Blog posts

Introduction to Mathematical Models of the Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases 4th-15th September 2017

35 delegates from across the world attended this annual 2-week short course run by the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. Bringing together policy makers, clinicians, economists, veterinarians, mathematicians, and biologists, the course provides a thorough, but accessible and demystifying introduction to the essential elements of mathematical modelling with an emphasis on the use of mathematical models for policy making. With infectious diseases frequently dominating news headlines, public health professionals, policy makers and infectious disease researchers increasingly need to understand the transmission patterns of infectious diseases. This allows them to interpret and critically evaluate both epidemiological data and the findings of mathematical modelling studies.

CMOS Analog Integrated Circuit Design e-learning

This course was taught as a 5 day short course over the past 25 years at Imperial.  It was improved each year as new topics were developed and over 1000 students from industry and academics have taken the course.  The experience and feedback of those courses has been updated and captured in the present online offering.

The course provides a bottom-up, hierarchical approach to the subject of analog circuit and systems design using standard CMOS technologies.  Simple modeling techniques are used to gain an understanding of and insight into the function of circuits.  Appropriate use of the computer for simulation is discussed. 

Power Minimization in low-noise analog IC’s, given by Prof. Willy Sansen of the KULeuven, Belgium

This annual course, held 14-17 November 2017 at Imperial College London is an insight in analogue IC design. Insight is developed by the analysis of some of the most important circuits, followed by the use of design plans or algorithms to obtain the best Figures of Merit (FOM).  This is worked out for circuits such as multi-stage amplifiers and class-AB amplifiers. Considerable attention goes to the noise trade-off with power consumption. Both continuous-time and switched-capacitor filters are also discussed and compared, to be used in Sigma-delta Analogue-to-Digital Converters.

This course is thus for expert designers who want to become more competitive in their field.

The Next 10 Years: Challenges, Innovation and Diffusion of Medical Robotics

The annual Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics came to a close during UK Robotics Week 2017.

Over 350 Surgeons, clinicians, engineers, business leaders and academics recently came together at the Royal Geographical Society for the annual Hamlyn Symposium.  Celebrating its 10th year and coinciding with the 2nd annual UK Robotics Week, the Symposium is hosted by the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and offers an opportunity to test, watch demos and hear talks about the latest innovations in medical and surgical robotics.

Medical robotics have come a long way over the past 10 years and because there is less pain and recovery time for the patient and the surgical robotic instruments are able to be much more precise and minimally invasive, there is a win-win for both the patient and surgeon.

Mining Finance Continuing Professional Development Courses

Imperial College offers a range of continuing professional development (CPD) training courses through the Centre for Professional Development.  These provide a comprehensive guide to understanding the main factors involved in securing the financial support for mining projects through equity, debt, or entering into a joint venture.  This involves addressing the underlying technical principles, applying these to mineral projects and demonstrating how these influence the financial modelling.

The programme attracts a wide international participation from professionals from the financial institutions as well as the minerals industry. In addition to the long-standing ‘Introduction to Mining for Bankers’ course that runs in July each year, we also run the Metals and Energy Finance course. 

Medical Ethics Intensive One Week Course, 11-15 September 2017

By Professor Raanan Gillon

In 1983 I started a one week CPD course in medical ethics to  introduce doctors to several different  approaches to ethics (currently deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics, ‘the four principles approach’). The course  considers a variety of problems in medical ethics including end of life issues, double effect, acts and omissions, killing vs allowing to die, paternalism versus respect for autonomy, truth-telling in medical practice, a session on ‘practical aspects of medical ethics’,  fair distribution of resources, the relation of ethics and law,  human rights and medical ethics. A half-day session is aimed at helping participants to understand opposing perspectives by means of an exercise in developing arguments explicitly opposing participants’ own viewpoints concerning cases that they have found troubling.

Post-Tensioning Design and Construction Course Completes 12th Year

This April we completed our 12th annual course on post-tensioning design and construction. Over the years, the course has taken on its own legendary status and has become a highly sought after event by UK and international delegates. Consistently, engineers calling from over 10 countries participate in the course to learn about the basics of post-tensioning and sharpen their design skills. Many of the larger design offices have also made it standard practice to send new hires to the course. As lecturers, we have been very pleased with the logistical support we receive from the Center for Professional Development. Imperial College has proven to be a great venue and creates a collegial atmosphere among the delegates.

Medical ethics as applied to paediatric practice

Law and Ethics in Paediatrics is a two day course looking at medical law and ethics as applied to paediatric practice. This important course will cover topics such as negligence, confidentiality, child protection, research, end of life care, organ donation, reporting of deaths and the Coronial process; delegates will get the opportunity to visit Westminster Coroner’s Court.

Course aims include enhancing the problem-solving skills necessary to solve practical problems in paediatric practice through debate and discussion and to provide familiarisation with the Coroner’s Court and the Coronial process.

The course is open to doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and students of medicine or law and has recently been added to the modules available on the MSc Paediatrics and Child Health programme offered at Imperial College London.

Laryngectomy: rehabilitation and surgical voice restoration (Advanced Level)

Leading experts Yvonne Edels and Margaret Coffey recently delivered another successful advanced level Laryngectomy course for speech therapists.

The course is a joint venture between Imperial College London (ICL) and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT).  It is specifically designed for speech and language therapists (SLT’s) who have specialised in the field of Head and Neck Cancer, specifically cancers leading to laryngectomy (removal of the larynx).  Course applicants must have previous working experience in the field. Numbers are limited to around 30 delegates to maximise the learning experience.

The focus is on surgery for standard laryngectomy and options for extensive surgical reconstruction; changes to the anatomy and physiology, their effects upon breathing, swallow and voice production and complications associated with these procedures.

Alumnus returns to Imperial after 50 years, to deliver a CPD course

Imperial alumnus Professor Bijan Aalami recently delivered a CPD short course on ‘Post Tensioning Design and Construction’, to 50 civil engineers, in Lecture Theatre 201 Skempton Building.  It was in this very room, 50 years ago on the same day, where Bijan was awarded his PhD degree.

He said “this day has brought back lovely memories of my student days at Imperial!  The civil engineering department has not changed a bit after all these years, and the lecture theatre looks exactly the same”.  The Alumni Office interviewed Bijan during the course about his return visit.  We hope this will encourage more successful alumni to come back to Imperial, to deliver CPD short courses.