Research Projects

All research projects at the School of Engineering. You can search keywords within Project title and filter by Research Institute.

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Project Title Principal Supervisorsort ascending Research Institutes Project Summary
FASTBLADE, Structural Composites Research Facility

Conchúr Ó Brádaigh

Energy Systems, Materials and Processes

FASTBLADE is commencing construction - see our facility site here.

The Structural Composites Research Facility (SCRF) is funded by a strategic equipment grant (EP/P029922/1). The grant started on the 1st of June 2017 and is due to complete on the 30sh of November 2020. The SCRF is to be setup as a Small Research Facility (SRF) and has been given the name FASTBLADE.

FASTBLADE will offer a suite of experimental and testing services to meet every client’s needs. The team can offer bespoke solutions to match every user’s needs and are supported by the world renown expertise and knowledge within the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.

Sensor Signal Processing

Professor Bernie Mulgrew

Imaging, Data and Communications

The fundamental challenges for signal processing are: how best to sense; how to distribute the processing and communication of the data within the network to maximize performance and minimize cost; how to analyze it to extract the salient information.

Cardington Test Reports (PiT Project)

Professor Asif Usmani

Infrastructure and Environment

As part of a DETR funded PiT (Partners in Technology) project the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering (previously the Structures in Fire Group) conducted extensive computational and analytical studies of the behaviour of steel-framed composite structures in fire conditions. This work was undertaken in collaboration with Corus PLC and Imperial College London. The results were presented in the form of a main report, which identified the main findings, together with numerous supplementary reports which explored various phenomena in detail. The reports produced at Edinburgh are available for download as indicated below.

Towards electrochemically controlled nucleic acid-amplification strategies

Professor Anthony Walton

Integrated Micro and Nano Systems

Nucleic hybridisation is core to many biological processes and protocols used in molecular biology such as nucleic acid amplification, e.g. by PCR. This project aims to radically simplify nucleic acid amplification by driving the reaction via means of electrochemistry. To fulfil this aim, specialised expertise in biosensors, physical chemistry, biophysics and microsystems engineering is brought together.

REFINE: A coordinated materials programme for the sustainable reduction of spent fuel vital in a closed loop nuclear energy cycle

Professor Anthony Walton

Integrated Micro and Nano Systems

A coordinated UK research programme delivering the materials science required for sustainable spent fuel reduction in a closed loop nuclear energy cycle. This multidisciplinary programme will deliver the critical research team and the platform technologies to enable scientific advance in related molten salt application areas together with the underpinning process development and training essential to establish and deliver these objectives.

SACSESS: Safety of Actinide Separation Processes

Prof Anthony Walton

Integrated Micro and Nano Systems

SACSESS kicked off on 1 March 2013. This European collaborative project involves 26 partners from European universities, nuclear research bodies, TSOs and industrial stakeholders and aims to generate fundamental safety improvements on the future design of an Advanced Processing Unit.

Ligniflex: A synthetic biology platform to optimise the process and products of enzymatic lignin disruption

Professor Alistair Elfick

Bioengineering

Our goal is to test the feasibility of producing low molecular weight aromatic chemical feedstocks from the lignin that is currently a waste product from wood processing and paper manufacturing, so that it may be used to manufacture useful products. We propose to develop a "front-end" to optimise the conversion of lignin into its constitutive aromatic chemical building blocks. This technology may be bolted to any "back-end" in a biorefinery to produce bioplastics, biosurfactants, biomaterials and so on. By exploring and optimising a technology which allows for the rapid tuning of bacteria or fungi for exploiting the conversion of lignin, we stand to limit waste by being able to optimise the degradation products being used as chemical feedstocks and diversify the range of end-bioproducts possible.

The Sc2.0 UK Genome Engineering Resource (SUGER)

Professor Alistair Elfick

Bioengineering

Building the world's first synthetic eukaryotic genome together.

Cellulect: A Synthetic Biology Platform fot eh Optimization of Enzymatic Biomass Processing

Professor Alistair Elfick

Bioengineering

We propose to develop and implement a genetic platform for optimizing blends of enzymes for biomass processing applications, using computational modeling, combinatorial gene assembly, expression control and high-throughput screening of gene cassettes from a library of genes in modular format. In addition to providing optimal enzyme blends for any given application, analysis of the results will allow us to develop heuristics which will facilitate rational design of biomass processing systems in the future, and will lead to a deeper understanding of biomass degradation processes.

An infrastructure for platform technology in synthetic biology

Prof Alistair Elfick

Bioengineering

The aim of the project is to develop integrated platform technology and an infrastructure for synthetic biology. Five British universities (Imperial College, Cambridge, Edinburgh, LSE/Kings and Newcastle), who are amongst the international leaders in synthetic biology, have formed a Consortium to address the issue. These universities already have very significant research programmes in synthetic biology (e.g. Imperial College has the EPSRC National Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation - CSynBI).

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