The Cambridge Engineer: Lent Edition 2019

Cover: Department of Engineering 2018 ZEISS Photography Competition First Prize - Dr Kun Li: Desert vs forest, who is winning?

Cambridge Engineering Society Lent · Jan 2019 Cure to the cracking of infrastructures Q&A with Industry Experts from Jaguar Land Rover, Starleaf and TTP

CUES Grant Report on Computer Vision research

ifM PhD students team tackling enviromental problems in under-developed areas

THE CAMBRIDGE ENGINEER CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

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Hello everyone and welcome back from the Christmas break!

This issue mainly focus on the mechanical and software aspects of engineering. The first three articles are provided by companied in the industry and the other three by students and researchers in our department.

The crossword page is more enriched than the last one with varied difficulties. The answers for the first two issues in this

From the Editor

academic year will be included in the next edition. Please be looking forward to it!

Magazine Editor Lettice Wei Magazine@cues.org.uk

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CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

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Microsoft AI Residency Program

“People don’t just hear what I have to say, they really listen.”

Catherine’s perspective on support

Graduate opportunities in engineering, science, business and trading Taking charge of exciting new projects. Pushing the limits of innovative materials.

Testing critical new systems. With great energy comes great responsibility. And as a BP graduate, great responsibility is something you’ll experience from day one.

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“People don’t just hear Gain new AI skills and experience what I have to say, while tackling real-world challenges they really listen.”

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• Receive competitive compensation.

Application deadline:

We encourage completed applications to be submitted by January 31, 2019 but will continue to review applications until mid-March 2019.

To learn more and apply, go to: aka.ms/AIResidencyProg

We are searching for a diverse range of researchers, engineers, and applied scientists with unique perspectives and substantial coursework in, but not limited to: • physics • computer science economics • electrical engineering in •engineering, Graduate opportunities science, business and trading • human-computer • data science Taking charge of exciting new projects. Pushing theinteraction limits of innovative materials.

• computational • critical mathematics Testing new systems. With great energy biology comes great responsibility. And as a BP

graduate, great responsibility is something you’ll experience from day one.

Experience developing in at least one high-level language

such as Careers Python or C/C++/C# or experience with machine Search BP

learning techniques or deep learning frameworks is desirable.

IfM 2018 Design Show - Garbage Guardian 4

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[Figure 1] The Jaguar I-Pace

Jaguar Land Rover

E

lectrical engineering, control en-

into working in engineering and other

gineering, software engineering,

disciplines:

cyber security, fluids simulation, finite

The graduate scheme is a two year

element stress analysis and materials

scheme. Applications are open from

characterisation: these are just a few

mid-September to early December.

of the things that engineers can do at

You will then be asked to do some

Jaguar Land Rover.

online tests within four days of apply-

As part of a series of articles about

ing. The final stage is an assessment

where working at Jaguar Land Rover

centre, which may take place between

Photos all credit toJaguar Land Rover

may take you, we caught up with John Adey, a project

early and be fresh when you do your

engineer working in

online tests to increase your chances

the Body Optimisation

of a spot in the assessment centre!

Team in at the com-

JLR have an undergraduate scheme

pany’s main engineer-

– half of our graduates joined the

ing centre on Gaydon,

company through the scheme, so it’s

Warwickshire.

J CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

a great way into the company. We also

aguar Land Rover (JLR)

have a sponsorship scheme to get

runs several schemes

more women into engineering and

for students making their first steps

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January and April. Remember to apply

another for those who want to work in CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

7

(CAE) methods. There is some chance to programming, information engineering and electrical engineering, called the Electrical Engineering Sponsorship Scheme.

For more information go to search “Jaguar Land Rover Early Careers”.

ing what being a Project Engineer does?

A Project Engineer is a common position after completing the graduate scheme, with a few years’ engineering experience. The role is to contribute to your departments’ engineering development, whatever that may be. For me, this means working on design and simulation activity, coming up developing them and

testing

using Computer

Aid-

ed Engineering

[Figure 2] John Adey

as, part of my learning and development.

After the two year graduate scheme, JLR staff receive a C grade contract. There is then soon the opportunity to progress to a D grade contract, which for me would

So John, could you please start by explain-

with ideas,

contribute to project management work

mean becoming a Lead Engineer, taking on more project manager responsibilities, with increased responsibility over the delivery of a project.

And Body Optimisation what’s that?

Body Optimisation is a fully integrated team which designs structural components of a vehicle. In the automotive

[Figure 3] The New Range Rover Evoque entertainment and climate system, featuring dual screens.

sector, body engineering is the engi-

others.

Going back to your Body Optimisation

neering of any panel, structural member

A lot of people see JLR as a mechanical engi-

team, within those different tasks that you

and interior structure, such as seats and

neering company, what do you what do you

mentioned what is involved and what skills

doors. Other key engineering groups are

say to them?

are required?

the chassis department, the powertrain

That’s absolutely not true. JLR recently re-

When making the conceptual design we

department for electric drive units, bat-

leased the Jaguar I-Pace which has required a

need to consider the function of the part,

teries, and engines and the electrical

whole team with high voltage electrical engi-

what crash performance it should have,

department, which deals with the in-car

neering knowledge to design and specify the

what vibration modes it should have and

entertainment, cameras and autonomous

power electronics, including the inverter, and

how it should be packaged. Packaging is

driving, amongst other things.

the electric machine. Customers require ever

where the physical dimensional constraints

Because we are fully integrated, I deal

better features for their entertainment, which

of a part are considered – for example, for

with the initial concept and detail design,

requires in car entertainment to be very good

an underbody part, does there need to be

packaging, cost estimating, manufactur-

and they are asking for features such as auton-

a certain ground clearance, or is there an

ing assessment and simulation. Doing

omous driving, which we are having to deliver.

exhaust system or hybrid battery that needs

all this under one roof allows us to see

I remained on the structural background, but

to fit?

through projects and not be hindered by

took division A modules and am happily apply-

Manufacturing requires a good knowledge

ing that knowledge to my work.

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ing frame for the I-Pace, where I contributed

cars to examine and weigh all the compo-

of materials and manufacturing processes

to a design that is now in production.

nents. It was good fun, and useful to get an

to some extent, in charge of running the

so that we can assess whether we can make

I am moving more towards learning some of

idea of what parts actually make a car as I

project. This also taught me some of the

the part in the way we intended. Often we

the areas lead engineers deal with: talking to

did not have any real experience of this or

challenges of working in a large company

like parts to be pressed into one component

other design teams to integrate the battery,

learning at university.

with many conflicting stakeholders on the

– this saves on having to weld, or bolt parts

working as a supplier liaison for our parts,

My second placement was in NVH (Noise,

project.

together, which incurs a labour cost, stress

and co-coordinating the work of CAD en-

Vibration, Harshness) CAE. This was a Finite

For the two week manufacturing placement

concentrations and the risk of parts rattling.

gineers in our team. In some respects this

Element Analysis placement to learn more

I helped build the Body in White (the frame)

Press incorrectly however and you may get

is less "fun" in terms of a good engineering

skills for my home department. The analysis

for the Jaguar XJ, Castle Bromwich. This one

a defective part. Computer Aided Engineer-

challenge,

was done on a vehicle level, not

ing simulation makes use of Finite Element

just the Body Engineer-

Analysis to assess vibration, durability, safety

ing level, so it was

and general optimisation. A lot of the op-

good to

timisation is about saving weight, whilst

it was valuable experience, to see how the decisions we take in engineering impact the

What were the best and worst parts

Cost estimation is a big part of what we

of the graduate scheme?

do. It includes part cost and the cost

A key benefit of the graduate scheme for me

of tooling – a tool may cost in the millions.

how you have a chance to learn as

Reducing piece cost can have a massive im-

much as you need and want through learn about

pact: we sell about 600,000 cars a year, so

aspects outside

saving even a few pounds can translate into a massive difference to our bottom line.

courses, additional university modules and placements. JLR have been very supportive of this

but it is good

with?

development and an important part

Our department is transitioning to battery

of engineering.

frame design for Fully Electric (BEV) and

You were once on the graduate scheme,

Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles. The challenge is to

what placements did you do?

build a light, stiff, crash worthy frame to act

I got to do three engineering placements,

as the car’s floor and house the large battery

plus a manufacturing placement, where you

packs required for these vehicles. My first

build the cars! My first placement was in

job in my team was to build a motor mount-

Teardown. This team takes apart competitor

You can get out of the scheme as much as [Figure 4] I-Pace Body in White

What projects are you currently involved

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I wouldn't want to do it again but thought

vehicle.

maximising stiffness and reducing cost.

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is a challenge! Hard work, but good learning.

of the body wheels, tyres, suspension). My main focus was on reducing noise, from wind and from the wheels, into the cabin.

Finally I worked in the Body Structures CAD team. I used this placement improve my CAD skills at an experienced CAD department. It was also good learning as I was,

you want to: whether that is learning your role and building experience, or working hard towards early career progression. It is very flexible, as is JLR as a whole. The only negative is that you can only do so many placements in your two years!

It’s now been four years since you joined JLR. Where do you see yourself in another CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

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4 years?

placement. JLR quite a flexible place – so

I have really enjoyed my work as a Proj-

if you want to explore a bit more tell your

ect Engineer since finishing the graduate

manager!

scheme. I would love to progress into a Lead

Engineering graduates also spend six weeks

Engineer in the near future and then spend

helping to launch a production or prototype

some time learning and improving in all of

vehicle, and all graduates get to experience

the responsibilities it involves, and becoming

working on the line for two weeks. There is

strong in the role. There is a lot of depth to

a weeklong offsite for first year graduates

this learning: especially in some of the more

which is great fun.

business and process related aspects of an

Wrapping up, what would you say to anyone

engineer’s work.

considering the JLR graduate scheme or an

It is also going to be extremely interesting

undergraduate placement?

to see the maturation of battery frames and electric vehicles as a whole, and being an important part of that for the next few years.

D

o it! Both schemes are a great way of learning what it is to work for a large

Could you explain a bit more about how

engineering company. We are creating

the graduate scheme is structured?

amazing products and the pace of change

When you start at JLR you will be part of

in the industry is exciting. JLR is such a huge

a team known as your home department,

company that there are wide ranging jobs.

which is where you will spend most of your

For an engineer it can range from the cre-

time. The manager at that time will officially

ation of very early concepts far from produc-

be your manager throughout the scheme

tion (i.e. research) to fast-paced mitigation

and will be a great help on deciding on

of issues on new products right next to the

which placements to pick.

production line.

As an engineer you will then be able to

I think it is worth considering as an engineer

do three placements lasting about three

what you are most attracted to. That being

months. One of these placements has to

said, without experience, it is very hard to

now be outside engineering, but die hard

know what you are most attracted to. With

engineers can still do something fairly techy

that in mind I highly recommend undergrad-

such as Technical Strategy or Analytics.

uate placements or using placement op-

Manufacturing engineers do about one

portunities on a scheme such as JLR to try out different things and find what you enjoy

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most. ◊

NO CODING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

TPP Careers

@tpp_careers

@TPPCareers

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

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Star leaf

F

ounded in the UK in 2008, StarLeaf has a global footprint with representation

on every continent and offices across the world. We are on a mission to transform the way businesses communicate and collaborate by designing intuitive messaging, premium meeting and calling solutions. In September, the company was named in the Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrant for Meeting Solutions and one of the fastest growing tech companies in the UK by The Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100. Our

[Figure 2] Ibetehaj Nadeem

culture is built on collaboration, inclusion, creativity and support.

This permeates everything we

do, across all our teams and operations. Ibtehaj Nadeem is a former Cambridge student, graduating with BA Computer Science in 2015.

In this interview, he shares his experiences of working with StarLeaf.

What did you study at Cambridge?

I matriculated at Churchill College in 2012 to read Computer Science with the Physics option. As an A-Level student, I had already discovered the joys of understanding problems abstractly and solving them algorithmically. But leaving the automation of mundane tasks aside, what really mo-

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[Figure 1] Computer Labs

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tivated me to study Computer Science at

ing solution. In my day to day, I design,

university was the question of how com-

build, and test new features. Implement-

puters can understand and execute code

ing new features can be a challenge but

that humans enter essentially as free-form

is always immensely rewarding. I feel very

text. The Computer Science Tripos at Cam-

much a valued member of the team and

bridge enabled me to develop a thorough

that I make a real difference to our busi-

understanding of this and other areas of the

ness. StarLeaf has a friendly and relaxed

subject. I was able to put my skills to work

culture that encourages asking questions, it feels like I am learning something

when, for my final year disser-

new every day.

tation project, I wrote a compiler that could translate the functional language Standard ML to Java Virtual Machine instructions.

What are your most memorable and enjoyable experiences of working at StarLeaf so far?

What do you work on now?

new concepts and a rapid release cy-

my penultimate year of university and after

cle on our products. Seeing the positive

my ten-week placement, I was offered a

impact of my work once products or new

full-time graduate position for the following

features are released to our custom-

year. I work on writing code that assem-

ers is very gratifying. We hold a Kick-Off

bles some of our major customer-facing

event annually in the new year period to

features on our app. My first project back in

celebrate the previous year and exciting

2015 was to work on our recording feature

times ahead. For me, I love the fact that it

which I took over at demo stage from our

is held in Cambridge at one of the univer-

one of our interns. I now work on cloud in-

sity colleges as returning to Cambridge

frastructure, particularly within our messag-

where I studied brings back great memories.

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

StarLeaf has a very unique work environ-

interplay of collaboration and individualism is what really makes working with the StarLeaf R&D team a special experience.

What can aspiring graduates expect from joining StarLeaf?

ment that encourages collaboration in designing our solutions. Every member of

StarLeaf has grown a lot over the past few

the relevant team contributes towards the

years since I joined, from around 50 em-

discussion throughout the design process,

ployees to over 200. Every graduate is well

ensuring that we come up with an archi-

looked after and mentored from day one.

tecture that will scale well as part of our

I was able to seek advice and have any

growing cloud deployment. Whilst engi-

questions answered in my early days at

neers collaborate at the design stage, they

StarLeaf and having that open environment

are given the freedom to individually work

means we can all learn from one anoth-

on developing and delivering a feature or a

er. I am now able to support projects that

tool that is

directly applica-

our new graduates work on and share my

ble to our

business in the

experiences of what has been a successful

produc-

tion stage. This

journey

here so far. â—Š

I particularly love that there are regular

I completed an internship with StarLeaf in

16

What does a day in the life of a software engineer at StarLeaf look like?

[Figure 3] Image from Starleaf website

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TTP CUES Venture Programme

CUES Venture Programme – Sponsored

by TTP

[Figure 1] Electronics

I

t was the very great pleasure of TTP to

manufacturing to stimulate local econo-

sponsor the CUES Venture Programme, cu-

mies?

mulating in the competition day 13th October.

How can we feed a growing global popula-

The programme was constructed around

tion?

4 “big” themes: Artificial Intelligence, Smart

The judging panel was universally im-

Cities, Robotics and Social Impact, with

pressed by the quality of the ideas present-

teams of students pitching their venture pro-

ed, marking out a promising future for the

posals to a guest panel of industry experts.

next generation of Cambridge University

These topics are all highly relevant to the

Engineering Graduates. For my own part, I

current workforce, with each area laying

found the competition day to be a fantastic

down a diverse set of technology and socie-

opportunity to meet with some of the Uni-

tal challenges:

versity’s finest minds and exchange individ-

How can the power of AI be harnessed to

ual insights with them about the technology

improve our standards of education?

challenges they felt most passionate about.

How must smart city infrastructure adapt to facilitate a smoother transition to renewables?

How can robotics be used in small-scale 18

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

I

am an Engineering Graduate myself. I

chanical Engineers, Electronic Engineers,

well-understand the innate Engineering

Software Engineers, Physicists, Biologists &

need to understand why things are not quite

Human Factors experts.

as good as they should be, or perhaps the

Great collaboration is just as much about

frustration why some things can only be

listening as it is about doing; knowing when

deemed as “good” when we know instinc-

to lead and when to follow; taking collective

tively that they have the potential to become

responsibility; trusting the combined experi-

great. And then the thrill of making them

ence and wisdom of a team to deliver more

better.

than would ever be possible with the sum of

Engineering passion often arises from the

its parts alone.

insatiable desire to solve difficult problems.

Artificial Intelligence, Smart Cities, Robotics

Our most satisfying problems tend to have

and Social Impact challenges all demand

a practical orientation, with as-yet undiscov-

a cross-disciplinary approach to promote

ered solutions promising a material positive

effective problem-solving. I was delighted to

impact to somebody’s life or somebody’s

see evidence of some highly collaborative

business.

relationships on display in the CUES Venture

Engineering is about first proving something

Programme.

can be done….. but then actually making

On a personal level, I’m now very clear about

it happen, to help make the world a little

how I can be best in the world. For me, it’s

better than it was before. Maybe even a lot

about analysis; making forecasts; spotting

better.

trends and synthesizing information to make

What Can You Be Best in the World At?

T

TP is an independent technology company where scientists and engineers

collaborate to invent, design and develop new products and technologies.

What Are You Deeply Passionate About?

I like to believe we are the world’s best multi-disciplinary collaborators, employing a wide range of disciplines including: Me-

[Figure 2] Adrian Hillier CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

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[Figure 3] Laser

tough decisions.

In my job, I use that skill

to help

my

colleagues understand how complex technologies should be developed in a way that maximises their competitive advantage.

As an undergraduate, I didn’t necessarily have the same sense of clarity about what I could become best at. But I did know that I was passionate about using scientific analysis as a tool to make decisions that involve high degrees of uncertainty. I loved the fact that statistics can extract some sense of order from a state of extreme chaos. That passion seems to have set me along a career path to where I find myself today.

What Drives Your Economic Engine?

cal judging criterion on the day of competition. The judges asked each team questions

A

cknowledgements: The eagle-eyed

business to invent and develop breakthrough

reader may have noticed this article

products and technologies that deliver com-

about their revenue streams; cost of goods

borrows upon a concept from the book

petitive advantage. We work with our clients

sold; operating costs and how the figures

“Good to Great” by Jim Collins. For any CUES

at discovery stage, helping to understand

would scale as the venture grows.

Venture Programme participants unfamiliar

their markets and identify the best opportu-

One of the most impressive CUES section

with this text, I will highly recommend giving

nities for invention. Once we’ve identified an

winners Food Plus presented a particularly

it a read. I have had the privilege to enjoy a

opportunity, we use our deep understanding

clear business plan, with well-costed ma-

fantastic Engineering career and discovering

of science and technology to invent con-

terials supply chain and competitive pricing

the pearls of wisdom contained inside this

cepts, and our state-of-the-art facilities to

analysis. Then, in the spirit of taking some-

volume undoubtedly marked a pivotal mo-

prototype them.

thing “good” and helping to make it “great”,

ment in my own journey.

Bio: Adrian Hillier is a Technology Consul-

TTP invited Project Leader Cathleen Law

Enjoy your studies!

tant with more than 20 years of experience

and her business partner Zhiqi to a follow-on

And please do consider TTP as a potential

leading cutting-edge developments in the

meeting at our HQ in Melbourn. This was an

future career path if you have the passion for

mobile communications sector. At TTP, he

opportunity for the team to sharpen-up their

combining technology and business.

assists the Wireless Communications Group

pitch and receive valuable feedback from

www.ttp.com

in developing business opportunities with

professional Technology Consultants.

About TTP: Whether a startup or multina-

clients in the satellite IoT and smart antenna

“Joining the CUES Venture Competition has

tional, our clients are ambitious. We work at

arenas. ◊

been a fantastic experience to me. Over the

the intersection of science, engineering and

summer holiday, I spent two months exploring and developing my startup concept, alongside with guidance from experienced mentors in industry. I am very fortunate to have received the competition prize sponsored by TTP, which has helped me take my concept further. TTP also very kindly offered me additional help following the competition. I got to meet several consultants from the company and discuss both the technical

Understanding the complex interaction be-

and business aspects of my project.”

tween technology and business was a criti-

– Cathleen Law

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[Figure 4] Social

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Magazine Article Competition Entry - Lucia Corsini

Lucia Corsini's Project

M

ET graduates Jack Bennett, Alkistis Kyriakopoulou and Sarah Wolman, joined by IfM PhD students Lucia Corsini and Cassi Henderson, are tackling this problem with an innovative new approach to plastic upcycling, converting waste plastic bottles into building materials.

I

n September, Jack, Sarah, Lucia and Cassi travelled to Takaungu, Kenya, to visit a coastal community heav-

ily affected by plastic pollution. They tested two of the team’s prototypes – Slabstic and Bottle Brick – developed as part of their 3rd year Major Design Projects.

[Figure 1] Demostration to the community 1

8

million tonnes of plastic find their way into the ocean every year. That’s one gar-

Slabstic provides a solution for converting plastic bottles into floor tiles, while Bottle Brick

bage truck of plastic every minute. Many rural, coastal communities in develop-

reshapes plastic bottles into interlocking shapes that can be stacked to form wall struc-

ing countries are dealing with the worst effects of this problem, as they lack access

tures. The team was also supported by Ruby Gunn, Tom Parker and Laurel Townsend, who

to waste refuse collection and face plastic from the sea being washed up on their

originally worked on Bottle Brick.

shores daily.

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T

he team worked with fundis (local

They had to constantly iterate and hack

makers/welders) from Takaungu,

solutions as they faced challenges with the

engineering students from Mkwajuni Youth Polytechnic and Environmental Sciences students Pwani University. The project was

new design.

A

longside this design and testing, the team spent time exploring how the

in collaboration with Friends of Takaungu

conversion of waste plastic into building

Creek, a charity based organisation that

materials could be a sustainable activity

aims to tackle plastic waste in the com-

for the local community. They identified a

munity. The purpose of the field trip was to

number of key factors to ensure the proj-

co-design prototypes that could be pro-

ect’s sustainability. First, people needed to

duced locally using local resources. The

understand the negative impacts of plastic

original prototypes had been manufactured

pollution, to create a motivation for tackling

in Cambridge with the use of CNC mills and

plastic waste. Second, the process needed

lathes. In Kenya, the team needed to rede-

to provide income-generation for the local

sign the prototypes to be made using hand

community. Third, the solution needed to

tools, like angle grinders and hack saws.

be owned and managed by the commu-

[Figure 3] Demostration to the community 2

nity. These factors shaped the teams work

Whilst the team were demonstrating how

throughout the two weeks, as they con-

to make tiles, people from the community

sidered how to communicate information

started getting involved with the process.

about plastic pollution to the community,

A builder brought some oil to lubricate

and how to make the process for manufac-

the mould and improve the surface finish.

turing bricks and tiles cost-effective, effi-

Someone else thought that the tile would

cient and easy to understand.

look better if was painted and brought some

At the end of the field testing, both proto-

red oxide to paint them. People couldn’t be-

types were demonstrated to the communi-

lieve that there was no concrete in the tiles

ty. People were really engaged with idea of

and wanted to make their own. Bottle Brick,

transforming plastic waste into something

on the other hand, faced more challenges

useful. The community were particularly in-

in terms of reliability and efficiency during

terested in Slabstic as the process was fairly

the field tests. Following the demonstration,

easy to understand and simple to operate.

peoples’ opinions of the bricks were also

[Figure 2] Slabstic tiles 24

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We’re hunting for talented: » Software engineers » Hardware engineers [Figure 4] Slabstic bricks made by the community after IfM team left Kenya

mixed. Some people were concerned about

This field visit was funded by Technology

the durability and stability of the bricks.

for Development Award from the Winton

Others didn’t like the idea of having plastic

Programme for the Physics of Sustainability,

in their homes.

together with Smart Villages and the Cam-

B

ased on feedback, the team recom-

bridge Malaysian Education and Develop-

mended that Slabstic was taken for-

ment Trust. ◊

ward and further work on Bottle Brick was put on hold. In the week following the IfM students’ departure, the team in Takaungu already built another prototype for Slabstic.

They also decided to manufacture a new mould for making bricks instead of tiles.

Currently they are busy making bricks since they have received their first order for 2000 bricks from a local school.

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CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

Doctoral Researcher Design Management Group Institute for Manufacturing Department of Engineering University of Cambridge

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27

Implanting Vascular into Infrastructures

I

nfrastructures, such as

selves, the fact is, they

more durable and mean-

roads, skyscrapers are

all crack, no matter how

while maintain its mechani-

used by everyone in the city.

carefully being stored or

cal properties.

They enable trade, power

reinforced. Most of the

businesses, connect workers

damaged cementitious

to their jobs, create opportu-

structures will end up with

skin. When a deep cut ap-

nities for struggling commu-

being replaced and recon-

pears, it triggers skin regen-

nities and protect cities from

structed. In the EU, 20% of

erative process, as the blood

an increasingly unpredict-

all concrete repair works fail

vessels taking to minimize

able natural environment.

in the first 5 years and all

bleeding, and forming a

Most of these infrastructures

within 25 years. The cost of

blood clot. That’s how a

are made from cementi-

maintenance is impressive.

wound healed itself.

tious materials like concrete,

Currently, UK government

Biomimicry is the idea of

grout and soil grout systems.

spends half of its budget

transferring biological princi-

But few people realize that

on that, at around 40 billion

ples to technology, which is

cementitious materials using

pounds per year. So that

generally the most powerful

is responsible for around

we need to find a new way

sources of innovation that is

10% of global CO2 emissions.

to make this world’s most

going to help us go beyond

For infrastructures them-

popular building material be

conventional approaches

W

hat can we do with that? Look at our

Implanting vascular into infrastructures Self-healing infrastructure 28

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

[Figure (credit toE Pexels) C U E S 1] MA GAZIN 29 W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

tious materials a longer life?

to sustainable design to

Trees and vessels have hi-

achieve resilient infrastruc-

erarchical structures, where

tures. Recently, biomimetic

larger parent tubes branch

based applications such

into many smaller daughter

as self-cleaning clothes,

tubes which deliver blood

self-assembled batteries

to damaged places. In 1926,

are being generated. These

Murray found the relation-

inventions inspire us to facili-

ship of parent and daughter

tate the idea of self-healing

branching, which states that

into our infrastructures and

the cube of the parent radi-

make cementitious materi-

us is equal to the sum of the

als that can heal themselves

cubes of the daughter radii

autonomously like our skin.

[Figure 2] (credit to iStockphoto/Thinkstock

at the point of subdivisions.

[Figure 3] (credit to Zijing Li)

Learning from nature, vascular structure in human is

F

30

ollowing Murray’s law,

one of the most distinctive

several vessel-liked

features for branching sys-

vascular structures were

tem. Why can’t we design a

designed and printed by a

structure in cement matrix

3D printer using a kind of

that exactly like blood vas-

plastic, polylactic acid (PLA).

culature to give cementi-

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

[Figure 4] (credit to Zijing Li)

3-dimentional printing is

place where cracks appear.

ed to exterior healing agent

an additive manufacturing

That’s how vascular net-

reservoir, thereby achieving

technique being in used

works generated for

multiple cracks healing cy-

here for generating com-

self-healing cementitious

cles and sustainable infra-

plex and lightweight hollow

materials. After several

structures.

structures, in which succes-

tests being made, you can

sive layers of print material

see cracks in cementitious

are deposited on top of one

beams were healed after

sounds like a science fiction,

another in order to create a

several weeks. That means

it is a try-out of pursuing

3D object.

our vascular networks start-

long-term sustainable infra-

The 3D-printed PLA struc-

ed to serve their function,

structures and meanwhile

tures were then being

delivering ‘blood’ to the

minimizing expenditure.

‘implanted’ into cement

damaged places. The main

And our hope is that we can

matrix. Healing agents act

advantage of using vascu-

create together a living fu-

as ‘blood’, and will be pres-

lar network in self-healing

ture and this is what we are

sured through PLA vascular

cementitious materials is

trying to do. ◊

and then delivered to the

that tubes can be connect-

A

lthough ‘implanting’ vascular into buildings

Zijing Li CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

31

Report for CUES Summer Grant

I

was honoured to be granted the CUES

It has been a very inspiring and fruitful

Summer Grant of £390, which was used

summer for both of my academic and

to cover part of the travel expenses on

personal development. A considerable

my way to Lab Computational Cognition,

amount of literature reading and book

Vision, and Learning at Johns Hopkins

studying has been done at the begin-

University in Baltimore, Maryland, US. I

ning of the internship, when I quickly

spent 10 weeks there working on a proj-

became more familiar with the field I was

ect “Evaluating Feature Representations

working on this summer. During the trials

in Residual Networks”, under the supervi-

and experiments, much knowledge and

sion of Professor Alan Yuille, a renowned

experience was acquired as my everyday

expert in the fields of Computer Vision.

work involved careful observation of the results of trials finished, the search for

T

he project

has investi-

gated the structure of an

hypotheses in books and papers, and the attempt to design improvements on the

effective Deep Neural Network called Residual Network (ResNet) by K. He, et al, attempting to research on the reasons of its success. We also aim to design a new method to evaluate and select the features obtained from a ResNet, for Image Classification. We demonstrated that a trained ResNet on a large dataset, for instance, ImageNet, is an excellent feature extractor for images in other domains, say, flowers. Also, I proposed

32

Report for CUES Summer Grant CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

[Figure 1] Photo by Naveen Annam from Pexels

a feature extraction method that performs slightly better than the baseline under some cases, though it is not stable enough and further improvements need to be designed.

previous try. I have learned classic methods of Feature Evaluation like Saliency, CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

33

Why the best careers start with problems.

[Figure 2] Photo from Pexels

We’re a science and engineering company. We offer the space and culture to work on the toughest technology problems and invent the best solutions in response.

TF-IDF as well as more recent methods like Inter-Active (Xie et al, 2016), Sensitivity-n (Ancona et al, 2018), etc. Furthermore, frequent meetings and talk with my mentor were also very beneficial to me deepening understandings of the topic and improving research and presentation skills. ttp.com/careers

I

n terms of personal development, the most important gain is my first taste of professional research. I have understood a general procedure of working on a research proj-

ect, from the very beginning, to the methodologies for handling improving as well as undesirable experiments results and the finishing of a project, no matter the proposal is achieved or not. I have also gained a number of contacts in this field, including my supervisor, who is also from Cambridge, my mentor, and other lab-mates, all with similar research interests, strong mathematics and engineering background, and wide-reaching academic network, etc.

I

n conclusion, it was a great summer at Johns Hopkins University, where I have experienced, learned and improved much. Thank you again for the fund for this summer

well-spent.

Yifan Bai

34

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

yb267@cam.ac.uk

The Technology Partnership The space to invent.

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35

Crossword Source: RF Cafe

Crossword

46Describes a fluid having a thick consistency 47Enrico _____, nuclear physicist49Study for a test just before taking it 50Effective Radiated Power (abbr.)

ACROSS 2Filter type that blocks frequencies below and above a specified band (abbr.)

4Mate to a bolt5Unix, Linux or Windows (abbr.)

7Unit of inductance (abbr.)

9Electromagnetic radiation in the visible band 11Constellation: The scales 13Rotated about a point 15Current summing point 18What kind of a number is divisible only by itself and 1 19The "D" in CAD 21Chemical symbol for argon 27Ratio of output current to input voltage, with units of Siemens 29Used logic gates 30The "W" in AWG32Surrounding environmental conditions 34Opposite of local 36Increase voltage linearly 39Part of a screw that engages the driver 40One port on a BJT 41Gigantic star in Cetus 42Search for data (slang) 43Word used in describing 2-D and 3-D object dimensions; i.e., 10 mm __ 25 mm 44A common battery cell size 36

CUES MAGAZINE W W W. C U E S . O R G . U K

DOWN 1International phonetic alphabet letter "Z" 2A semi-automatic mechanical code key 3Read-only (abbr.)

4Negatively doped silicon 6Tool used to attach electronic components to a PCB (2 wds.)

8Form of energy arising from the kinetic energy of atoms and molecules 10Logical negation operator 12BASIC looping keyword 14Hamming _____, a raised cosine function 16Shorthand for telecommunications 17Fail-____ switch 20Multifunctional silicon devices (abbr.)

22Lowest ranges of system frequencie 23Type of flip-flop 24Switch position 25Chemical symbol for bismuth26Maximum voltage in a waveform 28One type of electron spin 31Electron beam particle 33Filter type that blocks lower frequencies (abbr.)

35Type of current37Have a positive phase wrt a reference 38Path followed by a heavenly body around a star 45Mate to a pin 48U.K. equivalent of the IEEE 49Printer output resolution unit (abbr.)