MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Engineering mechanically-defined microenvironments for stem cells

July 18, 2013
by Luke Goater

By Pernille Fladsrud, undergraduate student, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment

I just completed my third year in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Southampton, and will continue into my last year of a four-year Master of Science (MSc) degree after summer. My degree theme is engineering management, but I have also chosen to focus on bioengineering. This internship project is in collaboration with Dr Nick Evans, in the Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration and the Bioengineering Sciences Group. The field of research for this project is stem cells and wound healing, and how mechanical signals affect cell behaviour and wound healing.

Human adult skin is a heterogeneous tissue, and we’ve been attempting to model its mechanics in vitro. During my third year individual project I worked with Dr. Evans to design an apparatus to fabricate polyacrylamide hydrogel substrates with varying stiffness; i.e. surfaces whose stiffness varied as a function of distance in the x and y directions. We’ve been doing this to find out how stiffness variations affect the way skin cells differentiate, migrate and proliferate over a heterogeneous surface – a particularly important consideration during wound closure. The stiffness variation in the hydrogels was tested applying the method of Atomic Force Microscopy, and force maps were plotted of the various stiffness regions. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Force maps of the low stiffness and high stiffness region in one single polyacrylamide hydrogel

We found that keratinocyte skin cells migrate to the areas of higher stiffness, which we predicted before the experiments. This can be seen in (Figure 2), where the cells have migrated to higher stiffness stripes in a striped patterned substrate. This Vacation Bursary project has given me the opportunity to further investigate the field of wound healing, and continue my interest within bioengineering.

Figure 2: Patterned hydrogel substrates, after 24 hours of cell culture with keratinocyte skin cells. Cells have preferentially migrated to areas of high stiffness.

At the moment we are investigating how topography alone, or topography in combination with varying stiffness, affects the behaviour of cells. The epithelium of the skin has an undulating topography, and we’re trying to model this by 3D printing various moulds with ‘doubly sinusoidal’ topographies – i.e. two crossing sinusoidal waves in a pattern with various wavelengths and amplitudes (Figure 3). We are collaborating with Shoufeng Yang in the Engineering Sciences Unit to achieve this. We are then seeding cells onto polyacrylamide hydrogels made from these moulds, and we will investigate how the “steepness” of the topography affects the skin cells.

Figure 3: Polyacrylamide gel substrate made in 3D printed mould

In my final master year after summer I will participate in a group design project with six other students, which aims to design a bioreactor. The Vacation Bursary project will help me develop my understanding regarding mechanical forces and signals connected to cell growth and development, which will be very beneficial in my further studies within bioengineering.

MDR Vacation Bursary blog series available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/tag/vacation-bursary/

MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Particle manipulation in liquid using ultrasonic methods

July 12, 2013
by Noorvir Aulakh

By Noorvir Singh Aulakh, undergraduate student, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment

Cell sedimentation in micro-cannulae posses a fundamental impediment in homogenous cell-delivery, during neurosurgical operations. The procedure requires the injection of neural stem-cells, directly into the patient’s brain. The injection procedure is realised through one of two methods. The former method involves the cell-containing cannula, oriented perpendicularly to the ground (the vertical configuration), while the latter bears the cannula parallel to the ground (the horizontal configuration). Sedimentation results in vastly inhomogeneous cell distribution across different injections from the same cannula. The aim of this project is to minimise this phenomenon using acoustic forces to levitate cells, in the suspension medium. To conduct the initial experimentation, I will be employing florescent micro-beads, suspended inside a capillary.

With the use of acoustic techniques, it possible to set up ultrasonic standing waves in the capillary. A PZT transducer attached to the capillary converts an electric signal input to a mechanical output. By modulating the experiment variables (frequency, amplitude etc. of the input signal), the particle suspension can be manipulated. Ideally, the cells would be forced into the mid-plane of the capillary, away from the walls.

There are, however, fundamental stipulations considering the design of the device. Proximity to brain tissue limits the size of the cannula, as well as strength of the ultrasonic forces. Furthermore, acoustic levitation of particles in stagnant flow conditions still remains a relatively unexplored topic.

I will be working under the supervision of Professor Martyn Hill, Dr. Dyan Ankrett along with, Dr. Dario Carugo. This project was conceived through the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where the neurosurgeons observed this cell-sedimentation predicament. It has therefore come to the attention of Southampton University Engineering Department, and successful results can be directly applied to today’s medical industry.

MDR Vacation bursary project: Repair Methodologies for Composite Materials

June 24, 2013
by Anna McIlwaine

By Anna Pascale Mcilwaine, undergraduate student , Faculty of Engineering and the Environment

I’m a 3^rd year Ship Scientist at the University of Southampton. After my interest in composite materials was sparked during an individual project focused on the subject, I decided to further my knowledge on the subject through a research internship.

Composites are becoming increasingly popular in industry, particularly the marine industry, as their applications widen due to the increased levels of research into their mechanical behaviour is carried out. Within this, Sandwich Structures are greatly favoured due to their high stiffness to weight ratio, high energy absorption capability and buoyancy. They are often used in the place of metals such as aluminium alloys or steels due to their increased 2^nd moment of area and resistance to bending without any weight penalty.

Damage to these composite structures is almost inevitable due to them being exposed to extreme conditions in the marine environment. This damage may be caused by growth of a defect produced in manufacture, impact whilst in service, long term water exposure or excessive wear or loading. This is why it is crucial that repair methodologies of composites are developed in order to allow the structure to perform with its original structural integrity. It is hoped that through this research project conclusions will be made that will aid the design and implementation of future composite repairs.

The project is closely linked with the RNLI and aims to closely follow their repair specifications to allow the findings to be as applicable to industry as possible. During the research project comparisons will be made between a traditional wet lay-up repair, which is commonly used at the moment and a Glass Structural SPRINT repair. SPRINT repairs have the capability of saving time and hence money in industry. Hence it is envisaged that this project can go some way to proving the structural competence of SPRINT compared to a wet lay-up.

The stresses and strains within the repairs and the surrounding area will be analysed using strain based and non-destructive testing techniques, namely Digital Image Correlation and Thermoelastic Stress Analysis which is based on measurements using an IR detector. The aim being to assess which technique is more effective in judging the quality of the repair.

Following on from this research internship I will be back at the University of Southampton to study for a masters in Ship Science. Through this I will be partaking in a group design project of a Paralympic Va’a canoe. I hope to be able to apply the knowledge I have gained through working with composites to the design, providing it with an advantage against its competitors.

I would like to express a huge thank you to DIAB and the RNLI for their support of this project. Without their generous donations of materials and ongoing advice and expertise it would not be possible.

MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Nano-scale semiconductor light-emitting and distance sensing probe for combined super-resolution fluorescence and topographical live imaging

June 18, 2013
by Steven Linfield

By Steven Linfield, undergraduate student , Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences

The area of electrochemistry that this project focuses on is electrochemical deposition. By applying a voltage across a solution, electro-active species can either gain electrons (reduction) or lose electrons (oxidation). Since the electrons are passed through the electrodes, electro-active species tend to gather around the electrode that they interact with. By holding the potential at a constant value, the electro-active species is constantly deposited onto the electrode. This offers a cheap, efficient and simple method for synthesis of many materials.

The aim of the project is to achieve the electrochemical deposition of two semiconductors onto two electrically conductive carbon nano-wires. One of the semiconductors will be nitrogen-doped zinc selenide, an n-type semiconductor, and the other will be gallium-doped zinc selenide, a p-type semiconductor. The formation of a p-n junction, between the two carbon nano-wires, will be attempted, allowing the nano-wires to be used as a nano-scale LED. The light emitted from this LED could be used to excite fluorescent molecules such as green fluorescent protein, which would enable super resolution fluorescence live imaging.

Electrochemistry is a vast area of research and the Southampton electrochemistry department has a great reputation. This Vacation Bursary project has given me a great deal of work experience, which will be useful for a future career in chemistry. I have learned many electrochemistry techniques, which will stay with me throughout my career. I have also been taught the principles of electrochemistry, something that will be useful in later modules of my degree.

MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Magnetic Skyrmions in thin films

June 18, 2013
by Luke Goater

By Matthew Corcoran, undergraduate student , Faculty of Engineering and the Environment

I am an undergraduate student studying Mechanical engineering at the University of Southampton. I have just completed my third year of a four year masters course with an advanced materials theme. The chosen research field is micromagnetic simulations. The studied material is usually ferromagnetic and it is the magnetic moments of the material that are of interest with this type of research.

During my third year individual project I investigated magnetic Skyrmions in thin films. This research was carried out using Monte Carlo simulations: these simulations utilises random numbers in the main algorithm of the simulation, they work by random sampling of possible configurations to minimise the energy of a system. Skyrmions are topological stable spin textures, where the magnetic moments carried by the atoms form a special kind of vortex as is shown in the figure.  The formation of Skyrmions is attributed to three competing energy terms on neighbouring lattice sites: Exchange, DMI, and Zeeman energy.

One image produced from the results from my project is shown above; the results from this simulation are consistent with other skyrmion simulations. From the image it can be seen that there are 22 skyrmions in the geometry. The centre of the skyrmions points in the opposite direction to the applied magnetic field, toward the reader. The vectors not grouped into a skyrmion have a lower total energy and tend to align in the direction of the applied field. The vectors on the boundary are aligned parallel to the boundary and rotate in an anticlockwise direction. The external magnetic field was 0.4 Tesla and the geometry was 100 nano meters in the x direction 100 meters in the y direction and 1 nano meter in the z direction. The mesh size was 50, 50 and 1 in the x, y and z directions respectfully. This research is being continued over the summer starting with an investigation into Skyrmion hysteresis using Southampton’s own Finmag simulation software.

There appears to be lots of scope for work to extend my summer project, including the exploration of the Skyrmions for data storage. This is an area of research that is just starting to emerge, and it is difficult to predict the range of possible applications at this stage.

World Environment Day 2013- Messages

June 7, 2013
by Alison Simmance

Guest speaker Chris Tyas from RSPB stimulated thought and debate on the latest developments of the RSPB Wallasea Island Coastal Project.

The project is a landmark conservation and engineering scheme for the 21st century, on a scale never before attempted in the UK and the largest of its type in Europe. The project will receive 4.5million tonnes of material excavated during the Crossrail operations in London to help shape Europe’s largest man-made nature reserve. The aim of this project is to combat the threats from climate change and coastal flooding by recreating the ancient wetland landscape of mudflats and saltmarsh, lagoons and pasture. The landmark project adopts a true multidisciplinary approach in relation to climate adaptation, coastal conservation and engineering.

An art exhibition, provided by local Year 10 school students, on the World Environment Day Theme Think.Eat.Save was also displayed at the event.

Overall Winner: Sandown Bay Academy; Runner Up: Henry Cort Community College; Best Presentation: Bitterne Park School; Peer-Assessment: Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill. All other exhibits: Carisbrooke College; Hamble Community College; King Richard School; Redbridge Community School; St George Catholic School; The Sholing Technology College; Upper Shirley High School; Woodlands Community College.

Presentation slides now available on Slide Share.

The University of Southampton’s multidisciplinary groups- the Sustainability Science at Southampton (SSS) USRG and Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI)- were delighted to have the opportunity to exhibit the creative work from local secondary school students and to welcome Chris and members of the public to join the university in celebrating this important day.

Stay Connected:

Sustainability Science at Southampton: www.southampton.ac.uk/sustainability_sci­ence

Follow us on twitter: @SustainScience

Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/smmi

Multidisciplinary Research at the University of Southampton- Driving Discovery and Positive Impact

May 14, 2013
by Guy Poppy

See my latest TEDx talk Global Food Security

Multidisciplinary Research at the University of Southampton.
Bringing together adventurous minds to achieve the impossible.

Seminar Series: www.southampton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/mdrseminar/index.page

Research Week: www.southampton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/researchweek/index.page

Blog: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary

Website: www.southampton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary

Email: multidisciplinary@southampton.ac.uk

Follow us on twitter and share your experience with us: @multisoton #MDRweek

Multidisciplinary Research Week 2013- Success

May 7, 2013
by Alison Simmance

The University of Southampton sprang to life during the 17-22nd March when over 1050 attendees joined us for the 3rd annual Multidisciplinary Research Week.

This year’s week long celebration was built on the best cross-disciplinary science and arts from the University of Southampton’s staff and students with a packed programme of talks, hands-on science demonstrations, exhibitions, debates and a film screening. We were also joined by key external speakers who brought insights into policy applications and cutting edge research in relation to our University Strategic Research Groups.

See the full programme here.  The energy and intellectual alchemy of the week certainly inspired ‘ideas worth spreading’ and far exceeded our expectations. Thank you to all our speakers, demonstrators, supporters, volunteers, digital champions, sponsors and attendees for enabling this annual cross-disciplinary event at the University of Southampton to be a huge success.

The week in numbers– see the statistics from MDR Week 2013 below or in the MDRWeek 2013 Final Statistics Flyer.

Blog posts about all our events at #MDRWeek will be coming shortly! Watch this site for news.

Did you miss MDR week 2013?

See all our multimedia outputs online now!

• Full webcasts (videos of all talks).
• Interviews and on the floor views (by ICM Reporting).
• YouTube #MDRWeek (all interviews and videos).
• Blogs from the week.
• See all the power point presentations on slideshare.
• In pictures on pinterest.

Did you miss TEDxSouthamptonUniversity 2013?

• All videos now on YouTube (TedxSotonUni).
• In pictures (Flickr).
• Website for full details.

MDR Week 2013 STATISTICS-

• 23 events (incl. 2 exhibitions and 1 interactive art session) from 17-22^nd March 2013.
• 1057 actual attendees (approx. 10% external).
• First TEDx at the University of Southampton- tickets sold out; new website; IBM sponsorship; 15 speakers; >1000 hits so far on YouTube.
• Prof Mohan Munasinghe– Vice Chair of IPPC/Nobel Prize Winner 2007 (BBC Radio Solent Broadcast & future collaborations).
• First formal celebration of the World Water Day 2013 (150 attendees).
• >70 people attended the ‘Litmus Project: Science & Poetry Exhibition’.
• >120 people attended ‘Question Time: The Brain & Society’, (incl. 40 6^th Formers)
• 15 people created an eco-friendly bag from 60^th Anniversary campaign banner material at ‘Be a Green Shopper’.
• Collaborations: UoS Science & Engineering Festival, WSA, WUN, IBM, Google, Marwell Wildlife, three 6^th Form Colleges.

First year that social media was used!

• 11 blogs (>300 hits in the 1^st week);
• 26 interviews– >500 hits so far on YouTube;
• 17 webcasts from all talks;
• Tedx 15 Videos– >1000 hits so far on YouTube.
• >370 hits to the multidisciplinary website;
• >630 tweets #MDRWeek;
• 3 storifys;
• 3 pinterests.

MDR Week 2014- Your Views

We are now already planning next year’s research week and welcome any suggestions for a possible theme on this. If you have an interesting cross-disciplinary project/initiative or idea and/or wish  to get involved in other ways then please contact us: multidisciplinary@soton.ac.uk

Full details available at: www.southampton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary

Share your experience with us on Twitter #MDRWeek @Multisoton

RSPB Wallasea Island Project- World Environment Day Seminar

May 3, 2013
by Alison Simmance

RSPB Wallasea Island Project: Conservation for the 21st Century

World Environment Day Seminar 2013 by Chris Tyas Wallasea Island Project Manager, RSPB

Wednesday 5 June | 16:00- 18:00pm | Wine & nibbles from 16:00 | The Nuffield Theatre, Building 6, Lecture Theatre A, Highfield Campus

Join us in celebration of World Environment Day with a special afternoon seminar and art exhibition.

All staff, students, local teachers, community groups and the wider public are welcome to attend this free event.

RSVP: www.multidisciplinaryseminars.eventbrite.com

Download and share the event’s poster: RSPB Wallasea Island Project- World Environment Day Poster.

Did you know?

Wallasea Island Wild Coast project is a landmark conservation and engineering scheme for the 21st century, on a scale never before attempted in the UK and the largest of its type in Europe. The project will receive 4.5million tonnes of material excavated during the Crossrail operations in London to help shape Europe’s largest man-made nature reserve. The aim of this project is to combat the threats from climate change and coastal flooding by recreating the ancient wetland landscape of mudflats and saltmarsh, lagoons and pasture.

The landmark project adopts a true multidisciplinary approach which will prove influential in linking Europe’s largest construction project with the continent’s biggest wetland creation scheme.

What’s World Environment Day?

World Environment Day is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day celebrations is Think.Eat.Save. Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your food print.

Event Information:

The event is part of the University of Southampton’s Multidisciplinary Seminar Series and is jointly organised by the Multidisciplinary Sustainability Science at Southampton (SSS) Group and the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI).

RSVP: www.multidisciplinaryseminars.eventbrite.com

Live stream & full details available at: www.southampton.ac.uk/sustainability_science

Share your experience with us @SustainScience #WED2013

Relevant Links:

RSPB website

Wallasea Island Project Leaflet.

Crossrail website

The Environment Agency

MDR Week: Blog no 11- World Water Day- Can we overcome the global water stress?

March 20, 2013
by Sylvia Szabo

Join Sylvia Szabo for the opening seminar ‘Water quality: addressing global problems at source’ in celebration of World Water Day: Water Cooperation on Friday 22^nd March (9-11am The Science Learning Centre Building 29). An insight into the multifaceted field of water cooperation can be found below.

Can we overcome the global water stress?

By Sylvia Szabo

Water stress has recently become a new global challenge, with many resource poor countries facing the threat of water shortages. By “resource poor countries” I do not mean the UN’s Least Developed Countries. Rather I refer to all nations vulnerable to water stress. This vulnerability can result from a number of factors. The growing demand for water is a consequence of urbanisation, population growth, consumption patterns, and also geographical conditions and climate change. Domestic water usage constitutes the smallest proportion of consumed water, whereas agriculture and industry take the bulk of all water required to satisfy the needs of increasing consumption.

At the macro-level water stress can be prevented, in particular in countries which are able to invest in sophisticated methods of water collection and purification, such as water catchment or desalination. The Gulf countries and Singapore are at the forefront of these innovative techniques. These rich states are also able to adequately distribute safe water to their inhabitants. On the other hand, countries suffering from a double burden of resource poverty (water stress and human development deprivation) face severe challenges at both macro and micro-level. In these countries, households are often unable to access safe drinking water, which can result in disease and even death. In addition to water borne diseases, water and sanitation have an important impact on food security.

But can these complex challenges related to water stress be solved? As with other multifaceted phenomena, there isn’t a simple “yes” or “no” answer. An integrated approach and multi-stakeholder engagement is always a good way of tackling problems and a useful advocacy tool. In terms of the role of Science, multi-disciplinary methods of inquiry are likely to enhance applicability of findings. Here, the relevant disciplines include demography, development studies, geography and engineering. Recalling Julian Simon, the power of human capital will ultimately allow to suggest adequate policy and technical solutions. Greater transparency resulting from the use of information technology, including social media, provides hope that innovations will be shared across the globe. If human progress enables the narrowing of the ingenuity gap, water stress can also be eradicated.

This event is in association with the Sustainability Science at Southampton USRG. For full details, please visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/sustainability_science or follow us on Twitter @Sustainscience

Further details about the UN World Water Day, including a water infographic and news of the very first annual Water Usage Survey, can be found at UK bathroom retailer– http://www.bathshop321.com/world-water-day/)

For the latest news and events about the Multidisciplinary Research Week 2013, visit our Multidisciplinary Research website:

www.southampton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary

or follow us on   Twitter @MultiSoton #MDRWeek