Issue 4 // December 2014 by SheffMechEng

ISSUE 4: DECEMBER 2014

MechEngNews MechEngNews

Contents.

Hello!

Best of the Best KTP Awards

Profile Prof. Matthew Cartmell

It’s been another exciting quarter and a great end to the year with lots of news to report!

Mech Eng on Tour A world first

The visiting Professor Steve Franklin

MultiSim Modelling framework focused on the human musculoskeletal system

Where are they now? Sent Into Space

Time out Jess Batty - year abroad

Research focus Advanced Engine Control

Funding awarded This quarter’s grants

16 SELA Off with a bang! 18

Help! HelpSpcaeMatlab

19 Learning to walk again Jonny Morris - summer placement

Read all about it!

The Final Word.

Students and staff have been busy giving us all something to talk about: with a world first in manufacturing, the November launch of SELA (Sheffield Engineering Leadership Academy), the KTP awards, student awards, careers days, speed networking, study abroad, we weren’t short of content for this issue! It’s been exciting to see relationships developing between students, staff and industry through various events and initiatives and we look forward to watching these flourish as the year progresses. As always, if you have a story you’d like to share, please contact me so that I can help to spread your news!

Kat Kat Buck

Editor k.buck@sheffield.ac.uk

Follow us: @SheffMechEng /SheffMechEng SheffMechEng.blogspot.com MechEngNewsThis publication is produced using 100% recycled FSC certified paper

Best of the Best. It was announced last month that Professor Alma Hodzic and her team had won the Knowledge Transfer Partnership Best of the Best 2014 Awards, in the category Best Partnership for their project with Shaun Chatterton and Dr Andrew Gill from Floreon, a spin-out company based on the biodegradable biopolymer technology developed by the university and CPD Plc in Hull. This year’s awards celebrated partnerships that have excelled in the areas of Engineering Excellence, Societal Impact and Business Impact, among others, with individual awards being given to Business Leaders of Tomorrow. The celebration concluded with the much-coveted Best Partnership Award. Floreon is an innovative, environmentally friendly, high performing bioplastic developed from sustainable materials. Speaking about the project Alma states; “The award is a fantastic recognition of the successful research partnership between the University of Sheffield and Floreon

Transforming Packaging Ltd. The final product, Floreon, has been developed after four years of research and two KTP’s that have both been graded by independent Technology Strategy Board reviewers as ‘Outstanding’. This experience has shown us that the KTP scheme can effectively accelerate academic know-how into the world of innovative applications, and in this case with significant benefits to the environment.” Shaun Chatterton, CEO of Floreon stated:“This KTP is a perfect example of the successful partnerships between industry and academia; the technology created by researchers at The University of Sheffield and the independent partner Floreon driving forward commercialisation of the product. We are positive about the possibility of developing a global brand having already invested over £1 million into this exciting innovation.” Floreon’s Technical Director, Dr Andrew Gill, started working on the project as a PhD student and KTP Associate at The University of Sheffield, but his work on the KTP with Floreon has developed into a thriving career. He states “Alongside The University of Sheffield, Floreon has developed a novel, commercial product and built a company around it.” All the nominees are engaged in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals and healthcare through to high-value manufacturing and environmental technologies. The winners were announced on 4th November at Old Billingsgate in London, the ceremony served as the opening event to Innovate UK 2014, the flagship event hosted in partnership with UK Trade & Investment.

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Profile: Prof. Matthew Cartmell

“ What made you want to become a mechanical engineer? I didn’t ever plan to be a mechanical engineer. At the decision time when I was leaving school I was reasonable at maths and had been thinking about doing electronics. I was also very busy with music but then I ended up unexpectedly being offered a company apprenticeship to be held in parallel with academic studies, so I took it, mainly to finance motorbike projects and keep the musical interests going. A little later the idea of mechanical engineering took over and it offered some unexpected opportunities, so that’s where I went.

Where did you train? I’ve been training ever since I left school and am still at it. The structured university 4

I don’t think I’ll ever reach that point where I think I’m now ‘trained’. It just continues.

”

system has taught me a lot, all the way through, but I’m a firm believer in just having a good go at whatever interests me and I generally follow my instincts, reading as much as I can as I go along. Trying new ideas out, and reading are the best forms of training, and these are activities that don’t necessarily have to end. I don’t think I’ll ever reach that point where I think I’m now ‘trained’. It just continues.

What are your research interests? Dynamics became the academic area of most interest to me, and my PhD in nonlinear and parametric vibration really consolidated that. I like to work on modelling new problems, particularly if they seem to be leading to something novel and interesting. I was very attracted to the new developments emerging in nonlinear dynamics in the early eighties

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when I was a PhD student and started to work hard at trying to understand them. Now I find that I’m mostly interested in trying to get useful performance of one sort or another out of oscillators, and I really like the idea of working on very widely scaled systems from neuronal bursters, through to centimetre to metre scale pendulum harvesters, right up to kilometre scale space tethers. I’m also getting very interested in the interface areas between materials and dynamics and the synthesis of new materials with programmable dynamic behaviour. This is a really exciting possibility and I’m very lucky to be surrounded by a great deal of materials expertise at Sheffield. For a long time now I’ve been a devotee of perturbation methods and I’m currently very keen to integrate certain analytical techniques within automated computing to create a form of symbolic computational dynamics. Quite a while ago I had a hunch that extracting underlying mathematical histories from larger problems in dynamics and then making them visible and very immediate might really be very useful when modelling complex systems. I need to prove it now.

If there was one MechEng problem you could solve, what would it be? In the late nineties I spent a lot of time trying to work out all the dynamical features of a continuous two-way Earth-Moon payload exchange using momentum exchange tethers. I’d got hooked on generic ideas of almost free propulsion that were very prevalent at the time and had decided to see if this could also apply to tethers. After a couple of years of working on this with a PhD student we found that there was indeed an almost-free tether mission architecture

that appeared to work in principle. But there were ‘resetting problems’ that we identified that remain unsolved and I’m still not sure whether the use of tethers in effectively closed systems of this sort can properly conserve angular momentum. I would really like to be able to find the time to sort this out properly. Unfortunately there are very few research grants available to cover speculative work like this but it’s probably the problem that I now find the most compelling of all. The space business is extremely conservative so I may just have to go it alone!

What words of advice would you give to your student-self about the future? Follow your instincts but remember that things will rarely turn out exactly to plan. Try not to worry about the future as it will work itself out if you stick to your ideas and get on with them. Above all try to develop your creative mind, and let it roam free. Don’t listen to the people who tell you it just won’t work. I’ve found that they’re not always right.

“

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Don’t listen to people who tell you it just won’t work. I’ve found they’re not always right.

”

There’s not a lot that can’t be achieved with a 3D printer; parts for cars and planes, heart valves, camera lenses, pizza in space and now, on tour for the first time, custom made guitars.

The concept of a 3D printed guitar was first introduced to the University of Sheffield by Mechanical Engineering student Chris Reeve during his final year undergraduate project. Chris has always had an interest in designing guitars and had already handmade a few electric guitars of his own so when he saw the dissertation topic on offer he jumped on the opportunity. Around about the same time, Sheffield graduate Mahdi Hosseini was thinking how nice it would be to have a custom made guitar... if only he could afford it! Soon enough he was thinking along the same lines as Chris and had the idea of setting up a business dedicated to producing custom made guitars at an affordable cost using the latest in 3D printing technology.

has since licensed the dissertation guitar design to the company to manufacture and sell, and agreed to offer technical advice when needed. In the meantime, UK indie rock band Klaxons made a tongue-in-cheek announcement in June that their next tour would be played entirely on 3D printed instruments; a world first. Here opened up an amazing opportunity for Mahdi and his team at Customuse when they offered to print one of a kind lead and bass guitars featuring the band’s insignia for use on the tour.

They started researching guitar manufacturing and 3D printing and decided to seek help from 3D printing experts including Professor Neil Hopkinson, a world renowned 3D printing expert based here in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, to provide them with insight in the latest technologies and trends within the 3D printing world. When Mahdi saw Chris’ Sunrise guitar in Neil’s office, he knew he had to speak to Chris too. Neil made the introductions and Chris

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When contacted again by Mahdi for technical advice, Neil, an electric bass player himself, was only too happy to get on board with the idea, “When Klaxons announced their tour would be 3D printed, they didn’t seem to really believe it could happen, but for guitars at least it’s a very achievable goal. 3D printing is the ideal technology to create personalised instruments of this kind, as it allows you to have an intricate design with a lightweight body while retaining the necessary strength to ensure the guitar will work well.” Mahdi said “When we set up Customuse just a few months ago, we never imagined two of our guitars would be on the road with a band like Klaxons so soon. But having a guitar made to your individual design isn’t just for rock stars. With 3D printing, amazing designs can be created while the price tag remains realistic.” The band were delighted after playing the guitars for the first time, Jamie Reynolds, bassist for Klaxons, said he was “absolutely blown away”. Band-mate and guitarist Simon Taylor-Davies compared them to the boundary-pushing guitars of the 80s, remarking that “3D printed [guitars] are about as magical as it gets”. Photography by BACKSTAGE:UK

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The visiting Professor As part of his role as visiting professor, Steve is also a member of the Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Industrial Advisory Board, a group of senior industrialists who work closely with the Department to advise on course curriculum to ensure that our degrees reflect current developments and industry skills requirements. Having studied Applied Physics and Materials Science at Sheffield Hallam University, Steve has a long-standing love of Sheffield (and why wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t he? Sheffield is great!), which is why he chose to join us as visiting professor.

Steve Franklin is Chief Technologist and Platform Leader in Tribology and Human Tissue Interaction at Philips Research and a visiting professor at the University of Sheffield. For the last 2 weeks Steve has been rooted in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, engaged in a number of large research projects. Steve is working on projects such as the four year â&#x201A;Ź1.3M Marie Curie UNITISS, to develop design strategies for catheter based medical devices to minimise tissue damage, patient trauma and discomfort as well as reducing the medical complications that can arise during catheterisation. The project is working to develop appropriate in-vitro testing methods that reliably simulate in-vivo conditions, thus avoiding the need for animal testing. Along similar lines is the EPSRC project on Improved OCT (Optical Coherence Tomogrpahy) which provides advanced technology to produce high res, high speed 3D images of the skin in order to design products that reduce skin irritation, eczema and other skin conditions.

Philips Research has a policy of open innovation where outside-in knowledge development is encouraged so visiting professorships are very common and nurture relationships with leading universities around Europe. Roles mostly come about through personal relationships and are seen as an opportunity to network and build useful collaborations in both skills and technology. For Philips these placements give the company access to a huge range of expertise they may not otherwise have access to, but on a personal level for people like Steve, acting as a visiting professor opens up a lot of doors, professionally. Working with world class universities such as Sheffield brings reputational rewards and makes networking and speaking to customers easier.

Mechanical trauma catheter blood vessel

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MultiSim The vision of the ambitious £6.7M EPSRC Frontier Engineering Award MultiSim programme is to develop a modelling framework focused on the human musculoskeletal system but designed as a generic platform to address other engineering challenges that involve multi-scale modelling, unobservable states and variables, and uncertainty. Not an easy feat by any standard and the topic certainly gave academics and industry contacts alike plenty of material for discussion at the first engagement workshop, which was held on 6th and 7th October here in Sheffield. Aimed at UK academics, clinicians and industry interested in multiscale modelling of the neuromusculoskeletal system, the event was structured to generate an open discussion forum to map the issues, challenges and opportunities in this research area. Starting with an evening event at Kelham Island Museum, which included a keynote talk from Professor René De Borst from the University of Glasgow, the event participants enjoyed a networking session with a difference as Europe’s most powerful steam engine provided plenty of inspiration for new ideas and discussion. This was followed by a series of activities and discussion groups on the second day. In quick fire discussion rounds the 40 participants had to discuss and present their insights into a number of topic areas. The session was led by MultiSim principal investigator Professor Damien Lacroix, who introduced the vision of the MultiSim programme and managed the discussion rounds. The Insigneo Institute for in silico Medicine Executive Director, Professor Marco Viceconti, further supported the discussion with his insights on challenges in the field. Workshop participants included representatives from 15 high profile UK Universities, 7 industry partners, representatives of the EPSRC and several clinicians from Sheffield Teaching

Hospitals. In addition to the participants on site, comments were invited through social media channels on Twitter through @insigneo to allow the scientific community to join in the conversation digitally. The insights of the workshop will be translated into a formal report, which will be published by early 2015. MultiSim will improve treatments for diseases of the musculoskeletal system. The total healthcare expenditure on musculoskeletal disorders in the UK has doubled between 2000-2010 to a staggering 10% of the country’s GDP. During this period about half of the annual cost increase has been attributed to the use of new technologies

or the intensified use of old ones, such as the increased use of CT scans. MultiSim will focus on the establishment of a currently non-existent, but essential, computational platform for the management of musculoskeletal disorders. It will provide the NHS with a new generation of technologies supporting a much more individualised approach to health care through the use of in silico medicine. For further information about the MultiSim programme please visit the Insigneo website on www.insigneo.org.

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Where are they now? Sent into space, that’s where! Chris Rose and Alex Baker graduated in 2008 and 2009 but have refused to leave us since, both having done their Masters, PhD and even consultancy work in the Department. Their latest venture takes them boldly where no University of Sheffield alumni has ever gone before... On a three month work trip to Ankara in Turkey the pair discovered a mutual geek-streak and began coming up with projects to keep themselves entertained. Chris had recently purchased a metal detector which gave them the idea to design a giant version which could be dragged from behind a car. Later they thought about having a go at doing some stop motion film but quickly discovered that they couldn’t compete with what was already out there because they had no money. They liked the idea, though, and started to look for something photography based that was a bit unique, which was when they had their Eureka! moment: “How about we attach a camera to a weather balloon using scraps and see how far it will go?”

atmosphere and suppose you could track one to where it landed? On the 17th of December 2010, Alex and Chris filmed the Earth from the edge of space on a shoe string budget. The balloon was launched from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and was in flight for approximately two hours and 50 minutes, before landing in a field in Strethall, Essex, a journey of over 100 miles. A foam payload was constructed (from materials found in a scrap bin) and on board were two video cameras and a gps tracking device, originally designed for locating lost pets! Needless to say, it took a lot of finding, but found it was and the footage was truly breathtaking. Since posting a stop motion video of the payload building itself and disappearing over a snow dusted horizon, the concept has gone viral. The video received half a million hits very quickly and was soon picked up by journalists around the world.

The idea was inspired by watching footage of Joe Kittinger launch himself into the unknown from a capsule and giant helium balloon (a feat only recently repeated by Felix Baumgarten). Without the budget of NASA such things would normally be impossible! However, weather balloons are regularly used to measure data from the high

Following an initial press release, there was a flurry of emails and interviews, TV appearances, newspaper columns both national and international. The appeal of the footage was universal, reaching around the world, from the New York Times to double page spreads in Ukrainian magazines, live TV and radio appearances to presenting at the Royal Astronomical Society’s national annual meeting. The pair were even awarded a “Global Prize for Creativity” by Nobel Prize winner Sir Harry Kroto. Enquiries started pouring in for advice on how

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people could do the same and, in a bid to share the experience of near space exploration with everyone, the ‘do it yourself’ aspect of the business was born. Sent Into Space was fast becoming a recognised brand.

Part of the SentIntoSpace mission is to help enthuse tomorrow’s scientists and engineers. Whilst developing prototypes, several launches were carried out with the assistance of local schools, giving the students a chance to get hands on with payload construction and effectively carry out their own near space missions. Sent into Space tips for a successful launch 1) Run flight prediction so that you know where the balloon is likely to land. The data you enter depends on a few things such as how big your balloon is, how much your payload weighs and how much gas you’re going to use. The site collects wind data to let you predict where your payload will land based on how high it goes, how fast it gets there and when you want to launch (up to 180 hours before) The less gas used for a given balloon and payload, the higher it will go, but the more slowly it will get there.

In the meantime, further developments were taking place, from electronics to measure atmospheric conditions, to payload material testing and various tracking methods. By June 2012, a successful prototype had been launched to an altitude of 33km. This craft, launched from Sheffield in a light rain, landed a mere 5 miles from the predicted site near Peterborough. After minor modifications this was quickly followed by a second and third prototype flight, each landing close to predictions and returning with bundles of data on pressure, temperature, humidity, altitude and more.

2) DON’T launch if it looks like your payload could land in an urban area or in the sea. 3) Always lay out a groundsheet before inflating your balloon to avoid anything sharp that could burst it. Be careful with fingernails, too, and wear latex gloves while you’re handling it. 4) Remember to place all of your items into the payload and secure the lid. 5) Make sure that everything is connected payload to parchute, parachute to balloon. You don’t want your balloon flying off into space leaving your payload by your feet! 6) Turn everything on and check your locators! Your blackbox and camera will be recording all of your flight data and your locators, well, they’re kind of important! 7) Now launch, wait, recover your payload and watch the amazing footage your camera collected! To have a go yourself visit: sentintospace.com

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Time Out Jess Batty is a third year MEng Student on the Mechanical Engineering with a year in North America programme. Jess chose McGill University in Montreal, Canada for her year abroad and has written in to tell us all about her experience so far. We’re kind of jealous. My first semester on exchange has almost ended, with midterms drawing to an end and finals looming, but I cannot believe how fast it has gone. Any doubts that I had before arriving in Montreal have been quashed; I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at the minute (but that doesn’t mean to say I won’t be excited to return to Sheffield!!)

University and the faculty, whereas Frosh allowed us to socialise with our peers. As part of the faculty of Engineering, I took part in “Frosher Heroes”, where we had a range of activities planned, including a hard hat challenge, where we earned our own hats! There was also a secret location party, a bar crawl, beach day and finale concert.

My first experiences of McGill University were Discover McGill, Rez Fest and Frosh (very similar to Fresher’s week but here we were split into faculties). Discover McGill introduced us to the

During my first semester I have immersed myself in a range of activities. As a member of Sheffield Formula Racing (SFR) back home, one of the reasons I wanted to go on exchange at McGill was

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because they have an FSAE design team (McGill Racing Team) and I have been fortunate enough to join the team here. I am currently working on the mid-region aerodynamics of the car as part of a group design class, and I am also looking into the manufacture of the full car aerodynamics. Additionally, as part of McGill International Student’s Network (MISN) I have taken up weekly French classes, which are taught by another international student. Furthermore, I recently helped out at McGill’s ‘Open House’, volunteering with International Students in the Faculty of Engineering, to promote study abroad as part of a degree to prospective students. I also gave a short presentation during International Education week at McGill, on my exchange experience and promoted the University of Sheffield to students in the Faculty of Engineering.

In a typical week I have 9.5 hours of lectures, 2 hours of tutorials, and 2 hours of labs, as well as group meetings for a group design class, MRT team and sub team meetings and an hour of French class. During the week days in between lectures, labs and tutorials, much of my time is spent in the Shulich Science and Engineering library on campus where I complete any assignments and lab reports, as well as revising for my upcoming midterm exams (and finals that aren’t so far away!!). On Tuesday evenings MRT has a full team meeting with all members to give out progress updates and weekly tasks, and on Thursday evenings I have my French class. With MRT, Progress Design Reviews are held at certain intervals throughout the semester, where each sub team presents the work that has been carried out to date and their next steps. This ensures that we are on time with our deadlines and that we make good progress. After this and a busy week of studying, there is no better place to relax than Blue’s Pub, which is held in the common room of the Engineering building, and serves beer and grilled cheese (cheese toasties). On weekends (once studying is out of the way!) I have been trying to explore the different areas of Montreal. So far I have climbed Mount Royal to see the breathtaking views of the city; I have been to Atwater market and along the Lachine Canal, I went to watch my first Canadian Football game, I visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens which hosts the Gardens of Light exhibition, and Ile Sainte-Helene, on which there is; Parc JeanDrapeau, the Biodome and the Circuit GillesVilleneuve (the Grand Prix track).

Living back in residence feels a bit strange after living in a shared house for a year, but it has been the best decision! I have made so many new friends in Rez, that I would have never had chance to meet, and there are lots of residence events on offer throughout the semester, including a Halloween party, pumpkin carving, movie nights and a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, that have ensured I don’t have time to feel homesick.

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Research focus: Advanced Engine Control The Low Carbon Combustion Centre, created by Professor Chris Wilson in 2005 is a leading Research Centre for low carbon combustion technologies at a pilot scale, bridging the gap between laboratory research and full scale industrial use. The research centre is set up in a way that is collaborative in nature and the activities on site cover the entire carbon combustion cycle: from alternative fuels and combustion systems to post combustion capture and utilisation.

The core of the LCCC activities has traditionally been focused around Aerospace, and the technical suitability of alternative fuels, which by design, reduce the environmental impact of the aviation sector. There is a high degree of control within the aerospace sector as to what is acceptable as a fuel for jet aircraft â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with good reason: there is no backup system if the fuel fails! The group at the LCCC have been involved with a number of international test programmes to derisk these activities using the unique range of test capability at the centre, and are actively engaged with the Eurpoean Network of Excellence: Environmental Compatible Air Transport System (ECATS, http://www.ecats-network.eu) with whom we carry out collaborative research activities, the most recent hosting 7 visiting researchers from around the UK and the US as

part of the EU funded ITAKA (http://www.itakaproject.eu) programme. These activities have been focused around LCCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gas turbine engine which has now tested over 40 alternative fuels at scale, producing data on the engine performance and changes in emissions profile from the combustion of these new fuels. One of the key areas of change is in the particulate matter in the exhaust of the engine which is of particular interest for the local air quality around airports and the generation of contrails at high altitude. The team has also recently been awarded a grant as part of the SILOET II (Strategic Investment in Low-carbon Engine Technology) award from Technology Strategy Board (TSB), now Innovate UK. Alongside Rolls Royce, they are building a scaled rig for the assessment of advanced engine control components and the aircraft fuel in an engine representative environment, which, for the fuel, will be as close to the engine operating environment as you can get without running an engine. The test campaign will last until May 2016 and will consume 70,000L of aviation fuel in the process! The project has opened up some areas for collaborative research activities in other groups and departments around the University. They have been exploring novel valve positional movement techniques with the Lenardo Tribology Centre, and incorporating advanced engine health monitoring sensors with the Controls UTC in the Control and Automation Department. The project will employ two technicians, two RAs, a graduate engineer, a PhD student and several final year projects have been set up alongside these activities. Plenty of work for all! This grant has also pulled in other funding on the performance of fuels and engine systems together with industrial funding from Rolls Royce and Toyota for further work in this area, developing a range of models to support this activity from 1-D valve operation models with fuel degradation products, through to chemical kinetic modelling of the fuel breakdown as it is heated prior to burning.

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Funding awarded: A quick look at funding received this quarter Daniele Tartarini was awarded £15,550 from EPSRC for his research into accelerating in silico £ Dr cancer research with graphic processors.

Simon Blakey received £25,000 from Toyota Motor Europe for his preliminary assessment £ Dr of deposit formation in automotive fuel injection systems and a further £50,000 from European Commission for testing biofuels on APU with MMU. Another £63,522 was awarded by Innovate UK for Simon’s research into pulse firing technologies. On a roll now, Simon received £33,991 from Rolls-Royce for research into transitional Reynolds number effects on fuel deposit formation.

Ning Qin had funding of £25,371 from First 4 Wind Turbines Ltd for his modular horizontal £ Dr roof-mounted wind turbine design and a further £7,866 from Aiurbus UK Ltd for research into

aerodynamic optimisation for industrial implications. £100,686 was also awarded by Rolls-Royce for an adjoint driven mesh sensitivity study for mesh adaption and quality control.

Alma Hodzic was awarded £492,685 of EPSRC funding for her research on the impact £ Professor of ageing on performance. Candice Majewski received £30,000 from Eastman Chemicals for her investigations into £ Dr polymer sintering material. Patrick Smith received £19,962 from Tremco-Illbruck for his project in-situ synthesis of £ Dr erethane prepolymer and a further £47,903 from United States Air Force for a project on interface design using inkjet printing in self healing composites.

Mahmoud Mostofavi received £11,648 from the Royal Society for his research into a £ Dr dispersive X-ray diffraction method.

Roger Lewis received £29,500 from Network Rail for his research project Network £ Professor Rail Force Measurement.

Alex Frangi received a massive £1,113,467 from EPSRC for his multidisciplinary research £ Professor project on vascular cognitive impairment (OCEAN).

Zeike Taylor was awarded £98,928 from EPSRC on the first grant scheme for his research into £ Dr smoothed solvers for soft tissue simulation.

Total funding received this quarter:

£2,186,111 MechEngNews

a h t i ff w

o s e o LA g

Bootcamp The moment they’d all been waiting for finally arrived at the end of September. 8am on a cloudy Saturday morning, the 2014 SELA (Sheffield Engineering Leadership Academy) cohort were on their way to the Peak District to begin their journey to becoming leaders of the future at the first ever SELA bootcamp.

whether to enter an F1 car into a race by weighing up engineering and financial risks and building a free standing tower from uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows, as well as gaining an intriguing introspective into their own motivations and styles of work in a professional environment. It was then time for Pitch Club; each of the students were asked to think of a product that would be helpful to an elderly person and pitch their idea to the rest of the cohort. Products ranged from the useful and plausible (a shoehorn for socks, aptly named ‘the sockhorn’) to the ridiculous (a Werther’s Original dispensing walking stick).

Mech SELA members:L-R: Yun-Hang Cho, Patrick Downie, Sam Cheney, Michael Portnell and Jake Brown, (Jonny Morris - absent)

Their HQ for the weekend was a conference room in a 19th Century country house, Shrigley Hall, where they found personalised folders containing the plan for the weekend. The first day included tasks such as a role-playing exercise in which a decision had to be made on

Following a good night’s sleep, the students wasted no time in getting back to work the next

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morning. Their first activity taught how different thinking styles (represented by different coloured hats) can be used independently to effectively approach problem solving. The weekend concluded with a task to help them develop effective negotiation skills. The negotiations became quite heated, but the task was an effective demonstration of how issues can be resolved. Before the students left, the organisers announced a year-long project that the cohort would complete as a team. They were told about the hard work and resources it took to develop and organise this bootcamp; ultimately their task would be to deliver a comparable event to next year’s cohort, handling all of the funding and organisation, themselves. On the bus home, the air was abuzz with ideas and conversation about what lay ahead. It should prove to be an interesting year. Yun-Hang Cho, 2nd year Mechanical Engineering student said, “SELA has really helped me gain tangible skills and knowledge in networking, project management, team working and methods of approaching problems. This has allowed me to practice my existing roles within the university, RAeS and IMechE to a higher quality.”

After welcome drinks and a spot of networking, the group settled in to a talk from Professor Mike Hounslow, Faculty PVC, about his thoughts on SELA and how it fits into the Faculty’s proactive attitude.

SELA Director, Professor Neil Hopkinson, spoke to the group about the founding of SELA and his future hopes. Carl Naven, 2014 bootcamp mentor and member of BAE Systems Sigma Leadership Programe gave a talk by video link about his involvement in SELA and the advantages to the students of having such a great opportunity available to them. Finally, two of the cohort gave speeches on what SELA means to the group and how they see it benefiting them.

The Launch The official launch, attended by students, staff and heads of departments took place on 5th November, and set SELA off with a bang.

To find out more about SELA and to keep up with their news, visit www.sela-sheffield,org

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MATLAB is taught to all Mechanical Engineering students, some get it and some don’t which is why one student has taken the initiative to set up a support group for those who don’t. MATLAB is a numerical computing software tool and interpreted programming language used by engineers to simulate systems and process large amounts of data. It’s a complicated system that often causes confusion amongst the students. Louis Vallance, a former MSc student on Advanced Mechanical Engineering wanted to develop a platform where any University of Sheffield student could go to discuss a MATLAB problem with fellow students who may have a solution. Deciding that an online forum would be ideal, Louis decided to set up HelpSpaceMATLAB, a student-led forum, hosted on Facebook, where anyone can ask and answer questions related to MATLAB.

Louis, who graduated this year after first studying BEng Aerospace Engineering before moving across to MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering says, “Numerical computing is extremely useful across many technical fields and gives graduates a skill which many employers crave. For this reason, the University gives Undergraduates MATLAB assignments early on in the course. At first I was terrible at MATLAB and hardly understood anything, while others seemed to understand it perfectly. I realised how much easier it could be if students had access to a community of people who were happy to answer questions, so helpSpaceMATLAB was created.”

The objective of the group is to make MATLAB easy for everyone to use, and to encourage students to learn from each other. Members post a question and anyone else in the forum can answer, give advice or suggestions and together work out an answer. It’s as simple as that!

Not only does HelpSpaceMATLAB give students an arena to discuss their MATLAB problems, but it also encourages interdisciplinary networking and team working to solve common problems. Students who have joined the HelpSpaceMATLAB group have found it to be invaluable to their understanding of the software. “HelpSpaceMATLAB has been the most useful page for me in my final year at University because my dissertation required a level of MATLAB knowledge that I did not have. There were countless times when I would be stuck for hours on a problem and go crazy trying to find the solution. HelpSpaceMATLAB came in handy as it’s an interactive space where anyone of the 200+ members can have a look at your problem with a fresh perspective.” comments Aerospace Engineering student Tejaswinee Lutchoomun. If you’d like to be involved in HelpSpaceMATLAB join their page at https://www.facebook.com/ groups/helpspacematlab/

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Learning to walk again Not content with the usual summer job, second year student, ENACTUS member and SELA participant Jonny Morris took the initiative to attach an exciting work placement onto the end of a summer of travels around New Zealand. Jonny already knew that he wanted to do some travelling around New Zealand and after doing a bit of research he discovered that the University of Auckland’s engineering department had a strong research focus into medical technologies, the area Jonny is most interested in. Jonny contacted the head of the Mechatronics group, Dr Andrew McDaid, and sent his CV and covering letter. A week later he had a placement set up for the summer. There were a number of research projects to choose from but one really caught his eye; it was a project to develop a device to help rehabilitiate patients who had suffered paralysis in one leg due to a stroke or conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The main challenge of the project was to guide a patient’s foot through the ideal human gait pattern, which was derived from experimental data. Using an innovative chain-fed design, Jonny built a prototype device which successfully guided a footplate through the specified geometry. “The prototype was built using a laser cutter, so accurate CAD design was essential, and this project really stretched my skills with 2D flatpack design to the limit!” says Jonny. The prototype will be developed using sheet steel for strength, and to ensure more even distribution of force. The final aim for this project is a device which will work in tandem with a treadmill to provide physiotherapy for those learning to walk again.

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Read all about it! News from around the Department

Innovative technologies to counter improvised explosive devices in the urban environment The EU FP7 ENCOUNTER Project is developing technologies and practices to counter improvised explosive devices in the urban environment and held a major

workshop with European bomb disposal experts in Stockholm from October 8-9th 2014. Rail transport has been a frequent target of attacks with improvised explosive devices, and this research builds on previous Rail Research Group projects including EU FP7 SecureStation and EPSRC funded ReDesign. Dr David Fletcher was invited to chair the discussion elements of the workshop, and Sheffield researchers Dr Emma Carter, Dr Jon Paragreen and Tom Anthistle contributed their expertise on modelling of blast containment technologies and in cost-benefit analysis of the full range of technologies being developed in the project. ENCOUNTER is coordinated by the Swedish Defence Research Agency, started in 2012 and will finish in late 2015.

than a speeding bullet, for Children in Need.

This looks like a job for Superman! Great Krypton! Thanks to our very own caped crusaders and their trusty sidekicks, the Department raised £412.87 this year, faster

From fancy dress competition (won by Inspector Gadget and Superman himself), marble run challenge and other competitions, and not forgetting the famous cake stand, it can safely be said that fun was had by all who came along to support the fund raising efforts of everyone involved, whether they wore their pants on the inside or the outside. Truth, justice and a big bag of cash for charity. All in a day’s work, Ma’am.

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Welcome to the Department! We are delighted to announce the arrival of Professor Mohammed Pourkashanian and his team at the Energy Technology Innovation Initiative (ETII) at the University of Leeds who will be transferring to Sheffield in the new year. ETII is a world leading centre of excellence in the education of tomorrow’s energy professionals. It provides cutting edge research and innovation of energy sciences and technologies. Its mission is to generate and innovate knowledge to enable enterprises to pave the way to a clean energy future.

The energy we use and the impact we have on our environment are two of the biggest issues of our age. ETII work to find engineering solutions to these global problems for today, and develop technology that will help improve and protect our world for future generations. The acquisition of ETII is a major accomplishment for the Department and is of strategic importance to the University who see energy as a flagship research activity. ETII will bring skills and expertise to the Department where there is currently a gap, helping the Department to meet demand for recruitment of PhD students in the energy field.

Green Impact The Green Impact initiative went live across the country in November and one of the lead objectives of this Faculty wide group will be working on projects together; the first one will be taking part in a Christmas power down! You’ll also notice that co-mingled recycling bins have been placed around the Department with notices showing where rubbish can be recycled. To keep you up with all of the latest

green news and events, we have developed a dedicated site called GIGS. Keep a look out for our monthly e-newsletter as well, with updates and suggestions on how to be greener at home and at work. If you’d like to help now, try switching your search engine to Ecosia.org. Ecosia donates 80% of its income to a tree planting programme in Brazil and as the greenest city in Europe, we reckon that’s a great idea! And, speaking of trees, we’ve been doing our bit for the rainforests by printing this newsletter on 100% recycled FSC certified paper!

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IMechE Young Member of the Year Award Mech Eng second year, Yun-Hang Cho, has been named the youngest ever IMechE young member of the year for his outstanding commitment to inspiring the next generation and his contribution to supporting the Institution’s key STEM engagement targets. As an individual STEM Ambassador he has worked with several of the Institution’s key partners to deliver a number of fun, informative events. Yun says, “It is usually awarded to individuals who have committed themselves to inspiring the next generation and this is usually at least graduate level or chartered engineers and teachers. So it was a real honour and rarity because the award covers some of the work I did when I was just 19!”

some of our former students who now work for top engineering firms in the UK and around the world. All the exhibiting companies were on hand throughout the day to offer expert advice to students, while more than half also gave presentations on career opportunities in their organisations. Exhibitors included companies such as Jaguar Landrover, Rolls-Royce, Caterpillar, Meggitt, Tata and many more.

Careers Day 2014 This year’s careers day took place on 19 November, with 16 prestigious companies taking part and over 360 final years attending. We were particularly pleased to welcome back

Presenters included Denis Healy from IMechE who provided invaluable information on gaining chartered engineer status, and Jo Holliday of the Student Advice Centre talked about visas/work permits for international students.

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Students were given 10 minutes to ask questions about each alumnus’ career and experience of their course. We know that it can be hard for students deciding what to do at the end of their academic careers so we hope that these events will make that process a little bit easier.

Alumni Speed-Networking This year’s speed-networking event was an opportunity for students to speak to alumni who had studied their degree and are now working in industry or even running their own businesses.

Alireza Parandeh, 4th year Mech Eng student said, “I really enjoyed the speed networking event as it gave me new insights into different industries our current alumni are working in that I thought would be impossible for me to join in. Definitely an invaluable experience as you can understand more about yourself and your passions about a particular industry and your career plans”

In memory Over the summer Sharon Wilson unveiled a plaque at the Low Carbon Combustion Centre in memory of her husband, Professor Chris Wilson, who sadly passed away after a long battle with a serious medical condition. Chris Graduated in Aeronautical Engineering from Loughborough University before going on to spend over 20 years working in Gas Turbine Combustion Research at Rolls Royce and subsequently at DRA/DERA/QinetiQ. In 2003 Chris joined the Mechanical Engineering department as Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion.

welcoming home for many foster children as well as finding time to support London Irish as often as possible. Chris was a great friend and colleague. He had boundless energy and good humour, and was loved by staff and students alike. LCCC at Beighton is a testament to Chris’ drive and enthusiasm. Mechanical Engineering will not be quite the same without him.

Together with Sharon and their three daughters, Chris created a warm and

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The Final Word. Well, where does the time go? It seems like only moments ago that I was stepping into the role of Head of Department and already the first term is coming to an end and Christmas is upon us. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this issue of MechEngNews, there is so much in here to be proud of. So much in fact, that we couldn’t even fit it all in! There is exciting work, research and activities going on all over the Department and it’s great to be able to spotlight some of those things in here to share with you all. I’ve been hugely impressed with the initiative of some of our students this term who have involved themselves in numerous activities both in and out of the Department. It’s a pleasure to see, with our guidance and support, our students turning into promising young professionals. I must, of course, extend a warm welcome to Professor Pourkashanian and his team who will be joining us from Leeds in the new year. We very much look forward to working with you all and getting to know you better. Now, to wish everyone reading this a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Neil Sims

Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering

This publication is produced using 100% recycled FSC certified paper

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