Archive news 2010
The James Clayton Undergraduate Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for 2010
December 2010
Reesha Dyer has been awarded a James Clayton Undergraduate Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for 2010. Reesha was one of 180 applicants who addressed the subject “Where will Engineering be in 2025” and successfully defended her essay at interview. The competition is open to all students who have been accepted on a degree course accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Her success brings her a Certificate and cheque for £1,000 for each year of her undergraduate degree course. Reesha should have been presented with the award by the President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering at their Vision Awards Ceremony on the 9th December in London but she was taking an examination in Durham and could not attend so Professor Tony Unsworth, Vice-President of the Institution presented her Certificate and cheque on Tuesday 14th December just prior to a lecture.
Level 1 Essay prize winners 2010
December 2010
Pictured here receiving awards from Professor Roger Crouch Head of School, for their Level 1 prize winning essays. First prize went to Kirsten Campbell and third prize to Jason Vojack. Second prize went to Heather Purshouse, not pictured.
The Arup Design Prize
November 2010
The Arup Design Prize is awarded each year to recognise outstanding achievement in the level 3 civil engineering design exercise. This year Samuel Walsh won the prize and is pictured here receiving his certificate from Paul Morley, Arup Engineer and industrial tutor at Durham .
Higginson lecture 2010
October 2010 lecture was delivered by Dr Michael Robinson, Chief Scientist RealD 3D Technology.
Mike Robinson of RealD (USA) talked about the resurgence of 3D cinema and included the latest stereoscopic display technologies and the relationship between natural and two-view stereoscopic 3D. Mike Robinson is the Chief Scientist of RealD with primary responsibility in the development of consumer display technologies such as 3D TVs.
IET Young Engineering Final Year Project Competition 2009/2010
March 2010
Each year five of our top engineering students are selected to represent Durham in the IET Young Engineering Final Year Project Competition 2009/2010. Durham students have always done extremely well in this competition and this years students, Joe Alderson, John Cooke, Darren Barker, David Greenwood and Daniel Robinson kept standards high, Joe Alderson achieved first prize, John Cooke second, David Greenwood and Daniel Robinson joint third. Pictured here are this years students being grilled on their projects posters by judges Ian Finch and Martyn Walsh.
3D film ‘Cosmic Origins’ winning Best in Show Prize
January 2010
Nick Holliman (Engineering and Computing Sciences), Carlos Frenk (Physics) and colleagues won Best in Show Prize at the Stereoscopic displays and applications conference in the California this week with their 3D film ‘Cosmic Origins’. About 40 movies were in the competition including the Disney 3D conversion of Sleeping Beauty. The judging panel included the Director of Image Technology at IMAX. It is a stunning achievement to beat Disney at their own game and in their backyard. the film is exceptional both visually and scientifically, illustrating the formation of the cosmos from first principles. Those who have not seen it should not miss. Now on show in Durham.
Download more information on the making of this film here
2008 Glover-Klingman Prize
December 2009
The sixth annual Glover-Klingman Prize for the best papers published in Networks during 2008 was awarded to School of Engineering and Computing Sciences Asaf Levin, Daniel Paulusma and Gerhard Woeginger for a series of two joint papers in the international Wiley journal Networks.
The papers can be viewed on the following links.
"The Computational Complexity of Graph Contractions I: Polynomially solvable and NP-complete cases"
"The Computational Complexity of Graph Contractions II: Two tough polynomially solvable cases"
Times Magazine article: "The new Marie Curies"
December 2009
Pictured being photographed for an article in The Times Magazine, left to right: Dr Susan Pyner, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Dr Ritu Kataky, Department of Chemistry and Dr Sherri Johnstone, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. Dr’s Pyner, Kataky and Johnston have been acclaimed as "The new Marie Curies" by Times Magazine. All are joint partners in an EPSRC funded project to research biocompatible membrane sensors which can measure pressure in a similar way to the natural pressure receptors within the body. Read the full article in "Timesonline" here online, entitled "The New Victorians"
Annual Ford Women Into Science and Engineering
November 2009
Engineering student Zoe Burton is the seventh winner of the FORD WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) prize, the annual award that recognizes exceptional women studying engineering and promotes engineering as a career.
Zoe, who will graduate in mechanical engineering from the University of Durham in the summer, received her £1,000 prize from HRH Princess Anne at the WISE awards ceremony in London. Further information on FORD WISE can be found at http://media.ford.com
University Poster Presentation Competition for Young Scientists
November 2009
At the London Hilton on Park Lane Hote Joe Atherton, postgraduate in the School of Engineering and Computer Sciences at Durham, was awarded second place in the EPSRC University Poster Presentation Competition for Young Scientists. in the catagory "The best communication of the impact that the research into nanotechnology/emerging technologies will have in current/future applications". Joe's research is based on microfabrication technologies to create thermoelectric temperature sensors with a spatial resolution of around 1-20microns. The eventual aim of the project is to create a probe which is sensitive enough to determine the thermal properties of plant leaves and link these properties to the water content of the leaf/plant. Such a device would allow real-time monitoring of the water-needs of a crop and allow tailored irrigation, conserving water whilst also improving crop yields.
Further details of the EPSRC University Poster Presentation Competition can be obtained at this link.
Prizes for outstanding performance
October 2009
Students of the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences were recently awarded prizes in recognistion of their surpassing performances:
Benjamin Dodds civil engineering Level 3 MEng received the THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS BEST STUDENT CERTIFICATE which is awarded annually to the "best student" in any year on an IMechE accredited course.
Pictured with Prof Peter Tavner, Victoria Sutherland and Celia Turnbull Level 4 civil Engineering Meng receiveing GEOLOGY ESSAY PRIZE which is awarded annually to the students completing the best third year Geology Essay.
Presentation to Lindsey Kennedy MEng THE DAVID HIND MEMORIAL PRIZE which is awarded annually awarded to the second year student showing the greatest improvement in Mathematics between the first and second years.
Pictured receiving THE OVE ARUP PRIZE, John Cooke. ARUP is a a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants located here in the Northeast. The ARUP prize is awarded annually to the student completing the best third year civil design project.
SET Awards (Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year)
September 2009
Recent graduate Marek Kubik was awarded The Balfour Beatty Award for the Best Civil Engineering Student in the UK for his project "Structural Analysis of Geodesic Domes" supervised by Dr Charles Augarde. Marek is just starting an EngD at Reading University. Another of this year’s graduates, Stephen Pell, was at the ceremony and reached the final three in the award for the best Mechanical Engineering Student. The SET Awards (Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year) are Britain's most important awards for science and technology undergraduates.
Robot whizz wins £10,000 prize for his innovative teaching at Durham University
September 2009
Professor George Carter, an industrial tutor at Durham University's School of Engineering for the last 30 years, has won recognition for his work in inspiring students with the £10,000 Visiting Professor Education Innovation Prize from the Royal Academy of Engineering, kindly supported by the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). The prize was presented on 16th September at the Academy's annual conference for its Visiting Professors at Aston University.
Further details can be found at the Royal academy website