News
Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition
30 March 2007
Materials science in QMUL will be strongly represented at this year's Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, a four day event which gives thousands of visitors an opportunity to meet and talk to researchers. This is the first time the Department has been invited. The exhibition is the Society's most prestigious event of the year and according to a 2005 MORI poll is the best known science exhibition in the UK. The four thousand visitors in 2006 included potential university students, scientists, policy makers, MPs, captains of industry, representatives from funding bodies and research councils, teachers and the wider scientific community. Further details of the events can be found on web link below.
Dr. Shoufeng Yang and Prof. Julian R. G. Evans have been invited to present their research at the exhibition. The project is titled “From music to sand painting”. Inspired by ideas from the ancient art of the Tibetan’s Mandala sand painting and Navajo Indian's sand paintings, we devised a new method for multi materials solid freeforming fabrication (SFF), in which a whole object of complex shape and composed of different materials is built directly by computer. Sand paintings, also called dry paintings, were used in ceremonies for harvests and healing. They used metal funnels called “chak-pur” to place coloured sand to make elaborate patterns. The vibrations of the “chak-pur” when grated with a metal rod cause the sand to flow like liquid.
We use glass capillaries as funnels, and transmit music to the capillaries through loud speakers to generate the vibrations. With delicate computer control, the capillaries work as valves. The vibrations switch the powder flow on/off and control the flow rate by changing frequency and amplitude of the sound. The aim of this technique is the on-line deposition and mixing of dry powders. Through computer control, different powders can be arranged at any site spatially inside a container for solid freeforming. Alternatively, each computer mixed composition is placed in a separate container for combinatorial new materials discovery.
The exhibition will be located in the Royal Society, 6-9, Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y, 5AG, from 2nd July to 5th July 2007.
Dr. Shoufeng Yang and Prof. Julian R. G. Evans have been invited to present their research at the exhibition. The project is titled “From music to sand painting”. Inspired by ideas from the ancient art of the Tibetan’s Mandala sand painting and Navajo Indian's sand paintings, we devised a new method for multi materials solid freeforming fabrication (SFF), in which a whole object of complex shape and composed of different materials is built directly by computer. Sand paintings, also called dry paintings, were used in ceremonies for harvests and healing. They used metal funnels called “chak-pur” to place coloured sand to make elaborate patterns. The vibrations of the “chak-pur” when grated with a metal rod cause the sand to flow like liquid.
We use glass capillaries as funnels, and transmit music to the capillaries through loud speakers to generate the vibrations. With delicate computer control, the capillaries work as valves. The vibrations switch the powder flow on/off and control the flow rate by changing frequency and amplitude of the sound. The aim of this technique is the on-line deposition and mixing of dry powders. Through computer control, different powders can be arranged at any site spatially inside a container for solid freeforming. Alternatively, each computer mixed composition is placed in a separate container for combinatorial new materials discovery.
The exhibition will be located in the Royal Society, 6-9, Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y, 5AG, from 2nd July to 5th July 2007.