January 2017 ISSUE 55
ARTICULATE page 06
Biomarkers for Post-operative Paediatric Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome on Brain MRI
Leveraging Big Data for Competitive Advantage page 18
page 12
The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy page 24
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January 2017 ISSUE 55
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January 2017 ISSUE 55
Contents 03 04 From the Editor
From the President
18
24
Leveraging Big Data for Competitive Advantage
The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy
www.coe.org.mt
06 Articulate
12
Cover Image
Biomarkers for Postoperative Paediatric Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome on Brain MRI
32 Lab4MEMS Project receives an important European Innovation Award
The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Page 24
Editor
Mr Stephane Role
Editorial Board
Inġ. Norman Zammit Eur. Ing. Inġġ. Pierre Ciantar Prof. Dr Inġ. Robert Ghirlando
Chamber of Engineers, Professional Centre, Sliema Road,Gzira, GZR 1633, Malta
Email: info@coe.org.mt Web: www.coe.org.mt
© Chamber of Engineers 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Chamber of Engineers - Malta. Opinions expressed in Engineering Today are not necessarily those of the Chamber of Engineers - Malta. All care has been taken to ensure truth and accuracy, but the Editorial Board cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions in the articles, pictographs or illustrations.
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January 2017 ISSUE 55
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From the Editor Dear Readers, I would like to sincerely wish everyone a great year to come. A lot of work has gone into this first issue of 2017 from various parties. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the authors for their great work, the editorial board and the publisher for their continous effort in maintaining such a high standard in this publication. This issue will look at various developments in various engineering fields, whilst celebrating our recent achievements. We take a look at engineering research related to the biomedical engineering sector by two Maltese Engineers for their doctorate studies. The healthcare sector has been highlighted as a priority area by the European Commission for their 10 year economic-growth strategy and I am certain this research will contribute to the current literature to help devise safe and effective treatments and diagnostic tools. Dr Malcolm Caligari Conti’s work is centred on the improvement of metal-on-metal hip joints. These have lately come under scrutiny due to excessive wear during their use resulting in various complications not far down the line. His work is related to the treatment of biocompatible stainless steel to form a hardened region called s-phase. This provides various advantages over the untreated metal in turn indicating a longer lifetime is possible for treated components compared to untreated metal on metal joints. Also, within the biomedical field, Dr Michaela Spiteri writes about her work on MRI image data processing. Dr Spiteri gathered MRI brain images after brain surgeries from children. Her article discusses the methods used to establish links between post-operative Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome and damage to the left part of the brain stem, observed mostly in younger children after surgery. Another angle which will be covered in this issue is the importance of adequate systems for data management. Ing. Joseph Micallef highlights the importance of data management in today’s industries. When dealing with multiple projects and large sets of data, a lot of value can be added by maintaining a system capable of extracting and searching for the required data with little delays and mishaps. Whilst working in industry, I have seen numerous projects addressing gaps created by mishandling and mismanagement of data, a process which becomes even more complex when coupled with industry turn over and the associated loss of expertise and information on projects. Creating a framework from the get-go that allows efficient access and retrieval of data would provide a structure that promotes growth and efficiency while also reducing bad practices and would provide an accessible, holistic view of lengthy projects.
From a research and development point of view, the Institute for Sustainable Energy has recently completed the set-up of a cutting-edge solar materials research laboratory. Ms. Bonnie Attard writes about these facilities which are located in Marsaxlokk. These laboratories will serve as a local centre of excellence for photovoltaic research, with the capabilities of studying and developing new and existing solar panels and optimising their systems with the scope to investigate innovative technologies and improve existing solar panel efficiency. Finally, Dr Ing. Owen Casha writes to us about a prestigious award the University of Malta received in part, collaborating with numerous agencies across Europe, for their hard work on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, commonly referred to as MEMS. Per usual, if any reader feels that they would like to share with us their recent engineering related achievements, current projects or also industrial practices, please submit your articles on http://www.coe.org.mt/publications. I hope you enjoy reading the articles in this issue.
Mr Stephane Role The Editor, Engineering Today, Chamber of Engineers
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From the President Dear Colleagues, Excerpt taken from the president’s speech at the Malta Engineering Excellence Awards 2016 Every person has values that stem from one’s background in relation to beliefs, the cultural upbringing and environment. These values define the moral principles upon which one would construct his/her life and any decision taken is affected by these moral principles. Indirectly, moral principles therefore are a result of a person’s character. Ethics is governed by moral principles but there is also the consequential route to ethical behaviour. The two streams differ largely in principle. The moral route is grounded on deciding ethical dilemmas based on the value and hence the moral standing of a person whether this is good or bad. The consequential route analyses the consequences emanating from a decision to an ethical dilemma and therefore the behaviour of a person would be adjusted accordingly. This is the main reason why the Code of Ethics issued by the Chamber of Engineers is ‘entrenched’ in the Engineering Act and as Engineers we are all obliged to follow it whilst the setting up of an ethics committee within the realms of the Chamber was a fundamental achievement in providing guidance to all our members on the ethical dilemmas they encounter in the course of exercising their profession. The Ethics Committee has also presented to the Council a more ‘user friendly version’ of the code of ethics that shall be issued as a white paper for feedback from our members. The intent is that once the document is finalised, this shall replace the present Code. A ‘user friendly version’ of the code, however, does not imply that we have waivered our obligations to behave ethically but instead we have endeavoured to remove any doubts on the interpretation of the various clauses. On the issue of ethical behaviour the Chamber is also looking to address issues on the ‘modus operandi’ of certain Authorities and where necessary approach Government at all levels to promote better Governance in our areas of competence. This is even more important where the management of the Authority lies within the hands of warranted engineers who should seek to uphold the ethics and interest of the profession at all times. In line with this stance, we have recently reinstated a dialogue with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority where the issue of the definition of a competent person as described
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in the main Act is not being transposed in some of the subsidiary legislation, needed to be discussed. Engineers are to be seen not just as the catalysts of change and innovation but also the guardians of quality and integrity within Society especially when it comes to health and safety issues. We shall insist on this principle and I am sure that the Hon Minister Dalli has taken due note of the ongoing exchange of ideas with the Authority. Over the past three years the Council was continuously following up with the Engineering Board, the planned review process for the Engineering degrees issued by the various institutions. The Engineering Board had prepared an international Request for Proposals that was issued with the intent to select competent reviewers for this process where its outcome should be the setting up of a mechanism to ensure equivalence of degrees such that any student who graduates in an engineering degree shall have the possibility to apply for the engineering warrant. The principle to be followed is that all degrees are to be brought up to the same level without compromises and where some degrees lack in the level then bridging study opportunities should be given to all students to ensure a level playing field. We cannot accept a situation where a student would select one educational institution over another to follow an engineering degree just because there is either the perception or the actuality that the path offered is easier than that of other institutions. We are happy to announce that this review process has commenced and we sincere hope that all institutions collaborate with the intent to achieve the desired results. As stated on various occasions, the Chamber of Engineers had been planning to issue a white paper in relation to the implementation and promotion of Continual Professional Development in our profession in line with the initial guidance document issued by the Federation of Professional Associations following the introduction of the Services Directive by the EU. This white paper would set up the framework to be implemented by the Chamber as regards CPD for its members. We are committed that through the course of the coming year, the committee would achieve the target of completing the first draft of the white paper. I would also like to mention the important contribution that the Chamber has been giving on a European and International level with the continued participation as members in the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and the very active participation within the realms of FEANI – The
European Federation of Engineering Associations where as the National Committee we also attended the FEANI Annual Business Meeting which this year took place in Stockholm with the focal point being, amongst others, the progress on the proposal for the introduction of a Common Training Framework since the EU was keen that some organisations promote this idea further. This year, the 24th Annual Engineering Conference focused on Intelligent Buildings. Next year the Council has been discussing various options regarding the conference with the main focus being engineering issues within the EU that have an impact within the local scenario, considering that Malta would be holding the Presidency of the European Union. I would like to thank all my fellow council members, the Administrative Secretary, Marcelle, and our Training Executive, Marthese and all our other support staff, for the commitment towards the work of the Chamber and other various members who have dedicated their time to represent the Chamber on various committees and organisations. Particular thanks goes to Michael our Event Chairperson, Alex and Marcelle for their hard work to make these MEEAs a successful event.
Ing. Ray Vassallo representing the Chamber on the BICC. The valuable support of the members is fundamental for the efficient operation of the Council. I, once again this year, strongly encourage the participation of more women within the Chamber, following the example of Ing. Helga Pizzuto. I would like to thank all our sponsors and our Corporate sponsors BOV and Citadel for their continual support. This year we have signed another collaboration agreement with BOV and as a result of this they have also provided a grant to those successful students who win the awards. We thank you for your strong support. Our thoughts and prayers go towards those colleague engineers who have passed away this year. May they rest in peace and always be remembered in our thoughts.
Ing Helga Pizzuto as vice-President of the Federation of Professional associations representing the Chamber together with Ing. Saviour Baldacchino. Ing. Johan Psaila our Treasurer for his contribution on the BRO. Prof Dr Ing. Robert Ghirlando, Dr Ing. Victor Buttigieg, Ing. Pierre Ciantar for their contribution within the Ethics and Disciplinary committee under the chairmanship of Ing. Alex Galea.
Yours Sincerely,
Prof Dr Ing. Brian Azzopardi who was the Editor for the initial publications for this year and our new Editor and PRO Stephane Role, who together with Prof Dr Ing Robert Ghirlando, Ing Pierre Ciantar and myself form the Editorial Board of our flagship publication. Dr. Ing. Daniel Micallef representing the Chamber on the committee developing the National Standard for Green Roof Construction. Ing Mike D’Amato supported by Ing. Alex Galea, who represent the Chamber on the University of Malta’s Industrial Advisory Board - Faculty of Engineering.
Inġ. Norman Zammit B. Elec. Eng. (Hons.), M.Sc. (Brunel), Eur. Ing., CBIFM President, Chamber of Engineers
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Articulate Malcolm Caligari Conti Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of Malta mcali01@um.edu.mt
ABSTRACT S-phase surface treatments on stainless steel, which in effect are carbon diffusion processes at low temperatures over extended time periods, have been gaining popularity in the biomaterials industry due to improved hardness and corrosion properties induced on the surface of the alloy whilst retaining or improving the former cyto-compatibility properties. This study focuses on the application of S-phase surface treatments to a cobalt chromium (CoCr) alloy which results in increased hardness and better corrosion resistance whilst still retaining or improving the cyto-compatibility of the alloy, both during short term and long term exposure to an in vivo mimicking electrolyte. This insight gained into the surface treated material’s properties can then be used to better assess the suitability of the S-phase treated alloy to several bio applications. Keywords: S-phase, hardness, cyto-compatibility, leaching, bio-materials
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1 Introduction Human life expectancy has increased over the last few years. This, by and large, is due to improvement in medical services, nutrition and hygiene [1]. But can our body take the load? Statistically studies show that body parts tend to fail with age. Among these body parts, knee joints and hip joints often get the podium positions, as the number of patients treated for failure becomes ever larger. The old age phenomenon is then coupled with injury problems, and the modern day problem of obesity to send the number of patients sky rocketing into the hundreds of thousands, and that is Europe alone [2]. A hip joint replacement is required when the patients suffers from arthritis, trauma, congenital defects or malignancy which impair the function or destroy the hip joint. The surgeon then proceeds to remove the damaged joint and replace it with an artificial prosthesis [3] shown in Figure 1. The original total hip arthroplasty (THA) developed in 1953 was a metal on metal (MOM) cobalt chromium on cobalt chromium (CoCr-on-CoCr) implant. Recently ceramic-on-ceramic as well as polymer on ceramic systems have been developed [4]. The prevalence of the migration to ceramics was and is due to growing concerns about metal debris accumulating at the arthroplasty site [5]. The current status for hip replacement prosthetic devices lies at crossroads. Several national authorities such as the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Health Canada and the Therapeutic Goods and Administration of Australia, amongst others, have commented on several issues with current metal on metal prosthetics including bone death at the site where the prosthetic is implanted and carcinogenic effects. These authorities recommend regular screening and revisions in order to mitigate the problems which are currently of major concern [6-8]. Several patients and physicians have for this reason turned to ceramic on ceramic and ceramic on polymer systems for better long term reliability. However, the latter aren't without their pitfalls. Ceramic based systems are prone to fracture due to their brittle nature, as well as an audible squeak when implanted in vivo. This coupled with their prohibitive cost leaves researchers looking for a more optimal solution. Statistics show that by 2025, in Europe alone, over 2 million people will need hip or knee replacements yearly. The operational and recovery cost for these people lies in the region of â‚Ź8,000 per person, which already places huge financial strain on health services. However this cost is dwarfed by â‚Ź100,000 cost price per patient spent when a revision of the initial surgery is carried out after a number of years due to increased probability of infection which then requires the patient to be hospitalized for prolonged periods of time whilst being administered with costly antibiotic treatment. It is for this reason that a cost efficient prosthetic system with improved performance needs to be investigated [2].
Figure 1:
Artificial prosthesis
Cobalt chromium alloys are used in applications which require wear resistance and/or thermal resistance. Examples of these applications include oil well drilling bits, dredging cutters, internal combustion engine valves and valve seats as well as gas turbine vanes. The alloy has also been used in implant applications including dental applications and knee and shoulder prosthesis [9]. It is into this scenario that research was launched at the University of Malta, in collaboration with Bodycote Specialist Technologies GmbH. Thanks to a project part financed by the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS) and Bodycote Specialist Technologies GmbH, a team of individuals, namely Dr Ing. Joseph Buhagiar, Dr Pierre Schembri Wismayer M.D. and Dr Malcolm Caligari Conti with the help of Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra started research searching for a solution to the metal on metal prosthetic conundrum. It was postulated that by hardening the bearing surface of a cobalt chromium alloy, whilst retaining corrosion resistance and biocompatibility an improved prosthetic system could be engineered. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Karl from Bodycote then assisted the team with the hardening procedure carrying out a low temperature carburising process on the surface of a cobalt chromium alloy. Bodycote’s low temperature carburising treatment, S3P, is in reality a carbon diffusion process. It is used for products across a wide range of markets from precision medical tools to automotive components. Applications range from parts for production lines, which benefit from the process to decrease downtime and achieve cost savings, to medical devices that require improved wear resistance as well as parts requiring improved fatigue resistance, and maintenance of a hard, sharp edge [10].
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Articulate Continued
By bringing together the fields of materials engineering, cellular biology and chemistry, a multidisciplinary approach to research was initiated. Many authors agree that the biomedical sector requires this approach to research, particularly due to the operational environment of the end material, i.e. the human body. This environment places large physical loads on the material, while constantly exposing it to wear and corrosion conditions. Thus characterization of the mechanical and physical properties of the material must be intertwined with the material's response to various representative media and all this whilst ensuring the biocompatibility of the system. In order to do this, state-of-the-art equipment financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was utilized across three laboratories at the University of Malta namely; (1) the lab of the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering with equipment from ERDF 012: Developing an Interdisciplinary Material Testing and Rapid Prototyping R&D Facility, (2) the lab of the Anatomy Department with equipment from ERDF 081: Enhancing Health Biotechnology Facilities at the University, and (3) the lab of the Chemistry Department housing equipment from ERDF 309: Strengthening of the Organic, Inorganic, Physical Chemistry Facilities. As the main researcher and engineering graduate, the author was trained across a wide spectrum of fields ranging from materials engineering and chemistry to tribology, electrochemistry and microbiology, such that the focus of this work would lie at the crossroads which join the efforts of the three departments from different faculties to produce an interdisciplinary approach to the study. 2 Results The results from testing within these facilities showed that the carburised material had a surface hardness greater than 3 times that of the untreated alloy as shown in Figure 2. This hardness was provided by a diffusion layer of carbon present just beneath the surface of the alloy, product of the treatment carried out by Bodycote. Diffusion is a process by which atoms, in this case carbon atoms, move from a region of high concentration, at the surface of the cobalt chromium CoCr alloy, to a region of lower concentration further down into the bulk of the alloy. This diffusion layer which can be seen in Figure 3 is called S-phase or Expanded Austenite. The low temperature carburising treatment is carried out at a temperature which allows carbon to diffuse into the alloy forming the S-phase whilst at the same time preventing the formation of carbides, the effect of which causes the alloy to lose its corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. As regards corrosion resistance, the newly treated alloy was exposed to protein bearing and non-protein bearing salt solutions which mimic the conditions in the body. The salt solution used was a Ringer’s solution mixture which mimics the electrolyte content in vivo. In order to add proteins to this solution, bovine blood was obtained from the Malta Abattoir and processed through a centrifugal process, so as to obtain bovine serum. The protein content of the bovine serum was
Figure 2 (a):
Plot showing hardness of the carburised CoCr alloy vs the untreated CoCr alloy.
Figure 2 (b):
Image of nano hardness testing apparatus.
Figure 3:
In lens image of etched S-phase layer atop a CoCr alloy, showing mild etching close to the surface.
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Articulate Continued
then measured and diluted with Ringer’s solution to match the protein content of synovial fluid obtained from a freshly deceased cadaver. Synovial fluid is a viscous fluid found in joints which, as a principle role, lubricates the joint bearing surfaces. In all solutions, the newly carburised alloy was seen to perform better than the untreated alloy both in terms of open circuit potential (OCP) and in terms of relative passive current as shown in Figure 4. The OCP defines a potential which can be measured between the alloy and a reference electrode and in general reflects the nobility of the alloy. The relative passive current defines how fast reactions take place on the surface of the alloy. Corrosion testing was also carried out over longer timeframes of 48 hours in similar non-protein bearing electrolyte solutions. When tested in-vitro these solutions were found to be less toxic to cells (cytotoxic) than those obtained from the original untreated alloy due to a reduced number of ions released by the treated alloy when compared to the untreated as shown in Figure 5. This implies that in an in vivo situation, in static conditions the carburised alloy, would perform better in terms of corrosion than the untreated alloy. This, while still achieving equal or improved cytocompatibility versus the untreated alloy within the same scenario. This therefore further proves the importance of the carburised CoCr alloy as a biological material, where the release of toxic products needs to be minimised in any in vivo environment in order to reduce the occurrence of genotoxic (cancer causing) effects, and other cytotoxic effects related with these chemicals. Within the joint articulation scenario, the reduction in release of toxic ions is paramount in reducing the occurrence of aseptic loosening (failure of the bond between an implant and bone) which is a major concern in the orthopaedic articulating joint prosthesis field. Experimentation was also done on the solid metal, in a direct contact test. Cells were grown on the untreated and carburised CoCr sample, and cell growth assessed using an MTT assay. An MTT assay allows assessment of cell metabolic activity. As the number of cells increases, the number of ‘purple’ coloured crystals, i.e. metabolic products, increases. Once dissolved these crystals cause the solution to turn purple. This colour change can then be recorded by means of a spectrophotometer. Overall the cytocompatibility of the solid treated alloy was seen to match that of the untreated alloy and that of the positive Thermanox® control samples as can be seen in Figure 6. Thermanox® is a polyester film surface which lends itself well to cell adhesion and growth. This is significant as prior to the commencement of this work, both the Thermanox® control samples and the untreated CoCr alloy was already considered as a biocompatible material. This points to the overall cytocompatibility of the carburised alloy, especially when employed in static conditions.
Figure 4:
Plot showing passive current of the untreated and carburised CoCr alloy in a Ringer’s solution and bovine serum (protein) bearing solution.
Figure 5:
Plot showing amount of chromium ions released into solution. A higher value indicates increased cytotoxicity of the final elution.
Figure 6:
Plot showing cell density increasing over 4 days of exposure to untreated and carburised CoCr alloy. Thermanox® is also added as a positive control.
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7 References
Figure 7:
Members of the Biomaterials Research Team from the University of Malta and Bodycote Specialist Technologies GmbH.
[1] World Health Organization, "Global health and aging," Bethesda: National Institutes of Health, 2011. [2] OECD, "Health at a Glance: Europe 2010," 2010. [3] S. Marya, Total Hip Replacement Spectrum-ECAB: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2013. [4] S. R. Knight, et al., "Total hip arthroplasty–over 100 years of operative history," 2011. [5] H. S. Gill, et al., "Molecular and immune toxicity of CoCr nanoparticles in MoM hip arthroplasty," Trends in molecular medicine, vol. 18, pp. 145-155, 2012. [6] Health_Canada. (Accessed: 2015, 03 August 2015). MedEffect Canada Advisories, Warnings and Recalls - Health Canada. Available: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/medeff/advisories-avis/public/_2012/ metal_implant_pc-cp-eng.php [7] MHRA, "All metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacements," M. H. R. Agency, Ed., ed. London: MHRA, 2012, p. 1:7 [8] FDA. (Accessed: 2015, 03 August 2015). Concerns about Metal-onMetal Hip Implants. Available: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/ MetalonMetalHipImplants/ucm241604.htm [9] J. A. Disegi, et al., "Cobalt-base alloys for biomedical applications," 1999. [10] Bodycote. (Accessed: 2016, 16 March 2016). Specialty Stainless Steel Processes (S3P). Available: http://www.bodycote.com/en.aspx
3 Conclusion A number of facets have been explored and discovered. Knowledge has been gained which aids in better selection of an improved metal on metal surface for future work in load bearing prosthetic devices. Other applications have been proposed for the current surface hardened alloy, outperforms the untreated alloy in all aspects described in this article. The work has also opened doors to further research work within this interdisciplinary area founded in the University of Malta, which work has already born fruit through the efforts of other researchers at all levels of study. 4 The Biomaterials Research Team Several people (Figure 7) have contributed towards the development of an interdisciplinary biomaterials research team within the University of Malta, including amongst others Dr Ing. Joseph Buhagiar, Dr Pierre Schembri Wismayer M.D., Dr Emmanuel Sinagra and Dr Malcolm Caligari Conti from the University of Malta, with the help of Dr Ing. Andreas Karl from Bodycote Specialist Technologies GmbH. 5 Acknowledgements Dr Malcolm Caligari Conti obtained his PhD degree at the University of Malta. The PhD regarding In vitro Studies of Surface Hardened Cobalt Chromium Molybdenum Alloys used for Orthopaedic Applications was carried out following the award of a scholarship by the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS). The PhD was carried out in collaboration with Bodycote Specialist Technologies GmbH. The author would also like to thank the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for part-financing the state-of-the-art equipment provided and used throughout this PhD through projects ERDF 012: Developing an Interdisciplinary Material Testing and Rapid Prototyping R&D Facility, ERDF 081: Enhancing Health Biotechnology Facilities at the University, and ERDF 309: Strengthening of the Organic, Inorganic, Physical Chemistry Facilities.
Dr Malcolm
Caligari Conti
Dr Malcolm Caligari Conti obtained his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2011 and a Ph.D. in Biomaterials Engineering in 2016 both at the University of Malta. The Ph.D. degree was carried out following the award of a Malta Government Scholarship (MGSS). His main areas of interest are surface engineering, biomaterials, microbiology and chemistry. Malcolm has recently been awarded a Reach High scholarship worth €200,000 for a post doctoral study focusing on a biodegradable, rapid osteoregenerative scaffold which as its name suggests allows the rapid growth of bone in regions of trauma without the need of a secondary intervention for the removal of the prosthesis.
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Biomarkers for Post-operative Paediatric Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome on Brain MRI Michaela Spiteri CVSSP – Centre for Vision, Speech, and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, England m.spiteri@surrey.ac.uk
ABSTRACT This study is part of my PhD thesis entitled Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) assessment of brain tumours in children. The aim of this study is to analyse the post-operative effects of brain tumours in the posterior fossa, an umbrella term for the cerebellum and brain stem. Up to one fourth of children who undergo surgery in the posterior fossa develop a syndrome known as Post-operative Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome (POP-CMS), the main symptoms of which are mutism and loss of balance [1]. This syndrome develops within the first 24 to 107 hours following surgery [2]. Alt-hough the exact causes of this syndrome are un-known, it is fast becoming a popular area for re-search due to the hindrance such a syndrome poses on the child’s development and quality of life. The techniques developed through this research have identified a link that exists between POP-CMS and damage on the left part of the brain stem, known as hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD).
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1 INTRODUCTION HOD, or the degeneration of part of the brain stem known as the inferior olivary nuclei (ION), shows up as an increase in brightness on an MR image [3], however this increase in brightness may be subtle and is not always visible to the naked eye. For this reason neuroradiologists may experience difficulty deciphering whether HOD is present in order to determine a correlation between POP-CMS and HOD. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude with certainty whether brain tumour surgical resection causes damage in part of the brain involved in speech de-velopment. An example of HOD in a single ION (known as unilateral HOD) and in both IONs (known as bilateral HOD) is exhibited in Figure 1. The aim of this study is to identify imaging biomarkers that correlate with the occurrence of POP-CMS, so that the development of the syndrome can be better understood. As well, this research therefore aims at understanding the underlying causes of this syndrome. The hypothesis explored by this study is that a link exists between HOD within the ION and POP-CMS.
Figure 1 (a) :
Hypertrophic olivary degeneration: unilateral case.
In order to fulfil these aims, this research made use of computer vision and machine learning techniques. Computer vision is a field of engineering that involves the acquisition and analysis of digital images in the aim of solving real-world problems. Machine learning is an umbrella term for automatic data analysis and understanding. 2 STUDY DATASET This study was carried out in collaboration with Al-der Hey Children’s NHS Trust in Liverpool, England. Throughout the treatment of posterior fossa tumours in children MRI scans are acquired before surgery (pre-operative), during surgery (intraoperative) and after surgery (post-operative). This dataset of MR images, known as a longitudinal dataset, consisted of multiple MR images for 28 chil-dren between the ages of 8 months and 18 years. Eleven of these patients developed POP-CMS, as diagnosed by clinicians following tests to monitor speech and balance. 3 METHODS This study was split up into three main sections. The first section involved extracting data from the images related to HOD in the ION. These data points are known as imaging features. The next step was to analyse the features in order to identify potential biomarkers among the features that best correlate with the occurrence of POP-CMS. The final step was to analyse the ability of the features to classify patients into those that developed the syn-drome after surgery and those that did not. 3.1 Extracting Imaging features Although MR images can be acquired to exhibit a volumetric representation of the brain, the acquisition of such images is time consuming and requires the patients to sit completely still throughout the acquisition. In order to reduce the time children spend inside the MRI scanner, it is common to
Figure 1 (b) :
Hypertrophic olivary degeneration: bilateral case.
acquire a sparsely sampled volume instead of a full volumetric MRI scan. This results in only one or two MR images out of the entire volume that exhibit the IONs. For this reason, the analysis undertaken in this project was carried out on a single MR image, also known as an image slice. It was desired to solely analyse the IONs across the longitudinal dataset. For this reason, a process known as segmentation was carried out. Segmentation is a method by which a digital image is parti-tioned into different segments, in order to facilitate the analysis of a specific segment within the image. The MR images in this dataset were segmented to distinguish the IONs from the rest of the MR image. The left and right IONs were segmented separately on each MR image within each patient’s dataset. The segmentation process implemented in this study is a semi-automated segmentation technique that involves three
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Biomarkers for Post-operative Paediatric Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome on Brain MRI Continued
Figure 2 (a): Segmentation of inferior olivary nuclei (delineated in black): unilateral case.
Figure 2 (b): Segmentation of inferior olivary nuclei (delineated in black): bilateral case.
main steps: the identification of a seedpoint to initialise the region of interest (ac-cording to pixel intensity), the application of a clos-ing operation (to fill gaps brought about by cysts and gelatinous areas in the tumour), and the iterative application of the closing operation until a satis-factory region of interest is obtained. The segmen-tation process was carried out three times in order to reduce the effect of human error.
In SFFS an attempt is made at finding the least useful feature in order to discard it from the final feature set. This process is repeated until the evaluation score becomes (and remains) better than the previous best score using a feature set of the same size [7].
Following the segmentation process it was pos-sible to extract a set of features from each ION that were related to HOD, such as the change in contrast between the ION and surrounding brain tissue over time, and the change in volume of the ION over time. The left and right ION were analysed sepa-rately. An additional set of features was based on clinical data following expert neuroradiological as-sessment, such as a whether HOD was present and whether it was bilateral or unilateral. Patient de-mographics were also included. The data was pro-vided by Alder Hey Children’s hospital. An addition-al two features consisting of noise were also added in order to assess the integrity of the feature selec-tion algorithms.
3.3 Classifying patients using biomarkers It was desired to classify patients into two groups: patients who developed POP-CMS and patients who had not developed POP-CMS. The binary clas-sification was carried out in order to assess the in-tegrity of the efficient features chosen in the previ-ous stage of the study. Two different feature sub-sets were used, the first subset included the entire feature set, the second subset included the most efficient feature chosen by the SFS and SFFS algo-rithms. A simple support vector machine (SVM) was used to perform the classification task, making use of a leave-one-out crossvalidation (LOOCV) technique to assess the classification accuracy for each patient in the study.
3.2 Establishing Biomarkers Feature selection techniques were applied to the list of features described in Section 3.1, in order to identify the features that are the most relevant in discerning between healthy patients that did not develop POP-CMS, and those that did. The techniques used to identify the salient features out of the full feature set are: sequential forward selection (SFS) and sequential floating forward selection (SFFS) [4-6]. SFS starts off with an empty biomarker dataset. One feature (from the features listed in Section 3.1) is added to this set at a time and a feature is kept or discarded depending on whether it exhibits the best patient classification performance when used together with the previously chosen features [4-6].
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This process was carried out 100 times and the average relevance scores were calculated.
4 RESULTS 4.1 Feature Extraction (Figures 2 a,b)
entation of
4.2 Feature Selection (Tables 1,2 ) 4.23 Patient Classification *Feature 1, the highest scoring feature, refers to the change in contrast in the left ION over time.
5 DISCUSSION The results yielded by the SFS and SFFS algorithms in Tables 1 and 2 indicate feature 1 as the most relevant feature, scoring higher than all other features considered in this study. This feature corresponds to the mean slope of contrast in the left nucleus.
longitudinally. This study has identified intensity in the left ION as the most diagnostically relevant feature that corre-lates with the development of POP-CMS following tumor resection in the posterior fossa. This feature can therefore be used as a reliable biomarker on paediatric brain MRI following posterior fossa tu-mour resection surgery [7,8].
Average relevance score over 100 iterations Test Set
Feature1*
1
72.68
2
76.04
3
85.31
Table 1:
Average relevance scores calculated by sequential forward selection algorithm, over 100 iterations.
7 CURRENT RESEARCH Our current research involves analyzing the lon-gitudinal MR images in 3D space. This will give in-sight to any spatial biomarkers that may be correlated with the occurrence of POP-CMS following tumour resection surgery in the posterior fossa in paediatric cases.
Average relevance score over 100 iterations Test Set
Feature1*
1
75.32
2
77.56
3
85.18
8 REFERENCES
[1]
Table 2:
Average relevance scores calculated by sequential forward floating selection algorithm, over 100 iterations.
[2]
Accuracy (%) Test Set
All Features
[3]
Feature1*
1
78.57
89.29
2
75.00
78.57
3
71.43
85.71
Mean
75.00
84.52
[4]
[5]
Table 3:
Patient Classification Accuracy using full feature set and feature 1.
These results indicate that changes in contrast in the left ION are the most relevant feature correlating with the development of POP-CMS. This implies that change in intensity of the left ION as seen on MRI is highly correlated to the presence of POP-CMS. The diagnosis of HOD made by radiological assessment was not chosen as a biomarker as it did not produce a high relevance score in the feature selection processes. Feature 1 is directly linked to HOD since a high value for feature 1 indicates that the contrast between the left ION and surrounding tissue is increasing over time. This implies that the hyper-intensity in the left ION is increasing with time; therefore HOD is present in the left ION. Using feature 1 to classify patients into those that developed POP-CMS and those that did not was more accurate than using the entire feature set to do so. This was the result for each segmentation test sets as exhibited in Table 3. 6 CONCLUSION The aim of the experiment was to investigate the link between POP-CMS and HOD in order to build upon the existing evidence on the development of POP-CMS and to lead to a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of the syndrome. The main contribution of this work consists of the quantification of HOD using automated imaging feature extraction to describe changes in intensity and size of the ION
[6] [7]
[8]
J.Siffert, T.Y.Poussaint, and L. et al., “Neurological dysfunction associated with postoperative cerebellar mutism,” Journal of Neurooncology 48, pp. 75–81, 2000. E. A. Kirk, V. C. Howard, and C. A. Scott, “Description of posterior fossa syndrome in children after posterior fossa brain tumor surgery ,” Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing 12(4), pp. 181 – 187, 1995. Z.Patay, J.Enterkin, J. Harreld, Y. Yuan, U. Ldobel, Z.Rumboldt, R. Khan, and F. Boop, “Mr imaging evaluation of inferior olivary nuclei: Comparison of postoperative subjects with and without posterior fossa syndrome,” American Journal of Neuroradiology 35, 2013. O. R. J. Pohjalainen and S. Kadioglu, “Feature selection methods and their combinations in high-dimensional classi- fication of speaker likability, intelligibility and personality traits,” Computer Speech and Language , 2014. R. O. and P. J., “Random subset feature selection in automatic recognition of developmental disorders, affective states, and level of conflict from speech,” Proc. Interspeech’2013, Lyon, France , 2013. A. W. Whitney, “A direct method of nonparametric measurement selection,” IEEE Transactions on Computers C-20, pp. 1100–1103, 1971. M. Spiteri, D. Windridge, S.Avula, R.Kumar, E.Lewis; Identifying quantitative imaging features of posterior fossa syndrome in longitudinal mri. J. Med. Imag. 0001;2(4):044502. doi:10.1117/1.JMI.2.4.044502, 2015. S.Avula, M.Spiteri, R.Kumar, E.Lewis, S.Harave, D.Windridge, C.Ong, B.Pizer; Post-operative pediatric cerebellar mutisum syndrome and its association with hypertrophic olivary degeneration. Quant. Imaging in Med. and Surg.; 6(5), 2016.
Ms Michaela
Spiteri
Michaela Spiteri is a doctoral student in electronic engineering at the Centre for Vision, Speech, and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, UK. Her thesis is entitled longitudinal MRI assessment of brain tumors in children. Before coming to Surrey, she completed her Msc in biomedical engineering (2012 to 2013). Before that she received a BEng (HONS) in electrical and electronic engineering from University of Malta in 2012. Michaela is under the Supervision of Dr. Emma Lewis, Dr. Jean-Yves Guillemaut and Dr. David Windridge from the University of Surrey, UK, and Dr. Shivaram Avula and Dr. Ram Kumar from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
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BOV Investment Funds Some people think investments are complex. We can help you better understand and choose the right investment strategy that fits your personal risk tolerance. BOV Asset Management, at the forefront of your investment needs
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Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of the investment can go down as well as up. Investments should be based on the full details of the Prospectus, Offering Supplement and the Key Investor Information Document which may be obtained from BOV Asset Management Limited, Bank of Valletta p.l.c. Branches/Investment Centres and other Licensed Financial Intermediaries. BOV Asset Management Limited is licensed to provide Investment Services in Malta by the MFSA. The BOV Investment Funds is a common contractual fund licenced by the MFSA as a collective investment scheme pursuant to the Investment Services Act and the UCITS Directive. Issued by BOV Asset Management Limited, registered address 58, Triq San Ĺťakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta, VLT 1130, Malta. Tel: 2122 7311, Fax: 2275 5661, E-mail: infoassetmanagement@bov.com, Website: www.bovassetmanagement.com.mt. Source: BOV Asset Management Limited
An Innovative and Flexible Approach to Investing
Planning one's future depends on what goals are set and over what timeframes they are meant to be achieved. Investing at an early stage is the key to meet any future long-term goals. Best results are achieved when investors contribute on a regular basis. Most of us wish to be able to save more. The question is how to go about this, particularly getting started. The key to saving is to spend what you have left after investing, rather than invest what you have left after spending. The Monthly Investment Plan (“MIP”) provides you with an excellent way to start planning for your future. By allocating a small amount of your salary every month, you can easily start a MIP. Whether you are a post-graduate about to embark on your career and looking for a way to start investing, or you have been earning a regular salary for a while and wish to discipline yourself to develop a savings habit, a MIP fits your objective. By choosing to invest a sum of money every month in an investment fund of your choice, you will minimise the downside to the markets over the years by purchasing units at different prices. This strategy of price averaging does not try to time markets. Instead it reduces the risk of investing a large amount, at an unfavourable time, by spreading your investments over a period of months, years or even decades. BOV Asset Management with approximately €847 million in funds under management as at the end of December 2016, provides you with the flexibility to increase or decrease to a minimum of €50 (or US$50 or £30), suspend or cancel your monthly contribution as your financial circumstances may necessitate from time to time. Investing through a MIP also offers an element of flexibility since most investment funds are not closed-ended and have no maturity date, trade daily and are accessible within a short time frame. You can also keep your plan for as long as you wish. Whilst you should aim to save for the long-term, you can withdraw money within a short period of time. There are various investment funds which one can access through an MIP, ranging from those with the objective of generating income to those that seek to grow the capital. The range of investment funds managed by BOV Asset Management invest in the domestic and international markets
Clayton Scicluna
across the main asset classes. These funds are available in all the major currencies and have different risk profiles to meet the investment requirements of different types of investors. Market timing is one of the biggest dilemmas investors face. This refers to the strategy that attempts to predict future market movements using fundamental and technical analysis. Jumping in and out of markets on a regular basis not only requires constant monitoring of daily events but also requires the skill to act on such events. The message here is that, trying to predict market movements is difficult, if not impossible, so it is best to avoid it. A number of specialist investment funds managed by BOV Asset Management are sub-managed by Insight Investment Management Limited, one of UK’s largest asset managers and a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon. Other funds are sub-managed by Waverton Investment Management Limited. This means that your MIP will be accessing a professionally managed investment fund. It is important that before taking any investment decisions, you discuss your financial situation and investment goals with a licenced financial advisor to ensure that your investment is in line with your objective and risk appetite. For further information on the full range of BOV Asset Management funds, please visit: www.bovassetmanagement.com
The opinions expressed herein should not be interpreted as investment advice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Investments should be based on the full details of the Prospectus, Offering Supplement and the KIID which may be obtained from BOV Asset Management Limited, Bank of Valletta p.l.c. Branches, Investment Centres and other Licensed Financial Intermediaries. BOV Asset Management is licensed to provide Investment Services in Malta by the MFSA. Issued by BOV Asset Management Limited, Registered address: 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130
Leveraging Big Data for Competitive Advantage Joseph Micallef Chief Operations Officer, BEAT Limited jmicallef@beatconsult.com
ABSTRACT Data-driven organisations can generally expect to become more responsive to customer needs and to seize business opportunities that may previously have been hidden from view. However, in order to achieve this, corporate leaders need to become strategic data planners; they should develop analytical skills and learn to ask the right questions. And they should focus on becoming more familiar with the technology that is used to derive valuable business insights from vast data stores. Keywords: Big Data, data management, data analysis, decision-maker, technology
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Companies today are increasingly striving to base decisions on cold hard facts - as opposed to what their guts tell them. A survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit among 600 corporate leaders across the globe found a growing appetite for data and, perhaps more importantly, a growing emphasis on data-driven decision making. Organisations are trying to get their arms around the increasing volumes, types and formats of data, from traditional and digital sources, which companies are creating, storing and consuming - what we know as Big Data - to make informed, forward-looking decisions. Indeed, Big Data has become one of those corporate buzzwords which frequently come up in management circles. The promise that ‘Big Data’ will yield profound value for companies has become so popular, it is often taken as truth. And yet, I get the impression that corporate leaders have not really grasped the significance of developments in this field. This is worrying, as the ability to leverage Big Data is becoming an important success factor for CEOs and corporate leaders in general. The benefits of becoming a more data-focused decisionmaker - and ultimately a more data-driven organisation as a whole - come in many forms and depend largely on the individual company. However, data-driven organisations can generally expect to become more responsive to customer needs and to seize business opportunities that may previously have been hidden from view.
I recently had the opportunity to moderate a local forum on ‘Leveraging Big Data as a source of Competitive Advantage’, and from the discussion which unfolded, it was evident that data is a new raw material, and if, as a decision-maker you are not managing data, you are not managing your business. This implies that today’s corporate leaders need to become strategic data planners; they should develop analytical skills and learn to ask the right questions. And they should focus on becoming more familiar with the technology that is used to derive valuable business insights from vast data stores. Historically, data management and analysis were widely considered IT jobs. Recent studies have shown that perception and reality is changing – quickly. In a recent study conducted by business technology solutions firm Avanade, the majority of respondents (58 percent) reported that data management is now embedded throughout their business operations. More significantly, 95 percent of businesses with dedicated business analysts do not consider data analysts as part of their IT staff. Instead, companies are now distributing that expertise to lineof-business groups throughout the company. More than half of global companies (59 percent) say that more employees than ever before are involved in making decisions as a result of more widely available company data. Taken together, these findings point to an ever-greater emphasis by companies to distribute data management, analysis and decision-making power to a wider base of employees. Big data is quickly becoming everyone’s business.
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Leveraging Big Data for Competitive Advantage Continued
The tools are there, and they’re getting better. More people have more access to more technology than ever before. Research shows unmistakable signs that technologies used to manage, analyse, report and make business decisions from Big Data are becoming easier to use and are more widely available to employees in companies large and small. This is evidenced by the greater access to technologies that help find, manage and extract value from data. With this change, data-related jobs and skills are permeating a wide variety of departments across these companies. Having said that, the complexity of the data involved means that there are still major challenges to squeezing all the potential benefits from data management. It is not surprising that in The Economist Intelligence Unit survey mentioned above, finding the right people with the right skills is the Number 1 obstacle to launching a successful big data project. The same survey also points to the difficulty of interpreting unstructured data - which includes some 85% of all data, everything from the text found in email and on social media sites to machine-generated logs – as another major challenge. For those attempting to gain business insights from the data their business is collecting, I would advise that they take the time to reflect and understand their environment, their landscape, where they want to go and what they aspire to be, and engage people that have done this before. Moreover, decision-makers who want to become strategic data planners should begin by gaining a solid understanding of where their data resides. That means looking closely at all of the data sources within the company and creating a plan as to how that information is going to be processed and used. As I mentioned before, there are great tools out there from a technology standpoint. However, as in most things in business, it's not just about technology. It’s really about people, technology and process. References
[1] Economist Intelligence Unit – ‘Views from the C-suite: Who’s Big on Big Data?’
Mr Joseph
Micallef
Joseph is an engineer by profession, with a particular penchant for guiding organisations along the road leading to operational effectiveness, value-adding activities, and customer-centric, high-quality performance through business excellence processes. His career, originating in manufacturing, involved his engagement along a very broad spectrum of industrial processes, which later expanded to encompass the services sectors. Within the manufacturing industry, Joe has occupied various senior management roles in Research and Development, Quality Management and Health and Safety. His corporate career developed primarily through the medical devices industry, and later within the high-tech electronics industry. Joseph’s consultancy experience started off with an experimental project in 1999. Since then, it has developed into a full-time professional passion that has seen him undertake successfully a very broad portfolio of projects, both locally and overseas. Joseph also has a strong background in providing coaching or mentoring services, designed to facilitate the establishment of effective, valueadding and quality-driven business processes within organisations. A regular speaker and facilitator at a number of training seminars, workshops and conferences, he has trained hundreds of middle-management level and executive management delegates in Malta, Egypt, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
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ESI Malta Ltd. 53, Old Railway Track, Santa Venera, SVR 9010, Malta.
HELVAR LAUNCHES INTO ORBIT WITH THE LATEST IN
LIGHTING CONTROL
Helvar, the lighting controls expert and partner with local leading systems integrator ESI Malta Ltd., launch iDim Orbit, a complete room lighting control solution in a single sensor. Using the latest technology, and with a unique design, iDim Orbit offers features usually only found in more complex systems, whilst maintaining its simplicity and ease of use. Providing an intuitive user experience, iDim Orbit delivers simple, cost-effective and easy to install room-based lighting control. iDim Orbit is a flexible solution comprising either one PIR sensor which provides 7m diameter coverage or five PIR sensors for up to 15m coverage at 2.8m height, to cater for a range of commercial and public building applications. Its built-in light sensor provides constant light and bright out modes for maximum energy efficiency. The internal timeclock allows for profile scheduling, and it features mobile app connectivity for easy, quick application-specific configuration using Bluetooth® technology. “iDim Orbit is a revolutionary product for the industry,” says Nick Van Tromp, Product Manager at Helvar. “Much more than just a lighting sensor, it is a feature-packed energy saving solution that is both easy to install and simple to set-up. It has been developed with the electrical installer in mind, with pluggable connectors and screw-free terminals for fast and reliable installation. Its flexibility allows it to suit an array of environments, including open plan and cellular offices, as well as boardrooms and classrooms. The app is where the solution really comes into its own, providing a huge amount of customisation, all available at the user’s fingertips.”
iDim Orbit’s mobile app features a library of standard application profiles, for example, classrooms, and offices as well as a profile scheduler which enables the sensor behaviour to be altered automatically during the day. Custom profiles can also be configured to suit each scenario, with the app able to adjust a 2 stage sensor time-out, absence or presence detection, light level adjustment and dimming channel offset. iDim Orbit offers up to three control channel outputs: two DALI broadcast outputs with integral DALI power supply and one switched mains output. For further information on iDim Orbit or details on the company’s expertise and its range of lighting control solutions please visit www.esimalta.com. Engineering for Science and Industry (ESI) is a leading Systems Integrator, specialising in the design, installation, commissioning and support of integrated automation and specialist solutions within the following fields: Building Energy Efficiency and Management Systems, Industrial and Process Automation, Integrated Security, Fire &Gas Detection, Home Automation. We implement bespoke Automation applications and Integrated Systems to optimise the usage of Energy. With an abundance of expert knowledge and leading partnerships we are able to widen our offering consistently, providing quality tailor-made solutions that match increasing client requests.
ESI Malta Ltd. 53, Old Railway Track, Santa Venera, SVR 9010, Malta. T: +356 2258 1210 F: +356 2143 6981 E: info@esimalta.com
The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Bonnie Attard Institute for Sustainable Energy, University of Malta, Msida, Malta bonnie.attard@um.edu.mt
ABSTRACT With the current need for ever improving efficiency in solar panel materials, investigation into the material behaviour is becoming very important. The newly built Solar Research Laboratory is dedicated towards the research and study of technologies used for solar energy generation, the development of new materials for such applications and their improvement. The facilities have been developed in such a way as to allow the full development cycle to be carried out on the premises; from the conception of a material and film system for solar energy generation to its development and testing. Current research is being focused on the synthesis and characterisation of novel materials in solar cells with further research expected to focus on defects in silicon and their effect on the efficiency of high quality solar cells. Research is being done in close collaboration with academic and industrial partners to broaden the research front of renewable energy systems on the Maltese islands through an interdisciplinary approach. Keywords solar cells, solar materials, renewable energy
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1 THE BEGINNING The current trend in solar cell research is towards an increased power generation efficiency. However, as the efficiency increases, the material quality and behaviour of the solar cells in question become of tantamount importance to improve the performance. Furthermore, with the current breakthroughs in solar cell technology, already in several countries the selling price for a solar generation system makes them costcompetitive with fossil fuels [1]. Coupled with the current need of generating clean energy [2], research into more cost effective solar energy generating materials is of high interest both commercially and from a public perspective. The solar research lab is the conception of Prof. Lucio Mule' Stagno, who in 2010, identified the necessity to create a centre of excellence dedicated towards photovoltaic research within the Institute for Sustainable Energy. The equipment required to undertake such research, was, at that point not available on the islands. Even overseas, a full complement of the instruments required for this kind of work is quite uncommon. The Solar Research Laboratories were designed to research and study new and existing materials used in solar energy generation applications and the improvement of existing technologies used for current solar energy generation. The application for funding for this research lab won 4.2 million euros in ERDF funding. Additional funds were provided by the University of Malta itself, bringing the project to a face-value
of close to 5 million Euros. While the majority of the funds were dedicated to the purchasing of avant-garde equipment, a significant portion of the funds was dedicated towards the setting up of the necessary laboratory facilities for the aforementioned equipment. The original grounds of the Institute can be seen in Figure 1, and consisted of a number of old English military barracks used as offices, storage space and a classroom. Research ongoing at the Institute during that time was related mostly to the investigation of established sustainable energy generation systems such as solar, wind and thermal energy harvesting installations as well as research on energy efficiency in buildings. Several prototype outdoor installations were being used for this purpose (some examples can be seen in Figure 2), however there was no way to investigate the developmental stages of solar cell systems. As part of the project, the existing premises were restored and converted in to laboratories. In tandem, the grounds underwent a complete overhaul to bring the facilities to what they are today. 2 FROM CONCEPTION TO APPLICATION The current establishment consists of two state of the art research laboratories, a fully equipped classroom and extensive outdoor grounds for experiments related to development and improvement of sustainable energy systems (Figure 3). The facilities are set up in such a way as to allow a full research cycle, from the conception of a material and film system, its development and characterisation to its
Figure 1:
The grounds of the Institute for Sustainable energy prior to their restoration.
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The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Continued
progression into a working system and final application as an energy generation system. The equipment in the laboratories offers the opportunity to produce novel, thin film photovoltaic cells on various contemporary, underlying substrate materials. Facilities are in place in order to be able to grow such films on the desired substrate by use of either a gas with Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD) or a solid material using a Dual Magnetron DC Sputter Coater, shown in Figure 4.
Figure 2:
Outdoor installations used to investigate solar concentrating modules (left) and monitor wind behaviour (right).
Figure 3:
Both these systems are used to deposit established (e.g. thin gold conducting layers) and emerging compounds (e.g. amorphous silicon layers) with a high degree of purity and reliability in a vacuum. The laboratories also offer the possibility of forming thin organic films, such as perovskite and chemically synthesised films popular in emerging solar
The ground after their restoration (top), now feature two laboratories (middle and bottom left) and a fully equipped classroom (right).
26
Figure 4:
The PACVD in operation (left), a sample being mounted in the Sputter Coater (top right) and the generated plasma (bottom right).
cells. This is possible using a spin coating system, which, using high speed rotation, ensures that an even nanoparticle and solvent mix is spread on the substrate surface. Once this mix dries, the particles in the solution will form an evenly spread thin film. Fabricated experimental solar cells can be terminated using bus bars and electrical connectors which are printed on the cell using a 3D silk screen printer found on site. Complementing the film growth facilities, the laboratories provide the possibility of complete sample preparation needed to section and polish any rough sample sections and surfaces. This includes cutters, sample polishing systems and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) sample preparation facilities, including a dimple grinder and an ion beam mill. TEM sample preparation facilities are used to make minute samples with an extremely thin centre section through which electrons may pass, in order to be able image inside the material at very high magnifications. This, is especially important in silicon in order to be able to investigate miniscule defects in the material which would affect its performance. Part and parcel with the preparation facilities are also a number of furnaces, used to heat samples and observe their behaviour when exposed to high temperatures. Typically, at high temperatures, materials will start to change on an atomic level as atoms will rearrange themselves into different structures. Such changes influence the material’s properties and can be desirable or detrimental to certain properties. Additionally, these furnaces can also be used to induce controlled transformations to molecular coatings in order to enhance the photoelectric properties of certain coatings. Apart from creation of solar cell coatings and sample preparation, the laboratories also offer the ability to investigate the performance and behaviour of said coatings and the solar cells themselves. Of tantamount importance is the amount of carbon and oxygen in the silicon itself as this will affect the efficiency of the finished solar cells. Tools such as the Laser Scattering Tomograph and the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope are ideal for detecting defects and
Figure 5:
The synthesis of the mixture for organic thin films (top) the deposition of organic films using the spin coater (bottom left) and the silk screen printer in operation (bottom right).
for quantifying the amount of carbon and oxygen in silicon. Roughness and for instance porosity can be investigated using the atomic force microscope (AFM) and the white light profilometer. Both these tools are able to image minute changes in height on the surface, with the atomic force microscope able to achieve resolutions of a few nanometers, as can be seen in Figure 6. Such tools are commonly found in industry in order to inspect defects in parts being produced. Coating features such as thickness and optical response are also very important characteristics in films for solar energy applications. To this extent, the laboratories feature an ellipsometer which is able to measure the thickness of transparent nanometric films.
Figure 6:
A high resolution AFM topography of a 60 nm high triangular aluminium crystal.
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“Make your business smarter” The European Union (EU) has pledged to reduce its energy consumption by 20% when compared to current projected levels by the year 2020. (EUROSTAT - July 2016). One of the ways to achieve this target is to raise the energy performance of private and public buildings. As the EU’s statistical agency - EUROSTAT shows half of the EU Member States had lower gross inland energy consumption in 2014 when compared to 1990. The situation in Malta is different Malta is standing at the other end of the ranking, having the largest increase of 51.7% in gross inland energy consumption between 1990 and 2014. In the last five years there has been certain stabilization in consumption, however there is still a lot to be done in this area in Malta. Our company is able to cater to the unique requirements of a client and offers technical solutions utilizing newest equipment from leading world manufacturers such as BECKHOFF AUTOMATION and DISTECH CONTROLS for the industrial sector, as well as for Building Management System. We also offer economical solutions from ELKO EP for Home Automation and Hotels which give you opportunity to control all the processes via mobile or IPad wherever you stay at the moment with the best value for money. In our portfolio you can find the unique specialized solutions in the area of Marine Automation. Working closely with experts, equipment suppliers and company engineers, we have all the tools and experience to handle projects of various nature and scope: from small businesses to sizeable companies and major players in the manufacturing and production industry. We invite you for business! We are ready to provide you with a technical consultation and technical audit to make your business “smarter” and more effective. Jonathan Grech,
Managing director JMartans Automation Ltd.
www.jmartans.com - info@jmartans.com - Tel: +356 7970 4983 / +356 7942 0657
The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Continued
Figure 7:
The research group working on the installation and software for the solar tracker (left) and the solar tracker (right).
Figure 8:
Various other research on-going at the Institute for Sustainable Energy including; geothermal heat pumps (top left), floating solar panel installations performance (top right), a weather monitoring station (bottom left), studies regarding energy efficiency in buildings (bottom right).
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The Solar Research Lab at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Continued
The laboratories are also equipped with devices used to measure finished cell performance, such as a solar flash tester used to measure the generated power, current and voltage curves when a panel is exposed to simulated sunlight. The efficiency and performance of a cell can also be investigated using the minority carrier lifetime systems. These systems are able to provide a map of the solar cell surface indicating areas of poor performance, which can then be further investigated using techniques such as laser scanning tomography. 3 CURRENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH The laboratories themselves are mostly centred toward the development and characterisation of cutting edge solar materials research on both bulk silicon cells and innovative thin film technology. The grounds complement the laboratory as they are set up in such a way as to allow investigation on developed systems for renewable energy. The premises are furnished with a working, concentrated solar tracker, shown in Figure 7 with plans in the pipeline for the installation of another solar tracking model. The Institute has been a pioneer to collect, model and study data on the solar and wind resources of the Maltese Islands (accessible at: http:// www.um.edu.mt/ise/weatherstation/index.php) with the aim of establishing the potential energy that can be generated and stored from these resources. Ongoing studies (shown in Figure 8) at the Institute include research into prototype geothermal heat pump systems, floating solar modules and industrial solar cooling technology for wine fermentation. Apart from renewables, energy efficiency in buildings for both commercial and residential applications, has also been
The name TORO 25, chosen for the liquid and gas supply system conceived by A.T.P. s.r.l, visually sums up the qualities of the animal by the same, namely resistance, strength, elegance. TORO 25 belongs to the PN 25 category. The Random Polypropylene, used to produce it, is of the Type 3, characterized by a high molecular weight that
a topic that is highly investigated using both data collection and simulation software with weather data compiled by the Institute itself. Various projects related to innovation in buildings such as insulative concrete (ThermHCB) and roof gardens have also been successfully carried out. Current research is being done on the synthesis and investigation of novel materials for solar cells. Further research efforts will be concentrated on the understanding of defects in silicon, their behaviour and how that relates to the behaviour of a high efficiency solar cell. Successful research can only be done through the proper understanding of fundamental scientific phenomena. Reflecting this belief, the Solar Research Facility works closely with diverse Science and Engineering Institutions and local and foreign commercial partners to broaden the research front of renewable energy systems on the Maltese islands through an interdisciplinary approach. Future plans include the integration of a device fabrication facility, including a clean room to the laboratories with the possibility of integrating facilities for research on energy efficiency in buildings, geothermal energy, bio-energy, energy generation from wind and wave sources and its possible storage. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The restoration of the ISE grounds and the purchasing of the equipment used in the Solar Research Laboratories were co-financed under the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013. The author would like to thank everyone who was involved in making this project a reality.
guarantees the system life for over 50 years. It is combined with additives which allow to produce faultless pipes conveying potable liquids under pressure at both high and low temperatures, and such as to successfully pass the tests required by DIN standards and, above all, by DVGW regulations.
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5 REFERENCES
[1] International Energy Agency and Nuclear Energy Agency. “Projected costs of generating electricity – 2015 Edition”
Ms Bonnie
[2] M.Z. Jacobson, M.A. Delucchi. “Providing all global energy with wind, water and solar power, Part I: technologies, energy resources quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials”, Energy Policy, Vol. 39, pp 1154-1169, 2011.
Attard
Ms Bonnie Attard works as a System Engineer in the Solar Research Laboratory with the Institute for Sustainable Energy. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2012, specialising on Materials and Industrial Engineering. She was awarded her Masters by Research degree in Engineering in 2014, working in collaboration with the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel and the department for Metallurgy and Materials Engineering in Malta on Powder Nitriding surface treatments for titanium alloys. At the ISE, she has been involved in the early set up and commissioning of the laboratories and equipment, and now focuses mainly on preparation, deposition and characterisation of developmental solar cells.
Prof. Luciano
Mule' Stagno
Professor Luciano Mule' Stagno is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Group Leader of the Solar Research Lab at the University of Malta. He holds a Ph.D in Physics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. His major expertise is in the characterization, engineering and synthesis of semiconductor and solar materials He has published extensively and holds 8 patents on semiconductor/ solar materials. His current research interests are in photovoltaics systems and materials and other renewable energy technologies that could be applicable to Malta. Luciano has a passion for heritage and environmental issues having held a post as CEO of Heritage Malta (2007-2009) and being the current Vice-president of the NGO Din L-Art Helwa.
Dr Ing. Maurizio
Fenech
Dr Ing. Maurizio Fenech holds a Ph.D in materials science focusing on the solidification dynamics of highly alloyed ferrous alloys following fusion through high powered lasers. Dr. Fenech has worked as laboratory manager at the Faculty of Engineering and as Head of the Research and Innovation Facilities Support Unit. His expertise includes failure analysis and forensic engineering and has worked extensively on plasma processing in high vacuum and ultra-high vacuum systems. Current research interests are wet and vacuum synthesis and thin film characterization of photo-active media. Dr. Fenech is the University of Malta adviser for the University of Malta Racing Team and forms part of the Astrionics research group.Luciano has a passion for heritage and environmental issues having held a post as CEO of Heritage Malta (2007-2009) and being the current Vice-president of the NGO Din L-Art Helwa.
Mr Manuel
Aquilina
Manuel Aquilina is a lab officer with the Institute for Sustainable Energy. He has obtained his Higher National Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering for the Southdowns College in the UK. He has worked on various projects including the refurbishment and building of the Solar Research Laboratory, the installation of a CPV solar tracking system and the installation of the geothermal system.
Mr Ryan
Bugeja
Mr Ryan Bugeja is a Systems Engineer with the Solar Research Labs withinin the ISE. Ryan graduated as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from the University of Malta with major interest in system design. He was involved in various projects including the design of a soil testing laboratory for the Faculty for the Built Environment which included an automated Stress Path Triaxial Cell System. During his time at ISE, his work included the setting up and commissioning of the two laboratories and the software and electronics design of a concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) Solar Tracker.
January 2017 ISSUE 55
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Lab4MEMS Project receives an important European Innovation Award On Thursday 24th November 2016, the Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL) Joint Undertaking announced the Lab4MEMS project as the winner of its 2016 Innovation Award during the European Nanoelectronics Forum held in Rome, Italy. Lab4MEMS was identified as a Key Enabling Technology PilotLine project for next-generation Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices augmented with advanced technologies such as piezoelectric or magnetic materials and 3D packaging to enhance the next generation of smart sensors, actuators, micro-pumps, and energy harvesters. These technologies were recognized as important contributors to future data-storage, printing, healthcare, automotive, industrial-control, and smart-building applications, as well as consumer applications such as smartphones and navigation devices. The total cost of the project, € 28.2 million, was supported in part by funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking and by contributions from various national agencies, including: Italy, France, Malta, The Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Poland, Norway, Austria and Romania. The University of Malta (UM), represented by a team of academics and research support officers led by Prof. Ing. Joseph Micallef from the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics, was actively involved in a number of work packages. UM contributed to the design of a piezoelectric RF MEMS variable capacitor, AMR magnetometer test structures and an RF MEMS TPoS resonator. In addition, UM was also involved in the design of the electronics required to drive and test the MEMS devices. UM in close collaboration with STMicroelectronics Malta, was also involved in the development of packaging processes for MEMS devices and the setup of a pilot line for the production of new MEMS wafer level packages was investigated. In particular, UM contributed in the modelling, characterisation and testing of the finished MEMS products. UM also contributed to the validation of the KET pilot line technologies. UM together with the other partners coordinated a plan of dissemination, exploitation and standardisation. This work was published in three peer reviewed international conference proceedings and one special issue journal. In accepting the award, Roberto Zafalon, General Project Coordinator of Lab4MEMS and the European Programs Manager in R&D and Public Affairs for STMicroelectronics Italy said, “The ECSEL Innovation Award highlights the
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excellent results the Lab4MEMS team achieved through the project’s execution and the high impact of its successes. In particular, Lab4MEMS developed innovative MEMS solutions with advanced piezoelectric and magnetic materials, including advanced 3D Packaging technologies.” In coordinating the 36-month Lab4MEMS project, STMicroelectronics Italy led the team of twenty partners, which included universities, research institutions, and technology businesses across ten European countries. ST’s MEMS facilities in Italy and Malta contributed their complete set of manufacturing competencies for next-generation devices, spanning design and fabrication to test and packaging to the project. For more information kindly visit: http://www.lab4mems.upb.ro/
Dr Ing. Owen
Casha
Dr Ing. Owen Casha is an engineer by profession and is currently employed as a senior lecturer with the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics, at the University of Malta. His research interests are the design of high speed integrated circuits and RF MEMS.
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