̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Ann Dowling

Sir James Dyson opens invention powerhouse at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

ts657 — Mon, 09 May 2016 08:36:11 +0000

Sir James Dyson opens some of the world’s most advanced engineering facilities at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge today – giving the institution’s students and academics the space and means to prototype, invent and collaborate on cutting-edge research.

̽��ֱ��development has been funded by a £8m donation from the James Dyson Foundation – the largest gift ever received by Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, consistently ranked among the best engineering departments globally.

̽��ֱ��Dyson Centre for Engineering Design is the focal point for teaching Cambridge students about the design process, providing specialised printing machinery, scanners, lasers and routers. It provides space for over 1,200 bright engineers to conduct their project work. An open plan design encourages the sharing of ideas and a collaborative environment. Student led projects housed within the centre include solar powered electric racing cars, vehicles engineered for arctic ice, quad-rotor drones and helium balloon spaceflight systems.

A separate new four-storey building, the James Dyson Building for Engineering, houses postgraduate researchers and supports world leading research in areas including advanced materials, smart infrastructure, electric vehicles and efficient internal combustion systems. A bridge link offers easy access to testing laboratories housing world-class fluid dynamics machinery, aerodynamics equipment and areas for aeroacoustics analysis.

̽��ֱ��building itself is as smart as the minds it houses: fibre-optic sensors in the foundation piles, concrete columns and floor sections offer live data, about temperatures and strain – providing a picture of how the building is behaving. ̽��ֱ��result is a building that’s more of a living creature than a passive block of material.

Research undertaken in the hub will build on a rich tradition of invention: Cambridge alumni include internal combustion pioneer Harry Ricardo and Jet engine inventor Frank Whittle.

̽��ֱ��Department is located at the heart of the Cambridge cluster, Europe's largest technology cluster, which employs around 57,000 people in more than 1,500 technology-based firms, which have combined annual revenue of over £13 billion. Cambridge has created over 1,500 spin-out companies over the last decade, with a 97.4% five year survival rate, compared to 44.6% nationally.

Sir James said: “Developing the intellectual property that will help Britain succeed in the global technology race depends on applying our brightest minds to ambitious and exciting research projects. I’m hopeful that this new space for Britain’s best engineers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge will catalyse great technological breakthroughs that transform how we live”.

Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, said: “ ̽��ֱ��research taking place in this building exists at the very cutting edge of engineering excellence. Allied to new ideas generated within the Dyson Centre, this will produce not only world-changing discoveries and inventions, but the future generations of engineers the world requires to address the major challenges of the 21st century.”

Head of the Department of Engineering, Professor David Cardwell, said: “Collaboration is at the heart of solving global engineering challenges and the new James Dyson Building brings brilliant researchers from across disciplines together with industrial practitioners to serve our cities, transportation and energy systems with novel techniques.

“ ̽��ֱ��adjoining Dyson Centre for Engineering Design enables students to express their creative talents and test their engineering skills using high-tech and diverse machining and prototyping equipment. Here we will also welcome schoolchildren to see engineers at work and captivate the next generation of competent engineers. An updated and redesigned Engineering Library will guarantee flexible spaces for collaborative as well as silent work spaces for our students and researchers.”

Professor Dame Ann Dowling, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “Academic rigour must meet with practical invention. ̽��ֱ��Dyson Engineering Design Centre and the James Dyson Building for Engineering bridge the gap, encouraging engineers to apply their minds to creatively experiment and try new things.”

Engineering hub focuses on advances including smart infrastructure, electric vehicles and efficient internal combustion systems

I’m hopeful that this new space for Britain’s best engineers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge will catalyse great technological breakthroughs that transform how we live.

Sir James Dyson

James Dyson Building Department of Engineering

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Cambridge academics honoured over the New Year

pbh25 — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 15:42:44 +0000

Professor Dame Ann Dowling has been appointed to the Order of Merit by HM ̽��ֱ��Queen.

̽��ֱ��Order of Merit is given to those who have rendered exceptionally meritorious services towards the advancement of the arts, learning, literature and science. ̽��ֱ��award is in the personal gift of ̽��ֱ��Queen, and is limited to 24 recipients.

President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dowling’s research is primarily in the fields of combustion, acoustics and vibration, aimed at low-emission combustion and quiet vehicles. ̽��ֱ��Professor of Mechanical Engineering is one of the founders of the Energy Efficient Cities initiative in Cambridge and was the UK lead of the Silent Aircraft Initiative.

She was appointed CBE for services to Mechanical Engineering in 2002, and promoted DBE for services to Science in 2007.

Dowling, a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, said: “I was surprised, delighted and very, very honoured to be appointed to the Order of Merit.”

Members of the ̽��ֱ�� were also recognised in the New Year’s honours list. Professor David MacKay, the Regius Professor of Engineering since 2013, has been knighted ‘for services to scientific advice in Government and science outreach.’

Mackay, a Fellow of Darwin College, said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour. I'd like to thank all those from across the political spectrum who supported my work advocating a numerate, engineering-based approach to energy policy and climate-change action, and the civil servants who taught me how to deliver scientific advice in Whitehall; I'd also like to express my gratitude to the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge for their support for me throughout my career.”

Harvey McGrath, co-chair of the £2 billion fundraising campaign for the ̽��ֱ�� and Colleges of Cambridge, was also knighted in the New Year’s honours list ‘for services to economic growth and public life’. McGrath, an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, is a philanthropist and businessman.

Professor of Neurology Alastair Compston was appointed CBE ‘for services to multiple sclerosis treatment’. Compston has been involved with research on the mechanisms and treatment of multiple sclerosis since 1976, the last 26 years based in Cambridge.

Apart from work identifying many genetic risk variants for susceptibility to the disease, he has introduced Alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) as a highly effective treatment for early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Since 2013, Alemtuzumab has been licensed throughout the world and is now used increasingly as a first-line therapy in young adults with this potentially disabling condition.

Compston, a Fellow of Jesus College, said: “I am delighted to receive this honour but especially pleased that the citation recognises the work of a large research community, in Cambridge and elsewhere, that has transformed the outlook for young people with multiple sclerosis facing an otherwise uncertain future.”

Dr Emily Shuckburgh has been appointed OBE 'for services to science and public communication of science'. A Fellow of Darwin College, she is a member of the Faculty of Mathematics and holds a number of positions in the ̽��ֱ��.

Image shows (left to right): Professor Sir David MacKay, Professor Alastair Compston, and Professor Dame Ann Dowling.

Members have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to society

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Yes

Professor Dame Ann Dowling has been nominated as the first female President of the Royal Academy of Engineering

bjb42 — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:12:37 +0000

A world authority on combustion and acoustics, Dowling became a Cambridge research fellow in 1977 and has remained at the university ever since, including visiting research posts at MIT in 1999 and Caltech in 2001. She started her career as a mathematician but always wanted to pursue applied mathematics and did her PhD in engineering acoustics with Prof John Ffowcs Williams FREng, who led pioneering noise-reduction research on Concorde. She now leads research on efficient, low emission combustion for aero and industrial gas turbines and low noise vehicles, particularly aircraft and cars.

Her work in aeronautics and energy has been recognised by fellowships of the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, and foreign associate membership of both the US National Academy of Engineering and the French Academy of Sciences

Academy President Sir John Parker GBE FREng said “I am delighted that Dame Ann has been nominated for election as the next President of this Academy. Her wide research and policy expertise and her leadership of the engineering department of one of the world’s top universities will be a great asset to the Academy in the years to come.”

̽��ֱ��Council of the Royal Academy of Engineering has nominated Professor Dame Ann Dowling FREng FRS, Head of the Department of Engineering, as its Presidential candidate. Upon election, Dowling would become the Academy’s first female President and serve a term of five years.

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Caught on camera: engineering in action

amb206 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:31:27 +0000

Engineering is about much more than dams and bridges. A glance at the hundreds of stunning images submitted for the 2012 Photography Competition at the Department of Engineering, sponsored by leading optical systems manufacturer Carl Zeiss, offers a window into a world of ground-breaking research in a staggering array of fields, encompassing applications that range from new adhesives and inkjet printing techniques through to the development of replacement human tissues.

Each year four prizes are awarded with the top photographers winning items of state-of-the-art equipment that will enable them to take their photography skills to new levels. Hundreds of images were submitted for the competition which asked for pictures that both related to research or teaching undertaken in the Department of Engineering, or out in the field, and were also interesting or beautiful as works of art in their own right. ̽��ֱ��engineering subjects captured in the photographs entered range in size from the tiniest atom-scale through to some of the world’s largest structures.

This year’s judges included Professor Roberto Cipolla, Dr Allan McRobie, Professor Dame Ann Dowling and Philip Guildford – all from the Department of Engineering. Also on the judging panel was Ken Robinson, Senior Applications Specialist at Carl Zeiss. ̽��ֱ��prize winners are announced today (15 October).

Philip Guildford, Director of Research at the Department of Engineering, explained that, given the high standard of entries, the selection process was ambitious with the panel looking for images that would hold their own in a gallery such as Tate Modern or Tate Britain. He also remarked that, while the competition had begun nine years ago as “a bit of fun”, it now played an extremely powerful role in communicating visually the sheer span of engineering and the excitement of working in a rapidly-developing discipline. “,” he said.

First prize for 2012 goes jointly to Dr Ronan Daly and Dr Alfonso Castrejon-Pita, of the Inkjet Research Centre, whose winning entry (Drying Patterns of AKD on Glass) shows the drying and cracking of a film formed when an alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) dispersion is deposited and dried on a glass microscope slide. ̽��ֱ��work of these researchers explores the new generation of inkjet printing techniques which have potential applications in diagnostic and lab-on-chip technologies that could speed up the process of identifying and treating life-threatening diseases.

Graham Treece wins second prize with his computer-generated image taken from a CT scan of the head. ̽��ֱ��image (A New Way of Looking) represents more than ten years of research into new techniques for measuring variations in the thickness of the cortex (the surface of the skull) and offers a valuable new tool for clinicians looking at injuries such as fractures. Third prize is won by Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer for her image (Nanoscale Fractal Branching Patterns) of adhesive structures that mimic the ability of the gecko’s feet to stick to surfaces repeatedly without losing their stickiness.

A separate monograph prize – for images captured using an electron microscope – is awarded jointly to Ching Theng Koh and Daniel Strange who are developing electro-spinning techniques that will produce networks of fibres with diameters one millionth of a metre or less. Their image (Electrospun Scaffold – A Fibrous Material with Nanoscale Fibres) shows the fibrous networks that mimic those found in many natural materials and have potential applications as human tissue replacements.

̽��ֱ��winning entries of the 2012 Photography Competition at the Department of Engineering, sponsored by Carl Zeiss, provide a stunning visual insight into the ways in which engineering makes a vital contribution to our lives.

Behind each image is a fascinating story of dedicated research.

Philip Guildford, Head of Research, Department of Engineering

Caught on camera: engineering in action

Dr Ronan Daly and Dr Alfonso Castrejon-Pita, Inkjet Research Centre,Department of Engineering

Drying Patterns of AKD on Glass

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