Elizabeth who works in the Ultrasound Group presented an update of her results to the NDA and the wider nuclear industry, showing how the pressure inside a welded steel container could be measured using non-contact acoustic transducers to excite and detect the natural resonant modes of the container via the electromagnetic Lorentz mechanism. The pressure inside the containers can increase due to radioactive decays and chemical reactions of the material inside the sealed containers, and it is important to be able to measure if the pressure becomes too high. Using a combination of Finite Element (FE) modelling, optical vibrometer and EMAT measurements, Elizabeth has proved that the resonant modes that she is experimentally measuring, correspond exactly to those predicted by the FE models, and that generally the frequency of those modes increase as pressure inside the container increases. Elizabeth plans to develop a prototype system for trials in the nuclear industry, under an EPSRC IAA project that she will start later this year.

Watch a video presentation of Elizabeth's work.

Launched in 2015, the XMaS Scientist Experience is a nationwide opportunity for any Year 12 UK Physics students who identify as female to join us on an all-expenses-paid 4-day trip to the ESRF in Grenoble, France at the beginning of July 2023. Our aim is to encourage students to consider science careers, foster a sense of community and encourage self-belief.

Find out more about the experience.

Watch the video that was made by the ESRF team in July 2017.

Professor Sandra Chapman has been awarded the 2023 Johannes Geiss Fellowship of the International Space Science Institute.

The International Space Science Institute at Bern, Switzerland is an Institute of Advanced Study where scientists from all over the world meet in a multi- and interdisciplinary setting to reach out for new scientific horizons. The main function is to contribute to the achievement of a deeper understanding of the results from different space missions, ground based observations and laboratory experiments.

Chapman's research at ISSI during the fellowship will focus on the fundamental physics of plasma turbulence with particular emphasis on recently launched missions - NASA's Parker Solar Probe and ESA'a Solar Orbiter - which will explore the sun's expanding atmosphere- the solar wind - close to the sun, to within the orbit of Mercury, for the first time. Plasma turbulence may provide the answer to one of the outstanding mysteries of the solar system, how the solar wind is heated and accelerated.

One Johannes Geiss Fellowship is awarded each year. The fellowship is named for the founder of ISSI, a distinguished space plasma physicist who pioneered interdisciplinarity.   

Congratulations to Dr Ravindra Desai who has been awarded two Royal Astronomical Society awards, the Winton awardLink opens in a new window and the Higher Education awardLink opens in a new window.

Ravindra commented "I am over the moon to receive these awards, the RAS has been a tremendous support throughout my academic journey and I look forward to engaging with them further in the future."

Read more about Ravindra's awards.