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LynchPin

Spring 2010

National Composites Centre

- full steam ahead

Bristol Engineering

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LynchPin Spring 2010

LynchPin is produced termly by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol

LynchPin teamPeter Foster, Melissa Bevan, John McWilliams, Sam Hodder, Carrie Wattling, Sarah Wordsworth

Design and productionCarrie Wattling

Print and reproductionPortishead Press LtdPrinted on Revive 100% recycled paper stock using vegetable based environmentally friendly inks.

Cover: Output from the Virtual Fabric Placement model showing how carbon cloth can form to a complex shape

LynchPin is available online at www.bris.ac.uk/engineering/staff/publicity/lynchpin.html

If you are interested in writing an article for LynchPin please contact: eng-lynchpin@bristol.ac.uk

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Clearly there are going to be some twists and turns before we reach equilibrium in the UK, but our own trend is without doubt in a positive direction. We have great students, and research, which has an increasing presence and recognition. Let’s keep it that way.

Professor Nick LievenDean of Engineering

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Well, as the saying goes, we live in interesting times. I can remember Joe McGeehan saying this when he was Dean. Maybe it is just my perspective, but it seems a lot more interesting now than it has ever been.

Since our last issue, the realisation that the National Composite Centre is going to be in Bristol has hit us with its full significance. This will place us at the heart of aircraft, renewable energy and motor racing composite design, manufacture and research. It is a tremendous achievement for Bristol Engineering and something that everyone should celebrate.

Similarly Bristol’s pivotal role through the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) and the foundation of the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) is right at the heart of what we do: developing people for industry at the leading edge in their technological discipline. I really am delighted to see that there has been national recognition for this £23 billion per year industry in which Bristol can rightly claim to be at the epicentre of UK activity.

I suspect these additions to our portfolio have increased our public visibility. I see that undergraduate applications for Engineering at Bristol have risen again. Having seen some of the applicants, the quality of our prospective cohort next year

will continue the trend we have seen for increasingly bright and enthusiastic students wanting to join us.

This brings me to our Engineers Without Borders students (EWB is becoming a standard feature of my articles), who have been awarded a University Teaching Award for their Outreach programme. This is remarkable; it is the first time students have been given a teaching award at this University. Fantastic!

Of course, I cannot complete an article like this without mentioning our changing world. We will all have seen the missives emanating from Whitehall on future budgets for Higher Education. Whilst we can’t escape the reality, I am positively encouraged by our starting point. We are in a considerably stronger position than all other Engineering Faculties I’ve seen or spoken to. And this is not just in the UK.

As a point of reference, I’ve just had a meeting with my counterpart at one of the major Institutions at the University of California (I’ll not mention which one, to spare blushes), who was explaining the trials and tribulations at his organisation. If we think things are tough in the UK then the cuts in the Golden State have wreaked an unimaginable toll on Higher Education, and I’m rather glad to be on a plane heading back to the relative prosperity of Bristol.

04 Newsclips from around the FacultyThe Intelligent Systems Laboratory, Breast Cancer Imaging and a review of the Research Reception

06 Student newsA round-up of the latest from our undergraduates, featuring two exciting expeditions and a Bristol Red.

08 Engineers Without BordersPeter Cooper brings us all the latest news from EWB-Bristol

11 Engineering ArchitectureIan Duncan and his students take a look around the buildings of Berlin

12 The National Composites Centre Katie Drury provides an overview of this multi-million pound development

14 The social role of robotsFascinating goings-on at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL)

16 Shearwater stake outDr Luca Giuggioli explores the feeding patterns of these long-winged oceanic birds

17 Partners in power Professor Paul Weaver reports on an exciting year for wind turbine blades

20 Greener communicationsTim Harrold keeps us in touch with the latest developments in mobile phone networks

21 From the archiveThe Shell Motor Mileage Marathon

22 Faculty peopleComputer Support team manager Andrew Dixon gets personal

24 Focus on renewablesNew teaching initiatives to address skills shortages

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The latest news and events from around

the Faculty

ARUP ANNUAL LECTURE22 April, Pugsley Lecture Theatre, QBIntegrated Design - Architects and Engineers Working Together in a Digital World

Tristram Carfrae is a structural engineer, Principal and Arup fellow, and is the highly influential engineer behind the design of The Water Cube - Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre for the 2008 Olympics. He also boasts an impressive portfolio of facilities created for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, including the RAS Exhibition Halls, the Dunc Gray Velodrome, and the Olympic Tennis Centre. His lecture will explore how cross discipline design can produce excellence.

Please book tickets in advance by emailing sarah.wordsworth@bristol.ac.uk

Engineering Architecture report, page 11

Visiting Professor for Systems CentreProfessor Hillary Sillitto has accepted an Honorary Appointment as Visiting Professor at the Systems Centre.

Hillary is Systems Engineering & Architects (SEA) Manager at the Land & Joint Systems Thales UK. He contributes significantly to the System Thinking, applied to the design of complex systems. He is working with the Systems Centre in the development of advanced systems teaching and research in the area of sustainability, as well as defence.

EPSRC grant awarded to GeomechanicsA £700k joint research grant on the Micromechanics of seismic wave propagation in granular materials has been awarded by the EPSRC to the Geomechanics Group (Dr Erdin Ibraim, Professor David Muir Wood and Dr Martin Lings) of the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London (Dr Catherine O’Sullivan). This joint research project will use sophisticated laboratory testing (at the University of Bristol) and advanced numerical modelling (at Imperial College) to advance understanding of the particle scale interactions involved in the propagation of shear waves through granular materials. Understanding shear wave propagation through soils is essential for site response analysis in earthquake engineering and interpretation

of geophysical surveys. The research team includes also Dr Ignazio Cavarretta (RA) and Mr Simon Hamlin (PhD).

Breast-cancer imaging talkProfessor Ian Craddock recently gave a talk highlighting the potential use of non-ionising technology being developed at Bristol for breast-cancer imaging. His audience was a gathering of clinicians and other specialists at the Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Research Network Annual Research Conference.

Mike Shere, Chair of the Conference, said “The talk was absolutely fascinating and it was a pleasure to be able to include such pioneering work at our conference. I sincerely appreciated your approach to the session, ensuring that those in the audience felt inspired by your pioneering work without being confused by what must indeed be a most complicated technological advancement”.

Toshiba Research FellowshipDr Mark Thompson, in the Centre for Communications Research/Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and the Department of Physics at the University is currently in Japan as part of the prestigious Toshiba Research Fellowship, where he is spending one year working alongside Toshiba researchers at their R&D Headquarters in Kawasaki, Japan.

The Fellowship Programme is a collaboration between Toshiba and the EPSRC, aimed at fostering and developing the relationship between Japanese industry and UK academia.

£1.4 million Research Award for ACCISCarbon emissions from air travel could be reduced thanks to a new collaboration between engineers from the Universities of Bristol and Bath and the aerospace industry.

The £1.4 million project will investigate new ways of using composite materials for wing panels in aircraft. The research, funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and aircraft manufacturers Airbus and GKN, will be using carbon fibres that are curved within flat plates to produce damage-tolerant, buckle-free structures. This will lead to substantial cost and weight savings of between 10 and 30 per cent on structural components, saving

Professor Hillary Sillitto

Professor Ian Craddock

Dr Mark Thompson

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fuel and reducing CO2 emissions from the aviation industry, and in turn helping reduce the impact on the environment.

Professor Paul Weaver, from the Department of Aerospace Engineering and the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), is leading the University of Bristol team, which includes Dr Kevin Potter and Dr Stephen Hallett.

The Bristol-based team will be leading the development and manufacture of the new carbon fibre materials, and the Bath team will be investigating different designs for the structures of wing panels to test their damage tolerance. Both teams will be using mathematical modelling techniques to optimise and test their designs.

Intelligent Systems LaboratoryA new Intelligent Systems Laboratory has been formed in the Faculty of Engineering, including about 15 members of academic staff and 40 students and postdoctoral researchers. Its members work on areas that range from machine learning to web agents, from data mining to machine translation, as well as bioinformatics, natural intelligent systems and robotic systems.

The ISL is located on the ground floor of Merchant Venturers Building. Its members come from the Departments of Computer Science and Engineering Mathematics, and make this new group one of the largest

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.being held in parallel with one of Europe’s leading photonics conferences: the European Conference on Integrated Optics.

The workshop runs from 6-7 April.Contact: m.cryan@bristol.ac.uk, or visit: www.bris.ac.uk/eeng/research/pho/fib4photonics.html. There will be a full report in the next issue.

New admin appointmentsThe Mechanical Engineering department has a new administrative assistant, Paul West. The Systems Centre welcomes Sarah Tauwhare as the Centre administrator and IDC in Systems co-ordinator. Sarah’s role is to undertake general organisational and administrative duties within the Centre, with particular emphasis on support for the EngD in Systems. The Aerospace Engineering department has two new staff: Sian Simmonds, PA to the Head of Department and Louise Chapman, Postgraduate Admissions Assistant.

Hair-raising charity stuntLast November, a group of postgraduates from the Department of Mechanical Engineering decided to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Research Group by growing some terrible looking moustaches! They raised a total of £667.50, of which £144 came from a coffee morning held in Queen’s Building. The group would like to say a big thank you for all the support they received and warn they will be looking for more volunteers next year!

05research entities in the area of Intelligent Systems in the country.http://intelligentsystems.bristol.ac.uk

FP7 FFAST grantAn EC FP7 grant has been awarded to the FFAST (Future Fast Aeroelastic Simulation Technologies) consortium to investigate methods to meet the requirements of faster turnaround time and increased accuracy in the aircraft loads process. The project is being co-ordinated by Dr Ann Gaitonde (PI) and Dr Dorian Jones (CI) of the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

Research Reception The Faculty of Engineering hosted its bi-annual internal Research Reception in December. The main purpose of the event was to promote an understanding of the future of the Faculty and foster research collaboration between groups and departments.

The Dean of the Faculty, Nick Lieven said: ‘This year has proven to be tough, but I’m buoyed by events like this that enable the vibrancy and energy of the Faculty to flourish. The turn out was magnificent and just goes to show how passionate both staff and students are about the future of their Faculty.’

In total over 250 colleagues and students came to the event and there were over 70 entrants to the Student Poster competition.Graduate Education Director, Sally Heslop

The Charity coffee morning in aid of Prostate Cancer Research

Research Reception poster prize winners l to r: John Pattinson, Jamie Walker, Stefano Longo, Adam Spiers, (Professor Nick Lieven), Sebastian Madgwick, Olafur Oddbjornsson, Alberto Politi

Staff and students from the Intelligent Systems Laboratory

commented: ‘This year the student posters were all so good that it made judging them an almost impossible task. The judges were deeply impressed by the commitment and passion conveyed by the students to whom they spoke.’

First prize in the student poster competition was awarded to Stefano Longo, second prize to Olafur Oddbjornsson and two third prizes to Alberto Politi and John Pattinson with runners-up Adam Spiers, Jamie Walker and Sebastian Madgwick. The feedback was very positive and proved that the Faculty of Engineering is home to great up-coming talent with enormous potential for their futures.

International Workshop on FIB for Photonics in CambridgeDr Martin Cryan and Professor John Rarity of the Photonics research group, part of the Centre for Communications Research in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering are organising an international workshop on the use of Focused Ion Beam (FIB) etching in photonics, in collaboration with Dr Peter Heard of the Interface Analysis Centre. The Photonics group is a world renowned group in this area and has been involved in developing this technique since the late 1990s. FIB etching is a powerful and versatile nanofabrication tool which can create features down to the tens of nanometres scale without the requirement for lithography masking procedures. The workshop will bring together researchers from some of the top universities around the world including Harvard and Berkeley and is

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The Bristol team collect their awards,l to r: Andy Duff, CEO Rwe npower, Tom Bowcock, Alex Rainey, Joe Smith, Kevin Frost, Giuseppe DiVita, Managing Director npower retail markets

Clare McDougall, npower’s head of education programmes said, “I would like to congratulate the team from Bristol University. We developed the npower Future Leaders Challenge to find graduates with passion and drive - and I believe we have unearthed real climate change champions in this competition.”

npower is dedicated to empowering young people through its Brighter Futures education programme, which aims to inspire young people from their first day at school to their first day at work. npower constantly engages with universities across the UK looking for the brightest minds to join the business and has appeared in The Times top 100 employers for the last three years.

‘2041’ was founded by Robert Swan, OBE, the first person in history to walk to both the North and South poles. Swan has dedicated his life to the preservation of Antarctica by the promotion of recycling, renewable energy and sustainability to combat the effects of climate change.

A full report from Kevin will feature in the next issue of LynchPin.

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Kevin Frost, of the

Department of Mechanical

Engineering has won the

‘npower Future Leaders

Challenge’ as part of a

University team.

The prize is to accompany

British explorer Robert

Swan and his team

‘2041’ on an expedition

to Antarctica to see first-

hand the effects of climate

change in this isolated

wilderness.

The npower competition, Future Leaders Challenge, launched last September, aimed to find the UK’s top four keenest, greenest university students. It involved teams of students from ten universities across the UK, who each had to run a local green project around their University or local community.

The team of Bristol undergraduates - Kevin Frost, Alex Rainey, Joe Smith, and Tom Bowcock came up with a project called ‘Turn Off Bristol’ – which involved running free, green buses for students to encourage them to think more carefully about their carbon footprint and to reduce the number of students driving to the university.

Kevin commented: ‘Our campaign ‘Turn-Off-Bristol’ was set up to raise awareness between students that climate change is happening and that there are people out there trying to make a difference. We used the bus service as a platform to communicate to people and get them to make personal pledges to save energy. We hope that our project will now mean students think twice before jumping in the car or leaving a light on. We are all thrilled to have won the competition and we can’t wait to get out to Antarctica in March!”

Expedition to Antarctica

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Annie Hillier - Bristol Red and England Under 21

Doug French and Burcu Karabork at the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences

A training flight takes off

Bristol Red and High Flying EngineersAnnie Hillier

Second year undergraduate in the Department of Civil Engineering and a member of the University High Performance Sports squad, Annie was awarded a Bristol Red last year.

“Lacrosse is a sport mostly played in America, Canada and Australia but over the past couple of years it has expanded throughout the UK both in the men’s and women’s games, as well as at more and more schools. I have been lucky enough to represent my country in various age groups and I was selected to play for the U19 England team, and travelled to the World Cup in Canada in 2007 where we won a bronze medal! Since then I have been playing for England U21s and have been selected to move up and begin training and playing with the Senior squad.

After coming to Bristol University I continued to play lacrosse, but with lectures and workload it was quite difficult to fit my training schedule in. Fortunately I was accepted into the High Performance squad, which has proved incredibly helpful. They provided me with free physiotherapy, sports nutrition, financial help for travel and one-on-one strength and conditioning. This enabled me to continue to train and to meet the high physical demands of the sport - including helping my recovery if I got injured - and also to keep up with my large academic workload.

The first season that I had with Bristol was very enjoyable and although we didn’t do as well as expected it was still a successful season for a number of our players. The peak, for me, was being nominated for a Bristol Red. Having had a great season with Bristol, as well as with my country, it was very rewarding to be recognised by the University for all the hard work I had put in. This season I am captaining the Bristol first team, and we have just progressed to the quarterfinals of British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS).”

Doug French and Burcu Karabork

Final year undergraduates in the Department of Aerospace Engineering

Having taken on a research project on the rather obscure subject of clearance of flight control laws, Doug French and Burcu Karabork decided to go the extra

mile and brave the cold of Stockholm in January to attend a workshop on this topic - along with their project adviser, Dr Mark Lowenberg. At the workshop they met with European experts in the field and witnessed presentations on the latest developments, based on concepts from robust control theory and nonlinear optimisation, as well as industrial perspectives. The first day of the workshop was followed by a banquet for all the delegates at the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Bobby Henderson

Second year undergraduate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and a Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor, Bobby has news of a new Student Flying Club that he has helped to set up.

“In the USA it seems that successful aerospace universities traditionally provide students with an opportunity to fly light aircraft as part of their course. At Bristol, a Student Union affiliated club is just being formed to allow University members to collaborate in organizing flights, an opportunity not offered by many other Russell Group universities. In addition, students will be encouraged to apply their theoretical knowledge to analysing the behaviour of a light aircraft and then join a flight to test their simulations. This will provide a fascinating link between the taught curriculum and the characteristics of a light aircraft.

Co-operative pilot theory classes will run during term times, which will cover topics ranging from navigation and meteorology to aviation law and flight physiology, and special sessions will cover international variations. Armed with this extra knowledge, students will not only have a greater appreciation of how aircraft are operated, but will also become more valuable to potential employers.

It is hoped that, in time, this may lead to sponsorship for a ‘Build-a-Plane’ programme which would encompass all aerospace disciplines and strengthen the Department’s reputation as one of the best in the world.”

Members can join online at: groupspaces.com/flyingclub or by emailing ubu-flying-club@bristol.ac.uk.

Applications are currently being accepted for fully funded scholarships towards many types of pilot licences including Ab-Initio, Airline and Instructor levels. These awards are made annually by the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators (GAPAN), thanks to generous donations. This is a fantastic opportunity for any member of the University to gain an internationally recognized piloting qualification.

You can download an application form at: www.gapan.org

Closing date for applications is 8 April 2010

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Organisations (NGOs) across the world on appropriate and sustainable projects to aid human development. Shaking off a world in the grip of recession, we were able to offer 30 placements spanning 14 different countries. As well as these placements there are also opportunities to go on a subsidised environmental engineering summer course with a partner in India, chances to teach practical alternative engineering in Asia, and fresh challenges for those aspiring to be interns at national level.

On a more social theme, a treasure trove of events has also come out of the EWB office ranging from ‘Take An Engineer Out’ (an ethical dating social), a practical stove-making workshop and a season of maverick engineering talks.

As always immeasurable thanks go to Nick Lieven and the Faculty for their continued support this year. Their belief in our cause allows us to continue to flourish. As too does the backing of industrial sympathisers – tours around renewable industries and a trip to the Centre of Alternative Technology have been made possible as a result of this.

Engineering is where you take it and at Engineers Without Borders Bristol there’s a long road ahead, a large number of eager volunteers and a rewarding view ahead on the horizon. Stay tuned!

Interested in coming aboard? We welcome all courses and stages, just email bristol@ewb-uk.org.

Peter B. Cooper, President Engineers Without Borders Bristol

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EngineersWithoutBorders

Students on an EWB placement get stuck-in to a pico-hydro device in the Philippines

Live music on the Thekla at the EWB fundraiser

EWB Outreach - Andrew Frankswith a pupil from Castle School

As our regular readers will know, Engineers Without Borders 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.

In the media’s view, the engineer might not be the first choice when hailing the saviours of the world. Although they are increasingly involved in projects to alleviate and prevent the suffering brought about by the many wars and famines worldwide, many still picture an engineer as someone in a dusty workshop wearing a hard hat with a wrench in hand.

Engineers Without Borders breaks this mould, driven by the idea that engineers are not simply tools to another person’s ends. Fuelled by students who care about the world they have inherited, we are a charitable organisation that runs an extensive range of programs, initiatives and research, striving to create a world without poverty or hunger through appropriate, sustainable and intelligent technology. The majority of our member base is involved at a branch level; with over 30 affiliated university branches the organisation has presence at most major universities. The network continues to grow from year to year, demonstrating the passion of our members in spreading the EWB ethos.

Fresh off the mark after the AGM, we at the Bristol branch staged our yearly fundraiser, Sha La, in February. The event was held once again at Thekla, a fantastic venue based on board a ship moored in Bristol’s Mud Dock. It was a unique night out with a fusion of live bands, DJs, and comedy acts - topped off with a pancake stall! The funding we reap from such unique events goes towards financing the varied and far reaching programs that we drive.

First on the cards this year is our new Outreach program. Outreach is designed to challenge engineering stereotypes, teach children the world-changing reality of engineering, and inspire them to consider a passionate pursuit of engineering through the dynamic hands-on workshops we present. As we go to press we are planning our stand at the upcoming research event ‘Discover’ (www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/cpe/discover2010), in Broadmead shopping centre. Here, 900 children and around 600 shoppers have a chance to get their hands on some of the fruits of our research, including a to-scale pica-hydro landscape model. On top of this we will deliver workshops at schools and societies across the local area, and in addition we will present a Faculty event for keen sixth formers. All this without pausing for tea!

Another milestone in March was the re-emergence of our Placement program. EWB’s Placements are about providing enthusiastic, passionate and skilled volunteers to work with Non Governmental

Engineers Without Borders, Bristol Branch, has won the 2009/10 University Engagement Award. This is one of the annual teaching awards made by the University of Bristol to recognise outstanding achievement in teaching, support of teaching, or wider engagement with the community.

It is the first time that this award has gone to a student team, so many congratulations to all those involved, including the members of staff who have worked with EWB since it was founded in 2001.

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.Over the course of my studies at Bristol I have gained extensive knowledge of the current global clean water crisis. It is estimated that across the world one in eight people live without safe water and 2.5 billion do not have access to sanitation. Without a source of water close to home, women and children are forced to spend hours each day walking to collect water that is usually dirty and unsafe to drink. Without somewhere safe or private to go to the toilet people are exposed to indignity and disease.

The world’s poorest people are prevented from overcoming poverty partly because they do not have access to these basic human rights. Worse still, 4,000 children die every day from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.

After learning about these global issues I decided to volunteer with WaterAid, a charity that aims to meet these basic needs using low-cost technologies, involving local people and focussing on making projects more sustainable. In July this year I plan to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, to raise much needed funds and to spread awareness. Since organising this expedition I have joined the University

Situated in North Eastern Tanzania, Kilimanjaro lies a mere three degrees south of the equator on the border between Tanzania and Kenya

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a mountain to climbin support of WaterAid

of Bristol Expedition Society and started training for the climb with trips to Snowdonia, Yorkshire and the Scottish highlands. Of course the challenges I will face seem trivial compared to the challenges many face through water poverty.

So far this has been a truly unique experience. I am writing this article to voice my support of this kind of charity work and I would really encourage people to get involved during their time at University and after they graduate. The experience has not only been personally rewarding but has greatly enhanced my continuing professional development. I have learnt some excellent organisation, communication and management skills, while meeting some fantastic people along the way.

I believe that the personal characteristics I have gained - such as goal-oriented approach and the ability to work in a self-driven, collaborative environment - will help me in many ways in the future. One of my goals is to become chartered through the Institute of Water and Environmental Management.

Niall Greenan

Niall Greenan is studying for an MSc in Water and Environmental Management in the Department of Civil Engineering. He feels passionately about the provision of clean water for the world’s poorest people.

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Bristol is one of five leading UK universities that are partners in the recently launched UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF). With start-up funding from BIS (Department for Business Innovation & Skills), the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (Semta), the National Microelectronics Institute, and companies from the electronics sector, this employer-led initiative aims to increase and sustain the numbers of young people taking up degree study and professional graduate careers in electronic engineering.

Bristol will be part of a collaboration focusing initially on:l raising awareness of the electronics sector and the study and career opportunities it offers;l attracting more talented 17-year-olds studying pre-university Maths and Physics to Electronic Engineering degrees; and l linking high-flying undergraduate students with companies for work experience to encourage their progression into careers in the sector.

Bristol will host the first UKESF Summer School in 2011 for school students. Working with UKESF and Headstart, the week-long residential course on Electronic Engineering will be delivered jointly by the industrial sponsors and the other partner universities - Edinburgh, Imperial College, Southampton and Surrey.

As part of the programme, UKESF will also be offering industry sponsored scholarships later this year to Bristol electronic engineering undergraduates. Scholars can benefit from an annual bursary from a sponsoring company, industrial mentoring, summer vacation work placements and professional development training.

The Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department are delighted to be part of a national programme that will attract more talented young people into engineering and, through relationship building with employers, lead to a greater retention of high-calibre graduates to help underpin the global leadership position of the UK electronics sector.

Mark Beach

Mark Beach, second left, with John Moor, Wendy Daniell and Derek Boyd of NMIat the launch of UKESF

Daniella Woolfe and Izdihar Jamil from Girl Geek Dinners

Invited speaker on Mobile Technologies, Jo Reid chats to delegates

Go4SET winners with Askin Isikveren

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winning team with a cheque for £250. Askin said: ‘I talked to all the teams during the event and I was amazed at what they had achieved. They had gained so many skills from the three-month project and had a lot of fun too. It was a pleasure to present the pupils with their prizes and it was clear that all the schools and company mentors taking part had spent a lot of time and effort on the projects.’

Go4SET is a national programme running across the UK. The project phase began with a launch event, where teams were introduced to the Go4SET project and their company mentor. Following this, the project provides a ten-week SET experience.

Women in Engineering and Technology

In February, the Department of Computer Science sponsored and hosted the launch of the Bristol Girl Geek Dinners, with presentations and a wine reception for 70 people in Merchant Venturers Building.

Girl Geek Dinners were started in London in 2005 by Sarah Blow, who had become frustrated about being one of the only women attending technical events. Girl Geek events are organised for women to socialise and talk about technology with invited speakers in an informal environment. Men may also attend the events as long as they are invited by a woman.

Bristol Girl Geek Dinners is the ninth group of this kind in the UK. The events are organised by Jessica Cauchard, a PhD student from the Interaction and Graphics group in the Computer Science department. The Bristol Girl Geek community meets monthly and welcomes all women interested in engineering and technology.

The launch event was very successful with 55 women and 15 male guests travelling from as far away as Exeter. The participants represented various industries, such as computing, aerospace and civil engineering. Jo Reid from Calvium gave a talk about mobile technologies before participants were invited to mingle around a buffet.

For more information visit:www.bristolgirlgeekdinners.com

Local school wins Go4SET prize

A team from John Cabot Academy, in conjunction with the Environment Agency, have won the Go4SET Best Overall Project Award for their project on water and recycling at the Go4SET Bristol Celebration and Assessment Day (CAD). The Engineering Development Trust held the Bristol CAD event to showcase the pupils’ projects.

The event, sponsored by Airbus UK, took place last month, and guest speaker Dr Askin Isikveren, Director of Engineering Design in the Faculty of Engineering, presented the

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New Skills Foundation in Electronics

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.Engineering Architecture in Berlin

In September 2000, after a suggestion from undergraduates in the Civil Engineering Department, the Faculty set up an optional course called “Engineering Architecture”. The course objectives are to give engineers the confidence to understand, appreciate and criticise architecture from all periods; to legitimise the students’ interest in architecture; and to revisit the fundamentals of engineering as applied to architecture.

The first ‘site’ visit was arranged in 2001 to Barcelona, and undergraduate Ben Bridgeland wrote an article for this newsletter describing its success. In the ten years since the course started it has continued to encourage its students to practise the skills and the art of communication at the interface between engineering and architecture. Our annual visits to Berlin have been full of such examples as well as giving us an appreciation of its cultural and recent history. On all occasions we have been fortunate to be received by people with various talents to guide us around the city, and often welcomed by the Buro Happold office who recently gave us a talk on their current projects which, without exception, fill us with inspiration and amazement. One site we visited was a sewerage pumping station which is now

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of 2,700 concrete blocks on undulating ground

The Neue Nationalgalerie by Mies van der Rohe

Inside the gleaming metal and glass cupola of the Reichstag - a structure with a spiral ramp giving 360-degree views of the city

Course tutor David Nash and his group outside the Chapel of Reconciliation

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one of 160 in the city. The construction was particularly interesting for the students due to the method of sinking an 18 metre deep concrete box into the Berlin sands with extraordinary precision. Berlin as a city is very accessible, and has many places of interest, several well known and a few less celebrated. A walk around the central area will easily absorb the Berliner Mauer, as it was from 1961 to 1989, now better known simply as the Brandenburg Gate. A little further on is the Neue Nationalgalerie designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which opened its doors in 1968. High on our list is a visit to the Reichstag, or Parliament Building, not only to take in its history but also to see how the architect Norman Foster, with Arup, managed to transform the building into the new home for the unified German Parliament by designing such an elegant construction. A walk along the Unter den Linden occasionally causes us to stop with interest, not least to take a close look at the British Embassy. Designed by Michael Wilford & Partners, their integrated engineering concept produced a low energy building of the highest quality, using external solar shading, exposed slabs, night-time cooling and displaced ventilation. Still within the city centre is the Memorial to the Murdered

Jews of Europe by Peter Eisenman, a place to stop and reflect about its meaning before slowly studying the very quiet exhibition below. Another museum not to be missed is the Judisches Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind. Like the previous memorial this is another to be taken slowly by its visitors.

A relatively isolated site is the Chapel of Reconciliation located in the former ‘no-man’s land’ between East and West Germany. A beautiful, simple church, it is a literal ‘reconciliation’, being constructed of load-bearing rammed earth walls (60 cm thick) which contain the remains of the previous church on the site, demolished by the East German goverment in 1985. Many of the remaining stone materials are now located in the open spaces around the site. Berlin offers a complete context for student engineers exploring not only architecture but also its recent history. David Nash and I thank the Faculty for supporting this course and its development over the years. We hope that in future students will continue to reap the rewards of such visits.

Ian DuncanSenior Teaching Fellow,

Department of Civil Engineering

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deliver world-class innovation in the design and rapid manufacture of composites that will enable widespread industrial exploitation. The Centre will form an internationally leading hub, linking activities across all sectors of the UK in research, education and training, technology transfer, and incubation of new enterprises.

In the longer term, the National Composites Centre will sit at the heart of a vibrant, collaborative community, which delivers new knowledge, technologies, products and working practices in order to re-energise UK manufacturing industry.”

The Centre itself will be a purpose built 6500m2 facility, housing workshop space, open-plan offices and training facilities. Aside from selecting the site location itself, one of the current challenges is prioritising, purchasing and storing over 80 pieces of specialised processing equipment which will fill the workshop space, including autoclaves for curing components, and automated deposition systems for laying down carbon fibre material. These will enable the optimised design, analysis, rapid manufacture and testing of composites once the Centre is operational.

Central to such decisions is Dr Kevin Potter, who has acquired extensive experience in the design, manufacture and assessment of composite products, through his work in ACCIS, through close working relationships with industrial partners including Airbus, AgustaWestland and GE and from his experience in industry prior to joining the University. The National Composites Centre will co-ordinate training on several levels, with emphasis placed on the creation of a collaborative environment to bring together a range of people, ideas and organisations.

the manufacturing process of engineered composite materials and structures. The Centre is intended to bridge the gap between academic research and product specific development, by tackling research, training and technology transfer at “Technology Readiness Levels 4-6”.

The announcement that the £16 million funding was to be awarded to the University of Bristol, with further regional funding of £9 million available to give a £25 million programme, was accompanied by one major catch – the Centre must be designed, built and operational by April 2011 - a mere 18 months away!

The announcement day last November saw the foyer of the Queen’s Building filled with senior members of the University, MPs, the Chair of the South West RDA, a multitude of press representatives, and a vast array of academics from ACCIS and across the Engineering Faculty. As well as a forward look at the challenge posed by the award of this funding, the day provided a great opportunity to showcase the excellent existing lab facilities and world-class research that are housed within our Faculty, a strong factor in the decision to award the National Composites Centre funding to the University of Bristol and its partners.

The VisionThe University will lead the National Composites Centre, working with partners from across different industry sectors in order to maximise the outputs of research and production. The intention is to establish Bristol as the place to undertake composites research.

Michael Wisnom describes the vision for the National Composites Centre as “an independent, open-access facility which will

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Preparations for Bristol’s new National Composites Centre, dedicated to the research and rapid manufacture of advanced composite materials, are in full swing. Professor Michael Wisnom and Dr Kevin Potter from the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) have been working relentlessly to bring the project to fruition within the tightest of deadlines imposed by the funders. Project managers from the University’s Research and Enterprise Development team are working in close partnership with the South West Regional Development Agency and industrial partners who sit at the forefront of the engineering industry: Agusta-Westland, Airbus, GE, GKN, Rolls-Royce and Vestas. With involvement and plenty of input from so many sides, the National Composites Centre is a project certain to raise a lot of interest in the coming months.

The BackgroundIn November 2009, Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, announced the UK Composites Strategy, outlining the Government’s intention to bring the UK composites industry together by creating a National Composites Centre in Bristol, where research findings will feed smoothly into

The National Composites CentreThe planning for the National Composites Centre continues at full steam, with teams of

experts combining knowledge and experience in order to address the Government’s challenge

to provide a Centre which co-ordinates the UK network of composites centres of excellence

and associated manufacturers.

Large scale delamination in failed open hole tension specimen

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.ACCIS has already started to see the benefits of such training through the EPSRC funded ACCIS Doctoral Training Centre, which brings together exceptional recent graduates from a variety of academic backgrounds in order to stimulate unexplored interfaces between established composites research and chemistry, physics, biology and medicine.

PartnersIn their role as founder Tier 1 members of the Centre, several big names from industry have engaged in the planning and development process. ACCIS already has strong links with these companies through collaborations in internationally recognised composites research over a number of years:

Airbus is one of the main industrial sponsors of research work within ACCIS, including the recent £1.4 million Airbus/Bristol/Bath STrategic Research Alliance in Composites Technology (ABBSTRACT2). Jointly led by Professor Paul Weaver and Bath University, this research focussed on an improvement in the structural efficiency of laminated carbon fibre composites by using manufacturing methods uniquely developed here in the UK.

Rolls-Royce has many cross-sector interests, which is a key focus for the National Composites Centre. Examples include marine engineering and renewables, aerospace, power and civil nuclear, many of which incorporate composites as key components of design. Rolls-Royce already has a well established relationship with ACCIS in the form of the University Technology Centre (UTC), led by Dr Stephen Hallett and Professor Michael Wisnom, which supports around 20 research staff and PhD students.

Vestas holds 20 per cent of the global wind energy market and has invested £25 million in Research and Development

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in the UK. Research success has been demonstrated in their improvement of electricity generation from wind turbines by a factor of 100 in 25 years. ACCIS is an active partner within the Vestas Innovation Network, which also includes researchers from Denmark, India, Singapore and the USA. The output of this is the provision of funding for several postdoctoral researchers and PhD studentships headed by Professor Paul Weaver, focussing on the manufacture of turbine blades, smart materials and lightweight structures.

GKN builds carbon fibre spars for the Airbus A400M and A350 aircraft. They are also one of the world’s largest automotive component suppliers whose customers include Ford and Land Rover. Future emphasis has been placed upon the cost-effective development of composite carbon fibre parts for these and other major car companies - one of the key aims of UK Composite Strategy and one of the driving forces for creating the National Composites Centre. GKN also provide financial support for the ABBSTRACT2 project mentioned earlier.

GE Aviation’s business includes composite propellers, aerostructures and jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. In 2006 GE Aviation and the Universities of Bristol and Oxford established a five year £1.25 million University Technology Strategic Partnership in smart composites (SMARTCOMP) under EPSRC’s Strategic Partnership scheme. ACCIS provides the academic lead. The project focuses on low cost and 3D composites and the study of self-actuating composites. Work is undertaken in collaboration with GE’s business users to develop new capabilities that can be applied in industry.

AgustaWestland is a leader in a number of the world’s most important helicopter

markets offering the widest range of advanced rotorcraft available. The UTC in Vibration Reduction, led by Professor David Ewins, currently supports a number of research staff and a PhD student at the University and is the culmination of more than 20 years of continued and growing collaboration between the University and AgustaWestland. Recently there have been particularly strong links in the specific areas of dynamics, reflecting a growing strength in these disciplines at the University, many of which contributed to the creation of BLADE – a unique facility combining world-class laboratories which foster research in experimental and theoretical dynamics.

These partnerships have proven key to the success of our bid for the National Composites Centre and it is hoped they will increase in strength as the Centre develops.

With all this in mind, the planning for the National Composites Centre continues at full steam, with teams of experts combining knowledge and experience in order to address the Government’s challenge to provide a Centre which co-ordinates the UK network of composites centres of excellence and associated manufacturers. We are privileged to be involved in such an exciting development for the South West, and despite such a steep mountain to climb in a very short time, we look forward to the completion of the project in 2011 and the host of new opportunities the National Composites Centre will provide for our engineering graduates, researchers and partners.

For more information see: www.nationalcompositescentre.com www.bristol.ac.uk/composites

Katie Drury

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Announcing the funding (l to r): Professor Michael Wisnom, Jim Knight MP (Regional Minister for the South West), Professor Guy Orpen, Ian Lucas MP (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), Sir Harry Studholme (Chairman, South West RDA)

Michael Wisnom explains the draping of a composite cloth over a honeycomb core to Jim Knight

Artist’s impression of the NCC

Chrial morphing wingbox

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. The Bristol Robotics

Laboratory (BRL) is a

joint venture between

the University of Bristol

and the University of the

West of England that

seeks to understand the

science, engineering and

social role of robotics and

embedded intelligence. With

a multidisciplinary approach,

the BRL aims to create

autonomous devices capable

of working independently,

with each other, or with us in

our human society.

The CHRIS (Collaborative Human Robot Interaction Systems) project brings together researchers from across Europe to address the fundamental issues that will enable safe Human Robot Interaction (HRI). Specifically this project addresses the problem of a human and a robot performing co-operative tasks in a co-located space, such as in the kitchen where your service robot stirs the soup as you add the cream.

An important part of human social interaction relies on the non verbal communication that occurs from facial expression. Robot interaction will be made more natural if the robot is able to correctly express to others a particular emotion. For example if a robot has a larger number of emotive states that it can subtly and progressively make use of during collaborative tasks, thenit will evoke greater empathy within the human it is assisting. This could potentially reduce any frustration when it may be unable to understand a particular command.

One project is studying the brain activity of participants when presented with both a human and a robot capable of expressing numerous facial emotions. By monitoring electroencephalogram (EEG) signals it is hoped that researchers will be able to identify when a participant observes a particular emotion conveyed by a human. Monitoring the same signals when the person is presented with a robot capable of expressing the same expression will allow the researchers to verify if it evokes the same response as the human. By further enhancing the human robot interaction in this way it will be easier for robots to become integrated into our way of life, rather than the other way around.

Another aspect of HRI the BRL aims to develop is the use of robots and intelligent systems in the medical domain. The lab has recently acquired a robot for use in surgical applications

Social Robotics Rehabilitation

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and research into improved tele-presence and haptic feedback. Within the medical environment the lab has a project investigating the use of robots as assistive devices for use during rehabilitation following stroke.

There are 130,000 new cases of stroke every year, and a third of these cases are likely to be left with disabilities and needing rehabilitation. This results in over 900,000 people living in the UK who have suffered a stroke with over half of them dependent on others for carrying out everyday activities. A critical part of a patient regaining independence is the use of their hand for grasping and manipulating everyday objects. By using a robot that can move the digits in a co-ordinated task-specific motion, such as grasping a can, rehabilitation can start immediately following the stroke. With quick intervention a key part in a patient’s recovery, a robotic device will be able to promote greater functional use of the affected hand which will in turn impact on a person’s independence and quality of life.

As part of the project looking into rehabilitation of the hand following stroke, electromyogram (EMG) or muscle signals are being studied to see if they can be used to inform a robot about which exercise a patient is trying to achieve. A robotic exoskeleton can then monitor the patient’s progression throughout the motion and apply an assistive force to meet a target trajectory or grip if the patient is unable to do so. By using EMG signals in this way, a robot can be more autonomous and be made to appear invisible to the user, promoting a greater sense of self recovery.

More at http://www.brl.ac.uk/

CHRIS project staff from the Department of Mechanical Engineering: Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan, Senior Lecturer in Biodynamics, Professor Chris Melhuish, Professor of Robotics, Thomas Burton, Richard Craig and Daniel Bazo, Research Postgraduate Students.

Using EEG (brainwaves) to record exactly how people feel about the robot facial expressions they see

Bristol Elumotion Robotic Torso (BERT)

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BCCS study on seabird movement

Teaching Laboratory investment

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering recently unveiled new laboratory equipment that will place the University of Bristol at the forefront of teaching in the area of “energy”, a research theme identified under the Engineering Faculty’s BRITE initiative. The ten sets of laboratory equipment, each comprising a computer-controlled, fully-instrumented electrical dynamometer, are the result of a £250k investment from three market-leading industrial collaborators and the Engineering Faculty.

The laboratory equipment is unique to the University of Bristol and is designed to support cross-Faculty teaching at all levels of undergraduate study, in areas such as electrical machines, electric and hybrid vehicles, renewable energy, power electronic devices and converters, control systems, “more-electric technologies” and energy management. It will also be used to support undergraduate research projects, MSc study and postgraduate research. Importantly, the equipment demonstrates to students the real-life behaviour of a practical engineering system, whilst giving them experience of using state-of-the-art, industry standard equipment.

The project, which was generously supported by Control Techniques Ltd, who donated the electrical drives and machines, and FLUKE UK Ltd and HBM who supplied the power analysers and torque transducers, was led by Dr Derrick Holliday and Will Drury from the Electrical Energy Management Group, who designed and constructed the equipment.

Derrick Holliday

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Dr Luca Giuggioli from

the Bristol Centre for

Complexity Sciences

explains what Bernhard

Riemann and Hjalmar

Mellin have to do with

shearwater foraging

behaviour.

Scientific advance nowadays is often driven by research which is at the interface between traditional disciplines. Cross-disciplinary studies have become a necessity rather than a luxury in all areas of research. Biology has played an important part in this revolution as questions once thought to have little relation to the hard sciences have, on the contrary, motivated the development of new mathematics. At present all research areas in biology rely upon increasingly sophisticated mathematical tools, a circumstance unimaginable only twenty years ago.

A recent ecological study by a team of ecologists from Spain, US and France in collaboration with Luca Giuggioli, from the Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences, epitomises this new research environment. The biological question posed in that work is about how fishery activity in the northwestern Mediterranean impacts on the way in which seabirds, specifically the Shearwater, forage. This is a clear example of how human activity influences animal behaviour. In order to answer such a question the analysis of the shearwater satellite tracking data has required the development of new statistical tools as well as the application of an under-exploited powerful mathematical technique. The so-called Mellin transform, whose fundamental reciprocity relation was introduced for the first time by Riemann in 1859 in his famous memoir on prime numbers and later accurately discussed by Mellin in 1896. With the help of such technique it became possible to show that shearwaters drastically change their search strategy depending on the day of the week. On weekdays, in fact, the food supply is more reliable and comes from the waste discarded from trawlers. In contrast, during weekends and public holidays, unaided by fishing boats, the birds have to undertake exploratory trips of up to several hundred kilometers a day to find their prey. Having access to more reliable food sources allows the shearwaters to make more return trips to the nest to feed their offspring, which presumably explains the improved breeding performance of these species. As the statistics of the distance travelled by these foraging birds were observed to be anomalous (i.e. not simply white noise), the ensuing complicated mathematical functions that represent the movement lend themselves naturally to the use of Mellin transform.

In summary, without Riemann’s intuition and Mellin’s study the answers provided might have come, if at all, through laborious and extremely time-consuming computational effort, rather than with the use of a few analytical tricks.

For more information contact:luca.giuggioli@bristol.ac.uk

A flock of Great Shearwater foraging in the Mediterranean

One of the ten new computer-controlled, fully-instrumented Dynamometers in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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Last summer we celebrated the public announcement of our collaboration with Vestas Wind Systems, a world-leading provider of wind power and services, to develop composites technology for future products. This new partnership forms part of the University’s Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) and will be housed within ACCIS’s new £5.4 million extension to their home in the Queen’s Building.

So what has been happening since then? Well actually one PhD student (Fabio Agnese) had already started and was up and running by May 2009 and a postdoc (Stephen Daynes) started in November. A second PhD student (Xavier Lachenal) joined us in January, and two more postdocs (Yusef Mahadik and Alberto Pirrera) will be starting in March. Vestas are also keen to sponsor two of our ACCIS DTC students from October. Beyond this core research activity Vestas are also an important industrial member of the recently announced National Composites Centre to be hosted by the University of Bristol.

It’s an exciting time for the renewable energy industry and for the development and use of composite materials. After all, it is predicted that wind energy could provide as much

as 13 per cent of global electricity demand in 2020 and as much as 25 per cent in 2030. At Bristol, we intend to draw upon our aerospace heritage, by providing methods for making more efficient blades. This will be done by designing them to be lighter (for longer lengths), adding functionality to increase aerodynamic performance and by improving quality of manufactured parts with high production rates.

Paul Weaver, Director of the ACCIS Doctoral

Training Centre and Professor in Lightweight Structures

Wind farm in silhouette at dusk

The launch of the partnership (l to r):Faye Smith, UKTI, Gareth Pickard, RED, Zoe Moore, Vestas, Ian Chatting, Vice-President Vestas, Kevin Potter, ACCIS, Paul Weaver, ACCIS, Nick Lieven, Dean of Engineering, Paul Hibbard, Vestas, Michael Wisnom, ACCIS

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Partners in Wind Power

Professor Paul Weaver

provides an update on the

Vestas Strategic Partnership

in Composites for Wind

Turbine Blades.

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Swimmingwith Dolphins

Naomi and friend at the dolphin centre in the Algarve

engineers assumed there must be a turbulent boundary layer around the dolphin as it swam through the water. Taking into account the drag caused by a turbulent boundary layer and taking into account the power output of mammalian muscles, dolphins should not be able to swim at speeds above 20 miles per hour. However, research in the last few decades has shown that dolphins can experience a laminar boundary layer at high speeds because their skin is so soft and flexible that it damps out the turbulence that would normally occur at high speeds. The laminar boundary layer results in a much smaller drag coefficient and this greatly reduces drag. Naomi told me that the dolphin’s skin was indeed very soft and compliant.

Even though dolphins are powerful creatures they can be gentle and remarkably aware of human needs. The dolphins at Albufeira appeared to really enjoy human interaction and seemed to be especially gentle with Naomi.

Stuart Burgess

Naomi Burgess has missed two years of schooling in the last three years recovering from various illnesses and treatments. Stuart wishes to express his sincere thanks to Mr Richard Edwards (Clinical Lecturer and neurosurgeon at Bristol University) and to the staff at the Bristol Children’s Hospital.

Stuart Burgess is Professor of Engineering Design and Unit Director of Design and Nature (MENGM5042). This course describes a wide range of mechanical solution principles found in nature and applies dimensional analysis to show why different concepts are found at particular scales. It also looks at the form and function of organisms like birds, mammals and plants and applies form factors to assess structural and thermal efficiency. The course also looks at reliability strategies in nature.

On a recent visit to the Algarve, Stuart found confirmation of an aspect of design and nature in his daughter’s experience of swimming with dolphins.

In September 2009 I took my daughter Naomi (aged 17) to the Algarve in Portugal to visit a dolphin centre. She spent time in a large swimming pool interacting with the dolphins, swimming with them and being pushed through the water. I enjoyed watching the dolphins at close range and was very impressed with their intelligence and powerful swimming.

When dolphin swimming was first studied in detail, engineers could not understand why dolphins could swim at such high speeds (over 20 miles per hour). At the Reynolds numbers experienced by dolphins (>107),

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Professor Stuart Burgess has a personal take on these most lovable of mammals.

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The technique was developed by Joe Quarini, Professor of Process Engineering, to help clean food processing equipment effectively and could lead to a major change in the way that drinking-water pipes are maintained. Using a mass of crushed ice that is pumped into the piping the ice ‘pig’ actually sweeps away debris and sediment without the need for harsh chemicals. Quarini made contact with the research and development department of Bristol Water, which applied for funding from OFWAT to develop the technique for the water industry. ‘We thought it could clean up the problem of the discolouration of drinking water by getting rid of the sediment in the pipes,’ he said. You can never mess up because the pig just melts;

The Association for Computing Machinery, SIGGRAPH, is the world’s largest community of artists, researchers, developers and those interested in Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.

ACM SIGGRAPH chapters exist in many places around the world, bringing together local graphics communities, enabling them to transfer knowledge and

skills, meet like-minded people and learn about new developments in the area throughout the year.

The Bristol SIGGRAPH Chapter was founded in 2002 and has been run since then with great success by students and researchers in the Interaction and Graphics Group at the Computer Science Department. We are aiming to bring like-minded people together through a variety of educational, networking and entertainment events which last year included talks on topics like visual effects, 3D cinema and colour perception as well as a large reception in May. A further highlight is the annual screening of the SIGGRAPH Animation Festival showing

Full field of view stereoscopic 3D display at SIGGRAPH 2009

some of the best computer animated short-movies of the year.

By providing a forum for interaction between researchers, developers,artists and professionals in the area of computer graphics and interactive techniques, we contribute to a vibrant local community and help to provide contacts, enable networking, and facilitate knowledge transfer between our members. We would be delighted to see you, your colleagues or anyone you think might be interested there!

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, and visit our website: http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/SIGGRAPH.

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it’s as environmentally friendly as you can imagine’. The results of the tests, which are still ongoing, are encouraging. he technique uses hydrants or other inlets to get the ice into the pipes, which is convenient in towns and cities; out in the countryside, however, extra hydrants would need to be installed.‘But that’s a very simple operation; it takes about half a morning and only costs about £300 for each hydrant,’ Quarini added. He is now in talks with the nuclear industry to develop the technique for use in decommissioning, but believes that the biggest market is still likely to be the food industry.

For more information contact:joe.quarini@bristol.ac.uk

‘Ice Pigging’ wins top award The UK is home to a host of dynamic, technology-led companies and an internationally-renowned university sector; when the two work together the results are often nothing less than world class. The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards recognise and reward outstanding examples of this co-operation and in December research into ‘Ice Pigging in the water supply industry’ by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Bristol Water won the category for Process and Production.

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This task is being tackled in many ways, from improved network planning down to gains in individual components on circuit boards.

The work in Bristol is focussing primarily on the hardware infrastructure that makes the cellular networks tick. The reason for the large power consumption is largely due to the inefficient nature of basestation equipment; a traditional GSM mobile phone basestation can draw 2-3 kilowatts from the electricity grid, managing to pump just two per cent of this power into its antennas. There are some easy improvements possible - the latest generation of basestations use small and lightweight power amplifiers that can be installed at the top of masts adjacent to the antenna thus improving power efficiency by eliminating losses in long feeder cables.

But beyond these simple changes, the five CCR researchers are developing novel ways to cut energy consumption further. Some of this work advances existing research in the CCR; for example the most efficient radio amplifiers are generally “non-linear”, meaning that they cause an unacceptable amount of signal distortion. Linearisation techniques developed in Bristol result in devices that are both non-distorting and highly efficient.

One radical suggestion that has been touted involves the possibility of constructing future cellular networks from tiny, efficient “femtocells” that are able to provide coverage to an individual home or office, supplemented by ad hoc relaying of data to provide outdoor coverage. This might bring the interesting prospect of removing unsightly communications masts, giving environmental benefits in more ways than one.

Tim Harrold, Centre for Communications Research

Making our communications Greener

The first of January

2010 marked the 25th

anniversary of the launch

of the UK’s first mobile

phone network. Since then,

of course, the demand

for ubiquitous mobile

coverage and higher

data rates has continued

unabated.

In their quest to provide the best service to an ever-increasing customer base, the main network operators have tolerated power inefficiency in their equipment. The energy required to keep a typical UK mobile phone network running for a year has been estimated as 400GWh, which means that a network is responsible for some 200,000 tonnes of C02 emissions.

Lately, however, there has been a desire for network operators worldwide to reduce their C02 emissions, driven by their own corporate responsibility, customers’ “green” expectations and calls from the Government, such as that provided in the “Digital Britain” report (2009). Of course, another significant incentive is the potential for major savings in their utility bills.

The cellular industry’s desire to “green up its act” has resulted in increased research into ways of making their networks more energy efficient. Work underway in the Centre for Communications Research (CCR) is being funded by a consortium of mobile network operators and manufacturers via an initiative of the UK’s Mobile VCE (Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile and Personal Communications). This project has an ambitious target of achieving a 99 per cent reduction in the energy required for delivery of high data rate services.

The CCR is working alongside four other UK universities in a quest to find savings in energy consumption without reducing the performance level demanded by thenetwork operators and their customers.

Traditional Communications Infrastructure - big and inefficient

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This picture from

our archive shows

the Faculty of

Engineering team

at the Shell Mileage

Marathon held at

Mallory Park in 1977.

The Shell Mileage Marathon originated as a friendly wager between fellow scientists at the Shell Research Laboratories in Thornton, Illinois, in 1939. The scientists wanted to settle an argument over whose car gave the best fuel mileage. The winner had to go the furthest on the least amount of fuel - at that time ordinary road cars were used and the first achieved 50 miles (80.5 kilometres) on one gallon (3.8 litres) of fuel.

In 1977 Shell opened the competition to entrants outside the company and challenged student teams to design and build a lightweight vehicle that could break the world record for fuel economy, at that time believed to be 1,141 miles per gallon which was achieved at the laboratories in Thornton.

The Faculty of Engineering was quick off the mark and entered a team led by Dr Stuart Townley and Mr Gordon Clarke (both of whom still teach in the Faculty), and other members of the Mechanical Engineering Department. The vehicle, which had to carry a driver and achieve a minimum of 400 miles per gallon to qualify, was made from steel tubing with an aluminium body and was powered by a modified 50cc engine. Following the trials the team was one of 20 invited by Shell to take part in the final at Mallory Park near Leicester on 5 July 1977.

The first prize of £1000 and a trophy was awarded to the vehicle that achieved the lowest fuel consumption over a ten mile course whilst maintaining an average speed of not less than ten miles per hour. The tactic employed by Bristol was to fire up the engine for a 50 second burst every six minutes and

allow the car to coast at speeds between 15 and 30 miles per hour for the majority of the race.

Despite the team’s valiant efforts they were unable to complete the course that year but over subsequent years achieved mileages of up to 1245 miles per gallon and a podium position of third out of 50. As the event grew in popularity, the number of teams taking part increased to include major car companies such as Honda and Jaguar, the Royal Navy and Westland Helicopters as well as schools, colleges and universities. The stakes were raised for competitors to complete a ten mile course at an average speed of 15 miles per hour.

The Mileage Marathon was a unique event combining ingenuity, fun, seriousness, dedication, sheer enthusiasm and at times hilarity for all the teams that took part. The Faculty team was made up of dedicated staff who gave up their spare time to develop and trial the vehicle and who worked each year to improve and refine their original design. The event spawned many third year projects in Aerodynamics and Mechanics and helped reinforce the culture of co-operation and competitiveness between the University workshops with Chemistry helping to build the fuel tank. The Faculty team entered a vehicle every year until 2000.

By this time the event had been renamed the Shell Eco-Marathon and the fuel economy record had rapidly improved. The current Prototype internal combustion-engine record was set in 2009 by the team from Lycée La Joliverie (France), whose car ran the equivalent of 3,771 kilometres on a single litre of fuel.

More at http://www.shell.com/home/content/media/news_and_library/press_releases/2009/eco_marathon_europe_200

From the Engineering Archives

At Mallory Park in 1977 (l to r):Jack Bones, Brian Chapman, Ivan Laver (driving), Ray Lohr, Gordon Clarke, all from the Department of Mechanical Engineering

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.Speaking personally

Thomas Rendall joined the Faculty in October 2009 as a lecturer in aerodynamics in the Aerospace Department, having completed his PhD and post-doctoral work in the same department.

After his degree in aeronautical engineering at Imperial College, he became fascinated by the application of computers for aerodynamic simulation, which led him to begin a PhD at Bristol working to couple fluid and structural simulations. This led to studies of bending and oscillating wings and in turn to an interest in the aerodynamic simulation of moving objects. As a post-doc, he worked on data compression methods and water droplet trajectory calculations, which are used to simulate icing on aircraft.

Thomas’s research is now focussed on moving objects. The goal is to advance current methods to the point where it will be possible to easily model flows around moving, sliding or rotating objects, so that problems involving pistons, valves and propellers may be dealt with simply. Eventually, this will lead to full-flight aerodynamic simulation of aircraft. He is also collaborating on work aimed at optimising aerodynamic designs computationally, which will give designers greater insight into how to improve aircraft efficiency in the future.

In his spare time, Thomas enjoys reading, walking and playing badminton.

Ian Plummer joined the Faculty Central Services in November last year. His new role as the Integrated Workshops Manager has provided him with fresh opportunities and responsibilities and he is thoroughly enjoying the challenge of working with such a well established and respected team.

Ian has described himself as a ‘lifelong engineer’, leaving school to take up an apprenticeship as a toolmaker with Bristol Tool and Gauge Ltd. Armed with a strong desire to ‘get on’ he achieved the necessary qualifications at night school and after a variety of engineering related roles found himself managing several large industrial sites as operations manager under the umbrella organisation of the Bristol Bending Company Ltd. Following on from this Ian has transferred his expertise to the Faculty of Engineering workshops.

Born and bred in Bristol, Ian is married with two children and lives in Whitchurch. Very much a family man, his spare time is taken up supporting his daughter who is a world class gymnast! When he gets a chance he indulges his passion for his Triumph Trophy 900 motorbike which he has restored and which continues to give him pleasure.

Matthew Peel joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in August 2009 as a lecturer in solid mechanics and materials. Trained as a metallurgist at the University of Manchester, his research career began by studying a novel solid state welding technique of interest to the aerospace and automobile industries. This work first exposed him to large-scale neutron and synchrotron X-ray facilities and how they could be used to provide a unique perspective on many engineering problems.

After completing his PhD he relocated to Grenoble, France in order to work for the Facility for Materials Engineering. This project provided an interface between engineers (both academic and industrial) and the physicists normally employed at large X-ray and neutron facilities. Despite speaking nominally the same language, physicists and engineers often have trouble communicating without a translator! Subsequently, Matthew’s interest in using X-rays to investigate engineering problems grew to the point where he decided to work for the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, also in Grenoble. As a scientist on ID15 - the high energy beamline - he integrated thermo-mechanical test rigs with very high speed X-ray diffraction in order to examine phase transformations in novel metallic alloys.

His research interests remain in the area of Synchrotron X-rays and he hopes to continue exploiting their properties to investigate engineering issues. Matthew was recently married to Suman. His time in the Alps has resulted in a keen interest in snowboarding and mountain biking.

Tommy Clemmings joined the Faculty of Engineering as Head Porter shortly before Christmas. He leads a team of four staff and is currently familiarising himself with the complicated layout of the Queen’s Building.

Tommy was born and brought up in St Catherine, Jamaica. He served with the Jamaica Constabulary Force as a Police officer for 13 years before moving to the UK in 1990.

Settling in Bristol with his family, Tommy put his experience with the long arm of the law to good use taking employment as a store detective, finding at times the work to be just as dangerous as his previous career! He joined the University in 1996 as a Porter in the School of Medical Sciences moving on a little later to take up a post in Geography. Tommy was promoted to Head Porter in 2009 and transferred to the Faculty of Engineering where his willingness to help and his positive attitude ensures the continued smooth running of the Faculty’s all important portering service in Queen’s.

During his spare time Tommy enjoys watching cricket both at the North Somerset ground in Horfield and on the television at home.

The Faculty is always

pleased to welcome

new members of staff.

Here we feature

a few of the latest

arrivals.

Dr Matthew Peel

Mr Tommy Clemmings

Dr Thomas Rendall

Mr Ian Plummer

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Speaking personally

What is your earliest memory?Riding on my tricycle in the back garden of our house in Chesham (Buckinghamshire) when I was about three.

What was said of you at school parents’ evenings?Does he show any interest in anything other than Maths?

What did you want to be when you were a child?I always assumed that I would follow my father into the family accountancy business, but I soon changed my mind when I started my degree and realised I would enjoy a career in computer science more. (I obviously ended up showing an interest in something other than Maths!)

Where and when were you happiest?When I was first in love with my wife. We met as undergraduate students at Bristol when I was in my third year, she was in her first year, and it was a very happy time with no responsibilities.

Describe yourself in four words?Christian, husband, father, computer-scientist.

What makes you smile?I’m in a drama group that puts on a pantomime every year. This year I’m the Ogre in Puss in Boots. I love hearing the jokes for the first time and we have so much fun at the rehearsals. I have to wear a scary mask to play the Ogre, which prompted the musical director’s two year old daughter to say “I don’t like Andrew in his hat”!

What are you most proud of?My daughters (aged 16 and ten) – they’re beautiful, intelligent and (mostly) a joy.

If you could change one thing…?It would be the topic I chose for postgraduate study. Nothing went right and I feel I wasted three years. On the other hand, the lessons I learned through this experience have proved very useful to me. And without it, I would not have discovered that I had a talent for teaching.

What single event has most changed your life?Becoming a committed Christian when I was 15.

Which living person most inspires you?Nelson Mandela because of his work for peace and reconciliation. His autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” is a really inspirational read.

Sea, Air or Land,?I really enjoy sitting and watching the sea. It has a wonderful mystical quality in that it has such huge power and yet becomes so gentle when it meets the shore.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?Get a job doing what you enjoy.

What would you like to see more of?The world. Which single item would you save if your house was on fire?Obviously people apart, it would be my computer back-up. Everyone backs up their home computers don’t they??

Favourite place in the world?Sidmouth in Devon. We’ve found a wonderful hotel with a very accommodating chef!

Classical, jazz or rock?If the choice is down to me, it’s always Classic FM.

What worries you?People who know me well know all about my “to do” lists (both at home and at work). I worry that I’ll never get them done.

How would you like to be remembered?As someone who did his best.

If money were no object I’d…Retire and write niche software and poetry.

Andrew Dixon is the

Computer Teaching Support

Manager for the Faculty.

Interview by Melissa Bevan.

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James Baker and Simon Knibbs testing the Aeolus generator in the Faculty’s wind tunnel laboratory

Colin Palmer, Founder-Director of Wind and Wave Prospect Ltd, delivering a lecture on the Wind and Marine Energy Teaching Module

New Teaching Initiatives address Skills Shortages in the Renewable Energy Sector.

Wind and Marine Energy are set to make a dominant contribution to achieving the UK’s renewable energy targets, but recent studies have highlighted that skills and recruitment shortages will provide a major obstacle to further expansion. The South West is a hub of Wind/Marine Energy design consultancies and device developers, and new training courses will play a vital role in supplying these companies with suitably skilled graduates. In January 2009, the Faculty piloted a Masters level teaching module in Wind and Marine Power, open to only a small number of undergraduates in the Aerospace and Engineering Design departments. Based on its initial success and popularity with the students, this year’s course was extended across the Faculty, attracting 98 undergraduates and around 20 professionals from local companies.

The course takes place over a one-week period and is taught by a mix of academics from the Universities of Bristol and Swansea, as well as industrialists from Garrad Hassan, Wind Prospect, Tidal Generation Ltd and RWEnpower. The content covers

a diverse range of topics, including wind and tidal resource estimation, turbine design, component manufacture and socio-environmental issues. Students also gain training on Garrad Hassan’s wind turbine analysis software, which they subsequently use in a group design project aimed at consolidating the course teaching material. The large amount of industrial teaching input and the chance to mix with company professionals provides students with state-of-the-art knowledge and a valuable insight into potential career options. It has also proved highly successful in promoting additional research and teaching partnerships with the University.

A prime example of this is the Aeolus Wind Powered Vehicle Project, which was initiated in the summer of 2009 and is being generously sponsored by Garrad Hassan, The Bristol Port Company and Boeing UK. This involves the design and manufacture of a wind turbine driven vehicle to enter the International Aeolus race, which in 2010, will take place in Den Helder, the Netherlands. Bristol are the only UK team currently registered and six students from across the Faculty of Engineering are working on specific aspects of the vehicle’s design through 3rd and 4th year research projects. This is complemented by support from a range of academics, technicians and undergraduate students keen to be involved in their spare time. As well as the 2010 entry, six Engineering Design students are already working on the design of an additional vehicle to enter the 2011 race. For further information on the Aeolus project, please visit: http://www.teambr1stol.co.uk

New Teaching on Renewables

An insight into Aeolus: the student view

“My project involves the design of the vehicle’s chassis, and modelling work

has been essential for efficient decision making. Using software such as MSc

Adams Multibody Dynamics, MSc Patran, and MATLAB, a finalised structural design has been completed. Although it involves

a significant workload, I have hugely enjoyed this project so far and the unique

experience of getting involved in a practical engineering project.”

Tim Hutchinson, Mechanical Engineering

“The focus of my individual research project is the characterisation of electrical

machines; more specifically, permanent-magnet generators and brushless

direct-current motors. Working with Aeolus has presented the perfect opportunity to

expand my knowledge beyond the scope of my degree programme and has provided an

ideal platform to explore practical skills.” James Baker, Electrical Engineering

“Our research involves designing the vehicle’s turbines to maximise energy

capture from the wind. Additionally, we aim to validate theoretical predictions via

wind tunnel testing. This project has given us an unmatched experience of being part of a multi-disciplinary team and allowing

integration of our research with the manufacture of the vehicle.”

Jeff Kahlon and Jonathan Shih, Aerospace Engineering