At a time when most labs are closed, Professor Grunde Jomaas from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering is part of a team carrying out unique experiments in a very remote location – a spacecraft in orbit.
The School’s Dr Daniel Friedrich is to lead a new three-year project to investigate what role Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) systems could play in decarbonising the heating and cooling systems in our businesses, homes and industries, while continuing to meet our fluctuating energy needs.
A group of academics within our School is leading a research team which have assessed a range of face coverings to test whether they could potentially help limit the spread of Covid-19. The team made a series of findings that could aid policymakers producing guidance on the wearing of masks to help combat the virus, which can be spread in small droplets of water in people’s breath.
Postgraduate researcher Mairi Dorward has won a research grant from the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers (WCSIM) towards her work in ocean renewable energy. The WCSIM research grants, which are worth £2,000 each, are given each year in recognition of projects that involve innovative scientific development, and enable recipients to become Scientific Instrument Maker (SIM) Scholars.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented demand for protective gear, and the School has been at the forefront of local efforts to supply key workers with face shields.
A fire engineering researcher from the School, Professor Luke Bisby, has appeared in a new BBC documentary about the race to save Notre Dame cathedral following a catastrophic fire in April 2019. A year after the world-famous landmark was partially destroyed by an inferno, the documentary follows efforts to save the building, which began with the firefighters’ battle on the night and continues with the painstaking reconstruction work of engineers, conservationists, scientists, architects, and others.
Academics from the School of Engineering are working on a new multidisciplinary project led by Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) to research and develop the next generation of hearing aids to help improve the lives of people with hearing impairment.
The School’s Dr Timm Krüger is seeking to improve our understanding of ‘placental insufficiency’ through a new three-year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which will investigate the role of placental structure, blood flow and nutrient transport in pre-eclampsia and foetal growth restriction. Pre-term and stillbirths affect up to 10% of all deliveries, including in developed countries such as the UK.
Dr Parvez Alam from the School of Engineering is part of a team of international researchers who have documented a previously unknown behaviour in the mudskipper fish. The team travelled to Java where they observed the mudskipper hopping across water as well as climbing trees and scaling rock surfaces.
We are delighted to present our plans to create a new Maker Space within the School of Engineering for our students. Our vision is to provide a creative and functional space where students can practise, create and innovate. MakerSpace@Eng will be a place for our students to grow and learn in a stimulating, bespoke environment, engaging in hands-on projects where they will have the opportunity to bring their learning to life and transform ideas into three-dimensional reality.
