Seminars
Frontiers of Science and Technology Seminar
Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology
Wednesday 15 April in EN103 from 3.00 to 4.00 pm
Tools for inclusive design
Dr Sam Waller, Cambridge University, England
Dr Waller will be visiting Prof Ajay Kapoor.
Abstract
With rising life expectancy, the percentage of people who are 60 years or older is increasing, as is the retirement age. Maintaining independent living longer is becoming imperative for a sustainable society.
Ageing is one of the major drivers of a diverse range of sensory, cognitive and motor capabilities, personal preferences and social contexts. The baby boomer generation now approaching retirement want all the style of mainstream design goods, but will not tolerate products that fail to account for their needs. Inclusive design is about understanding the diversity present within the target users, and making commercially successful products that include as many of them as reasonably possible.
This presentation will introduces the concept of inclusive design, will make the business case for why it is worthwhile, and demonstrate practical tools for its implementation. The practical tools will centre around the inclusive design toolkit website, which includes a freely available exclusion calculator, vision and hearing impairment simulators.
Tuesday 17 March 2009 in AS404 between 3.00 and 4.00 pm
Advances in Raman spectroscopy - Defining new standards for high speed image data acquisition
Dr KPJ Williams
Renishaw plc, Spectroscopy Products Division Gloucestershire, UK
Dr Williams will be visiting Dr Paul Stoddart from the Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy in our Faculty.
Abstract
Raman spectroscopy continues to provide analytical solutions in a variety of applications offering chemical specificity on a micrometer scale. The recent advances in instrumentation will be discussed together with a broad range of applications.
The ability to create chemical and compositional images by acquiring Raman spectra from an array of positions and then processing them to reveal the parameters of interest is a powerful technique. Traditionally, these spatially-related data have been collected by raster scanning the sample beneath the incident laser spot, typically in micrometer intervals. New approaches to Raman imaging have been developed that enhance the capabilities of modern Raman instruments.
A new method of acquiring confocal Raman images has been developed * *Streamline*. Spectra are collected in parallel, rather than in series using the traditional methods. Shorter total acquisition times result, with high quality individual spectra recorded in the order of fifty milliseconds. The method also benefits from *on the fly* data analysis resulting in real time image creation. This innovative approach allows the technique to succeed where others have failed: producing uncompromised data and images for small or large areas at speeds much greater than possible with competing methods. A range of materials examples will be shown to illustrate the benefits of this method. For example large area samples can provide Raman chemical images in minutes,which offers real advantages for surveying and identifying the real areas of interest.
Examples of imaging of whole pharmaceutical formulations, new materials and biological samples will be given.
The application of Raman spectroscopy to in-situ investigations either through the use of in- situ cells placed under the microscope objective or through remote sampling via fibre optics also will be discussed
Applied Mathematics Seminars
Visiting Professor Seminar at Swinburne University of Technology
Wednesday 18 February 2009 in EN103 between 3.00 and 4.00 pm
The Electric Arc Furnace - A Recycling Giant
Gordon A. Irons
- Dofasco Professor of Ferrous Metallurgy
- Director
- Steel Research Centre
- McMaster University
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
The scale of the global steel industry is enormous; over 1 Billion tonnes of steel are made annually. Almost half of the steel is made from recycled steel which dramatically reduces the impact on resources, energy consumption and the environment. Most of the recycling is carried out in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs). In this lecture, the equipment and operation will be explained. There have been tremendous developments in this technology in the last 30 years, primarily through in-plant experimentation. The furnaces and the process are now quite complicated, so further advances will require a detailed understanding of the process. Despite the importance of EAF steelmaking, and the need for process modelling, very few academics have investigated it. Examples drawn from the work at the McMaster Steel Research Centre on the fundamentals of the process show that there are enormous potential benefits for existing processes, as well as for the development of the next generation of furnaces.
