Heat demand which has large seasonal variations and high morning peak ramp-up rates, is responsible for 44% of the total energy demand in the UK and mainly supplied through the natural gas grid.
Congratulations to the Edinburgh University Formula Student (EUFS) team for winning the artificial intelligence (AI) division of the Formula Student competition for the third year in a row!
Fourth year chemical engineering student Neema Nabavian has been busy since the start of lockdown, working with a healthcare tech start-up on a project to improve cancer diagnosis using artificial intelligence (AI).
To mark this year's International Women in Engineering Day, we interviewed Ewa, Alliance, Stella, Luisa, and Linda, team members of HYPED. HYPED is a student society based in the School of Engineering which works on Hyperloop technology. Hyperloop is a proposed form of future mass transport based on a network of near-vacuum steel tubes, through which magnetically levitating pods would transport humans and cargo. Pioneers of the technology have suggested that it could shorten a journey such as Edinburgh to London to 30 minutes.
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).
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.
Azar Besharat-Moayeri (née Besharat) graduated in 1967 – the first woman to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Edinburgh. Since graduating, Azar has moved from Iran to Canada, triumphing over adversity to her hair removal product business, Parissa, into a thriving, recognised brand. Recently, Azar has again adapted to changing circumstances by turning her business over to the production of hand sanitiser during the Covid-19 pandemic.