Re occupation of Phase II Physics
We expect to be re-occupying phase II of the Physics building during the week commencing 1oth July. The first day will be ISS working confirm networking is as it should be and establishing the wi fi system for the building. We plan to be moving people and equipment up from the Science & technology building during the rest this week. The following week (Graduation week) we will move people internally within the building.
Shonah Ion
Fire Door Interface Inspections
Fire door interface inspections will take place in Science & Technology Building on Wednesday 21st June 2017 from 9am.
Every month the University is required to test the interface between the fire alarm system and door control systems in all buildings with access control and/or automatic doors.
This work is undertaken by Honeywell Control Systems Ltd and requires the physical inspection of all doors controlled by the access control system while the fire alarm is active and the doors are locked. This check is to ensure that all doors on escape routes will allow evacuation in the event that the fire alarm is activated. In most cases the alarm will be silenced during the inspection, but for some older systems, where it is not possible to silence the alarm, the checks have to be conducted while the alarm is sounding. Owing for the requirement for the doors to be locked during this test some buildings, where access is required during the week, will be tested at the weekend.
Shonah Ion
Engineering Seminars next week
We have two very interesting engineering seminars next week, which I encourage everyone to attend. On Tuesday at 16.00 in Furness LT2, we will be welcoming Dr Hugo Macedo, CEO of Smart Separations, a technological startup which has been awarded the Start-up of the Year 2014 from the Guardian, has won two Rushlight awards in 2017 and is currently shortlisted for a Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technologies award. The company specialises in separations and is interested in air purification, high temperature energy applications, wastewater treatment, biotechnology and catalysis. Smart Separations already collaborates with Lancaster (has recently co-located in cTAP) and is interested in exploring additional collaborations. Hugo is staying from Monday to Wednesday, if you want to meet him just let me know.
On Wednesday at 13.00 in Furness LT2 we will be welcoming Prof Raymundo Arroyave from Texas A&M on another very interesting talk on computational thermodynamics and kinetics of materials and materials discovery. Prof Pedro Rivera, recently appointed Chair in Advanced Manufacturing here in Lancaster (in CC) will be introducing our guest, so let him know if you want to meet Prof Arroyave.
Engineering Seminar
Title: Smart Separations
Speaker: Dr Hugo Macedo, CEO of Smart Separations
Venue: Furness LT2
Date and time: 06th June, 16.00
Abstract:
Smart Separations is a technological start-up based in Surrey which specialises in membrane separations (http://smartseparations.com/). They have already won a number of awards, including the Guardian Start-up of the year in 2014 (http://bit.ly/SSL_guardian) and two Rushlight Awards in 2016-17 – the Clean Environment and Impact Hub Westminster awards – and are shortlisted for the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2017 Emerging Technologies Competition.
In the talk, Hugo Macedo (CEO) will introduce some of the company’s interests and research, including Smart Separations’ innovative method to manufacture conically-shaped pores that self-assemble in a ceramic substrate and the control of pore sizes in this membrane between <1 micron and 50 microns. Applications where the company is currently involved range from air purification, high temperature applications in the energy sector, wastewater treatment, biotechnology (cancer and stem cell separations), etc. Smart Separations is made of a strong team of 9 experts in different areas, from ceramics technology, chemical engineering, catalytic chemistry to entrepreneurship, finances and IP. Since being founded in July 2013, the company has raised so far close to £2m in research grants and investor capital, won several European prizes and awards, and have filed 4 patent families (2 granted) to protect their core technology. The talk will also highlight ongoing collaborations with Lancaster – the company is currently co-located in cTAP and are sponsoring a PhD project in Lancaster through the CGE.
Bio: Hugo completed his PhD in Tissue Engineering at the Imperial College London in 2011, when he created the first “3D hollow fibre bioreactor for the production of human red blood cells” – selected as one of 10 life-changing ideas under research at UK Universities. In 2013, Hugo kept pursuing his vision to improve people’s quality of life and founded Smart Separations Ltd, a company that has patented a new filtration technology that overcomes the limitations on the large microfiltration market, with applications ranging from improving air quality to food & drink processing.
Engineering Seminar
Title: Beyond High throughput: Optimal Computational Materials Discovery
Speaker: Prof Raymundo Arroyave
Venue: Furness LT2
Date and time: 07th June, 13.00
Abstract:
The goal-oriented discovery of materials requires the identification of the composition and process history necessary to achieve specific multi-scale structural features that in turn bring about the desired properties. To accelerate the materials discovery process, high-throughput (HT) computational and experimental methods have been proposed. Unfortunately, current HT computational and experimental approaches have severe limitations as they: (1) are incapable of dealing with the high dimensionality (composition, configurational, and microstructural degrees of freedom) and complexity (e.g., multi-physics) of the materials design space; (2) employ hardcoded workflows and lack flexibility to iteratively learn and adapt based on the knowledge acquired to assure balanced exploration and exploitation of the materials design space; (4) are suboptimal in resource allocation as experimental decisions do not account for the cost and time of experimentation.
In this talk, we present some preliminary work in which we have adapted ideas from fields as diverse as Artificial Intelligence, Optimal Experimental Design, Global Optimization and Game Theory to develop a framework capable of optimally exploring the materials design space in order to attain an optimal materials response. Specifically, we use variants of the Efficient Global Optimization algorithm to deploy an autonomous computational materials discovery platform capable of performing optimal sequential computational experiments in order to find optimal materials. We demonstrate single and multi-objective optimization and use the so-called MAX phases as examples. Moreover, we show how this framework can be made robust against selection of non-informative features by using so-called Bayesian Model Averaging approaches.
Bio: Raymundo Arroyave is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. His interests are computational thermodynamics and kinetics of materials, computer-aided materials design and optimal materials discovery. He has published over one hundred publications and currently serves as Chair of the Functional Materials Division of TMS.
Nuno Bimbo
Condensed Matter Physics Seminar: “Multi-scaled simulations and modelling of novel electronic devices”
Date: 02 June 2017, 3pm-4pm
Venue: C36 Physics
Speaker: Dr. Vihar Georgiev Electronic and Nanoscale Engineering Division, University of Glasgow
Recently interest in electronic, magnetic and optical materials based on inorganic, organic and hybrid nano-materials has increased significantly. Such new materials and novel device architectures have a potential to bring the technology and the research into the more than Moore and beyond Moore era [1].The main quest is to find the best materials and devices for specific application. The most time efficient and cost effective approach to achieve that is to perform modelling and simulations of the numerous possibilities of materials and device architectures.
For example, the modelling and simulation of electronic devices has been a vital tool in driving the development and comprehensive understanding of the semiconductor physics and devices operation. Analysis using state-of-the-art device modelling helped the process of miniaturization of transistors through the past half a century. Importantly, modelling and simulation enhanced knowledge in the field and contributed to a deeper understanding of the critical issues surrounding the device scaling and operation.
To show the importance of the device modelling and simulations, in this seminar, I will present an exciting research carried out in the field of molecular electronics [2, 3] and quantum transport in next generation transistors for the semiconductor industry [4]. The main aim is to establish a link between the material properties, device architecture and device performance using hierarchical, multi-scaled simulation methodology and approach.
Grainne Wilkinson
LUPhyS end of year BBQ
LUPhys end of year BBQ and Staff vs Students football match to be held on 16 June
BBQ will open from 13:00 hrs at the Lonsdale BBQ station, football match will kick off at 13:30 on one of the pitches near the BBQ station
All staff welcome, to confirm any details, please email the society president Marcin Kaminski
Deborah Dunne
Physics Building – room bookings for 31 July 2017 onwards
As recently reported at the Physics Committee, Physics will not have exclusive use of the following rooms from 31st July 2017: A27, B9, B24, C29 and C36. We can continue to use our departmental system for now but any room bookings that relate to 31st July onwards will need to go on the LU web Room Booking System, (https://timetabling.lancaster.ac.uk/wrb2017-18/book.aspx). I have replicated any bookings that we currently have on the departmental system for these rooms for the 31st July 2017 – 29 July 2018 on the LU system and will forward these bookings to the individuals concerned.
B10 is also on the centralised room booking system but only Physics staff will be able to book this room and only until September 2017. After then all staff across campus will have access to this space.
A7 will not be centrally bookable for the time being.
We have not really done this in the past but I suggest that we continue to use the departmental booking system for events in the Physics Atrium.
Gráinne Wilkinson
Physics refurbishment update
Please see below details of scheduled works on the Physics refurbishment project for week commencing Monday 3rd April.
Physics scheduled works:
- Ground works to Physics and Isolab – medium/high noise, medium vibration
- Cladding works – medium noise, medium vibration
- Decoration – low noise, low vibration
- Joinery – medium noise, low vibration
- Cleaning – low noise, low vibration
- Roof works – medium noise, medium vibration
- Scaffold strip – medium noise, low vibration
- Electrical works – low noise, low vibration
- Plastering works – low noise, low vibration
- Mechanical works – low noise, low vibration
- Ceiling tile installation – low noise, low vibration
Should you have any queries regarding the project please contact the Senior Project Manager, Helen Wood, via the Facilities Helpdesk on facilities.helpdesk@lancaster.ac.uk or 01524 593333.
Marketing and Communications
Annual Staff vs Students football match
This years annual staff vs student football match and accompanying BBQ is set for the 16th of June from 1-4pm. In preparation for this the PhD students and Staff practice football sessions are at 6:30pm on Wednesdays on the far astroturf pitch near the sports center. If you would like to join us, you can either request to be added to the emailing list for weekly reminders or search for the Facebook group “Lancaster Physics Postgrad sport”.
All abilities are welcome, if there are any questions/if you’d like to be added to the emailing list please email me at: s.malzard1@lancaster.ac.uk
Simon Malzard
Physics Departmental Photo
For the attention of all Staff & Postgraduate Students
The Department Photo is taking place on Tuesday 6 June at 4:10pm on the Bonington Step.
Louise Crook
Library & Information Skills: Summer term
These sessions are open to staff and students at the University. Feedback from the last two terms has been really good, with participants enjoying the hands on activities and the opportunity to ask questions and get one-to-one advice.
Please find full details of each session from the links below, and register to secure your place.
Understanding Academic Impact with Bibliometrics: Journals, Articles and Authors
This interactive workshop is aimed at research students and staff who wish to learn about the most common bibliometrics and the tools used to measure research impact and influence.
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Library Training Room 2, Taught Session – For Staff & Postgraduate Research students only
Register! – 12 seats left
If you have any questions about the programme please contact academicliaison@lancaster.ac.uk or contact the workshop presenter.
Jonathan gratus & Tanya Williamson
STFC Events
STFC is planning a series of events on Oct 31st as part of an international dark matter day. The events will target both traditional outreach audiences and government to raise the profile of dark matter research in the UK and beyond. I’m looking to organise some activities related to non-WIMP dark matter searches but I know that various members of the department are also involved with dark matter research from a variety of different perspectives. If anyone else is already planning an event for dark matter day or would be interested in being involved with one then please get in touch so that we can coordinate.
Ian Bailey