Projects for Lent term 2008
1. A novel electric microsensor
Contact: Ibraheem Haneef, ih238@cam.ac.uk, CAPE
Mentor: Adrian Swinburne
These novel patent-pending microsensors have been developed at the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics over the past three years, combining expertise from a number of areas including semiconductor design and aeronautical engineering. The sensors have been initially designed to measure the skin friction on aircraft in flight, but have the capabilities to be used in a much wider range of applications, including biomedical, automotive and marine uses. In fact any application where it is important to measure and analyse flows of liquids or gases over a solid surface may be relevant.
The microsensors are CMOS-based, making them cheap to manufacture, reliable, and of improved performance compared to other types of similar sensors. They can vary in size from 10-100 microns in diameter, and successfully deliver the sensitivities and fast response times needed for real-time monitoring of fluid flows over aerodynamic surfaces. In the aerospace industry, it is hoped that the improved measurements delivered by these sensors will enable systems to be developed that improve both fuel consumption and performance of future aircraft.
The role of the i-Team will be to work with the technical research team to identify and investigate the wide range of alternative applications for the technology, helping to ensure that the technology gains the strongest possible patent protection, and influencing the future development of the invention.
2. Finding real-world uses for a new material made from recycled waste
Contact: Dai Morgan, dcm32@cam.ac.uk, Institute for Manufacturing
Mentor: TBC
Over the past 2 years, Dai Morgan has been focused on developing a low-energy, low-cost approach to dealing with a certain form of industrial polymer-based waste. Previous recycling approaches required a large energy input and produced noxious waste products. In contrast, Dai's method uses relatively little energy and results in a plastic-type material with a leathery consistency. At lab scale, this can be produced in small sheets of material, up to 150mm wide.
This efficient process developed at the Institute for Manufacturing will only be adopted commercially if a valuable use can be found for the resulting material, allowing it to be sold onto other companies with a higher margin than its scrap value. The detailed physical properties of the material will be measured over the next few months, and it is expected that different characteristics will be important for different applications. The final use for the material could well affect the details of the recycling process, in particular in defining the size and form factor required for the resultant material.
The i-Team's challenge will be to identify and recommend specific applications where the new material can be best used, to the maximum commercial advantage, and also identify which physical characteristics of the material are important to the different uses that they find.
3. Low-cost short pulse lasers (nanoSolutions)
Contact: Dr. Andrea Ferrari, scf26@cam.ac.uk, Dr. Alexey Rozhin, or233@cam.ac.uk, Claudio Marinelli, Claudio.Marinelli@advancenanotech.com, CAPE
Mentor: Marc Bax
The nanoSolutions team has developed a unique composite material using carbon nanotubes and flexible polymers, which can be deployed in a range of photonics applications. The particular application of interest to the i-Team is the use of this material to produce low-cost femtosecond pulse lasers for a variety of applications.
Four patents have been filed for the invention, which enables rapid pulse lasers to be manufactured very simply for a fraction of the cost of current systems. By tuning the system appropriately, the duration of the pulses can be varied between 100-1000 femto-seconds, and the pulse repetition rate can also be modified. The laser wavelength can be in the 1-2 microns range. Working systems are available today for trial by early partners.
There are a wide range of commercial applications for short-pulse lasers, in particular micromachining (for example for rapid prototyping), and biomedical uses for both low-precision and high-precision surgeries. The advantage of an ultrashort pulse (<1ps) laser compared to a short pulse (>1ps) or continuous wave is that the cutting process works differently, and the ultrashort pulse laser will usually produce a cleaner cut with less collateral damage to the surrounding material. In addition, ultrashort pulse lasers are used widely in a number of research fields, including optics, biology, spectroscopy and telecommunications.
The i-Team will need to investigate possible applications of these new nanotube-based photonic composites and the corresponding ultrafast lasers, as well as the specific requirements for the lasers in each application. The first question is whether the laser in its current specification could be used in any real-world applications. The second is which are the most attractive applications for the laser, and what changes would need to be made to address those markets. In addition the researchers are looking for recommendations on whether to look at developing complete laser systems to supply to customers, or simply optical components for incorporation into existing systems.
4. Modelling fractal connectivity in long-memory networks
Contact: Professor Ed Bullmore, etb23@cam.ac.uk, Maher Khaled, Maher.Khaled@enterprise.cam.ac.uk, Cambridge Neuroscience
Mentor: TBC
Professor Bullmore and his team focus on the imaging of cognitive functions in the brain, using techniques such as MRI. In studying the results of this imaging they discovered the unexpected result that at low frequencies, brain activity representing interconnection between different areas of the brain has the same topology at all frequencies up to 30Hz. In order to understand the significance of this result, and to see whether or not it might apply to other complex systems, the team developed a mathematical model using the techniques of time series analysis and wavelets.
The model has been successfully used to assess the long-range properties of both neurological data and of the trading volumes of stocks in the financial markets, and Professor Bullmore is now interested in investigating other uses for this novel methodology. It is expected that the technique will apply to any system which exhibits long-term behaviour trends as well as short-term variation. This could include areas as diverse as climate data, oceanographic behaviour, seismic data, the spread of diseases, or even the use of different forms of transport.
The i-Team's role will be to work with Professor Bullmore to identify appropriate applications for the model, and to investigate whether or not the model would enhance the techniques currently used in those areas. It is expected that the most generally-applicable part of the research is the Estimator, which allows the parameters describing the long-term behaviour to be estimated simply from limited amounts of data.
5. Low voltage nano pumps for narrow channels
Contact: Professor Charles Smith, cgs4@cam.ac.uk, Physics Department
Mentor: TBC
Professor Charles Smith who works at the Cavendish Laboratory is the joint founder of a spin out company, Cambridge Lab on Chip Ltd. Professor Smith and his team have developed a nano pump technology which uses low AC voltages to pump fluids though narrow channels. The company has performed some development work to show how the concept works and has patented the technology.
The nano pump technology works best when fluid needs to move at a slow speed between two reservoirs; it is not designed for rapid ejection of fluids. Having proved that the invention can be used in practice for microfluidic pumping, Professor Smith is now interested in identifying the best market and applications for the technology, since it can be used in a wide range of fields, including diagnostic and drug delivery (mostly expected to be in implants), methanol fuel cells and colour reflective displays.
The role of the i-Team will be to work with Professor Smith to identify the best uses for the nano pumps. The team will look at the three quite different areas that the inventors have already identified, as well as any other applications that prove to be appropriate.
i-Team's role will be to work with Professor Bullmore to identify appropriate applications for the model, and to investigate whether or not the model would enhance the techniques currently used in those areas. It is expected that the most generally-applicable part of the research is the Estimator, which allows the parameters describing the long-term behaviour to be estimated simply from limited amounts of data.