University of Warwick
Wednesday 31st January 2018

DST Warwick: Alex Borrill, Phil Diggle, Luke Johnson

Warwick’s annual XMaS Science Gala is put on to showcase all the exciting science that happens at the University of Warwick, and the DST CDT was lucky enough to grab a spot amongst all the other amazing science! Held on the evening of Wednesday 31 January 2018, the event saw 750 participants. On our stand we took the ever popular ice melting demo, which never fails to impress everyone who feels the immediate effect diamond can have. Not only this, but our electrochemistry stand also lit up our visitors faces as we showed how diamond can be modified to become electrically conductive enabling new and updated technologies!

Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Saturday 25th November 2017

DST Oxford: Ella Bentin, Maabur Sow and Shazeaa Ishmael.

On Saturday 25th November the Diamond CDT students at Oxford took part in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History Super Science Saturday. They brought the heat of thermal conductivity to the public on a chilly autumn day. The theme for the event was “Surprising Science”, and people were shocked to experience the high thermal conductivity of diamond as it sliced through the solid block of ice like butter. Attendees were also encouraged to turn their hand at building a diamond, but without the high temperature and pressure. We were able to explain a surprising amount about the real-life applications of diamond using their models. We were thoroughly impressed by the enthusiasm of the parents and the attention span of the children who spent hours building their own diamond. Some parents took this as an opportunity to meet some real-life scientists, living their best research life, to inspire their children’s careers. The ice slicing was a huge hit with the under-10’s population in the room, and no doubt iced the competition!

The Royal Institution
Saturday 28th October 2017

DST Warwick: Phil Diggle

WEIG: Zoe Ayres

The Diamond Science and Technology CDT were invited to take part in the Spooky Science Family Fun Day held at The Royal Institution on Saturday 28 October 2017. With the theme on “Spooky” science, we took the chance to show off our ice melting demo. Many visitors were invited to try and melt our big block of ice with a variety of materials, such as wood, plastic and aluminium all of which didn’t really make an impact on the ice. Since diamond has the highest known thermal conductivity (how well the material conducts heat), the diamond soon made short work of melting the ice block! The event was attended by 792 members of the public (401 children and 391 adults) and we found ourselves saying hello to many repeat visitors as they continued to be amazed by just one of the fantastic properties of diamond.

Congratulations to Maabur Sow who has won the Arthur H Cooke Memorial Prize, awarded by the Sub-Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Oxford. The prize is awarded annually for the best overall performance by a graduate student in their first year.

GIA (Gemological Institute of America) invites qualified candidates to apply for its Research-Identification Internship Program at its Carlsbad, California and New York City locations. Ideal applicants will be students pursuing a Bachelor of Science and/or Master of Science in physics, materials science, geology, chemistry and related fields. The selected individuals will have the opportunity to learn and practice gemology by performing all types of thorough analysis of diamonds, colored stones and pearls. Interns will receive ongoing mentoring from experienced GIA scientists and gemologists in the areas of spectroscopy and gemology.

Applications are due by 15 April 2018. See here for further details: GIA Internship