University Electronics

An interesting one, involving healthcare and technology. Sheffield University is highlighting a “virtual physiological human” project, which is the work of its Insigneo Institute. This is a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals with the objective of creating an “in silico” (computer simulated) replica of the human body. The reason? It will enable the virtual testing ...

Oxford University is highlighting its work in the realm of optical wireless communications. See Ultra-high Bandwidth – Isis Project No 9453 Identifying a shortage of licensed frequencies in existing radio frequency (RF) wireless networks, it’s attempting to address what it describes as a ‘spectrum crunch’, from ever increasing demand for data delivered over the mobile Internet. The answer? ‘Li-Fi’ – ...

The University of Manchester has highlighted the acquisition, by Versarien, of the majority of its graphene subsidiary 2-DTech Ltd.

Here’s an interesting one. How Smart is a city, in terms of the mobile comms and technologies available? And how would you measure it, exactly. Well, university experts are helping to build a metric for ranking mobile-connected smart cities – Sheffield University has been working with GSMA, the association of mobile operators, to better document what kind of communication technologies are ...

A team led by researchers at the University of Oxford has demonstrated that the lead (Pb) in ‘perovskite’ solar cells can be replaced with tin, writes our technology editor Steve Bush. Pb perovskite solar cells have been causing a storm – reaching 17% efficiency from a standing start only three years ago. They are made from cheap raw materials, are atmospherically stable, ...

Researchers at the University of Manchester found a mechanism that could explain unusual electronic and optical behaviour in graphene, and another route to give it a bandgap, writes our technology editor Steve Bush. The work involved spreading mono-layer flakes of graphene on a thin (20nm) layer of boron nitride (BN). Both materials have a hexagonal two-dimensional structure – there is increasing interest in the ...

The University of Sheffield has secured £400,000 from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to lead a scheme designed bolster the role of technicians. The initiative, which will be rolled out across all Higher Education institutions in England, “aims to enhance the excellence and efficiency of the technical workforce by creating a national framework for progression and sharing ...

Bristol University has revealed some of its work on the development of light-driven ‘micro-robots’ that can autonomously investigate and manipulate the nano-scale environment in a microscope. In theory, says the university, such devices could allow the investigation of delicate biological samples, such as cells, in new ways. They would provide a new route to high-resolution imaging. Researchers including Dr David ...

Adaptive Array Systems of Cheadle, Manchester has been awarded a contract by the University of Manchester to provide design concepts for optical network termination and transmission equipment for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. An optical fibre network will form the backbone of the SKA telescope’s antenna array. “We are very pleased and ...

Clearance has been given to create a centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing, Factory 2050, at Sheffield Business Park. The “research factory” is designed to “meet the future needs of aerospace and other high-value manufacturing industries” and has grown from a collaboration with Boeing. The £43 building is planned by Sheffield University to combine technologies such as advanced robotics, flexible ...