If you had access to a 3D printer, what would you print? Something fun, something useful? How about both?
Alex Christopherson, a final year undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London and David Samuel, an artist based in Park Royal Design Studios, collaborated to create a 3D printed sculpture that doubles as a microscope and allows you to see a 3D printed Queens Tower 100,000 times smaller than the real one! Engineering and art coming together to 3D print a sculpture.
The Great Exhibition Road Festival is Imperial’s largest public engagement event of the year. Taking place over a full weekend, Imperial runs the festival together with the local museums (V&A, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal College of Music and Royal Albert Hall). Great exhibition road is closed to traffic and becomes full of people. Visitors from all ages and backgrounds engage in diverse activities featuring science and the arts during the celebrations. Over 54,000 people pre-registered for this year’s event!
Exhibition road, closed to traffic and open to people for the Great Exhibition Road Festival. Image credit: David Guttridge.
Imperial researchers spent the weekend running their stands and answering questions from the curious attendees. Georgia Millsom, a PhD student in the Department of Materials, wrote a blog about her experience volunteering at the event.
The Science and Engineering Research for Cultural Heritage Network (SERCH) ran an exhibit at the Great Exhibition Road Festival back in mid-June. Ranging from Mechanical Engineering to Materials, a variety of Imperial’s departments were present with the aim of demonstrating the connections Imperial has to Cultural Heritage. Visitors were also able to delve into a range of objects from the Imperial College Archives. Many hadn’t considered Imperial’s own heritage before as it is a newer university than Oxford, Cambridge, and St Andrews. The teaching aids were hugely popular, with visitors guessing about their uses.
Over summer, IMSE welcomes undergraduate students to spend a day working side to side with our Operations team. They help us explore new topics in the field of molecular science and engineering and draft questions for upcoming podcasts. In July, Polly Dean (Biology) and Manya Bhargava (Physics) combined their interest in plant science, quantum physics and genetics to write a blog exploring the interaction between these fields and the wide range of applications.
Quantum mechanics is a branch of Physics which describes the behaviour of subatomic particles (electrons, protons, neutrons). Genetic engineering is a method in Biology research which alters an organism’s characteristics by manipulating its genetic material. Despite their different definitions, both influence processes that control molecular interactions. Bringing together their knowledge on Biology and Physics, Polly and Manya explored examples where the combination of both disciplines (quantum and genetics) is solving global grand challenges. These include applying molecular aspects of photosynthesis to renewable energy systems, and increasing our understanding of immune responses for vaccine development.
Earlier this June, people at Imperial College London had the opportunity to hear from a scientist who affected all our lives, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert from the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford. The Department of Life Sciences hosted Prof Gilbert for the Sir Ernst Chain lecture, a celebration of the late biochemist who developed the techniques to isolate and produce Penicillin, together with Howard Florey and Alexander Fleming.
Prof Gilbert works on viral vector vaccines. In 2020 she led the group who, together with Astra Zeneca, developed and produced one of the Covid-19 vaccines. The Oxford/Astra Zeneca (ChAdOx1 nCov-19) vaccine was used in 180 countries. It is estimated to have saved over 6 million lives in the first year it was used!
Our guest blogger, Arabella Heath wrote a blog post about her talk and how combination of molecular science and engineering was crucial for vaccine development in a pandemic.
Last April, Arabella Heath, a Biochemistry undergraduate student, and Mia Hughes, a Chemistry undergraduate, joined IMSE for a day to experience the work environment in an Operations team. Together, they explored the topic of antimicrobial resistance and how we can keep antibiotics working by combining molecular science and engineering research. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago, the U.K. government updated its strategy to tackle antimicrobial resistance for the next 5 years. In this blog, Arabella and Mia explore how the surface of insect wings is inspiring innovation on antimicrobial ‘smart’ surfaces to reduce bacterial infections in hospitals.
The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance
Summer is approaching, and we are all dreading the familiar sound of insects buzzing that accompanies the season. But who knew that studying some insects like cicadas and dragonflies might hold the key to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? AMR occurs when antimicrobial treatment is no longer effective at treating bacteria, viruses, fungi and other parasites. It leads to increased infections rates and severe illnesses. AMR is a major threat for the development of global public health. AMR caused an estimated 1.27 million deaths in 2019 worldwide and this is set to rise to 10 million by 2050. This issue requires new and innovative solutions because evolving bacteria are outsmarting our current available antibiotics.
How Antibiotic Resistance happens. Image credit: Lumen learning.
Following on our blogs exploring circular economy and zero waste, we welcome our new guest blogger, Dr. Antonio Ovejero-Perez. A postdoc from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Antonio’sresearch is focused on extracting dyes from textiles waste.
Who hasn’t heard a family member say: “Back in the day, I only got new clothing for Christmas or birthday”? Now, in our fast-paced world things have changed. How many times a year do we buy clothes? Trends come and go quickly, and “fast fashion” has become more and more popular.
Let’s check our shopping list, does it include items such as shampoo, detergent, margarine or cookies? According to the WWF, it is highly likely that some or all these items contain palm oil. You have probably heard about the negative connection between palm oil and deforestation and displacement of wildlife. However, you might be unaware of the large amount ofwaste generated during its production. Here, IMSE’s latest guest blogger, PhD researcher from Future Materials Group, Dharu Smaradhana,discusses his research into waste generated by palm oil production and its potential as sustainable material.
Palm oil is criticised due to deforestation concerns, but replacing it with other vegetable oils is not a straightforward solution. Palm oil is the most land-efficient vegetable oil crop. It supplies 40% of the world’s demand while using less than 6% of the land allocated for all vegetable oil production. Alternatives like soybean, coconut or sunflower oil require considerably more land which could lead to additional environmental damage.
Comparison of palm oil yields to other vegetable oils. Image credit: Valori news
Have you ever given an object a second life? Reusing yogurt pots to grow plants or a mug with a broken handle turned into a pencil holder. I recently made cushions out of coffee beans sacks from the nearby roasters. You probably also recycle glass bottles and carry a tote bag when going shopping, reducing the number of plastic bags.
These are all examples of a circular economy. Established as a concept in the 70s, circular economy is the system of production and consumption that reduces waste to a minimum. Extending a product’s life is achievable by re-using, repairing, recycling and sharing, all of which create further value. Circular economy is the opposite of the linear economy model, where goods are simply thrown away after use.
How much do you know about water? It’s all around us and used in pretty much all human activities. This might be as simple as washing our face or as complex as being used in the development of semiconductors for our electronic devices. But how many of us really know the impact of our behaviours on water? What sort of water pollution do we generate? What challenges are we facing in trying to provide all enough clean water for human activity? IMSE’s latest guest blogger, Bioengineering student Naveesha Karunanayaka, explores the topic.
