Archives: Projects

A great team in engineering

From humble beginnings as mechanical apprentices in Ireland and Wales, Sir David McMurtry and John Deer founded Renishaw, a company that has become one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of precision measurement equipment.
Fusion

Professor Steven Cowley was the winner of the 2012 Glazebrook Medal awarded by the Institute of Physics for his leadership of the UK’s fusion energy programme and his major contributions to plasma and fusion science.
Butterflies and metamaterials

Roy Sambles studies butterfly wings to create “metamaterials” that manipulate light and microwaves. His work has practical applications, such as improving RFID tagging.
Gluon

Graham Ross paved the way for discovering the gluon, the force carrier for the strong nuclear force. His work reshaped particle physics and led to new insights into the origins and nature of the universe.
Rolls-Royce university technology centres

The Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre (UTC) network is widely held to be an exemplary model for interaction between universities and industry. Professor Richard Parker, Dr Mike Howse and Professor Philip Ruffles from Rolls-Royce plc were awarded the 2011 Glazebrook Medal by the Institute of Physics for the creation, development and expansion of the UTC network.
My daily commute to absolute zero

Graham Batey, a physicist at Oxford Instruments NanoScience, has developed refrigerators that can reach temperatures just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero without using liquid gases like nitrogen and helium.
A genuinely original idea

Chris Isham, a physicist from Imperial College London, explores the link between quantum theory and its usefulness in modern life. His work on Topos Theory earned him the 2011 Dirac Medal and offers a new framework for applying mathematics to physics.
Cosmic ray detective

Professor Alan Watson from the University of Leeds was awarded the 2011 Faraday Medal by the Institute of Physics for his outstanding leadership within the Pierre Auger Observatory, and the insights he has provided to the origin and nature of ultra high energy cosmic rays.
National Oceanography Centre

The National Oceanography Service provides observational, computer-generated, and satellite data sets for understanding ocean changes.
Natural Environment Research Council

Bringing big data sets together gives a holistic view of the environment to understand how the planet is changing.
Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey provides accurate geographic data available for developing solutions in transport, food, agriculture, energy, and more.
UK Data Service

The UK Data Service offers holds over 6000 data collections with social and economic data that can be used to inform environmental research.