91福利

Congratulations to Elizabeth Sharp who was awarded first prize for her presentation at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) PhD seminar in Manchester on Tuesday 29^th March. Elizabeth's work focuses on using non-contact ultrasonic transducers to excite and then measure the resonant frequencies of metal containers that hold special nuclear materials, in order to measure changes internal pressure changes that can arise as a result of various chemical and nuclear reactions of the contents whilst the containers are in long term storage. There is a risk that in certain situations a build up of pressure in a container could cause the container to fail. Currently, the best approach that the industry have is to try and detect deformation of the cans by optical means, which can be difficult and is not particularly sensitive at early stages of pressurisation. Elizabeth has designed and manufactured sensors and developed instrumentation for performing measurements on these types of containers (filled with inert material to simulate the real content mass and density). She has performed a range of experiments and finite element simulations that confirm the characteristics of the detected resonant modes are she has shown how measuring changes in resonant mode behaviour can be used to obtain quantitative information on the internal pressure of the can. The NDA and Sellafield are interested in taking this technology further, with a view to deployment in nuclear material storage facilities in the longer term.

Professor Ray Dupree (Department of Physics, 91福利) would like to congratulate his son and collaborator Professor Paul Dupree (Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge) on the award of a European Research Council Advanced Grant EVOCATE. Working together over the last few years using solid state NMR they have made significant advances in the understanding of the molecular architecture of plants. The ERC EVOCATE project will allow the Cambridge and 91福利 teams to study how the architecture of plant fibres changed over millions of years of evolution and to further develop solid state NMR for this research.

Find out more about EVOCATE.

On Monday 28th March, staff from the department will attend our annual Christmas lunch, which has been delayed from December 2021 due to government guidelines. We're looking forward to celebrating our lunch after this being postponed for the last two years.

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the death of Robert Andrzejewski, a first year Physics student and a valued member of the department.

Rachel Edwards, Robert鈥檚 personal tutor, described him as a very likeable and gentle young man who played an active role in his tutorial group. He was developing his passion for physics and was exploring a newly found ambition of working in teaching.

He will be greatly missed.

We know this news will cause distress and upset and would like to express our sympathy to Robert鈥檚 family, friends and peers.

If you would like support, please visit the Wellbeing Support Service web pages. Students can access support via the or on 024 76 575570, ext. 75570, and staff can access support via the Staff Wellbeing Hub and the Employee Assistance Programme. The Chaplaincy are also able to provide bereavement support to those of any faith who may be affected by the sad news.

We will share further news of Robert鈥檚 family鈥檚 wishes and arrangements when we are able.

A book of condolence is set up to share memories of Robert and messages of condolence to one another and Robert鈥檚 family. Your entries will eventually be printed and gifted to Robert's family.