Michaelmas 2009
Developing insect-proof surfaces
Contacts: Jan-Henning Dirks, Dr. Walter Federle & Cristofer Clemente, Department of Zoology Mentor: Dr. Mark Priest he team of researchers in Zoology has used advanced optical techniques to identify the adhesion process by which insects are able to stick to surfaces, a mechanism which uses a secreted emulsion of water in oily fluid. They have then used this understanding…
Improving athletes’ physical performance
Contact: Dr. Salman Taherian & Dr. Marcelo Pias, Computer Lab Mentor: Dr. John Hunter http://www.sesame.ucl.ac.uk A team of researchers from the Computer Lab and Engineering in Cambridge has worked for the past 2 years on a detailed sensing project for athletes. The SESAME project (SEnsing in Sport and Managed Exercise) has looked at a variety of methods for…
Commercialising a pain-relieving Peruvian plant extract
Contacts: Dr. Francoise Barbira-Freedman, Department of Social Anthropology Mentor: Dr. Catherine Beech Dr. Barbira-Freedman has spent many years studying the medical traditions of indigenous Peruvian peoples, and compiling a database of over 400 Peruvian plants with medicinal properties. All the plants have been carefully selected to be under no threat of extinction, and to be easy…
Investigating the citric acid marketplace
Contacts: Dr David Zou, Materials Science and GreenPB Mentor: Dr. Nicky Athanassopoulou GreenPB (who were originally an i-Team) are in the early stages of commercialising a new environmentally-friendly method of recycling car batteries, invented by Dr. Vasant Kumar of Materials Science. The company has secured an EEDA Proof of Concept grant, and also won the first…
Commercialising an automated rowing trainer
Contacts: Simon Fothergill, Computer Lab Mentor: Dr. John Hunter A team of researchers from the Computer Lab and Engineering department in Cambridge have worked for the past 2 years on a detailed sensing project for athletes. The SESAME project (SEnsing in Sport and Managed Exercise) has looked at a variety of methods for measuring and analysing…
A low-cost programmable computer for kids
Contact: Jack Lang, Lecturer, Computer Lab Mentor: Amy Weatherup Applications to study Computer Science at University have dropped sharply over the past 10 years, as computers have become tools to use rather than machines to program. It is very hard for school-age children to find appropriate environments to try programming computers, with PCs and Java being…