Projects for Michaelmas term 2008
1.Magnetic memory elements
Contact: Christoforos Moutafis, cm361@cam.ac.uk, Physics
Mentor: Marc Bax
The Thin Film Magnetism group at the Cavendish, led by Dr Crispin Barnes, has developed a number of small-scale memory storage and biotagging technologies in recent years. The new technology for this i-Team project relies on topological switching of magnetic elements to create non-volatile memory.
The technology can apply to both computer memory and small-scale biological tagging applications. It allows ultra-fast writing of data (5ns), multiple reading techniques, and the memory is stable once written, without power being required.
The system works by creating magnetic bubbles and manipulating the wall between the inner and outer zones which are magnetised in opposite directions. Such bubbles can be less than 160nm in size, and work is in progress to investigate reducing this further.
The task for the i-Team is to investigate possible applications of the technology, and to determine how much further the technology would need to be developed to make those applications commercially viable.
2. Microdroplet microfluidic reactors
Contact: Professor Wilhelm Huck, wtsh2@cam.ac.uk, Chemistry
Mentor: Dr. Julian White, MDS Analytical Technologies
The research team led by Professor Huck have developed a high-throughput assay technology platform that allows a number of experiments to be conducted in parallel. Each experiment is confined to a separate microscopic compartment, formed by making a water-in-oil emulsion. Each compartment consists of a microdroplet of water which contains all the ingredients for a unique experiment, and is separated from the other compartments by a continuous oil phase.
An example of this could be the generation of novel biological catalysts, where each droplet would contain a gene and an in vitro transcription/translation system with all the necessary ingredients for in vitro protein expression. Other applications could include combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery, where many similar but non-identical molecules need to be created and tested, and cell sorting.
The inventors lead a 20 person research team at the University of Cambridge, which brings together expertise in the fields of chemistry and biology, and which has received a £5 million grant to continue research in the area of microdroplets technology. This will allow them to build on their 10 years of experience and further their track record of academic publication in this area.
The i-Team’s challenge will be to identify novel applications for the assay platform, and to assess which of these applications have the greatest need for a platform of this kind, by contacting relevant industry experts. This will help to direct the future research and commercial development directions for the inventors.
3. A miniature cell-cultivator
Contact: Dr. Cyril Picard, chp32@cam.ac.uk, Biological and Soft Systems
Mentor: Marc Bax
Dr. Cyril Picard originally developed a self-contained miniature environmental chamber to allow him to observe biological cells over a period of a few days. Previously this was done by building a sealed chamber around the microscope stage. Since the chamber has been developed and used for observing cells, the researchers have realised that it may well have a broader range of uses, as it can also be used in conjunction with several other optical analysis techniques. In particular it may prove useful for a range of medical procedures such as cell biopsies.
The chamber allows easy control of the medium in which the cells are cultivated, easy control of the atmosphere surrounding the cells, and easy control of the temperature. It also allows the use of any transparent cell substrate. In addition, the chamber can be held in any orientation, allowing it to be used upside down on a non-inverted microscope to place the cells as close as possible to the microscope objective.
The i-Team will work closely with the researchers to identify possible areas of use for the environmental chamber. They will also be tasked with contacting medical equipment suppliers and hospitals to determine interest in the device, and examining the purchasing procedures of hospitals for this type of equipment.
4. A Chinese speech recognition system
Contact: Yuandong Lin, yl272@cam.ac.uk, Institute for Manufacturing & Dr. Kai Yu, Machine Intelligence Group, Engineering
Mentor: Adrian Swinburne
AI Speech were finalists in the 2008 CUE £5k business creation competition. The team has developed a new software product for teaching spoken Chinese to non-native speakers. This software is based on speech recognition and analysis technology which uses the latest methods and approaches, tailored specifically for the needs of the Chinese language.
The first released product is expected to focus on spoken language teaching in a range of scenarios. For example, individuals could use it to study spoken Chinese, either online or on their own computers, and it could be used as a resource in schools and universities, both in the classroom and for practice at home. However there is a wide range of other potential uses for this technology which the AI Speech team are keen to investigate.
The i-Team will work with Dr. Kai Yu (Research Associate, Machine Intelligence Group), Yuangdong Lin (Visitor at the IfM) and Shixing Gao to investigate novel applications for the speech recognition system, and to recommend the best areas for its use. For each application area they will also investigate the best customers to target with that market - for example, in the education market the team would investigate the advantages and disadvantages of approaching schools directly or partnering with existing suppliers of educational technology.