The Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing

Reflections on TTZero June 2013

N.Brill — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:53:12 +0000

During 2012 we had been developing a new electric motorbike to race at the 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero. This new bike built on the tremendous success we had with the 2011 bike that achieved 3rd place. I decided to take a gamble with the 2012 bike and use the latest prototype components as this would help us with mass reduction and power increase. The gamble was that due to the nature of prototype parts and the time scales we work to, there was always the possibility that parts might not be signed off in time (dependant on the manufacturers’ test results). As it turned out I could not sign off one of the key components in time for the 2012 TT race, so we ran the 2011 bike at this event instead.

Sign off for these parts finally happened in August and the newly completed 2012 bike went testing at Bruntingthorpe, where all went very well. To end the season on a high we entered the FIM e Grand Prix at Le Mans, but the fire happened just before we left for this which obviously stopped us competing.

We rebuilt the 2012 bike during Jan / Feb 2013 in readiness to show its capabilities at the TTZero 2013. It should be emphasised that our electric racing bike is designed from the ground up, with my students involved in key areas such as chassis design and the development of control systems. These are not simply theoretical studies, but detailed design projects, with real deadlines and deliverables, encompassing all the key skills engineering students will need when going into the real world. Students feedback their sub-assembly designs to the Technical Director where great care is taken to ensure they meet the pre-defined requirements. We then work through a pass off phase, add the sub-assemblies to the master model, carry out a full kinematic analysis for final sign off, before we proceed to fabrication / production and all this hard work is then proved on the running bike. The only components we do not design are the wheels and the front fork assembly.

The Isle of Man TT 37 mile mountain course is known in the racing world as the ‘bike killer’! The course is the world’s most demanding race course and is used by all the major manufacturers as a proving ground for their new sports bikes. Over the years many of these manufacturers’ machines have failed to complete the course. So for Kingston University’s bike to complete all the qualifying laps this year with no issues was a phenomenal endorsement of the excellent engineering that has gone into this project.

There were 15 bikes that entered the TTZero 2013 and only 11 managed to make it to the start line. On race day we came 4th and were the fastest UK university beating both Imperial and Brunel (again!) and only 2% off the pace of the 3rd place bike. We already have a raft of ideas on how to further improve the bike and need to find the necessary financial support to make this happen.

All the top teams commented on the engineering excellence and build quality of the Kingston bike and paid much attention to some of our innovative design features. They all thought the chassis was from a Ducatti and that other components we designed were from bikes developed by large manufacturers – a great endorsement of the team’s effort. There are many 1000s of hours than have gone into the development on the electric bikes over the last 4 years. I insist the team works to a level of quality and finish that the likes of BMW and Honda would expect and am very proud that this was clearly recognised and appreciated by the top teams. Even more impressive is that all of this has been achieved on a budget that is less than 5% of the top teams.

We are looking to compete again at Le Mans in September this year and have not ruled out the possibility of going for the land speed record for electric bikes! So we will keep you updated with our progress.

A huge thank you needs to go to all of the industrial sponsors I managed to secure who have the belief that we will deliver time and again.

Paul Brandon
Technical Director – Electric Motorcycle Team

Kingston is the fastest UK university at Isle of Man TT Zero

N.Brill — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:36:35 +0000

A brand new Kingston University electric motorbike has finished in fourth place in the 2013 Isle of Man TT zero emissions race. The Kingston team completed the 300-mile course in 25 minutes 41 seconds, with an average speed of almost 89 miles per hour. Kingston fared better on the circuit than any other university team in the United Kingdom, out-performing racing rivals from Brunel and Imperial College London.

Kingston’s motorbike, named Phoenix, was ridden by George Spence and built by a team of students, staff and alumni in the new £1 million automotive laboratory at the Roehampton Vale campus. The project was led by principal lecturer Paul Brandon, from the University’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, assisted by four students. Two graduates from last year’s race team, who were instrumental in some of the key chassis design and control systems on a previous model, were also heavily involved.

“The bikes we develop really are cutting edge and we demonstrate this by being able to compete at the Isle of Man TT – the biggest stage there is for bike racing – taking on entrants from all over the world with far bigger budgets and far more resources than we have,” Mr Brandon said.

Human activity has contributed to increased forestry disease

N.Brill — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:30:25 +0000

Connections between climate change and biological trends are often difficult to establish from short-term studies. In a paper Drought, disease, defoliation and death: forest pathogens as agents of past vegetation change Professor Waller looks at the fossil evidence available to reconstruct outbreaks of fungal pathogens (such as ash dieback) and insect defoliators over the last 10,000 years, both in terms of their frequency and their influence on vegetation composition.

The albeit limited evidence currently available, supports a link with abrupt climate change and it is likely that in the past the interaction between climate change and such pathogens produced long-term changes in the abundance of tree taxa in the forests of North America and Europe.

Read the full story on ScienceOmega

IhSHA Student Conference 4th July 2013

N.Brill — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:33:57 +0000

First Student Conference of the Interdisciplinary Hub for the Study of Health and Age-related conditions (IhSHA)

taking place all day on Thursday 4^th July 2013 in JG1002 at Penrhyn Road Campus.

By invitation only

Please check your email for the invitation and a link to book your place. This event will start at 9:30 and will contain poster and oral presentation by students in IhSHA. Awards will be given to the best poster and oral presentations selected.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided for this event.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Prof. Andy Augousti and Reyhaneh Esmaielbeiki

4G health; mobile health beyond the smart apps

N.Brill — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:33:40 +0000

Professor Robert Istepanian Director of the Medical Information and Network Technologies (MINT) centre at Kingston University is to give a talk at the meeting organised by The Royal Society of Medicine on Thursday 6th June 2013.

“Worlds in collision: Is mobile technology challenging conventional telemonitoring”

The aim of this one day conference is to inform attendees how, going forward, the barriers that separate telecare and telehealth will dissolve.

Furthermore, this meeting will seek to raise awareness of the importance of interacting and integrating with social media – a change that will add a whole new meaning to encourage self-care, and ultimately ‘nudging’ people to move towards a healthier lifestyle.

More information is available here.

MSc opportunities in the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research Group

N.Brill — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:12:27 +0000

MSc by Research positions in Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease

The international diabetes foundation estimates that diabetes will affect 1 in 10 people worldwide by 2030. Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, as well as other complications that can ultimately lead to loss of sight or limb amputation.

Do you want to be involved in research that aims to cure these problems?

Projects available:

The role of SPARC in islet regeneration and diabetes
Modelling matricellular protein interactions in diabetes
Targeting microbial biofilms to treat wound healing complications in diabetes patients
A pathogenic role for SPARC in retinopathy and loss of vision in diabetes patients
Mechanisms of Hepatic Iron Overload in Dysmetabolic Iron Overload Syndrome
Diabetes and Cancer: Is there a connection related to fuel selection preferences?
Intermittent hypoxia and exercise in the treatment of obesity

The Work Based Route to Professional Registration

N.Brill — Tue, 28 May 2013 09:35:49 +0000

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Registers Success

Ian Henderson, a graduate of the MSc Professional Engineering course at Kingston University, has become the first graduate of the Engineering Gateways scheme to become a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. During this time, Ian was working for Caterpillar, but is now a mechanical design engineer at Seven Technologies.

He states: “I received tremendous support from Caterpillar throughout the MSc and CEng registration process. The Education Assistance Programme and the ability to work on challenging projects, coupled with continued support and guidance from my workplace mentor, Dermot Murphy, enabled me to make CEng a reality.”

Mike Hope of Kingston University emphasises the flexibility of the programme: “Ian is an excellent example of how useful this approach to gaining an MSc and then CEng can be. Ian was always very keen to understand the significance of engineering principles underlying his engineering judgements and how he could improve them.”

Alan Fitzgerald, a Fellow of the IMechE, supported Ian throughout the programme, ensuring his professional competencies were kept on track, ensuring that Ian had the best possible advice on registering as a Chartered Engineer at the most appropriate time.

Ian testifies that the MSc has given him a boost at work: “I went for my interview at Seven Technologies just before completing my CEng registration. The company was very interested in my academic ambition and that I was applying for CEng.” Ian also considers that becoming a Chartered Engineer benefits both him and his employer. “It commands recognition in client relationships and shows that you have a great level of commitment to the profession.”

Tim Kernohan, Lead Mechanical Engineer at Seven Technologies, adds: “Ian’s recent CEng award is excellent news for the engineering team at Seven Technologies. The achievement of chartered status demonstrates a commitment to professional development, which is key to our continued growth and success as a company. The skills and competencies gained during Ian’s career to date, including the support received throughout his recently completed work-based MSc, are evident in all areas of his excellent design work.”

Edward Hansom of the IMechE states, “We value work-based learning very highly. The fact that results can be achieved in the workplace is extremely powerful. Universities can increase their enrolment base; the employer gains the delivery of an engineering solution relevant to its output (at relatively low cost) and the student achieves a degree which enhances, rather than disrupts, his or her career path. The real benefit is that you don’t have to give up work and go back into education. All the learning you achieve is immediately ploughed back into your own career and educational development.”

Ed Hansom concludes: “Ian is the first Institution member to have gone right the way through the scheme, with resounding success. He followed the achievement of his MSc all the way to becoming a Chartered Engineer, which was his goal.”

Congratulations to Henry Taylor for successfully completion of his MSc by Research

N.Brill — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:49:12 +0000

Congratulations to Henry Taylor who has successfully completed his MSc by Research in the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research Group, with his project on ‘Modulation of growth factor receptor trafficking as a novel approach to promoting b cell expansion’. Well done Henry!

Scientists put bowel cancer under the microscope

N.Brill — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:06:37 +0000

Patients with bowel cancer – the third most commonly diagnosed form in the United Kingdom – could enjoy increased survival rates as a result of a new study led by an expert from Kingston University. Professor Helmout Modjtahedi is heading an investigation examining why some tumours are hard to treat and how they can be targeted with the most effective therapies.

Read the full story on HealthCanal.com

Do all drowning victims drown? Cold water immersion and cardiac arrhythmias. 10 June

N.Brill — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:41:48 +0000

Sorry but this event has now been cancelled.
Check this site again for any further information.

Professor Michael Shattock

King’s College London

When people fall, jump or dive into cold water a number of physiological mechanisms are activated. The idea behind this talk is that in some, fortunately rare, circumstances, these physiological reflexes may be dangerous. I will argue that this has widespread implications for medicine in understanding how the heart works and also in understanding the mechanisms underlying sudden cardiac death – a huge problem in the Western World.

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/medicine/research/divisions/cardio/about/people/shattockm.aspx

All welcome to what should be a very entertaining talk.

Monday 10^th June , 1-2 pm,

The Doctoral School (Room MB-231), Penrhyn Road Campus, Kingston University