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Engineering Photonics student selected for STEMship programme
December 2019
Sam Gibson is one of 30 students nationwide who will embark on the two-year support programme which offers, amongst other benefits, a £1,500 scholarship, an overseas experience at a leading engineering institution, and membership to the Women’s Engineering Society (WES). The programme, launched by Santander UK, is dedicated to supporting female engineering students and aims to encourage more women to embark on a career in the UK engineering industry.
The WES membership included an invitation to The Society’s Caroline Haslett Lecture and Awards Ceremony at the end of October. The lecture was given by Dr Anne Stevens, an engineer whose roles have included COO of Ford Motor Company and CEO of the automotive and aerospace company GKN. There was a Q&A session before the event with Dr Stevens, who had advice on forging a career in engineering and standing up for oneself in a male-dominated working environment. The evening was an excellent networking opportunity, and Sam especially enjoyed catching up with the students she’d met at the launch event at Silverstone.
IR WORKshop: Princeton, NJ
November 2019
In November, Jane Hodgkinson travelled to Princeton University, New Jersey, to attend Laser Components’ 7th International WORKshop on Infrared Technologies. She also presented a joint paper with Cranfield University’s National Flying Laboratory on the use of retroreflective materials in maritime search and rescue.
The workshop focusses on new developments in all fields of IR technology such as detectors, sources and filters, instrument subsystems, as well as commercial applications. Short, concise presentations are not only delivered to convey information, but also to serve as a basis for the exchange of thoughts, concepts and ideas.
Presentation title
IR performance of retroreflective materials in maritime search and rescue
J Hodgkinson, J Nixon*, C Bennett+, and R P Tatam
*Centre for Safety & Accident Investigation, Cranfield University, +National Flying Laboratory, Cranfield University
PGI conference, NPL 2019
November 2019
The Postgraduate Institute for measurement science (PGI) conference brings together experts and practitioners in the field. Now in its fourth year, the PGI celebrates the success of its unique strategic partnership with the University of Surrey and University of Strathclyde. Students, scientists, academics, industry and others will present their latest advances in science and the impact it is creating on health, the environment and society.
Conference poster
A transfer and scattering matrix model of the NPL plane mirror differential interferometer
A Bridges, A Yacoot*, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
*NPL, Teddington, UK
IEEE Sensors: Montreal 2019
October 2019
In October, Laura Aime attended the 2019 IEEE Sensors conference in Montreal, Canada to present her work on the development of a Fibre Bragg grating pressure sensor.
Conference paper
Optical fiber Bragg grating based pressure sensor using a composite diaphragm for pressure measurements
L F J Aime, A Verzeletti*, S W James, and R P Tatam
*Mercedes, Brackley, UK
Nanoscale 2019: Braunschweig
October 2019
Nanoscale 2019, held on the 15th-16th October, comprises the 12th Seminar on Quantitative Microscopy (QM) and the 8th Seminar on Nanoscale Calibration, Standards and Methods.
Conference poster
A transfer and scattering matrix model of the NPL plane mirror differential interferometer
A Bridges, A Yacoot*, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
*NPL, Teddington, UK
The Enlighten Conference 2019
October 2019
Co-located with Photonex and VacuumExpo, The Enlighten Conference features application and technology advances, innovations and emerging technologies in photonics and optical technologies. It comprises one and two-day conferences, one-day meeting programmes, training and educational masterclass workshops. Each meeting is carefully crafted and brings you the opportunity to meet some of Europe’s brightest minds. Join the conference, stay all day in one meeting, or pick and choose different talks from different meetings.
Conference presentations
Absolute angle measurement using correlation of dual wavelength laser speckle
S Gibson, T O H Charrett, and R P Tatam
A matrix modelling approach for displacement measuring interferometer design
A Bridges, A Yacoot*, T Kissinger and R P Tatam
*National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK
Novel interferometric stage encoder design for two-dimensional displacement measurements through a single optical access port
K Wiseman, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
MFHS 2019: Enschede
October 2019
In October, Vangelis Rigas travelled to Enschede in the Twente region of The Netherlands to attend the fourth conference on MicroFluidic Handling Systems.
Worldwide, accurate handling — i.e. analysis, dosage, measurement and control — of small and extremely small mass flow rates of both gases and liquids is becoming more and more important, driven by numerous applications.
The focus of this conference is mainly on the technology, components, devices and systems that enable the application in microfluidic systems. We invite submission of papers on systems and devices for accurate handling (e.g. dosing, measurement, analysis and control) of (extremely) small mass flow rates of both gases and liquids, and corresponding measurement and control principles.
Conference presentation
Dual beam optical coherence tomography for spatially-resolved depth-section microfluidic flow velocimetry
J M Hallam, E Rigas, T O H Charrett, and R P Tatam
EWOFS 2019: Limassol
October 2019
The seventh edition of the European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors, EWOFS’2019 is being held at the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol, Cyprus. This initiative aims at promoting a scientific meeting with a high level of interaction between participants, enabling an open debate and the assessment of new concepts, technologies and applications in the domain of optical fibre sensors, as well as establishment of new collaborations and networks. EWOFS’2019 also intends to complement in time and geographical location the international conferences in this area, and in particular the International Conference on Optical Fibre Sensors (OFS).
Conference presentation
Ground vibration testing of a helicopter rotor blade using optical fibre sensors
T Kissinger, S Weber*+, E Chehura, J Barrington, S Staines, S W James, M Lone*, and R P Tatam
*Centre for Aeronautics, Cranfield University; +Airbus Helicopters, UK
EUSPEN: Special Interest Group Meeting
September 2019
The 6th in the series of joint Special Interest Group meeting between EUSPEN and ASPE on Advancing Precision in Additive Manufacturing (September 16th – 18th) is crucial to putting additive manufacturing (AM) onto the factory floor.
Topics:
· Dimensional Accuracy and Surface Finish from Additive Manufacturing
· Design for Precision
· Designing and Characterizing AM Machines
· Standards
· Integrating AM into Holistic Manufacturing Process
· Metrology
Conference presentation
Measurements of Wire + Arc additive manufacturing layer heights during arc operation using coherent range-resolved interferometry (CO-RRI)
T Kissinger, B Gomis*, J Ding*, S W Williams*, and R P Tatam
*Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Centre, Cranfield University
BSSM’s 14th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Mechanics
September 2019
The British Society for Strain Measurement’s 14th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Mechanics, held from the 10th – 12th September in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the latest in a series of conferences organised by the BSSM showcasing novel and innovative research in Experimental Mechanics.
Conference presentation
Measurement of helicopter rotor blade vibration modes using fibre optic sensing techniques
T Kissinger, S Weber*+, E Chehura, J Barrington, S Staines, S W James, M Lone*, and R P Tatam
*Centre for Aeronautics, Cranfield University; +Airbus Helicopters, UK
PhD viva success!
July 2019
Congratulations to Antonio Rendon-Romero who successfully passed his PhD viva covering his work on long-period grating sensors for Campylobacter jejuni detection.
SPIE Optical Metrology: Munich 2019
June 2019
SPIE’s biennial Optical Metrology conference was held in Munich in June 2019. Engineering Photonics was represented by Tom Charrett, Dan Francis, Sam Gibson, Thomas Kissinger, and Kieran Wiseman, who all presented within the Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection sub-conference.
During the opening talk ‘Hot Topics in Classical Interferometry’ by Peter de Groot of Zygo Coorporation, Thomas Kissinger was highlighted as one the key talks to see. Later, at the Optical Metrology plenary session, former Engineering Photonics research fellow and PhD student Roger Groves was awarded an SPIE fellowship.
Conference papers
- The use of parabolic mirrors in combined low-coherence and confocal refractive index measurement
D Francis, H D Ford, J M Hallam, and R P Tatam
Presented at Optical Metrology, Munich, Germany, June 2019
Proc. SPIE 11056 Article number 1105610 (2019) - Two-dimensional remote interferometric stage encoder through a single access port using range-resolved interferometry
K Wiseman, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
Presented at Optical Metrology, Munich, Germany, June 2019
Proc. SPIE 11056 Article number 110560C (2019) - Differential displacement measurements along a single beam using range-resolved interferometry
T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
Presented at Optical Metrology, Munich, Germany, June 2019
Proc. SPIE 11056 Article number 110560E (2019) - Absolute angle measurement using dual-wavelength laser speckle for robotic manufacturing
S J Gibson, T O H Charrett, and R P Tatam
Presented at Optical Metrology, Munich, Germany, June 2019
Proc. SPIE 11056 Article number 110560K (2019) - Multi degree-of-freedom position sensing by combination of laser speckle correlation and range-resolved interferometry
T O H Charrett, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
Presented at Optical Metrology, Munich, Germany, June 2019
Proc. SPIE 11056 Article number 110563K (2019)
PIERS: Rome 2019
June 2019
In June, Jane Hodgkinson took a long train journey to Rome to present an invited paper on laser spectroscopy instrumentation for detection of volatile biomarkers of infectious disease at PIERS. PIERS, the PhotonIcs and Electromagnetics Research Symposium held its 41st edition at the Faculty of Engineering – University of Rome “La Sapienza”.
Invited Conference Presentation
Spectroscopic Instrumentation for Measurement of Gaseous and Volatile Biomarkers of Infectious Disease
J Hodgkinson, D Francis, C Walton, C Lourenço, J Sizer*, P Black, B Livingstone, D P Fowler, M K Patel, and R P Tatam
EUSPEN: June 2019
June 2019
In June, the 19th international conference and exhibition of the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (EUSPEN) was held in Bilbao, Spain. Engineering Photonics was represented by Angus Bridges who presented his work on non-linearity correction algorithms in interferometry.
Conference Paper
A comparison of non-linearity correction algorithms in optical interferometry
A Bridges, T Kissinger, A Yacoot*, and R P Tatam
*NPL, Teddington, UK
Fibre optic shape sensing colloquium: London 2019
May 2019
Thomas Kissinger, in his role as a member of the Instrument science and technology group (ISAT) committee of the Institute of Physics, organised a meeting entitled “Fibre optic shape and deformation sensing: an emerging technology” at the IoP in London 7th May 2019. The meeting featured presentations from researchers from the UK, Netherlands and Ireland with an interest in the development and practical application of fibre-optic based techniques for the measurement of shape. The talks covered applications in diverse areas, including biomedical, aerospace, civil engineering, and flow measurement.
Presentations
- Overview of fibre-optic shape and deformation sensing techniques
Thomas Kissinger
Presented at the IoP meeting ‘Fibre optic shape and deformation sensing: an emerging technology’, London, May 2019 - Fibre-optic shape sensing for aerospace structures
Stephen James
Presented at the IoP meeting ‘Fibre optic shape and deformation sensing: an emerging technology’, London, May 2019
Nucleus STEM lecture: Optical Fibre Technology
May 2019
In May, Steve James gave a lecture to Key-Stage 3 students at Northampton Academy as part of the Nucleus series of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) lectures.
Professor James talked about how optical fibres are produced, and how methods have changed to become more efficient. He demonstrated optical fibres and explained the history of optical fibres, which goes back a lot further than most people would expect. He also explained some of the uses of optical fibres, that go beyond the use in communications that we are most familiar with; including how optical fibres can be used as sensors for chemicals, gases, pressure and force. Some of the uses of optical fibres being studied and developed include testing rail components, the stress on aircraft wings and environmental sensors.
This led to some excellent questions from the students and expanded their interest in this field.
Photonics West, San Francisco 2019
February 2019
In February, Kevin Mullaney travelled to the US to present his latest work on accurate laser frequency stabilisation at OPTO. The OPTO conference is part of SPIE’s Photonics West and is held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
OPTO is one of the largest and most important optoelectronics conferences in the calendar and addresses the latest developments in a broad range of optoelectronic technologies and their integration for a variety of commercial applications.
Conference paper
- Wavelength-locking of a semiconductor laser using an electronic technique
K Mullaney, J Hodgkinson, S Staines and R P Tatam
Presented at OPTO (Part of SPIE Photonics West), San Francisco, USA, February 2019
Proc. SPIE 10925 Article number 109250X (2019)
AIAA SciTech Forum: San Diego 2019
January 2019
In January, Steve James travelled to the US to attend the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech) . The paper he presented was part of a special session “BladeSense – A novel approach for measuring helicopter rotor blade deformation” at which members of the Bladesense project, including Steve, Simone Weber, and Mudassir Lone from Cranfield University, and Dominic Southgate from Helitune, gave a series of talks leading the audience through the project and progress to date.
Conference presentation
- A novel direct fibre optic shape sensing approach
S W James, T Kissinger, K Mullaney, E Chehura, J Barrington, S Staines, and R P Tatam
Presented at the AIAA SciTech Forum, San Diego, USA 7-11 Jan 2019
MetMap: Sheffield 2019
January 2019
In January, Tom Charrett and Thomas Kissenger attended MetMap: The integrated metrology for precision manufacturing conference, held at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield.
Tom presented their joint paper describing their work developing a multi-dimensional position sensor for robotic applications. The presentation slides can be seen here
Conference presentation
- 3D positioning for industrial robotics
T O H Charrett, T Kissinger, and R P Tatam
Presented at MetMap 2019,
Sheffield, January 2019