̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Markus Kraft

Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore visits Cambridge overseas research centre

skbf2 — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 12:45:47 +0000

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES) is hosting two projects that aim to aid Singapore’s business transition away from petrochemicals towards a net-zero emissions target by 2050.

Under the newly launched CREATE Thematic Programme in Decarbonisation supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the two projects will investigate non-fossil fuel-based pathways for Singapore’s chemical manufacturing industry and energy systems.

Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the NRF, Mr Heng Swee Keat toured the first of three laboratories for the programme to view the technical capabilities required for the various project teams, including CARES’ projects on the Sustainable Manufacture of Molecules and Materials in Singapore (SM3), and Hydrogen and Ammonia Combustion in Singapore (HYCOMBS).

SM3 aims to provide a path to a net-zero, high-value chemical manufacturing industry in Singapore. Its core goal is to address the dependency of producers of performance chemicals on starting materials that typically come from fossil-based carbon sources. ̽��ֱ��SM3 team hope to develop effective synthetic methods that best convert cheap and abundant fossil-free raw materials into high-value molecules, for use in sectors such as medicines and agrochemicals.

In project HYCOMBS, universities from Singapore, UK, Japan, France and Norway will work together to investigate the underlying combustion process of hydrogen and ammonia to minimise pollutants and accelerate industry innovation.

As part of the lab demonstrations on decarbonisation, CARES showcased an additional ongoing activity with City Energy investigating hydrogen-rich town gas for residential and commercial cooking stoves.

Mr Heng Swee Keat said: " ̽��ֱ��need to tackle climate change and its impact grows ever more urgent. During my visit to Cambridge CARES (Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore) — Cambridge ̽��ֱ��'s first and only research centre outside the UK — I witnessed how research and international collaboration are driving innovative solutions to combat climate change, particularly in the area of decarbonisation.

"In just a decade, CARES has established cutting-edge R&D facilities dedicated to decarbonisation projects that not only reduce emissions but also pave the way for a more sustainable future for Singapore. From hydrogen combustion and laser-based combustion diagnostics to the development of cleaner fuels for gas stoves, their work is closely aligned with the goals outlined in our Singapore Green Plan 2030, and achieving Singapore’s net-zero emissions goal by 2050.

"It was encouraging to hear from Director of CARES, Professor Markus Kraft, as he shared how being based in the CREATE facility at the National ̽��ֱ�� of Singapore facilitates interactions with researchers from diverse countries and disciplines. This collaborative and interdisciplinary approach embodies the essence of research — working together to address shared global challenges."

Since 2013, CARES has been involved in research programmes with Nanyang Technological ̽��ֱ�� and the National ̽��ֱ�� of Singapore as the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s first overseas centre. One of its early flagship programmes, the Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technologies (C4T), has investigated areas from sustainable reaction engineering, electrochemistry, and maritime decarbonisation to digitalisation.

By building on this foundation and leveraging the local talent pool, CARES has attracted new partners from international universities and institutes for SM3 and HYCOMBS. This includes EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, which will provide skills in the domain AI for chemistry. CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the Norwegian ̽��ֱ�� of Science and Technology, and Tohoku ̽��ֱ�� from Japan will contribute technical equipment and key talent in hydrogen and ammonia combustion.

Adapted from a release originally published by CARES.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF) paid a visit to the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s overseas research centre in Singapore and viewed its technical capabilities for decarbonisation research.

Cambridge CARES/Back Button Media

Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Heng Swee Keat, viewing decarbonisation activities at Cambridge CARES

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Taking Cambridge global

skbf2 — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 11:54:25 +0000

In 2013, Cambridge opened its first-ever overseas research centre, the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES). Over the past decade, CARES has grown into a thriving community of 150 staff and researchers, working with partners to achieve scientific breakthroughs with a global impact.

Developing solutions for the energy transition

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 14:28:37 +0000

Solutions are being developed at Cambridge that can be implemented, grown to scale, and used to accelerate the rapid transition to a net zero and then zero emissions economy.

Cambridge-authored book explores how artificial intelligence could help address climate change

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Intelligent Decarbonisation – a new book bringing together experts from the fields of science, law, finance, industry, and government – shows that a combination of digital technologies with AI can help curb humanity’s CO2 emissions. This is the key to mitigating climate change and the existential threat it poses. By acknowledging such digital technologies and AI could also pose existential threats to humanity, the book also shows how to maximise their economic and environmental use, while minimising the risks they introduce.

̽��ֱ��book is edited and co-authored by Professor Markus Kraft and Dr Oliver Inderwildi, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (Cambridge CARES).

“Intelligent Decarbonisation aims to get to the bottom of two critically important fields, using an innovative approach with original research, expert comments from academia, industry and think tanks,” said Inderwildi.

̽��ֱ��core idea of the book is to assess how AI and cyber-physical systems (CPS) – digital technologies where the physical and software components are deeply intertwined – can help humankind to overcome its most complex and most pressing challenge: climate change.

“ ̽��ֱ��transformational potential of cyber-physical systems, especially when combined with artificial intelligence, is difficult to predict,” said Kraft. “Cambridge CARES is dedicated to developing technology that directs economic development onto a sustainable pathway. Our latest book critically assesses the associated threats and opportunities.”

̽��ֱ��book is divided into four parts – Technology, Impact, Implications and Incubation – moving from the theoretical and technical to the real-world effects and areas for future development. It brings together work from private and public sector professionals, academics and think tank experts, and comprehensively examines the topic, highlighting new information to policymakers, researchers and industry professionals alike.

Case studies from Singapore are given prominence in the book as the city-state is at particular risk from the effects of climate change. Sea level rise and unpredictable weather could easily impact Singapore’s water resources, food supplies, and public health in the future.

To help address these threats, Singapore has invested heavily in scientific research, including the international research collaboration model seen in CREATE (Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise). CREATE gathers the world’s best research institutions and universities to work together on problems that affect Singapore and the world, at a scale that has the potential to deliver impact.

“ ̽��ֱ��climate change crisis is real. ̽��ֱ��critical role of decarbonisation is indisputable. Finding sustainable paths to decarbonisation is urgent,” said Dr Lim Khiang Wee, Executive Director of Academic Research at CREATE. “There have been dramatic advancements in the Digital Age and AI, with the Covid pandemic acting as an accelerator of digitalisation, and AI, a yet to be fully exploited tool. It is timely that the CREATE community led by Cambridge CARES is examining how AI and digitalisation can support the decarbonisation process, which could point the way towards globally impactful work on intelligent decarbonisation strategies.”

Intelligent Decarbonisation illustrates the potential of digitalisation not just through scientific articles but also through interviews with experts in the areas of decarbonisation and artificial intelligence.

Challenges of cybersecurity, legal, and governance issues are also addressed to accompany the technologies described. For the first time, Intelligent Decarbonisation brings these perspectives and projects together in a comprehensive and accessible format.

Intelligent Decarbonisation is published by Springer.

Adapted from a Cambridge CARES press release.

Humanity is facing two existential threats. ̽��ֱ��first: uncontrolled CO2 emissions irreversibly changing the climate. ̽��ֱ��second: a hostile artificial intelligence (AI) becoming the dominant form of intelligence on Earth. But while the situation may appear bleak, this two-pronged crisis also presents an opportunity.

Patrick Hendry via Unsplash

Factories with smoke under cloudy sky

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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̽��ֱ��‘brain’ that’s helping reduce carbon emissions

sc604 — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:31:52 +0000

For a chemical engineer, Jurong Island is a kind of paradise. ̽��ֱ��artificial island, built upon seven smaller islands off the Singapore mainland in the 1980s and 1990s, is now home to nearly 100 global petroleum, petrochemical and speciality chemical companies, indicating Singapore’s status as a global crossroads.

All those plants and factories produce a lot of carbon emissions – in fact more than half of global emissions come from industries like those based on the Island. With so many companies in such a small space, Jurong is an ideal laboratory for looking at ways to reduce emissions and improve sustainability. Little wonder that it has become the centre of Singapore’s efforts to cut its emissions intensity by 36% (compared with 2005 levels) by 2030.

“Because Singapore is a city-state, you’re never too far from the people who have the power to enact policy change,” says Professor Markus Kraft. “In Singapore, it’s easier to see the impact that certain changes can have on the carbon footprint of the whole country – it’s an ideal test bed for researchers. We can then use our results from Singapore as an example to roll out to other cities and other countries.”

Kraft is Director of the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES), a wholly owned subsidiary of the ̽��ֱ�� based at Singapore’s Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), which was established in 2007 with funding from Singapore’s National Research Foundation to encourage collaboration between universities and industry.

̽��ֱ��team in Singapore is made up of researchers from Cambridge, local universities and other institutions. Its unique setting, combined with a diverse membership that ranges from PhD students to professors, has enabled CARES, which was established in 2013, to be involved in several research and industry collaborations. ̽��ֱ��most recent, with fellow CREATE partners, the ̽��ֱ�� of California, Berkeley, the National ̽��ֱ�� of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological ̽��ֱ��, will develop new ways to transform industrial CO₂ emissions into compounds that are useful in the chemical industry supply chain.

̽��ֱ��overall goal of the researchers based at CARES is to reduce industrial carbon emissions and improve sustainability through the development of cleaner fuels, carbon capture and efficiency improvements in industrial processes.

Research to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of an eco-industrial park like Jurong Island is happening under CARES’ first research programme (the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology). ̽��ֱ��work has been split into complementary areas that include making chemical processes and reactions more efficient, creating cleaner fuel blends and reducing energy consumption within electrical and chemical supply systems.

Their flagship project is the J-Park Simulator, an AI-driven engine that combines mathematical modelling with the ‘Internet of Things’ to help reduce carbon emissions, as Kraft describes: “In the future, we may be able to access whole networks of machines, and the machines will talk to each other.

“There are models behind industrial processes, but to build them you need a semantic representation of everything you might find in an industrial plant. You also need mathematical models that contain knowledge about any given physical entity. These entities can broadcast data into the model – it’s a bit like the nerves in your hand sending a signal to your brain. ̽��ֱ��J-Park Simulator is essentially that brain.”

̽��ֱ��J-Park Simulator aims to provide a virtual representation of multiple domains in real time. It could have the ability to represent every plant on Jurong Island, and every piece of equipment in each of those plants from data that is constantly fed into it.

“Each piece of data is like a single brick – when you have enough bricks, you can start to build walls and houses; the idea of the Simulator is to allow you to design plants in ways that you couldn’t before because now we can make better use of mathematical optimisation,” says Kraft, who is a Fellow of Churchill College.

̽��ֱ��Simulator attempts to represent the highly interconnected nature of Jurong Island, and could be a powerful tool to demonstrate the effects of certain policies. For example, if a single power plant was able to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% through optimising its processes, the J-Park Simulator could show the effect of that reduction across multiple domains – it could allow the impact of different ‘what-if’ scenarios to be modelled in real time.

“We are developing the Simulator with the aim of helping us to understand cross-domain connectivity and to create alternative scenarios for us to study which policy to implement,” says Kraft. “To reach an optimum symbiotic relationship among industries and other networks, all resources need to be taken into account simultaneously.”

In its first phase, the CARES team investigated technologies with the potential to save more than eight million tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year from Singapore – approximately 18% of Singapore’s 2012 emissions. In its second phase, the team want to take its ideas forward and closer to real-world application.

“One of the ideas we developed in Phase One was to blend biodiesel with diesel fuel for road transport,” says Kraft. “We’ve estimated that this could save approximately 0.8 million tonnes per year of CO₂ for Singapore. What we plan to look at in Phase Two is whether we can do something similar for marine shipping traffic. We have estimated that this has the potential to save approximately an additional 0.5 million tonnes per year of CO₂ in Singapore, but it also has the potential to be adopted worldwide. This could have a much broader global impact, far beyond just shipping in the Singapore Strait.”

In CARES’ second phase, the J-Park Simulator will be extended and expanded, and the team is exploring the possibility of connecting it to a real-world smart grid. Kraft and his team are also busy building relationships with government and policymakers in Singapore to implement their research and help reduce Singapore’s carbon footprint.

“I’m grateful that we can work in Singapore with so many colleagues from around the world,” says Kraft. “Our work here has also had a positive impact in Cambridge – not just because of the funding, but also because of the international exchange of ideas and talent. It’s an ideal platform for collaboration.”

From their base halfway across the globe in Singapore, Cambridge researchers are working with colleagues from around the world to reduce carbon emissions in industry.

Jurong is an ideal laboratory for looking at ways to reduce emissions and improve sustainability.

Markus Kraft

William Cho

Jurong Island

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Cambridge joins international partners in Singapore as country's flagship research programme celebrates 10th anniversary

ag236 — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:50:51 +0000

̽��ֱ��Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) was established in 2007, with funding from Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF), to allow research-intensive institutions from all over the world to set up research centres in Singapore and establish research partnerships with local universities.

Today, CREATE supports collaborations between four Singaporean universities – the National ̽��ֱ�� of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological ̽��ֱ�� (NTU), the Singapore ̽��ֱ�� of Technology and Design (SUTD) and the Singapore Management ̽��ֱ�� (SMU) – and seven international partners – ETH Zurich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technical ̽��ֱ�� of Munich, Hebrew ̽��ֱ�� of Jerusalem, ̽��ֱ�� of California, Berkeley, Shanghai Jiao Tong ̽��ֱ�� and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

To mark its 10th anniversary, CREATE held an international symposium attended by university leaders as well as Singapore's former president, Dr Tony Tan.

Speaking at the event on 1 December, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Minister for Finance and Deputy Chairman of the NRF said:

“We designed CREATE to encourage interaction not just across a range of disciplines and cultures, but also of perspectives – from dreamers to researchers, designers and users – thereby fuelling exchanges between the spheres of research and innovation.”

“By bringing together researchers, policy makers and end users, CREATE enables serendipitous interactions and discovery. It creates a research environment that is richer than the sum of its parts, allowing researchers to innovate and provide solutions to real world problems.”

“Today,” he added, “CREATE is an international research hub, built on strong institutional partnerships, involving almost 1,100 people from over 40 countries. CREATE’s projects are relevant to Singapore and impactful on the global level.”

CARES: a hub for research collaboration

̽��ֱ��Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, was set up as one of CREATE’s collaborative initiatives in April 2013. It hosts a number of research collaborations between the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, NTU, NUS and industrial partners in Singapore and elsewhere.

Representing CARES at the event, its Director, Prof. Markus Kraft, explained: “CARES creates and fosters cutting-edge science in the area of energy efficiency in chemical technologies. We want to do first class research, world-leading research. We want to understand the world better. And we want to contribute to some of the pressing problems facing mankind – in particular, global warming."

Prof. Gehan Amaratunga, Professor of Engineering at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, was involved in CARES from its inception: “CARES is driven by the Cambridge attitude to research: to think about things deeply, and to deliver results that are significant and worthwhile. But that is coupled with the Singapore culture of hard work, and results-driven research. ̽��ֱ��mixture of those two research cultures under the CARES umbrella generates a unique symbiosis.”

He adds: “It is worth noting that CARES was the first time that the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge had established anything under its name outside of Cambridge. ̽��ֱ��Singaporean government has put resources into research, and is keen for international researchers to come and work in Singapore. From the Cambridge perspective, it gives us an opportunity to globalise our research by engaging in a location that is an Asian hub, directly in between Asia’s two largest population centres – India and China. Singapore is a melting pot where researchers from the entire region are present. ̽��ֱ��impact of what we do in Singapore will be felt all over Asia.”

Reducing carbon footprint and energy demand

CARES’ first research programme is the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology (C4T), a partnership between Cambridge and Singapore set up in 2013 to tackle the problem of assessing and reducing the carbon footprint of the petrochemical plants and electrical network on Singapore’s Jurong Island. Since its inception, it has brought together researchers in fields including Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Information Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Materials Science and Metallurgy.

Lowering the cost of CO₂ capture and developing technologies for waste heat utilisation have been among the main drivers for C4T’s research. It addresses the problem of carbon abatement in chemical technologies though Interdisciplinary Research Programmes that combine state-of-the-art experimental analysis with advanced modelling research.

Speaking at CREATE’s 10th anniversary event in Singapore, Dr Lim Mei Qi, Project Officer for CARES, explained: “C4T proposes ways of reducing the carbon footprint of Singapore while supporting economic growth. To build upon CARES’ early success we will continue to engage with Singapore's stakeholders, including government agencies, policymakers, and academic and industrial research organisations. We hope, by doing so, to positively contribute to Singapore’s ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change.”

A laboratory built from scratch – via Skype

Dr Jethro Akroyd, Senior Research Associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology’s Computational Modelling Group, worked on the design of the CARES laboratory in Singapore.

Today he spends most of his time supervising CARES students based in Cambridge, but he remembers the early challenges of designing lab space remotely: “We communicated with the architects and our external consultant in Singapore via Skype. We often had Skype meetings at 5:30 in the morning – the only time people were available both in Singapore and in Cambridge. Those were long days.”

“One of the biggest difficulties was explaining to people in Singapore what was required in the laboratories in order to deliver flexible research space. And even once we figured out what we wanted, we had to work out how to fit this into the physical constraints of the space that was available at CREATE. Imagine sitting in a small, cold room on a dark Cambridge morning trying to explain complicated ideas to a team on the other side of the world who can only see you via a video link.”

“We built up a very successful working relationship with the consultant and the architects. This culminated in my first visit to Singapore, during the design process, when we had our first face-to-face meeting as a team. That was very special.”

“It’s been great to see designs you worked out on paper in reality, and you can see how the research space was going to be used in order to understand the fundamental combustion and pollutant formation processes that are really at the heart of our role in the research project.”

In June 2017, the CARES C4T Laboratory was awarded the BCA Green Mark for Laboratories Platinum Award, in recognition of its sustainable efforts and commitment to reduce the environmental impact of lab operations.

An industrial park simulator

CARES C4T’s flagship project is the J-Park Simulator (JPS) – a tool for the design, analysis and operation optimisation of eco-industrial parks developed by C4T researchers. It aims to allow sector agencies, industry and infrastructure providers to model the impact of different “what-if” scenarios in real time. ̽��ֱ��simulator is able to analyse different scenarios affecting chemical processes, electricity grid and building management to provide the visual information needed to support optimisation, decision-making and scenario analysis.

“In order to reach an optimum symbiotic relationship among industries and networks, all resources need to be taken into consideration simultaneously – this is the idea behind J-Park Simulator," explained Dr Lim.

Split-site PhD

Another successful initiative has been the Cambridge-CARES studentship programme, which allows Cambridge PhD students to spend two years based in Singapore with the C4T team.

Jacob Martin is a third-year PhD student at CARES currently doing research into how to stop soot from forming in engines.

“Something that I like about CARES is being able to work with a lot of different people from different universities. Because we are physically located within the CREATE tower, it is easier to interact with other universities and do a lot of research with other interest groups. And because we have access to NUS’ equipment, we can expand what we are doing in Cambridge. ̽��ֱ��availability of resources has been a real selling point for the programme.”

He cites the Visiting Scientists scheme as helping to establish international research connections. This invitation-only programme attracts eminent professors from around the globe, such as Emeritus Professor Karl Johan Åström from the Department of Automatic Control, LTH, Lund ̽��ֱ��, to stay and work with C4T researchers in Singapore for a few weeks.

Jacob hopes that his research will lead to new technologies to reduce pollution from diesel engines, which has an impact on climate as well as on human health.

“It always helps to have more connections in research. Being at CARES will definitely be helpful to establish collaborations not only in Asia but also with universities in America. There are many benefits to collaboration. You can achieve a lot more. ̽��ֱ��more minds you put to a problem, the faster you can solve it.”

He adds: “Having people with different cultural backgrounds allows for new and interesting solutions to problems. Cambridge has a particular way of dealing with problems – focus, focus, focus, and really nail the fundamentals. Sometimes that means you lose a bit of perspective. Something that’s been really good about collaborating with people in Singapore is that it’s less about the minutiae and more about the big picture. Singapore is facing a lot of big problems to do with climate change, energy, water. It’s small enough that you can make big changes, and use it as a model for other cities all over the world.”

Teaming up

CREATE makes this collaboration possible by supporting projects through the Intra-CREATE programme. A recent example is the three-year project involving researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, the ̽��ֱ�� of California, Berkeley, the National ̽��ֱ�� of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological ̽��ֱ�� (NTU), which was recently awarded SGD$5m (£2.8m) by Singapore’s National Research Foundation.

̽��ֱ��project, which will start in January 2018, seeks to develop ways of transforming carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted as part of the industrial process into compounds that are useful in the chemical industry supply chain. It will be co-led by Prof. Alexei Lapkin ( ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge/CARES) and Prof. Joel Ager (UC-Berkeley and Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS Ltd)).

Looking ahead

After a successful start, CARES is now taking stock of the knowledge created over the past four years and planning for its next phase.

Prof Markus Kraft (CARES' Director) commented: “We have identified opportunities to save over eight million tonnes of CO₂ per year for Singapore – this is about 20% of their annual emissions. ̽��ֱ��idea of C4T Phase 2 is to take this forward. At the core of the proposal for C4T Phase Two is to look at ideas generated in Phase One, take them much closer to the market and let them be adopted by industry.”

“One of the ideas we developed in Phase One was to blend biodiesel with diesel fuel for road transport. We’ve shown this can save about one million tonnes per year of CO₂ for Singapore. What we’re now looking at in Phase Two is whether we can do anything similar for marine shipping traffic. This has the potential to save something like another one million tonnes of CO₂ in Singapore, but it also has the potential to be adopted worldwide. This could have a much broader global impact, far beyond just the shipping in Singapore Strait.”

For further information on CARES and the C4T research programme please contact Ms Louise Renwick, CARES Communications and External Affairs Executive, caresco@hermes.cam.ac.uk,; Tel: +6566015447

An international symposium at Singapore’s CREATE campus highlights the global challenges of sustainable energy and suggests innovative ways of reducing industry’s carbon footprint

We want to do first-class research. We want to understand the world better. And we want to contribute to some of the pressing problems facing mankind – in particular, global warming.

Markus Kraft, Director of CARES

CREATE tower, Singapore

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̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge at the World Economic Forum 2016

cjb250 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:56:46 +0000

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� will host an IdeasLab looking at how breakthroughs in carbon reduction technologies will transform industries. IdeasLabs are quick-fire visual presentations followed by workgroup discussion, and have proved a successful format for engaging various communities in academic thinking.

Carbon Reduction Technologies: ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge IdeasLab

Wednesday 20 January 16:15 - 17:30

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor, will introduce this event, which will look at how research by Cambridge academics has led to breakthroughs in carbon reduction technologies that will transform a range of industries. Ideas to be discussed include:

Decarbonizing industrial-scale processes using virtual avatars
Self-healing concrete for low-carbon infrastructure
Improving solar materials efficiency using quantum mechanics
Quantum materials for zero-loss transmission of electricity

̽��ֱ��event is supported Energy@Cambridge, a Strategic Research Initiative that brings together the activities of over 250 world-leading academics working in all aspects of energy-related research, covering energy supply, conversion and demand, across a wide range from departments.

̽��ֱ��speakers, all members of the Strategic Research Initiative, are:

Professor Abir Al-Tabbaa, Department of Engineering

Professor Al-Tabbaa is a Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment. She leads international work on sustainable and innovative materials for construction and the environment. Her particular expertise relates to low-carbon and self-healing construction materials, ground improvement, soil mix technology and contaminated land remediation.

Professor Sir Richard Friend, Department of Physics

Professor Friend is the Director of the Maxwell Centre and the Winton Fund for the Physics of Sustainability. He is the lead academic on one of Energy@Cambridge’s Grand Challenges – Materials for Energy Efficient Information Communications Technology.

Professor Friend’s research encompasses the physics, materials science and engineering of semiconductor devices made with carbon-based semiconductors, particularly polymers. His research group was first to demonstrate using polymers efficient operation of field-effect transistors and light-emitting diodes. These advances revealed that the semiconductor properties of this broad class of materials are unexpectedly clean, so that semiconductor devices can both reveal their novel semiconductor physics, including their operation in efficient photovoltaic diodes, optically-pumped lasing, directly-printed polymer transistor circuits and light-emitting transistors.

Professor Markus Kraft, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Professor Kraft is the director of the Singapore-Cambridge CREATE Research Centre and a principal investigator of the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology (C4T), one of the Grand Challenges. C4T is a world-leading partnership between Cambridge and Singapore, set up to tackle the environmentally relevant and complex problem of assessing and reducing the carbon footprint of the integrated petro-chemical plants and electrical network on Jurong Island in Singapore.

Professor Kraft has contributed to the detailed modelling of combustion synthesis of organic and inorganic nanoparticles. He has worked on fluidization, spray drying and granulation of fine powders. His interested include computational modelling and optimization targeted towards developing carbon abatement and emissions reduction technologies.

Dr Suchitra Sebastian, Department of Physics

Dr Sebastian creates and studies interesting quantum materials - often under extreme conditions such as very high magnetic and electric fields, enormous pressures, and very low temperatures - with a view to discovering unusual phases of matter. Among these are the family of superconductors - which have the exciting property of transporting electricity with no energy loss - and hence hold great promise for energy saving applications. One of her research programmes is to create a new generation of superconductors that operate at accessible temperatures, thus providing energy transmission and storage solutions of the future.

Will Science Save Us?

Friday 22 January

̽��ֱ��Vice Chancellor and Dr Suchitra Sebastian will take part in a lunchtime discussion entitled Will Science Save Us?, which will look at how we accelerate scientific breakthroughs that address society's greatest challenges.

* * *

̽��ֱ��World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas; this year’s theme is ̽��ֱ��Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.

̽��ֱ��Forum will provide an opportunity for the Cambridge researchers to engage with decision-makers in business, NGOs and in public policy, and to highlight new ideas from Cambridge in responding to global challenges.

For further information or to contact any of the speakers, please contact the team at Energy@Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��Vice Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is to lead a delegation of academics to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, to explore issues including carbon reduction technologies and how science and engineering can best address society's greatest challenges.

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Coal Fired Power Station (cropped)

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