Research lectures, seminars and events

The events listed in this area are research seminars, workshops and lectures hosted by Durham University departments and research institutes. If you are not a member of the University, but  wish to enquire about attending one of the events please contact the organiser or host department.

ECS-Mathematical Sciences Energy Seminars: Combustion modelling through principal manifolds & End users of energy: data, ethics and engagement

Jochen Einbeck - Combustion modelling through principal manifolds

Abstract: Combustion systems generally involve a large number of variables (temperature and chemical species mass fractions). For instance, for simple fuels such as methane, the transport equations form a system of more than 50 highly coupled PDEs. It is well-known that the thermodynamic state of a reacting system relaxes onto a low-dimensional, strongly attracting manifold. The goal of this research is to exploit this intrinsic structure by modelling the state space explicitly through `local' principal manifolds, a nonparametric data approximation technique developed by the presenter and co-workers. It is shown how, via regression on the fitted manifold, good predictions of the `principal component source terms' (i.e., rates of production) can be achieved, which would be required for applications such as direct numerical simulation (DNS) of practical combustion systems.

Gareth Powells - End users of energy: data, ethics and engagement

Abstract: As the energy supply industry increasingly looks for new ways to co-manage end user consumption patterns and new ways to enrol communities into co-management of the grid, there is, more than ever, an imperative to know, measure, predict and persuade people. Different social science disciplines have historically approached this in different ways, to different extents, and have done so often in isolation from one another, let alone engineering or mathematical colleagues. In recent years there has been a move to bring the social and the technical into direct conversation but such efforts, although admirable in their intent, face real challenges in delivering the promise of interdisciplinary research. This talk provides an overview of social science research into end use energy consumption touching on psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology and geography and identifies some possible lines of enquiry and research design approaches that mathematicians, engineers and social scientists may wish to pursue.

Contact matthias.troffaes@durham.ac.uk or chris.dent@durham.ac.uk for more information