Samsung’s head of graphene research will present the company’s pioneering research into synthesis of large area graphene at a major conference in Manchester in June. Seungmin Cho, principal research engineer and group leader at Samsung will present the progress his team is making in developing flexible touch screens at the upcoming Graphene Supply, Application & Commercialisation 2014, which takes place ...
University Electronics
The latest electronics news from UK universities
Glasgow develops electronically-controlled cell patterning
A cross-disciplinary team at Glasgow University has discovered a novel, electronically-controlled method of generating dynamic cell patterns using a portable device based on acoustic force for spatial manipulation of cells and particles. The research – published by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Lab on Chip – shows that cell patterning using a Heptagon Acoustic Tweezer may soon be in ...
Insigneo Institute building in silico Virtual Physiological Human
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 ...
Li-Fi and two-stage optical concentrators
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’ – ...
Versarien partners graphene subsidiary 2-DTech
The University of Manchester has highlighted the acquisition, by Versarien, of the majority of its graphene subsidiary 2-DTech Ltd.
How smart is the city?
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 ...
Making ‘perovskite’ solar cells lead free
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, ...
Manchester explains unusual electronic and optical behaviour in graphene
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 ...
Opening a career pathway for technicians
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 steers light-driven ‘micro-robots’ with optical tweezers
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 ...