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Archive news 2018

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PhD viva success!

November 2018

Congratulations to James Barrington on the successful defence of his PhD thesis covering the development of optical fibre long period grating sensors.

James (at the head of the table) celebrating his viva success with the rest of the group. (left to right: Dan Francis, Célia Lourenço, Erica Alcusa-Sáez, Thomas Kissinger, Tom Charrett, James Bremner, James Barrington, Kieran Wiseman, Sam Gibson, and Nick Davis).

 

Engineering Photonics member awarded Royal Academy of Engineering research fellowship

October 2018

Engineering Photonics member Dr Thomas Kissinger has been awarded a prestigious fully-funded Research Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Thomas is one of 17 engineers across the UK selected and the fellowship will provide £491,000 funding over five years, starting in November 2018.

In the project entitled “Doppler-Enhanced Lidar System Using Range-Resolved Interferometry”, Thomas will investigate a new type of interferometric 3D imaging system, originally based on work carried out during his own PhD at Engineering Photonics. This novel device can provide high-quality velocity and acceleration data in addition to 3D images and could potentially be beneficial across a wide range of applications, including manufacturing, robotics, autonomous vehicles and healthcare.  

 

Rank Prize symposium: Grasmere

October 2018

In October, Jonathan Hallam and Ralph Tatam attended the Rank Prize symposium on fibre optic and photonic sensors for industrial and healthcare applications. The symposium was held at the Wordsworth Hotel in Grasmere, which is located in the beautiful Lake District National Park in Cumbria.

Jonathan and Ralph experiencing contrasting weather conditions in the Lake District

Jonathan presented his work on fibre-optic optical coherence tomography for high speed flow measurement applications, whilst Ralph discussed recent developments in engineering photonics for aerospace, manufacturing and healthcare. The symposium was very much enjoyed with lots of three-course meals and a free bar that went on into the night.

Some more views of the Lake District.

Invited presentation

Engineering Photonics: Recent developments in aerospace, manufacturing and healthcare R P Tatam Presented at Rank Prize Funds Symposium on Fibre Optic and Photonic Sensors for Industrial and Healthcare Applications – New Challenges and Opportunities, Grasmere, UK, 2018.

Presentation

Multiplexed optical-fibre coupled optical coherence tomography (OCT) for high speed inspection and monitoring applications J M Hallam, E Rigas, H D Ford, T O H Charrett, and R P Tatam Presented at Rank Prize Funds Symposium on Fibre Optic and Photonic Sensors for Industrial and Healthcare Applications – New Challenges and Opportunities, Grasmere, UK, 2018.  

 

Viva Success!

October 2018

Congratulations to Vangelis Rigas on the successful defence of his PhD thesis covering the use of optical coherence tomography in microfluidic flow velocity measurement.

Vangelis (at the head of the table) celebrating his viva success with the rest of the group. (left to right: Célia Lourenço,  Tom Charrett, Nick Davis, Kieran Wiseman, Vangelis Rigas, Antonio Rendon-Romero, James Bremner, Huseyin Pekmezci, and Dan Francis)

 

Optical Fibre Sensors: Lausanne

September 2018

In September, Antonio Rendon-Romero, Jonathan Hallam, and Steve James travelled to Switzerland to attend the 26th International Conference on Optical Fibre Sensors. Antonio presented a poster on his work on fibre Bragg grating immunosensors and Jonathan delivered a talk on the use of single-mode optical fibres in optical coherence tomography.

Jonathan giving his presentation on optical coherence tomography.

A Fibre Optic Long Period Grating Immunosensor for Campylobacter jejuni with Enhanced Sensitivity by Bacterial Staining  A Rendon-Romero, M Partridge, N Masdor, S W James, I Tothill, and R P Tatam Dual-channel OCT for Velocity Measurement in Microfluidic Channels E Rigas, J M Hallam, H D Ford, T Charrett, and R P Tatam  

 

FLAIR 2018: Assisi

September 2018

In September, James Bremner, one of the department’s PhD researchers attended the Field Laser Applications in Industry and Research (FLAIR) conference in Assisi, Italy. FLAIR is a conference that brings together researchers and industry to discuss new work in the field of molecular species detection. Talks included work on  scales ranging from planetary environmental monitoring to biochemical processes. James presented a poster on his work on the use of Range Resolved Interferometry (RRI) to allow the measurement of methane concentrations in multiple locations simultaneously. As well as a fascinating set of scientific talks and industry presentation, FLAIR included a chance for James to experience the beautiful Umbrian countryside and the history of Assisi, and St. Francis its most famous son. Range resolved interferometric multiplexing of optical fibre coupled gas cells J A A Bremner, T Kissinger, J Hodgkinson, and R P Tatam  

 

Young Researchers’ Futures meeting: Edinburgh

September 2018

In September, Jonathan Hallam returned to Edinburgh to attend the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Young Researchers’ Futures meeting. Organised by the Academy’s panel for Biomedical Engineering, this biennial, multi-disciplinary event provides a forum for the best young engineers and scientists from throughout the UK. Jonathan presented his work on high-speed microfluidic particle velocimetry using optical coherence tomography.

Edinburgh castle from above.

Dual Beam Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) at High Speed for Microfluidic Particle Velocimetry J M Hallam, E Rigas, H D Ford, T Charrett, and R P Tatam  

 

International Mass Spectrometry: Florence

August 2018

In August, Célia Lourenço travelled to Florence to attend the 22nd International Mass Spectrometry Conference. Célia presented two posters covering both her PhD research on mass spectrometry (carried out at The Open University, UK) as well as her recent work in EP investigating the volatile constituent of composite materials at elevated temperatures. The conference was held at the historic “Fortezza da Basso”, a masterpiece of Renaissance military architecture, built in 1534-1537, fully restored and located downtown, a few steps away from many hotels and all the attractions (museums, theatres, monuments, etc) of the city.

Florence from the Villa il Garofalo.

Methodology for qualitative and quantitative analysis of volatile compounds from composite materials at elevated temperatures C Lourenço, S Bergin, D Francis, S Staines, J Hodgkinson, C Walton, J Saffell*, R P Tatam *Alphasense, Essex, UK  

 

Optics and Photonics: San Diego

August 2018

Ralph Tatam presented an invited paper at Interferometry XIX conference, part of SPIE Optics and Photonics meeting held in San Diego, California in August 2018. This is a large meeting with 65 conferences held alongside a technical exhibition.

San Diego, California (© Christopher Chan)

Invited Presentation

 

CIRP ISME: Ischia

July 2018

  In July, Tom Charrett visited Ischia in the Bay of Naples to attend the CIRP Intelligent  Computation in Manufacturing Engineering conference. He presented work on the development of a positioning sensor that combines speckle correlation metrology with range-resolved interferometry. The main scope of the Conference was to provide an international forum for the exchange of the knowledge, information, experience and results as well as the review of progress and discussion on the state-of-the-art and future trends in intelligent computation methods and tools applied to manufacturing processes and systems.

Ischia from Procida (© Antonio Retaggio)

  • Workpiece positioning sensor (wPOS): A three-degree-of-freedom relative end-effector positioning sensor for robotic manufacturing T  O H Charrett, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam

 

Lisbon International Symposium

July 2018

In July, Jonathan Hallam visited Lisbon to attend the 19th edition of the International Symposium on Applications of Laser and Imaging Techniques to Fluid Mechanics. Internationally known simply as the LISBON SYMPOSIA, the event gives the opportunity for researchers and industries to connect and share new advances in laser and imaging techniques for thermo-fluid-dynamics studies, as well as the latest applications in the field. Jonathan presented his work on the use of optical coherence tomography in particle tracking velocimetry.

  • Paired OCT Sensing-Light-Sheets For Rapid Microfluidic PTV J M Hallam, E Rigas, H D Ford, T Charrett, and R P Tatam  

 

ETTC: Nuremburg

June 2018

In June, Erica Alcusa Sáez and Steve James travelled to Nuremburg, Germany to present their work on fibre-optic measurements in wind tunnels at the European Test and Telemetry conference.  The conference provides a forum for the discussion of telemetry technologies for aeronautical, space, automotive, biomedical applications.

Nuremburg (© Jamie Moore).

 

Eurobrake: Den Haag

May 2018

In May, Steve James attended the EuroBrake conference in Den Haag, The Netherlands. He presented work on optical measurements of brake pad pressure distributions. EuroBrake forum was created in 2012 to address the profound changes in the demands made by the braking industry’s customers and end-users, and to provide a forum for companies and engineers working in the area of brake technology to come together to share ideas.

Binnenhof, Den Haag

  • Experimental investigation of  disc/pad interface pressure distributions using optical sensors P Lenormand, B Major, D Gonzalez Correas, J Voveris, D Tiwari, S W James*, M Tirovic, S Staines and R P Tatam  

 

Photonics Europe 2018: Strasbourg

April 2018

In April, Jane and Dan attended the SPIE Photonics Europe conference in Strasbourg, capital of the Alsace-Lorraine region and centre of the European Parliament. The conference is the largest of its kind in Europe covering  the most significant photonics technologies—from digital optics to quantum technologies to attosecond science.

Grande Île de Strasbourg from Petite France. (© D.Francis)

Jane had an invited presentation on her work on the use of integrating spheres as gas cells and Dan presented recent work on refractive index measurement using low-coherence interferometry. Both talks were in the Optical Sensing and Detection conference. The talks went well and were well attended even though they were at awkward times – Jane was at 8:30 in the morning and Dan was in the afternoon of the last day!

Jane and Dan at Photonics Europe, Strasbourg.

Conference presentations

 

Physics in Food Manufacturing: Edinburgh

January 2018

In January, Jonathan Hallam attended the Institute of Physics first annual meeting of the Physics in Food Manufacturing group, held at the University of Edinburgh.  He presented his work on depth-resolved, metre-per-second flow measurement using optical coherence tomography.

Panorama of Edinburgh city from Arthur’s Seat.

  • Depth-resolved monitoring of fluidic flows at m/s velocities and micrometre resolution using Optical Coherence Tomography via a single optical fibre access port J M Hallam, E Rigas, H D Ford, T Charrett, and R P Tatam.

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