Red blood cells play a critical role in the human body, transporting oxygen to our cells. Anomalies in the way these cells flow through the body are associated with many serious diseases worldwide, and as such, are of great interest to researchers seeking to tackle some of society’s most significant healthcare challenges. Academics from the School of Engineering have co-authored a new paper in the Biophysical Journal which reports an unexpected discovery in the way these blood cells flow and arrange themselves under laboratory conditions, with important implications for future experimental research in this field.
Dr Camilla Thomson, the School’s Chancellor’s Fellow in Energy, and alumna Clare Lavelle, who is Head of Energy Consultancy at Arup, have been named in the Top 50 Women in Engineering in the UK by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES).
PhD student Kyle Walker has won a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Summer Program fellowship to travel to Japan and conduct robotics research as part of his PhD studies.
The School of Engineering is to play a major role in a new centre supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and manufacture innovative medical devices in Scotland.
Researchers in the School of Engineering have helped develop innovative new technology which could transform how Scotland’s historic buildings are managed, maintained and repaired. Dr Frédéric Bosché, the School’s Senior Lecturer in Construction Informatics, has worked with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and Heriot-Watt University to develop the technology which has just been launched as a free software tool.
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.