End of Second Year Review Conference. There were 50 delegates attending: academics, the Systems Centre Industrial Partners and REs from the newly recruited Cohort 5. Keynote talks were given by both Professor Alison Hodge and Dr Mike Tierney. Dominic Ash (sponsoring company PCIP) was awarded the Best Presentation prize of the morning session, with the afternoon session prize going to Stephen Bryant (sponsoring company Renishaw).It was an extremely successful day, with plenty of opportunities for networking, a great collaborative atmosphere and engaging discussions between delegates through the day.
bridge in the world (Akashi Kaikyo) was designed and built there. During my stay I hope to learn about the Japanese engineering (and other) culture and establish strong links between the Universities of Bristol and Kyoto that will allow for a fruitful future collaboration. What I will try to bring back from Japan is experience, new findings, new friends…and possibly one of the renowned Japanese classical guitars with many spare strings to break!
Dr Nikolaos Nikitas
Japanese delegation visits ACCISProfessor Paul Weaver, the Faculty Research Director, and Dr Peng of ACCIS hosted the visit of a delegation from the Chubu Economic Federation, Chubu Aerospace Technology Centre and Churyo Engineering (Subsidiary of MHI) headed by Mr Fumio Kawaguchi.
The visit was co-ordinated by the UKTI and SWRDA. Professor Weaver gave an introduction to the research activities within the Faculty with the focus oncomposites and showed the delegates the composite research facilities. Peter Chivers, Executive Director of the National Composites Centre, attended the discussion and gave a brief introduction on the recent progress in the NCC. The visit was concluded after an engaging discussion session and a short one-to-one meeting with delegates from Churyo Engineering. These visits and information exchanges have assisted in promoting the composites research and industrial collaborations, and helped the Southwest region reap some benefit for the future.
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.20Last year I was looking for a change and worked with seven amazing teachers (five from Teach First) to found a brand new school, King Solomon Academy, in a deprived area of London. With a motto of ‘whatever it takes’ the school is going all-out to get inner-London kids into top universities.
Teach First is funded by the government and some big City firms such as Accenture and Deloitte. This opens up quite a few options after teaching, but coming back to Bristol after four years is great! I’m enjoying focusing on one project rather than 90 teenage ones, and not having a bell to run my day is novel, but I do miss the kids - maybe I’ll go back as Dr Bullock in a few years’ time.
I’m very proud of what I achieved in the two schools in which I worked. I’d like to think I left a lasting impression on my students. I would encourage other engineers to consider joining Teach First, as would one of my former students, Harshit Patel, now a first year Aero undergraduate at Bristol, who says “from what I experienced I can say that engineers teach better than anyone else!”
Find out more about Teach First at www.teachfirst.org.uk
Steve Bullock graduated from Bristol in 2006 with a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering. He returned in September 2010 for a research PhD in Dynamics and Control.
Throughout my final year I’d been pondering my future career until I saw a poster in Queen’s Building for a new graduate scheme,Teach First. Thus began my second journey into the secondary classroom.
Teach First aims to counter the educational divide that is evident across the country by recruiting keen and committed graduates and supporting them over two years in challenging schools.
The first few weeks were nerve-wracking. I’d learned a great deal at Bristol, but tackling a classroom full of inner-city kids was not in the Aero syllabus. There were ups and downs but I found my feet and discovered that my new students could be a lot of fun to teach. I stayed for my second year, then a third, taking on the role of Head of Physics, developing the curriculum and getting involved in many activities outside the classroom.
Steve Bullock (right) with his former pupil Harshit Patel
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Bristol Engineering
students organise ‘The Best of Bristol
Lectures’
In early 2010 Tom Corfield, a recent graduate from the Engineering Design programme, organised a petition for the Best of Bristol Lectures, which are a series of high profile talks to celebrate inspirational lecturers from across the University and showcase them to the student body. After gaining the support of over 1,300 students, staff and alumni, a vote was taken to help select which of the lecturers, from all areas of the University, should take part in the series.
Tom says: “I came to university because I love being inspired by new ideas. I studied engineering but spent a lot of my time at Bristol going to see my friends’ favourite lecturers in action. This turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I did at university. I came up with the Best of Bristol Lectures to allow other students to share this fantastic experience.”
The final line-up of 11 lecturers includes Professor Nick Lieven, Dean of Engineering: “I really like the idea. Bristol has always had a peculiar embarrassment about celebrating and displaying what is good, so I fully support this.”George Cave, a current Engineering Design undergraduate, is co-ordinating the series right now in Bristol. The lectures are free, open to all, and are held on Thursday lunchtimes in the Victoria Rooms (Music Department) starting at 1.10 pm. It is hoped that by the end of the series over 2,000 students will have been involved.
To read more about the Best of Bristol Lectures and see the full line-up, please visit http://www.boblectures.org.uk/
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The picture shows a visit in 1919 by the Bristol University Engineering Society to the Douglas Engineering Company in Kingswood, Bristol. During World War One, Douglas had become a major motorcycle supplier, making around 70,000 motorcycles for military use.
All of the students are men, all are wearing overcoats, hats and ties, some are in military uniform. Paul Dirac, the world famous physicist who was at that time studying Electrical Engineering, can be seen fourth from right in the front row. He is sixteen years old.
Founded in 1884, the Bristol University Engineering Society, which is run by a committee of undergraduates with the aid of a Staff President and Treasurer, is the oldest society of its kind in the country.
The original aim of the Society was to foster an interest in the field of engineering through visits and lectures and to provide a sporting and social focus for members of the Faculty. Students were able to meet the staff on a less formal basis and thus enhance the cordial staff-student relationships engendered by the Society.
Lectures were given by members of staff, students and the Faculty Dean, each President of the Society delivering an inaugural address on subjects ranging from “Progress in Engineering” to “The buildings and water supply of Ancient Rome”. Papers were read and discussed at meetings, mostly relating to engineering matters, but sometimes more diverse titles such as “Colour
Photography” and “British Guyana” were presented.
Visits were arranged to local factories to give students an idea of the kind of conditions in which they would probably end up working. In 1951 these visits included: Messrs. W. D. & H. O. Wills; The Generating Station, Portishead; The Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd, Filton; The Post Office Telephone Exchange and Messrs. J. S. Fry & Son Ltd (the chocolate factory) in Keynsham.
In 1946 the Society began to produce a journal to publish papers and provide a record of Society affairs. Later known as Matrix, the journal comprised papers and reports of events together with pictures and poetry, articles and advertisements. In 1963 a paper entitled “Speed and the man in the street” by Anthony J. Lawler outlined the progress of the programme to build Concorde.
These days the University of Bristol Engineering Society (TUBES) is one of the largest societies in the University, and membership is open to all Engineers. It organises Football, Rugby, Netball and Basketball teams to play against other departments and societies in the Intramural League, and arranges ‘friendly’ matches with other Universities. It provides a programme of talks by visiting speakers on topics of interest, and organises social events and trips. Recently they have had success with a ‘parenting’ scheme for students in later years who assist and help the Freshers (see article page 10).
From the Engineering Archives
Bristol University Engineering Society visit the Douglas Engineering works in Kingswood, Bristol,March 11th, 1919
Image courtesy of University Libraries, Florida State University
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.Speaking personally
aeroelastic tailoring and morphing of wind turbine blades and helicopter rotor blades.He also enjoys his role as Director of the ACCIS DTC (EPSRC £7.1 million) and has found it very satisfying to recruit and nurture very capable students and watch them flourish. Paul has always worked closely with industry, mostly with Aerospace companies including Airbus, Westland, Dowty and NASA, and he recently enjoyed setting up the Preferred Partnership in Composites with Vestas Wind Systems. The team currently comprises eight researchers and is developing technology for a fast moving industry. His latest project is with Airbus and GKN, where he co-leads a team of researchers and staff from Bristol and Bath examining how to exploit tow-steering technology to enhance the performance of composites structures.
When not working Paul plays football, tries to keep fit, coaches kids football and goes on long cycle rides with his young family.
Professor Ian Craddock is the Merchant Venturers School Research Director. His function is to add value to research activities of the School’s staff; to support them and to ensure that they are properly briefed, prepared and resourced as we approach the REF2014 assessment. He chairs the School’s Research Committee, in which the Heads of Groups are able to share research funding intelligence, discuss policy and learn from each others’ successes and failures. His own research interests range from the theoretical (Computational Electromagnetics) to the highly applied (Imaging for Breast Cancer detection).
Outside of work he tries to keep up with the demands of two young daughters, one slightly elderly motorbike and a part-time career as a dance teacher, choreographer and performer.
Professor Paul Wilcox is the Queen’s School Research Director. The role is mostly inward-facing and the Research Director’s first task is to meet every academic in QSE to talk informally about their research interests – expect a visitation if he hasn’t seen you yet! The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is on the horizon and Paul will be involved in the preparation of the QSE submission. Although “research excellence” cannot be forced to happen, the Research Director can promote activities that encourage it. For this reason, a weekly programme of school-wide seminars with a mixture of internal and external speakers is being initiated. A QSE intranet site is being set up that will contain research resources, such as examples of successful grant applications and journal impact assessments. To encourage collaboration, the site will also contain a weekly “What’s On In QSE” guide listing open research group meetings and academic visitors. Paul’s own research is on elasto-dynamic wave propagation, signal processing and imaging, mainly for applications in non-destructive testing.
When not at work, Paul used to enjoy caving, roller-coasters, art-punk bands and epic DIY projects. Now he has two small children and is very boring.
Mary Millard joined the Faculty as Faculty Manager in October. She finds her new role an exciting opportunity, and is relishing the challenge of joining such a dynamic and thriving Faculty.
After graduating from the University of St Andrews with a first-class degree in English and Spanish, Mary developed her language skills further while teaching English and Spanish in Mexico, Spain and Italy. Teaching students from age four to 75 years old, and working with an eclectic mix of students from state schools pupils to the MDs of international companies, she developed a profound interest in education and the student experience.
On her return to the UK, Mary worked as a project manager for a large events company, working on a huge range of events from small weekend breaks for pharmaceutical companies, to a three month long car launch in Germany with over 14,000 delegates. However, eager to return to an educational environment, she took up a post in the Career Development Department on the MBA programme at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. From there her fascination with the endless intricacies of university organisation and management began! Still at Warwick, Mary moved into a new role as Departmental Administrator in the History Department, and once she’d recovered from the shock discovery of the complete disparity of systems and procedures across the institution, she delighted in the opportunity to create and establish administrative processes. Mary joined the University of Bristol as Departmental Manager in the Politics Department in 2008, and played a key part in the project team to create the new school of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS) which launched in August 2010.
Originally from the Midlands, but having lived in such a range of places, Mary is very happy to have finally unpacked her boxes of books and settled in Clevedon with her husband. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, walking, running and watching football (although she doesn’t get to travel to home games at Goodison as much as she’d like!)
Professor Paul Weaver became Faculty Research Director in June 2010 and is responsible for developing a strategy and implementing a plan to ensure that our research flourishes. He will be working with the Faculty Research Office (headed up by Glenise Morgan) to assist academics with seeking funding opportunities, and to support them with grant submission procedures and RA recruitment.
Paul is a member of the ACCIS research group and his main research interests are in the interrelationships between structural shape and material properties on structural performance, particularly with composites. He is especially interested in exploiting anisotropic properties for enhanced performance, e.g. buckling resistant structures,
LynchPin welcomes
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Mrs Mary Millard
Professor Paul Weaver
Professor Ian Craddock
Professor Paul Wilcox
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Speaking personally
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Alan Champneys is Professor of Applied Non-linear Mathematics and Head of Queen’s School of Engineering
Interview by Emma Weeks
me “I think you’ve done a good job, you should write a paper on this”. The resulting conversation changed everything. I came out of his office feeling totally different.
Describe yourself in four words?Impatient, enthuser, optimist, eclectic.
What are you most proud of?That my children (Max,15, Dominic,13 and Emma, 10) are growing up to be well-rounded, feisty individuals. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?“Aim high but don’t be disappointed if you only get half way there”.
What makes you smile?A nice view, a witty joke, that moment in a meeting where you and a colleague both see the absurdity of a situation.
What worries you?My own inadequacy. It’s what drives me, the sense of not being quite good enough. However I have learned to turn it into something positive. I actually work at my best when I’m a bit over-committed, I thrive on being busy. We’re a quirky bunch, we academics.
Which single item would you save if your house was on fire?Probably my coffee-maker. My morning mug of espresso is very important! The kids called it my CBC - “Cricket Bat Coffee” - as it hits you square across the eyes.
Classical, jazz or rock?All three depending on my mood, but I have more rock moods than anything else.
What would you like to see more of?Positivity - it’s a great quality and I wish there was more of it. Too much negativity is tiresome (and a lot of it is media-driven); everything has to be somebody’s fault, everything’s a scandal.
Where would you rather be now?In a country pub (anywhere in Britain) with friends and family, having spent the day walking in the hills.
Favourite place in the world?I have a very happy memory of being on top of One Tree Hill in Auckland, New Zealand.
If you could come back in another life, who or what would you be?Stand-up comedian or maybe Prime Minister. (a combination of the two would be interesting, wouldn’t it?)
If money were no object I’d…Buy a larger house in the country and a second home in Australia or New Zealand, although my carbon footprint would be enormous. I’d also like to set up a charitable foundation so I could give something back e.g. for people with mental health problems.
If you could change one thing...?Apart from the usual (I’d like to be more handsome and better at football), I’d want to kill off the media obsession with celebrity and see greater value placed on ideas and achievements.
How would you like to be remembered?As somebody who had ideas but also enabled things to happen. And with laughter.
Where and when were you happiest?Probably at the birth of my first child in the summer of 1995. I recall it was also the first time in ages that England beat the West Indies at cricket.
What did you want to be when you were a child?Like most boys I dreamt of being either a popstar or a footballer. However, my nickname then was Johann Champneys, the Boy with the Two Left Feet (in reference toJohann Cruyff), and my singing skills weren’t up to much. So I decided that I wanted to work behind a big desk and write books. You could argue that I’ve fulfilled that ambition.
What was written on your school report?Most of my reports were positive but one comment from the P.E. department stuck out: “He is able but very slow”. I was quite small then and not particularly strong (I didn’t eat vegetables until I was 16!)
What single event has most changed your life?One particular day when I felt that the stress of doing a PhD was too much and I wasn’t good enough, I decided to go to my supervisor’s office and tell him I wanted toquit. Before I could say anything he told
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The panel for the ‘Question Time’ debate, seated l to r: the Hon Sir Jonathon Porritt, Brendon Gormley, Julian Hector, Sir Crispin Tickell, Professor Ric Parker,with Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor David Clarke at the podium.
The Cabot Institute is a major new partnership between the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Social Sciences and Law, which aims to address the challenges of global environmental change through a variety of multidisciplinary research programmes. It unites a number of pre-existing entities: a Global Change research theme, a special initiative on Water, the Bristol Environmental Risk Centre (BRISK), the Global Insecurities strand of the Bristol Institute for Public Affairs (BIPA), and Engineering’s BRITE Futures Institute (BRIstol Technologies for the Environment). In its ambitious plans, the Institute will have dedicated accommodation in the University by 2012, which will form a hub for multidisciplinary research teams and visitor programmes.
At the recent launch event on the 15th November, a range of external partners were invited to hear about the aims of the new Institute and opportunities for collaboration. During a series of presentations from key academics across the University, Professor Alan Champneys, Head of Queen’s School of Engineering and a member of the Cabot Institute steering committee, highlighted the strengths that Engineering can contribute.
These include:l The development of Smart Energy Networks, Energy Management Systems and Low Power Communication Technologies, through groups such as the Centre for Communications Research and the Electrical Energy Management Group. l World-class materials research in groups such as the Advanced Centre for Composites Innovation and Science (ACCIS), soon to be complemented by the new Bristol based National Composites Centre. ACCIS currently has major industrial collaborations developing advanced composite technologies for wind, marine and solar power devices, lightweight transport applications and reinforcements for ageing built environment infrastructure.l Mitigating the risk of both natural and man-made disasters through expertise in flood forecasting, earthquake engineering and nuclear safety systems.l Expertise in Systems Engineering, which has applications ranging from the design of low carbon transport systems and industrial processes, through to policy guidance for risk management and the development of more sustainable urban environments.
Many of these existing research strengths are now being complemented by new educational programmes such as Engineering’s two Doctoral Training Centres in Composites and Systems Engineering, where students work closely with industry and many of the projects
Launch of the Cabot Institute
are focused on the development of environmental technologies.
The evening of the launch event culminated in a ‘Question Time’ style debate open to members of the public, which addressed the question ‘How should we live with global environmental uncertainty?’ Chaired by the BBC’s Julian Hector, the panel consisted of four leading environmental scientists, policy makers and campaigners: Sir Crispin Tickell, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme; the Hon Sir Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future; Brendon Gormley, Chief Executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee and Professor Ric Parker, Rolls-Royce Director of Research and Technology.
Professor Nick Lieven, Dean of Engineering, stated: “The University has a strong sense of research excellence across a wide range of individual disciplines. What really excites me about the Institute is the way that these strengths are genuinely being brought together to tackle some of the most pressing global questions of our times.” For further information on the range of research being pursued through the Cabot Institute, opportunities for collaboration and the contact details of key staff, please visit the Cabot website at: www.bristol.ac.uk/cabot
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