CEB Focus 3, May 2011

In this issueEditorial 2

Message from HoD 2

Front cover article 3

Undergraduate Focus 6

Postgrad/Postdoc Hub 7

Teaching Matters 8

Research Highlights 8

Research Feature 11

Industry Business 14

Achievements 15

Alumni Feature 17

Departments Events 19

Arrivals and Departures 20

Dear Dr Sarah 21

Tea-Time Teaser 22

CEB FocusDepartment of Chemical Engineering and BiotechnologyEaster 2011 Issue 3

Professor Malcolm Mackley retires after30 years in the Department p.3

A new CUCES Committee p.6 Microscopy techniques for Alzheimer’sand Parkinson’s research p.14

Remembering the past p.17

CEB Focus 4may:_Layout 1 10/5/11 10:43 Page 1

Welcome

Welcome again to CEB Focus. Spring is here andappropriately this issue is about continuity andrebirth. We focus first on the innovative researchwork of Professor Malcolm Mackley and we wishhim all the very best for a happy, long and wellearned retirement in the West Country. We alsoshowcase the research of some of the youngermembers of the Department and I hope that we

have properly conveyed their considerableenthusiasm, energy and talent. Continuity iscertainly there as evidenced by the passion foroutstanding teaching and research thatcharacterises CEB and rebirth through the talentthat is evident in our young researchers. Last week Ireceived a ‘Congratulations’ email from one of myPhD students who is now working in Singapore andin it I learnt that CEB has been ranked second onlyto MIT in the 2011 QS World University ChemicalEngineering Rankings. A very fitting tribute indeedto Malcolm and all CEB academic staff past andcurrent. But it is one that must also strengthen ourresolve to be second to none. CEB is currentlyreviewing the opportunities that lie open to it andhow best we might realise them and I hope toshare these thoughts with you in a future issue.What is crystal clear at the outset though, is thattomorrow’s academics are well equipped to meetthe challenge that lies ahead of them.

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EditorialIt is important to us to have a newsletter thatreflects the identity of the newly-mergedDepartment. We have representatives fromChemical Engineering, Biotechnology and theMagnetic Resonance Research Centre (MRRC)generating ideas, providing input, and liaising withacademics, research groups and students in orderto make this possible.

Since the last issue, the membership of the editorialteam has changed. Amy Chesterton and FernandoAbegao have left the team to concentrate on theirstudies, whilst Marijke Fagan and Nick Ramskill,both PhD students working at the MRRC, havejoined. We thank Amy and Fernando for all theirhelp in establishing the newsletter. And we want tothank everyone who has contributed to this issue ofCEB Focus. Thank you to the writers for their articlesand in particular thank you to Vanessa Blake andBarrie Goddard for their photographs.

CEB Focus is an opportunity for you to support andenhance the Chemical Engineering and

Biotechnology community at Cambridge.Contributions from Department members, alumniand corporate partners are always welcome. If youhave any comments or suggestions for articles tobe included in the next issue, please get in touchwith the Editorial Team [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you in the future!

For those wishing to receive a regular copy of CEBFocus electronically please subscribe by sending amessage to [email protected] with‘Subscribe’ as the subject of the message.

Editorial Team: From left to right Marijke Fagan, Elena Gonzalez andRashmi Tripathi; back row: Nick Ramskill and Alastair Clarke

Message from HoD Professor Nigel Slater


Front Cover Article

Dr Bart HallmarkDesign LecturerProfessor Malcolm Mackley needsno introduction to departmentalmembers having taughtcountless undergraduates andhaving supervised and mentoredmany PhD students andpostdocs. Malcolm’s researchinterests are incredibly broad,encompassing pure science,pragmatic engineering andinnovation; they include,amongst other topics, fluidmechanics, rheology,membranes, microreactors andalternative fuels. His inventionsreflect this broad nature, fromcommercially-availablerheological tools to techniquesfor shape-forming chocolate atroom temperature.

Malcolm’s career started at theUniversity of Bristol under theguidance of Professors AndrewKeller and Sir Charles Frank;Malcolm’s PhD concernedinvestigating flow inducedpolymer crystallisation. Thisresearch led not only totantalizing scientific observationsrelated to fibrous crystals (Figure1) but also to commercially-important discoveries concerningultra-high-strength polymerfibres.

In 1979, Malcolm joined theDepartment of ChemicalEngineering at Cambridge,having previously held a

lectureship in materials science atthe University of Sussex. AtCambridge, Malcolm’s researchflourished and included newinterests such as mixingprocesses, resulting frominvestigations into wave energy.A key observation concerning theefficiency of wave-energyextraction was a loss of energydue to the formation of vortices.Once understood, Malcolmeliminated vortex formation fromhis energy capture devices andexploited the phenomenon as anovel mixing technology, shownin Figure 2.

The phenomenon of oscillatoryflow mixing led to thedevelopment of successivegenerations of reactor, piloted byICI and by BP. Today, oscillatoryflow mixing can be found inbioreactors and in commercially-available systems from Ni TechSolutions; a company founded byone of Malcolm’s formerpostdocs.

In recognition of hisachievements, Malcolm won theBeilby Medal in 1987; soonafterwards, Malcolm was also therecipient of the Charles VernonBoys prize. These accolades werealso reflected in the Department,with Malcolm’s promotion to areadership in 1991.

The 1990s gave rise to twoinventions for which Malcolmwould be instantly associated; thediscovery of the cold extrusion ofchocolate and the invention ofthe Cambridge Multi-PassRheometer (MPR). The coldextrusion of chocolate resultedfrom a previous polymerprocessing development;surprisingly, the phase-changecharacteristics of chocolateshared some of the qualitativefeatures that were essential forthis new polymer processingtechnique, albeit at lowertemperatures. The first ramextrusion experimentsconducted at room temperatureproved to be a great success.

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Figure 1. Transmission electron micrograph of‘shish-kebab’ crystal structure of polyethyelene,produced by an elongational flow-field(Mackley and Keller, Pure Appl. Chem., 39, 193,1974)

Figure 2. Photograph of the flow patterngenerated by an oscillating flow though abaffled tube. Flow is from right to left. (Brunold,Hunns, Mackley and Thompson, Chem. Eng.Sci., 44(5), 1227, 1989)

ATribute to Professor MalcolmMackley FREng – Inventor, Scientist and Engineer


Front Cover Article


Chocolate cold extrusion wasable to produce complexprismatic shapes with very well-defined edges, something thatwas impossible to attain usingtraditional melt processing.Additionally, chocolate coldextrusion gave rise to a surprisingtemporary flexibility; this allowedimprobable operations with thenewly-extruded product, such asbeing able to tie it in knots! This isillustrated by Malcolm in Figure 3.

The ability to shape-formchocolate accurately, quickly andinexpensively was of greatcommercial interest; Nestlé soonadopted the technology anddeveloped it. The first commercialproduct that used Malcolm’s coldextrusion process was Nesquik‘Shake on Shapes’, which hit theshelves in 1998.

Aspects of the fundamentalphysics underlying cold extrusionwere explored in anotherinvention, a twin-piston, fullyenclosed, capillary rheometer; theMPR. This device eliminated manyof the problems associated withtraditional capillary rheometers

and allowed samples of materialto be processed under preciselycontrolled conditions. The flowcould be interrogated eitheroptically, allowing directobservation of stress in opticallybirefringent materials, or by X-rays, allowing the in-situquantification of crystallisationphenomena. The exact nature ofthe boundary conditions withinthe MPR made for an ideal pieceof experimental apparatus withwhich to validate numericalmodels, hence testing theaccuracy of rheologicalconstitutive equations; an earlyexample is shown in Figure 4.

Malcolm’s championing ofinnovation led to recognitionwithin the University with hispromotion to ‘Professor of ProcessInnovation’ in 1999 and to hiselection to Fellow of the RoyalAcademy of Engineering in 2003.Within the Royal Academy, hewas very active as a judge for theMacRobert award, the UK’spremier engineering innovationaward.

Throughout what can only bedescribed as an illustrious andhigh-achieving career, Malcolm

never lost sight of the importantthings in life. Family, consisting ofMargaret and his two daughters,Emily and Sophie, and friendswere top priorities, closelyfollowed by a passionate love ofdinghy racing. With the advent ofretirement, Malcolm will, nodoubt, be busier than ever, eithersailing, continuing to championinnovation in engineering or asan author. Malcolm’s first work offiction, ‘High Tension’, has justbeen published by Publibook inFrance.

Malcolm, we wish you all the verybest and thank youwholeheartedly for the time,effort and energy that you haveput into all aspects of life at theDepartment. Please keep intouch – you’ll be sorely missed.Some of your friends andcolleagues overseas have been incontact to say a few words, so I’llleave it to them to conclude thisarticle.

Professor Jean-FrançoisAgassant (Head of Cemef,Sophia-Antipolis, France)Professor Rudy Valette (AssociateProfessor, Cemef )I met Malcolm for the first timeseventeen years ago at the 1994European rheology meeting inSeville, Spain. We decided, withother colleagues from TheNetherlands and Germany,amongst other countries, tomake a proposal for Europeanfunding in the area of rheology.The idea was to use complex flowfield measurements, using

Figure 3. Malcolm demonstrating the flexibilityof a filament of newly cold extruded chocolateby tying it in a knot.

Figure 4. Early experimental observations andnumerical predictions of ‘stress fangs’ withinmolten polyethylene; images taken from MPRexperiments. (adapted from Lee, Mackley et al.,J. Rheol., 45(6), 1261, 2001).


Front Cover Article


techniques such as flow inducedbirefringence and laser doppleranemometry, together with flowfield computations in order toidentify nonlinear parameters ofviscoelastic constitutiveequations.Malcolm is very efficient whenwriting collaborative papers: afirst draft with an outline, asecond draft one week later withthe first paragraphs, and so on.After a few weeks the paper iscompleted and sent to the editor.

Malcolm is a real engineer!

Dr Rudy Koopmans (The DowChemical Company, Switzerland)Creativity is probably a word Iwould associate most withMalcolm. He lived the word in hisprofession for as long as I knewhim, and that is since we met forthe first time at the incipientRolduc Polymer Meeting in TheNetherlands in 1985. Ever since, Isaw Malcolm explore daringconcepts that, in a number ofcases, changed materialsprocessing approaches orbrought a different perspectiveon the fundamentalunderstanding of polymer flow.

The degree of freedom given tofail and to work independentlywithout too many constraints,but with guidance to focus onthe validation of the finalconcept, allowed for creativity tofoster and for his co-workers andstudents to give the best theyhad. On the multiple occasionswe worked together, the

discussions were a never endingsource of imaginative new ideas.Malcolm's preferred location, inthe south of France, and hissailing probably provided time toreflect and let the mind exploredifferent perspectives.Accordingly, next to theprofessional interaction it wasalways a pleasure to have avariety of discussion topics thatput the order of the day in adifferent light. Seeing Malcolmabout to take leave of CambridgeUniversity is certainly a loss forthe academic surroundings. Inmy opinion, a renaissance man isstepping aside, but hopefully to aplace where creativity willcontinue to be fostered.

Dr Dean Barker (Fisher & PaykelHealthcare, New Zealand)For me, and my family, Malcolmand Margaret were a source ofmuch more than just equations,models, and really excellent labfacilities (thanks Malcolm), theywere also a portal to a life livedwith generous spirit, with passionfor one's values, and recognitionof the importance of family,friends, and community.

So how on earth does thisprofound summary come aboutat morning tea you may ask?Well, it doesn't. Malcolm wasgenerous in inviting me to gosailing with him on weekends; hesaid he was 'one short' - I replied,'I am one, and short,' and so ithappened. Through sailing Ilearned about the intricacies andimportance of pre-race

preparation (great starts lead togreat finishes), I also experiencedgreat teamwork and theimportance of individualresponsibility within a team,tempered with tolerance ofothers, particularly under stress.We shared disappointment,picked through our mistakes,took chances, won some, lostsome, enjoyed them all, andshared in the high and lowmoments with others of similarbent. Then there was the art of afine after-dinner speech,impromptu of course, that wouldtouch everyone with merrimentthrough a well refined, andcultured wit, reflecting boyishcharm, sitting comfortablyalongside professorial eloquence.

I could go on, but I won't, in caseI embarrass us both, so will finishby saying - Dear Malcolm, to youand Margaret, thank you for yourgenerosity during the time theBarkers were in Cambridge. Youboth gave us so much, for whichwe cannot ever repay you, butcan only hope to 'pay forward',with an instalment plan. We wishyou a most happy retirement,and have the expectation that,even though that was anexcellent win on the water thatday Malcolm, that you'll havemany more opportunities todeclare, ‘it doesn't come betterthan that!’


Undergraduate Focus


CUCES Annual DinnerAnna KvarngrenCUCES Events and Careers Officer 2010-11

On the evening of the 11 March, 125 Departmentstaff, members, alumni, guests and friends cametogether to enjoy the 2011 CUCES Annual Dinner atthe University Arms hotel. The evening began witha champagne reception followed by a three-coursedinner in one of the beautiful rooms in the old partof the hotel. During the dinner, the guests weretreated to speeches from the HoD Professor NigelSlater, the outgoing CUCES President, ConstantinosPittas and from Department alumnus Dr NealMorgan, representing the event sponsor, Shell.

For guests choosing to stay around after the dinner,the evening’s entertainment was far from over witha DJ playing until midnight and a photographer tosnap a photo memory of the evening. Overall theevening was a great success with Part IIB studentsIan Tam and Tom Ithell describing it as ‘the best nightof their lives’.

The CUCES committee would like to take thisopportunity to thank the event sponsor, Shell, sincethe success of the event would not have beenpossible without their support. The committeewould also like to thank the Department forsupporting the event.

New CUCES Committee takeschargeNick RamskillPhD StudentThe Easter vacation and the Annual Dinner mark thechangeover of the committee for the CambridgeUniversity Chemical Engineering Society (CUCES).The new committee is comprised of AkshayDeshmukh (President), Marina Steketee (Secretary),Laurence Tonna (Treasurer), Erica Lee (EventsCoordinator), James Perry (Careers Representative),Zsigmond Varga (IT & Publicity ) and Ben Richards(Social Secretary and Frank Morton Representative).

Reflecting on the past year, outgoing presidentConstantinos Pittas said, “Our two main goals for theyear were to promote interest in Chemical Engineeringamong our classmates (the raison d'être of the society)and to maintain and empower the spirit oftogetherness and inclusiveness that distinguishes ourDepartment.” The introduction of the new positionof ‘Career Rep’ has proven to be a huge successorganising more lunch-time/evening career events.

Looking to the year ahead, newpresident Akshay Deshmukh said, “Ifeel privileged to be leading anexciting group of engineers as thePresident of the 2011/12 Committee.”

Akshay has also spoken about thecommittee’s plans for the future,“We will endeavour to replicate the

successes of the 2010/2011 Committee from the largeDepartment events to the numerous careers eventswhich form the backbone of the CUCES calendar. Wehope to invite more non-traditional companies todeliver careers talks whilst maintaining strong linkswith the teaching consortium of companies. Sociallywe intend to inject a range of events into the CUCEScalendar in order to improve the social and academicinteraction between students.”

For more information on CUCES, please visit thewebsite: www.srcf.ucam.org/cuces

Former CUCES Committee led by Constantinos Pittas

Akshay DeshmukhCUCES President2011-12


Postgrad/Postdoc Hub


CEB Students awarded £3500travel grantsLeo Martinez-Hurtado and Jamie WalterBiotechnology PhD StudentsLeo and Jamie have been awarded a £3,500NanoDTC Associate Grant from the Nano DoctoralTraining Centre (DTC), Cambridge. Leo is an activemember of the Healthcare Biotechnology groupdeveloping holographic gas sensor technologiesand Jamie is in the Analytical Biotechnology groupand develops multifunctional ion-selective deliveryvehicles. They have been awarded this grant topromote cross-disciplinary research within thecentral themes of self-assembling functionalnanomaterials and devices. This will entaildisseminating their research to larger communitiesat conferences and tours, establishing and buildingnetworks within the field and consulting studentson the interface between biology andnanotechnology at the Nano Doctoral Trainingcentre.

Along with the award,Jamie has completedstudy visits to laboratoriesin Harvard, M.I.T and theFocussed Ultrasound Labat Harvard MedicalSchool, and both Jamieand Leo have had a paperaccepted for the NSTI

Nanotech conference and exposition 2011, theworld’s largest nanotechnology conference. Theactivities of the NanoDTC associate programmeinclude, among others, lab visits, talks among thestudents and industry talks. The programme alsooffers an exceptional networking opportunity. TheDTC was established in 2009 to equip the nextgeneration of researchers with the skills andexperience to become nanoscience entrepreneursby turning basic science research into futureapplications. A directory of the researchers activelyinvolved in the program can be found athttp://www.nanodtc.cam.ac.uk/directory/

TheThree Peaks Challenge forKidsCanManny KempPhD StudentThis summer, I will be walking up the highest peaksin England, Scotland and Wales, namely Ben Nevis,Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon. I will be doing thisfor KidsCan, a small paediatric cancer researchcharity based in the University of Salford. Theirresearch is directed along two lines: theadvancement of treatment for cancers whichmainly affect children, such as leukaemia, and thedevelopment of treatment methods for cancer ofany type which are less damaging to children.

In adults, most non-cancerous cells are not dividingand this provides a basis for discriminating drugs,but in a child, most of the tissues are growing anddeveloping so the ability of conventional cancerdrugs to distinguish between tumour and normaltissue is diminished, with increased side-effects.

The hike is organised by a company called StudentAdventures in collaboration with Cambridge RAGand is set to take place at the start of May Week,over the weekend of the 18 and 19 June. Togetherwith other students from around the country, I willbe starting in Glen Nevis in the mid-afternoon andwill finish 24 hours later in North Wales. To date Ihave raised £1030, and nearly £195 more in Gift Aid,mostly through my web page(www.justgiving.com/kidscan-manny-threepeaks),and have alreadybeen sponsoredby severalmembers of thisDepartment. Iwould greatlyappreciate anyfurther supportfrom the rest ofyou.

Manny collecting for RAG

Jamie and Leo


Teaching Matters


Masters in Bioscience EnterpriseProgrammeEditorial TeamThe Masters in Bioscience Enterprise (MBE)programme is aimed towards providing studentswith hands on experience in starting up biotechcompanies. Students are trained in all aspects ofrunning a start-up including managing intellectualproperty and gathering investment. Many lifesciences students use this degree as a steppingstone to enter biotech businesses. For example,Jildou Sterkenburgh, a current MBE student, didher undergrad degree in Biotechnology fromNetherlands. Her main inspiration for taking up thecourse has been to learn how to commercialize R &D in the biotech industry. She is mainly interested inagrobiotechnology.

MBE students are also encouraged to enter businessplan writing competitions in Cambridge. A few ofthem like Lindsay Kellar-Parsons and Vivian Tanhave managed to secure prizes in the 100 wordsbusiness idea writing competition in theMichaelmas term.

These students are also given a chance to visit start-up companies and get first hand exposure inlearning about the biotech businesses by directlyinteracting with CEOs. A visit to Boston tounderstand the biotech entrepreneurialenvironment across the Atlantic is also on thecurriculum.

The general impression one gets is that studentsfind MBE to be useful in acquiring good businessskills relevant to the biotech industry. Nice bondingbetween students outside the classroom adds up tothe overall entrepreneurial experience studentsreceive in this much sought after course. MBEstudent Mike Freedman commented 'The MBEcourse is a rigorous course that provides the breadthand depth to prepare students for the challengingworld of bio-entrepreneurship'.

SecondYear PhD Student TalksOn three afternoons in January and February, theDepartment’s 31 second year PhD students weregiven the opportunity to showcase their researchprojects in the form of a poster and a five minutepresentation followed by questions. The prizes foreach session were awarded to Mariana GarciaDomingos, Meenal Pore and Christine Schmaus,with the runner up prizes going to Alastair Clarke,Wen Liu, Julian Jaros and Kyra Sedransk. The threewinners give brief descriptions of their projects here.

Turbulent Plumes andThermals with InternalBuoyancy ChangeMariana Garcia DomingosWhenever a buoyant fluid emerges from a localisedsource it rises in the form of a plume (forcontinuous releases) or a thermal (for discretereleases). A deep understanding of the dynamics ofthese plumes/thermals is essential for thedevelopment of appropriate techniques to mitigatethe impact of accidents and natural disasters suchas the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, thevolcanic ash plume in Iceland, or the nuclear gasreleases in Japan.

Prize winners: Christine Schmaus, Julian Jaros, Meenal Pore, KyraSendransk and Mariana Garcia Domingos

Research Highlights


Research Highlights


Both external variations in the environmentaldensity and internal buoyancy changes affect themotion of a plume/thermal. If they cause a decreasein the buoyancy flux, the plume/thermal mayeventually reach the density of the surroundingfluid, coming to a rest at a finite height where itspreads out radially with zero buoyancy. Internalbuoyancy changes in turbulent plumes/thermalscan be induced by transitions of phase, dissolutionand chemical reaction. The aim of this project is toinvestigate the effect of internal buoyancy changesin plume/thermal motion. The project usesexperimental, analytical and numerical methods,combining chemical engineering knowledge withmathematical techniques.

The BP oil spill plume contained three phases andinvolved the dissolution of methane and theformation of methane hydrates. Our modelsuggests that the methane gas was the maincomponent responsible for the mixing of the oilwith very large amounts of seawater. This mixingaided dissolution of the oil from the droplets andsubsequent dilution in the seawater. Externalstratification in the Gulf of Mexico was crucial in theformation of intrusions of oil-contaminated water atgreat depths, as depicted in Figure 1.

Investigation of Jet-Jet and Jet-WallInteractions in Packed Beds UsingMRIMeenal PoreDespite the widespread use of fluidised beds inindustrial processes, various fluidisationphenomena are still poorly understood, makingdesign and scale-up difficult. Fluidised systems areoptically opaque so it is difficult to observe thebehaviour of particles and gas within the bulk ofthe bed. Only a few experimental techniques existto provide non-intrusive measurements in opaquegranular systems, one of which is MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI). The unique capability ofMRI is that it can measure both particle distributions(voidage) and velocities to a high spatial andtemporal resolution in single- and two-phasegranular systems.

Our research has focused on the formation andevolution of jets of gas injected into a gas-solidfluidised bed, such as those occurring at the holesin a multi-hole distributor plate. Gas jets are ofinterest as much of the gas-solids contacting occursin the region directly above the distributor wheregas bubbles are still small. Particles entrained intothe high velocity jets can have a ‘sandblasting’ effecton bed internals and walls, causing erosion. It isdesirable to have a better understanding ofinteractions between neighbouring jets andbetween the jets and the wall, which often dictatesuch erosive processes.

Multiple intrusions form at intermediate heights

Entrainment of ambient fluid

Source

Multiple intrusions form at intermediate heights

Entrainment of ambient fluid

Source

Figure 1. Spreading of a turbulent plume rising in a density-stratifiedenvironment when multiphase and internal processes are important(Cardoso, S. S. S., TCE, 2010, 829/830: 30-33)


Research Highlights


Magnetic resonance images of poppy seeds wereacquired with air jets from multi-orifice distributorsat different gas flowrates. These images (Figure 2)

gave information on the geometrical properties ofthe jets. It was found that jet-jet interactionsstabilise jets so jets from multi-orifice distributorsare longer than those from a single-orificedistributor. It was also found that jet-wallinteractions stabilise a jet when the gas jet is wideenough to touch the bed wall, which leads to along spout being formed up the bed, causing gasbypassing. Future work will include the study ofdeadzones (with respect to jet stability) and MRI ofthe gas phase in fluidised systems.

Evaluation of CFDTrickle-Bed Reactor Modelswith Compressed SensingMRIChristine SchmausTrickle-beds are fixed-bed reactors in which gas andliquid flow downwards co-currently over a catalystpacking. They are widely used in the chemicalindustry, eg for petrochemical hydrogenations.Traditional reactor models fail to account forlocal-scale heterogeneities, which have a significantinfluence on reactor performance. ComputationalFluid Dynamics (CFD) is a promising approach forlocal-scale modelling, but validation and furtherdevelopment are hampered by a lack of equallydetailed experimental data. MRI can supply spatiallyand temporally resolved maps of liquid distributionand velocities, which have contributed much to the

understanding of the complex flow patterns in fixedbeds. We are now aiming to push the boundaries ofsensitivity and temporal and spatial resolution withthe help of novel data sampling and imagereconstruction techniques.

Our first aim was to measure the gas velocity at thegas-liquid-interface to clarify disputes about theextent of interaction between the phases. As gasesyield much lower signal intensity than liquids, theacquisition times are normally too long to achievegood resolutions. Compressed sensing enabled usto reconstruct high quality images from only 20% ofthe normally required sampling points, reducingthe acquisition time by 80%. This enabled us toacquire liquid- and gas-phase velocity maps (Figure3) with a sufficiently high resolution to clearlyidentify the gas-liquid interface for the first time.The data shows that the liquid velocity at theinterface rises with increasing gas flow rates and theshear stress at the liquid-gas interface is the sameorder of magnitude as the shear stress at theliquid-solid interface. This confirmed that the shearstress which the gas exerts on the liquid cannot beneglected in phase interaction models. The nextchallenge will be the monitoring of phenomena onlimited time-scales, such as drainage from packedbeds and surface waves on liquid films.

Figure 3. Velocity map of liquid (water) and gas (SF6) flow through ahorizontal slice of a trickle-bed reactor with a resolution of 236 μm

Figure 2. 3D reconstruction of gas jets formed at a 3 hole co-lineardistributor with an in-plane resolution of 0.43 x 0.43 mm and an axialresolution of 1 mm.


Research Feature


M. Winters, G.S. KaminskiLaser Analytics GroupBioimaging, and the emerging field of biophotonics,are essential in enabling contemporary biologicaland biophysical research. Ever since thedemonstration, in Cambridge, of the first practicallaser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) in 1985,the field of fluorescence microscopy has beendeveloping at an explosive rate. The microscopytechnique is minimally invasive and it permits thestudy of biomolecules and their interactions inliving cells and organisms. The ability to combinenovel optical imaging modalities with the molecularengineering of highly specific fluorescent proteinlabels has led to a paradigm shift in biologicalresearch.

Over the past seven years the Laser Analytics Grouphas developed a strong focus on biomedicalapplications of laser-based imaging techniques andvariants of optical microscopy such as FluorescenceLifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) and FörsterResonance Energy Transfer (FRET), which enable usto study molecular mechanisms of disease directlywithin the cell. A key topic of our research is thedevelopment of techniques to study the functionand dysfunction of proteins linked toneurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’sand Parkinson’s disease. A common feature of thesediseases is that certain proteins, for reasons largelyunknown, seem to lose their ability to maintain theirfunctional native folding state. Upon misfoldingthey adopt aberrant shapes and collapse into theform of insoluble deposits, so called amyloids,which are toxic to neurons in the brain. Indeed inthe brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer’sand Parkinson’s such deposits are found in greatabundance in the form of long proteinaceousfilaments. Unfortunately, the molecular interactions

leading to misfolding, aggregation and fibrilformation are not yet understood primarily becausethese processes cannot, with existing techniques,be observed in their physiological environment inliving systems.

Whilst standard fluorescence microscopytechniques such as confocal microscopy canprovide some information on the localisation andabundance of amyloid deposits in cultured cells,and even in model organisms, their resolution is notgood enough to study the aggregation process andensuing aggregate formations directly. In fact, thelack of ‘molecular scale contrast’ in biologicalsamples is one of the major problems scientistsseek to overcome with the development of novelimaging techniques. Since light consists ofelectromagnetic waves, it is subject to diffractionand this puts a limit on the ultimate spatialresolution one is able to obtain with lightmicroscopy (of the order of the wavelength oflight). This is orders of magnitude larger than thesize of, for example, toxic amyloid structures. We areusing several novel optical microscopy techniques,so called ‘super-resolution’ techniques, to overcomethese limitations.

In one technique we exploit our discovery thatamyloid structures develop intrinsic energy statesthat depend on their aggregate size. We can probethese energy states through attachment offluorescent tags, which interact with the amyloidproteins via a FRET process. We have shown that thestrength of FRET occurring between fluorescentlabel and amyloid protein is a function of aggregatesize and can be quantified by measuring thefluorescence lifetime (the average time it takes for

Microscopy techniques for the study of disease processes in living cells

‘Strong focus on biomedicalapplications’

‘FRET enables us to studymolecular mechanisms of diseasedirectly in the cell’



Research Feature

molecules to emit fluorescence upon excitation) ofthe fluorescent label. As aggregates grow,significant FRET takes place, reducing the measuredfluorescence lifetime.

We have correlated the lifetime signatures withaggregate size through in vitro experiments and theuse of alternative methods that give us structuralinformation, e.g. Electron Microscopy and NuclearMagnetic Resonance Imaging. The lifetimesignatures can thus be calibrated for aggregate size,and for the first time, we have available an opticalmethod to report on the kinetics of proteinaggregation in live cells and even organisms (Figure1). In collaboration with partners in the Departmentof Chemistry and Medicine we are applying suchtechniques to monitor the effect of small molecule

drugs and their potential to inhibit the aggregationprocess leading to disease.

Whilst FRET offers molecular-scale ‘super-resolution’,it provides information indirectly, i.e. FRET is notcapable of informing on the shape and structure ofamyloidal aggregates, yet the topology of amyloidstructures may be related to toxicity and thepropensity for healthy brain cells to becomeinfected. Using a single molecule imagingtechnique we have set up, in collaboration withpartners at the University of Würzburg, Germany, anovel super-resolution technique called dSTORM(direct stochastic optical reconstructionmicroscopy), which offers true spatial informationon a scale of orders of magnitude smaller than thewavelength of light. In traditional light microscopy,diffraction leads to blurring of object information inthe image and thus loss of information.

A point object appears as a blurred spot, describedby the so-called point spread function (PSF), whenimaged through a microscope and the PSF’sminimal width is of the order of a wavelength oflight. An object containing many fluorescentmolecules will thus lead to an image, which is thesum of all blurred spots, and spatial detail below awavelength of light is completely lost.

In dSTORM we use lasers to switch fluorescentmolecules on and off one by one, so that we imageindividual PSFs. We then use an algorithm todetermine the central position of the PSF, whichinforms us on the spatial location of the fluorescentmolecule to a much greater precision than thewavelength of light (Figure 2).

Figure 1 Image shows the outlines of nerve cells (grey scale image) onwhich are superimposed marker signals, which show membranestructures in red and the concentration of amyloid beta 40 protein ingreen. Yellow signals denote regions where signals from the protein andthe membrane structures overlap indicating that transport is mediatedby cellular vesicles.

‘For the first time, we have anoptical method to report on thekinetics of protein aggregation inlive cells’

‘With dSTORM we have been ableto resolve structures down to aresolution of 20 nm’


Research Feature


In fact, the localisation accuracy is a function ofphoton number (signal strength) and we have beenable to resolve structures down to a resolution of 20nm with dSTORM. For the first time we are now ableto ‘see’ the structures of aggregates using an all-optical method, at a resolution approaching that ofelectron microscopy techniques (Figure 3).

More generally, these novel all-optical techniqueswill open the door for increasingly detailed studiesof the structures and pathologies of aggregation-mediated processes, and thus enhance a generalunderstanding of protein misfolding disorders, withevident applications in the search for, and validationof, possible therapeutic agents.

Figure 2 Illustration of the dSTORM principle. Suppose a popular wartime poster (top left) were printed on a very small scale: only 2 micrometers wide.Although the printing is sharp, the image we see with a light microscope is blurred: because features smaller than the wavelength of light are lost bydiffraction limitation (A). In dSTORM, the fluorescent molecules on the object are first chemically quenched (B). A sparse subset is reactivated (C), andthe exact position of each molecule is inferred by finding the centroid of its image (D). After repeating steps B-D many times, we can use the exactposition of many fluorescent molecules to construct a super-resolution image (F) at a resolution limited only by the number of photons we are able tocollect from each fluorophore, in practice about 20 nm.

Figure 3 With dSTORM the nature and morphology of intracellularamyloid beta 42 (Aβ1-42) aggregates can be probed directly at aresolution approaching that of electron microscopy techniques. Left:Normal fluorescence microscopy images of Aß1-42 fibrils formed in vitroon the surface of a microscope glass slide. Right: dSTORM imagecorresponding to the fluorescence image on the left. Note the vastlyimproved resolution obtained with dSTORM. Far right: Adjacent fibrilscan be resolved well below the diffraction limit.


Industry Business


Cambridge Enterprise: Sharingknowledge through consultancySarah CollinsCE Marketing and Events ManagerWhen considering commercialising research, oftenit can be difficult to know where to begin, especiallyfor researchers who are still early in their careers.As well as helping University staff commercialisetheir ideas, Cambridge Enterprise also provides amanaged service to help them apply theirknowledge to real-life situations by undertakingconsultancy work.

For many University staff, consultancy is often theirfirst connection with industry, and is the quickestand easiest way to build a bridge between theUniversity and the so-called “real world”:government, industry and the public sector.University research and expertise is in greatdemand across many sectors, and consultancy isoften the most effective way for this to happen.Consultancy work can take many forms, includingproviding solutions to specific business problems,the provision of expert reports on technical,economic and commercial issues, expert witnessadvice, serving on scientific advisory boards andmuch more.

There are two ways in which University staff mayundertake consultancy work: they may undertake aproject entirely on their own, or they can work withCambridge Enterprise, the University’scommercialisation group, which manages over 200consultancy projects per year in subject areas thatrange from engineering to economics, physics tophilosophy and computer sciences to clinicalmedicine.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, CambridgeUniversity Technical Services (CUTS), CambridgeEnterprise facilitates consultancy work for Universitystaff so that they are free to concentrate on theproject and the relationship with the client, withoutdistractions or concerns over contractual mattersand management of the administrative issuesassociated with the project.

Cambridge Enterprise can assist staff in thenegotiation of contract terms and conditions,provide assistance with costing and pricing, arrangethe use of University facilities, invoicing and incomedistribution. Staff also benefit from the University’sinsurance cover when undertaking consultancywork through Cambridge Enterprise.Through consultancy, Cambridge staff performimportant work for some of the world’s largestcompanies. During the past year, staff from theDepartment of Chemical Engineering andBiotechnology have worked with companies suchas Mitsubishi, Unilever, Dow Chemical,GlaxoSmithKline and Shire Pharmaceuticals.

The projects can vary widely in type and scope. Forexample, The Polymer Fluids Group at CEB has usedthe CE consultancy route on a number of occasionsto carry out short exploratory projects using theirown specialist equipment and processes. Clientshave included Dow Chemicals, BP, Cadbury andvarious ink jet companies. Dr Mick Mantlecompleted an in-situ MRI dissolution test of tabletformulations for Shire Pharmaceuticals; andProfessor Nigel Slater provided consultancy adviceto Biopharma Technology Limited for a TSB fundedproject on the formulation and processing of cell-containing regenerative medicine products toenable long term storage.

The Consultancy Services team can advise staff onhow to share their knowledge and expertisethrough consultancy work. For more information,contact the team on (0)1223 760339 [email protected].


Achievements


Professor Chris Lowe awarded OBE

Professor Christopher Lowe, serial entrepreneurand Director of CEB’s Institute of Biotechnology, wasawarded the “Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higherand Further Education” in 2007. He is also one of thesix Cambridge academics awarded an OBE in theQueen's New Year Honours List back in January2011.

Professor Nigel Slater, HoD, commented on ‘thisvery well deserved award’ in recognition for Chris'significant achievements in advancing the scienceand commercialisation of healthcare biotechnology.Professor Lowe has a strong academic andentrepreneurial track record with over 340publications, 70 or more patents and 10 spin-outcompanies worth conservatively over £200M andemploying 200 people across chemicalengineering, biochemistry and related disciplines.

CEB Editorial Team recently met with Chris andcaught up with his latest movements andachievements at an interview:

First of all, congratulations for your recent OBEAward for your services to science! Is this really theculmination of your achievements, what else can weexpect from Professor Lowe?No, definitely not! This is a very important spur tocontinue pushing ahead with new science andtechnology and translating it into products andservices for the benefit of the UK. I have a large andvery capable multidisciplinary group of co-workersprogressing a variety of novel healthcarebiotechnology projects which I intend to seethrough to commercial success.

How did you find out that you had been given thismajor award?It is common practice to inform the recipient in the

middle of November, to check whether they wish toaccept the honour and to enquire if they are willingto engage in publicity. This communication is instrict confidence with publicity embargoed untilafter the awards are formally announced.

This is not the first award you have received, butwhat does this particular one mean to you?This one means a lot to me since it is recognition bythe UK Government that you have achievedsomething of value to the community and UK as awhole.

You have been actively involved in setting upmany collaborations with several Biotechnologycompanies worldwide. Could you please tell us abit more about your recent movements?I have over the years visited some 120 countries, butmore recently I have concentrated my efforts on theMiddle East. Over the last two years I have madecontacts in Turkey, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt,Morocco and Jordan. I now sit on the Board ofDirectors of a Jordanian company, Monojo, as aNon-Executive Director. We have recentlyestablished a new Anglo-Jordanian company, BioJo,which will exploit developments from bothcountries.

And finally, what comes next for Professor Lowe?I have plans to continue to develop noveltechnologies in healthcare biotechnologyindustries; establish several more start-upcompanies based on developments emanatingfrom my own laboratory; form better links withclinicians and perfect the Research-to-Patientphilosophy; expand and evolve the Master’s Coursein Bioscience Enterprise to create the nextgeneration of entrepreneurial scientists; and assistthe UK Government to formulate sensible policiesto promote such interests.

Following this interview, Profesor Chris Lowe also won the BBSRCCommercial Innovator 2011 Award back in March for his work onSMART HOLOGRAMS, a revolutionary intelligent optical sensortechnology for a wide range of applications.



Achievements

Dr David Scott awarded aPilkingtonTeaching PrizeSome of the University’s very best teaching talentsare honoured every year at the annual PilkingtonPrizes awards ceremony. These prizes go tocommitted individuals who have pioneered newmethods of teaching and learning, those who havedone outstanding work on outreach programmesand/or shown an amazing ability to inspirestudents to achieve. Among the prize winners thisyear is Dr David Scott, CEB’s Director of Teaching.He is delighted by the award and commented:

‘I am flattered andhonoured. Teaching isan important activity inthe University, and oneway the Universityrecognises this is bythese prizes. Andteaching is not justgiving the 9 am lectureon Monday mornings –there's feedback,

examining, timetabling, coursework, etc… I've alsohad the great fortune of learning from a number ofcolleagues. Their contribution is like an iceberg - muchis done below the surface and we couldn't do our jobwithout the superb input from the support staff. I enjoyteaching. One of the joys of working in the University ishaving contact with clever young people who can –and will - challenge what I say, and point out mymistakes’.

A prize of £1000 will be deposited in a ‘donationaccount’ of his choice and all the winners willreceive their awards from the Vice-Chancellorduring a reception at Homerton College on 15 June2011.

2nd Edition of ‘Chemical ProductDesign’now out!

We are delightedto announcethat the 2ndEdition of thismuch acclaimedbook is now out.Dr GeoffMoggridge, CEBacademic andPrincipalInvestigator ofthe ‘StructuredMaterials’Research Group,wrote it incollaboration

with E. L. Cussler from the University of Minnesota.The 2001 edition presented a simple four-stepdesign process that could be applied to a variety ofproducts.

The revised edition is a major re-write, twice as longas the first edition. Now with 496 pages, 76illustrations, 80 tables and 81 exercises. The featuresto highlight in the new edition are: a four-steptemplate for the design process, numerous real-world examples and four new chapters dividingproducts into commodities, devices, molecularproducts and microstructures.

Dr Moggridge told CEB Focus the main reasonbehind writing a new edition: ‘The first edition waspopular and was used as the basis for new courses allover the world. In the second edition we have tried tomake it easier to teach these courses, by adding a lotmore examples and a second way of structuring thematerial, based on product type. This also naturallyleads to the incorporation of more science andengineering appropriate to each product type, whichlinks it in with other parts of the curriculum.’


Alumni Feature


Emeritus Professor John F. DavidsonFormer Head of Department

Some important events in the Department’s historyare described below under the headings ofsuccessive Heads of Department.

Professor T. R. C. Fox (1946 – 1958)In 1945, theUniversity receivedan endowmentfrom Shell for achemicalengineeringdepartment andchair. The first ShellProfessor was T.R.C.Fox (Figure 1),appointed in 1946.The undergraduateTripos course beganin 1948. This was a

highly innovativecourse in that the teaching was science-based,rather than technology-based.

An important innovation was to recruit staff whoknew little or nothing about Chemical Engineering,but had a good background in Science orEngineering. Students read either Natural Sciences(the majority) or Engineering for their first two yearsand then entered the Department for a two-yearcourse in Chemical Engineering. There were nolarge teaching experiments, unusual in those daysand there was no Design Project, much to thedistress of the Institution of Chemical Engineers(IChemE). In their final year, students did a ResearchProject, innovative at the time, and an industrialreport on a specific process.

Professor Fox never published a research paper, buthe encouraged research. For example:

(i) The Hydrogen-Oxygen Fuel Cell (F.T. Bacon FRS),which eventually went to the moon.

(ii) Pioneering work by P. V. Danckwerts onresidence time distributions, gas absorptionand mixing.

(iii) Distillation of liquid hydrogen for tritiumseparation, relevant to the hydrogen bomb.

(iv) Early work on fluidisation, starting with Triposresearch projects.

None of the above had any funding from ResearchCouncils, though there was industrial funding forprojects (i) and (iii).

Professor P. V. Danckwerts (1959 – 1975)Relations with IChemE improved: ProfessorDanckwerts (Figure 2) became its President 1965-6and a Design Project was introduced which becamepart of the course for every student’s third year atthe University. In 1967, the Department introducedits own subject, Fluid Mechanics and TransferProcesses, into the Natural Sciences Tripos Part IB.This Tripos includes a wide range of scientificsubjects, so the addition of a Chemical Engineeringtopic was notable.

The Department was early in introducingcomputers: an IBM 1620 machine was bought with

Figure 2. Department photo from 1975, with Professor Danckwertsseated front row, centre

Figure 1. Professor Fox, Head ofDepartment from 1946 to 1958

Remembering the past: A history of the Department of ChemicalEngineering & Biotechnology 1946–2011


Alumni Feature


Shell funds (available because the Department hadnot purchased large teaching equipment, a wisedecision of Professor Fox). Thus the Department wasearly in research on computational flow-sheetingand on computer-controlled experiments.

Dr Davidson (Figure 3), then a Reader, was Presidentof IChemE 1970–71. In 1974 he was a member ofthe Court of Inquiry for the Flixborough Disaster, inwhich twenty-eight were killed and a large factorywas destroyed.

Professor J F Davidson (1975 – 1993)Biotechnology was launched in the 1980’s, first byDr Chase (Figure 5) and Dr Slater in the Departmentand then by the arrival of Dr Lowe who started theInstitute of Biotechnology. At first the Institute wasattached to the Department, but after a few years itbecame a separate establishment and remained sofor many years (see below).

Likewise the Department assisted with initiating aPolymer Chemistry Group in the late 1980’s: thisGroup was fostered as a joint venture by theDepartments of Physics, Materials Science andMetallurgy and Chemical Engineering, but latermoved to the Department of Chemistry.

The MEng (Master of Engineering), a new degree forthe University, was introduced in 1990; in this theDepartment was the leader. All studentscompleting the four year course are eligible for

MEng. This lead has been followed by a number ofother departments who have adopted the MEng orsimilar title for students completing a four yearcourse.

Professor J. Bridgwater (1993 – 1998)A major change was the introduction of the threeyear Chemical Engineering course. Students enterthe University to read Natural Sciences orEngineering. After one year, they transfer toChemical Engineering for the three year course:

(1) Year 2 leads to the Chemical Engineering Tripos(CET) Part I

(2) Year 3 leads to CET Part IIA, including the DesignProject

(3) Year 4 leads to CET Part IIB, including theResearch Project

An important administrative change was theintroduction of the School of Technologycomprising, as well as this Department, initially theDepartments of Engineering and of ComputerScience, the Judge Business School and theInstitute of Biotechnology. In 1998, the Shell Fundwas returned to the Department for theDepartment’s sole use.Professor Bridgwater (Figure 4) was President of theIChemE, 1997–98.

Figure 3. Professor Davidson with HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Figure 4. Professor Bridgwater (right) with Professor Gladden (centre) andalumnus Dr Mark Sankey at the Alumni Speaker Series, May 2010


Department Events


Professor H A Chase (1998 – 2006)An important innovation wasthe introduction of the MPhilcourse in Advanced ChemicalEngineering comprising a six-month course of advancedstudy plus a six-monthresearch project requiring adissertation plus an oralexamination. The first coursebegan in October 2004, butplans were laid earlier.

Professor L. F. Gladden (2006 – 2010)During this period the Department was re-amalgamated with the Institute of Biotechnology whichhad grown substantially since its inception. Thus wasformed the present Department of ChemicalEngineering and Biotechnology, which obtained thehighest possible rating in the last Research AssessmentExercise.

Professor Gladden (Figure 4) founded the MRI centreand she also pioneered the CEB new building initiative.

The Department now includes three buildings:

(1) The original premises in Pembroke Street(2) The Institute of Biotechnology in Tennis Court

Road(3) The Magnetic Resonance Research Centre on

the West Cambridge Site. This building houses agroup working on magnetic resonance imagingapplied to Chemical Engineering, a NationalCentre for the UK, under the leadership ofProfessor Gladden.

Professor N. K. H. Slater (2010 – present)Professor Nigel Slater took over from Professor LynnGladden in October 2010 and will continue the pursuitof the vision Professor Gladden championed for theDepartment to be fully integrated within a single newbuilding that meets the educational needs of ourcurrent and future students.

Alumni Feature

1st year PhD Student Seminars

Wed 11 May (starting at 2.15pm inLT1, Pembroke Street)

Wed 18 May (starting at 2.15pm inLT1, Pembroke Street)

Thurs 9 June (starting at 9.00am inLevel 3, Tea Room, Tennis Court Road)Two-part talk by Dr Vassilis Vassiliadison Friday 6 and 13 May, 3.30pm:‘Optimisation: Formulations, Algorithmsand Applications’

Remember CEB Pub Nights everysecond Friday of the month! - Nextone on Friday 13 May (The Mill pub) -Note that they will still be taking placeout of term over the summer break.

Last alumni talk this academic year onFriday 27 May - Mark Perrett, SeniorAdvisor at Morgan Stanley, LectureTheatre 1, 4.00 pm

Friday 27 May Class of 1982-92Alumni Reunion event in theDepartment (dinner in FitzwilliamCollege)

June CUCES summer BBQ sponsoredby BP (date/venue to be confirmed)

Friday 8 July Class of 1962-72 AlumniReunion in the Department (lunch inSidney Sussex College)

Figure 5. Professor H. A. Chase atResearch Open Day 2003


Thomas PintelonPhD Student

I joined the department in July2007 to pursue a PhD on themathematical modelling ofbiofilm growth. From the start, Iappreciated the idealcombination of flexibility,freedom and supervision (by DrMike Johns) that allowed me todictate the direction of myresearch. Thanks to the amazingteam and facilities available at theMRRC, I was able to test andvalidate my theoretical findingsagainst experimental results. Thiscollaboration also allowed me toincrease the industrial relevanceof my work by linking it withmicrobial-enhanced oil recoveryand biofouling of reverse osmosismembranes.

Life in Cambridge has definitelybeen one of the most remarkableand rewarding experiences in mylife! I enjoyed rowing for mycollege (Selwyn) and took upfencing. After submitting my PhDin June 2010, I took up a job in aBrussels-based company (Callataÿ& Wouters) which is active in thefinancial consulting sectorproviding software and servicesto banks.

Jing LiPhD Student

I spent four years in Cambridgestudying for my PhD with theDorothy Hodgkin PostgraduateAward. During my time Iinvestigated the chemistry andbiotechnology applications andpurification strategies of naturalproducts. My supervisor, ProfessorHoward Chase, continuouslyprovided me with the rightenvironment to pursue this work– although it was a bit outsidethe normal realm of his research!

I returned to China after finishingmy PhD and currently work inGuiyang. I am the generalmanager of a small venture fundof 50 million RMB (5 million GBP)mainly interested in the venturecapital investment of small high-tech enterprises. I am also agovernment official responsiblefor technology transfer andindustrialisation. Guiyang is a Tier-2 city which is dedicated tosupplying preferential policies forattracting direct foreigninvestment. Its major industriesinclude pharmaceutical,chemical, machinery and foodprocessing. I warmly welcomecolleagues interested incollaboration to contact me([email protected]).

Awarmwelcome to...

Post-doctoral researchersDr Neil R WilliamsonDr Liam McMillan

Visiting ResearchersAntoine CarofGuillaume ChivotJessica Ocampos ColinaErwin de-GenstPeter GyringAnthony KnobelNuria Rodriguez GomezSara Gomez Sanz

Goodbye to...

Dr Mike Johns, ReaderLuke Miller, PhD StudentAdriano Zaffora, Post-doctoralresearcher

Arrivals and Departures


FAO - New Arrivals:Remember theCEB Pub Nightsevery secondFriday of theMonth!


Dear Dr Sarah


Dear Dr Sarah,What can be done to improve thestandard of Part 1 Lab Reports? Anon.

Dr Sarah says...One has to sympathise with young studentsnowadays – many of them are unable to writedecent technical English, which is no surpriseconsidering the amount of colloquialisms and‘text speak’ that have insidiously crept into ourlives, and in some cases the Oxford EnglishDictionary. I can imagine receiving a lab reportthat says “And I got some sick results, yeah, andplotted them, like, on a proper nice graph, and gota totally straight line. Gr8 !”

The only way to improve one’s technical English is,I’m afraid, to read lots of technical English. Andsome students just haven’t got the time and/orinclination to read lengthy papers any more. Theyare used to searching for 0.36 seconds andclicking on an immediate answer. And who canblame them? Sounds like an efficient way to goabout getting a degree, even if it is at the expenseof comprehension. We are all subject to anincreasingly ‘instant’ and ‘packaged’ lifestyle. Whypost a letter, when you can email? Why spend anhour preparing a tasty, healthy meal when youcan just wait for the ‘ping’ of the microwave; andwhile you’re waiting you can wash up the dinnerplate from last night. Now that’s what I call multi-tasking !

People want results and they want them NOW !Take for example this disgusting sample of instant

coffee that I’ve just been given in the street, whichhas coffee, sugar and milk powder in it, as well asa list of other ingredients as long as mysupervision timetable. Add hot water for aninstant drink, yes. Resembles coffee, no. What typeof lazy, tastebud-dead imbecile would buy such aproduct? It’s the same with lab reports – anyonecan report data in an instant. It’s theinterpretation and discussion of the data thatneeds thought and thus takes time. Yes, TIME.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knockingtechnological advances. The interweb is afantastic resource, but one has to bear in mindthat anyone can put any old hogwash on it, eghow to grow your own bonsai kitten. Which iscruel and unusual, by the way. Some people saythat information equals power. Pah ! Thisequation is dimensionally inconsistent and is thusclearly incorrect.

Anyway, I digress. In answer to your question, getthe students to download the latestWangDoozle© app onto their iBlueberries, whichwill write the lab report for them. Or perhaps thereport markers could improve the constructivefeedback given to the students.

P.S. I’ve got some money-off vouchers for instantcoffee if anyone is interested.

© SLR, 2011Dr Rough in action


George Orwell was a ChemicalEngineerAlastair ClarkePhD StudentI received a Tea-time teaser from a reader called JHCwho wanted to know how the temperature of teavaries whilst it is being drunk. Together we developa model which shows that the rate at which tea isdrunk and the shape of the cup are importantfactors which determine how the temperatureevolves.

Consider a cylindrical cup containing hot tea.Typically tea is drunk in sips and gulps, but forsimplicity we will assume that the tea is drunk at aconstant rate:

dVldt = -Q

where V is the scaled volume of tea, t is scaled timeand Q (= qts / V0) is a dimensionless measure of thedrinking rate. We define q to be the dimensionaldrinking rate, V0 as the initial volume of tea and ts asa time-scale. We set Q = 1, so that time is measuredrelative to the drinking rate.

We assume the cup is insulating, so that heat canonly leave the tea through its contact with air. Tofind how the temperature varies with time, we solvethe equation:

d(VT )ldt = -Or T

where T is the scaled temperature of the tea andOr (= hA / ρCpq) is a measure of the heat transfer ratecompared to the drinking rate which we call theOrwell number after the writer and tea-enthusiast,George Orwell. We define h to be the heat transfercoefficient between tea and air, A the contact area,ρ the density of the tea and Cp the heat capacity ofthe tea. We solve the two equations subject to theinitial conditions, T = 1 and V = 1 when t = 0, andfind:

T = (1 - t)Or - 1

Figure 1 shows how the temperature evolves forthree different values of Or, each one representing adifferent drinking scenario. For example, ‘Or is 1.5’could represent a scenario where one drinks quicklyfrom a tall, narrow cup, whilst ‘Or is 3’ couldrepresent one drinking slowly from a short, widecup. Initially, the temperature of the tea in the tallcup decreases slowly compared to that in the shortcup. The tall cup loses less heat than the short cupbecause of its smaller exposed area. However thecups have similar volumes of tea in the early stagesso the short cup experiences a larger temperaturechange. Later on, the temperature of the tea in thetall cup decreases more quickly than that in theshort cup. The tall cup is drunk from at a faster ratethan the short cup and a point is reached when thevolume of tea in the tall cup becomes so low thateven a small amount of heat loss will have a largeeffect on the tea’s temperature.

In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay that containseleven rules for making a ‘nice’ cup of tea. Orwellrevealed his inner chemical engineer on the eighthrule, which states, ‘One should drink out of a goodbreakfast cup - that is, the cylindrical type of cup, notthe flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more,and with the other kind one's tea is always half cold -before one has well started on it.’ (Orwell, G., EveningStandard, 12th Jan., 1946).

Our simple model helps to explain Orwell’sobservations.

Figure 1: How the scaled tea temperature (T) varies with scaled time (t) forthree different Orwell numbers: Or = 1.5 (blue, solid line), 2 (red, dashed)and 3 (brown, dot-dashed)

Tea-time Teaser




Letters to the editorWe welcome comments from our readership. Pleaseemail us your views and suggestions for future articleson [email protected]

Newsletter DisclaimerCEB Focus Newsletter Committee reserves the right to edit content before publishing. This newsletter is published forinformation purposes only and while every effort has been made to ensure that info is accurate and up-to-date, the Committeeis not responsible for any omissions or liable for any damages in connection with the information published. The University ofCambridge does not accept liability for any content published herein.

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Documents

CEB Focus 3, May 2011