Engineering & Computer Science
Dr Ali Mesbah – Learning-Based Performance Optimisation of Uncertain Systems
Many systems in nature change in random, unpredictable ways over time. From the motions of microscopic particles in fluids to the daily price of stocks, random processes play a large role in systems we interact with every day. Also, because of our incomplete...
Dr Yier Jin | Dr Cliff Zou – Cyberforensic.net – Training Many to Fight Cyber Crime
People are sharing more personal information online than ever before. It is essential, therefore, that robust security and privacy systems are in place to protect it. Furthermore, experts in the field of cybersecurity are essential. Drawing on their extensive research...
I2R – At the Forefront of Imaging & Remote Sensing
Scientists and engineers often need tailored remote sensing instruments to understand complex phenomena. ‘Innovative Imaging and Research’, or ‘I2R’, located at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, is developing such instruments for particularly...
BreezoMeter – Mapping Allergies: A Modern Approach to Pollen Prevalence Reporting
For seasonal allergy sufferers, the warm spring weather that delights most comes with unpleasant symptoms and breathing difficulties. However, most methods of predicting pollen abundance are not precise enough to help the afflicted avoid high pollen areas. BreezoMeter...
Dr Huu Duc Vo | Dr Njuki Mureithi – Improving Aircraft Performance with Plasma Actuators
Aeroplanes are required to change their trajectory many times during a flight. A system of adjustable surfaces that manage lift is typically used to meet this requirement. However, Dr Huu Duc Vo and Dr Njuki Mureithi from École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada, have...
Dr Larysa Baraban – Professor Gianaurelio Cuniberti – Pioneering Nanotechnology Research for Macroscale Applications
Good things come in small packages. Dr Larysa Baraban, Professor Gianaurelio Cuniberti and their colleagues at TU Dresden, Germany, are leading the charge in the application of nanotechnology in fields as diverse as biotechnology, environmental protection and...
Dr Wei-Chau Xie – Shaking Up the Physics of Vibration
Nuclear power plants may be some of the most secure structures in our society, but when subjected to earthquakes, they have the potential to cause major disasters. Dr Wei-Chau Xie of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, is now developing algorithms for...
Dr Shikharesh Majumdar – Improving High Performance Data Analytics Platforms & Smart Systems: Resource Management and Middleware
Our rapidly increasing production of data is straining computer infrastructures to unprecedented levels. As researchers develop much-needed coping mechanisms, Dr Shikharesh Majumdar at Carleton University focuses on two important solutions to the issue: creating...
Professor Gert Bange | Dr Wieland Steinchen – Bridging the Gap Between Protein Structure and Dynamics
Proteins are present in all living organisms. The unique functions they perform in biochemical processes are dependent on their three-dimensional structure. Dr Wieland Steinchen and Professor Gert Bange, from the Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and...
Dr Andreas Heyn – Cutting the Cost of Corrosion
$2.5 Trillion USD. That’s the most recent estimate for how much corrosion costs us globally every year. That’s about the same as the Gross Domestic Product of the entire UK. It’s no wonder, then, that there is an international push for better ways to detect and repair...
Dr Gernot Schaller – Maxwell’s Demon: Extracting Energy from Chaos
Since it was theorised over 150 years ago, physicists have viewed the concept of ‘Maxwell’s demon’ as a highly desirable yet ultimately unattainable source of energy. For over a century, the device seemed to work theoretically, but a fundamental barrier prevented it...
Professor Gustaaf Jacobs – Modelling Shock Waves and Particle Interactions in High-Speed Flows
Understanding how shock waves, flow dynamics and turbulence all interact and affect the distribution of particles has applications ranging from high-speed vehicles to explosions and even ocean sediment dynamics. Professor Gustaaf Jacobs at San Diego State University...
Dr Rens van de Schoot – Statistical Methods for Small Data
Researchers are heavily reliant on statistical techniques that are based on large sample sizes. Therefore, attempts to gain useful information from small samples can often lead to biased, or incorrect conclusions. Dr Rens van de Schoot at Utrecht University has shown...
Linh Le – Bonbouton: Leading the Charge in Wearable Healthcare Technology
At Bonbouton, Linh Le and his colleagues are creating a ground-breaking new range of wearable healthcare technologies. These products can track vital signs such as skin temperature and muscle motion, empowering people with the knowledge and data they need to monitor...
Professor Thomas Voigtmann – Non-Equilibrium Materials: Bridging a Gap in Understanding
Measuring the mechanical properties of different materials by analysing their behaviour is a familiar task to many scientists and engineers. Yet for some more unusual materials, large-scale material properties are incredibly difficult to predict using current methods....
Dr Lori Silverman – Harnessing Mobile Technology to Improve Student Retention
Dr Lori Silverman, an expert in education and student retention, is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Colytix. The company, founded in 2016, is developing innovative tools for higher education students to improve success and retention rates in class, while...
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Founded in 1880, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is a non-profit organisation that facilitates collaboration, career development and upskilling across all engineering disciplines. Now representing more than 130,000 members in 151 countries, the...
Dr Floris Roelofsen – Inquisitive Semantics: A New Mathematical Framework for Analysing Linguistic Meaning
Semantics is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning in human languages. Dr Floris Roelofsen, Professor at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), at the University of Amsterdam, has been collaborating with some of his colleagues on a...
Professor Gerhard Heyer | Dr Michael Richter – Models for Understanding Language
Languages are filled with unexplored quirks that can be attributed to more than their mere design. The way we use words has an interdependent relationship with the rules of that language. Professor Gerhard Heyer and Dr Michael Richter of the University of Leipzig have...
The US National Academy of Engineering
Founded in 1964, the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is a private, independent, non-profit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. It has a long and illustrious history serving the American people in its role to advise and...
Dr Saniya LeBlanc – A Holistic Approach to the Energy Crisis
Energy surrounds us in everything that we do – it’s in the sunlight that lights our world, it’s in the Earth beneath our feet, and it radiates from our own bodies. Yet we are currently facing an energy crisis like no other. New technologies are needed to push past...
Dr Grace Chang | Dr Craig Jones – Towards Low-Cost, Low-Impact Marine Renewable Energy
As we move towards a sustainable future, there is a growing interest in marine renewable energy technologies such as marine hydrokinetic devices and offshore wind turbines. However, the viability of these technologies and the potential environmental effects associated...
Dr John Ginger – Understanding the Effects of Severe Windstorms on Buildings
As natural disasters are affecting an increasing number of people worldwide, risk mitigation by design is of primary concern to engineers. One of those engineers is Dr John Ginger, Professor of Civil Engineering and Research Director of the Cyclone Testing Station at...
Dr Samantha Meenach – A Three-Dimensional Model of Lung Cancer
New and successful drug development for the treatment of lung cancer requires imaginative and creative thinking by scientists and doctors alike. Dr Samantha Meenach and her colleagues at the University of Rhode Island have developed an innovative approach for testing...
Professor Philip Walther – Indefinite Causal Order: Faster Computers and Fundamental Questions
Quantum mechanics has greatly improved the speeds at which computers make calculations, but new research shows that quantum computers can be made to run even faster. Professor Philip Walther and his team at the University of Vienna have shown that the very orders in...
Professor Hans De Raedt – Software for Realistic Simulations of Quantum Systems
The potential capabilities of universal quantum computers have many of us excited, but there’s one problem – we aren’t close to building complex, functional quantum computers just yet. In the meantime, scientists need to test the capabilities of quantum computing...
Professor Colin Wolden | Professor Douglas Way – Saving the World through Fertiliser and Fuel
At the turn of the century, two unassuming chemists collaborated on the seemingly mundane task of converting nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia. At the end of their collaboration, they had changed the course of our civilisation forever. At the Colorado School of...
Vanessa M. Escobar | Molly E. Brown – How NASA’s Satellites Are Mapping the Way for Global Policy
NASA’s satellite technologies have provided a wealth of data about the planet, and can be tailored into usable products to support major decision makers across the world. Vanessa M. Escobar and Molly E. Brown are working to bring these data products to decision-making...
Working in Space: The Challenge for Mars and Beyond
Professor Karen Feigh and Dr Matthew Miller from the Georgia Institute of Technology examine what support will be required when astronauts need to work outside in deep space, where communication with Earth takes tens of minutes. Software engineer, Cameron Pittman,...
Dr Ganesh Balasubramanian – Cuckoo Search: Using Evolutionary Algorithms to Optimise Materials
From the metal in our cars to the circuits in our phones, the materials we use in our everyday lives can be meticulously engineered on a molecular scale to suit our requirements. However, there are so many possible arrangements of atoms and molecules at this...
Professor Vladimir Strezov – Sustaining Industry into the Future
It is becoming increasingly critical to accurately assess our methods for producing energy, so that we can prosper without continuing to damage our planet’s delicate environment. Professor Vladimir Strezov and his team at Macquarie University are uncovering the...
Dr Bill Challener – Exploiting Fibre Optics for Detecting Pipeline Leaks
Some of the best ideas in science are ones that seem completely obvious – but only after someone else has thought them up. In the world of pipeline leak detection, Dr Bill Challener and his team at GE Global Research have dramatically extended the range of one of the...