Maths and Physics workshops
Attendees have the opportunity to attend two workshop on the day from the following selection. Click the plus sign for further information.
Workshop overview
Dynamical systems (popularly known as ‘chaos theory’) is the study of iteration. This session will show how dynamical systems link to rather bizarre properties of numbers, before moving on to applications to paper-folding and hexahexaflexagons.
Presenter biography
Charles Walkden obtained his PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Warwick before moving to Manchester in 1997. His research area is in smooth ergodic theory and thermodynamic formalism and studies the qualitative long-term behaviour of iteration of chaotic systems and the fine structure (such as fractal dimension) of invariant sets. He teaches courses on complex analysis, hyperbolic geometry, and ergodic theory. He is also Director of Teaching and Learning in the Department of Mathematics with overall responsibility for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes in the Department.
He has a keen interest in schools outreach and public engagement activities. He set up and co-writes ‘The Alan Turing Cryptography Competition’, an annual online competition for school children in Year 11 and below. He also set up and co-writes ‘MathsBombe’, the sister mathematical competition aimed at A-level students. He has given talks about his research to the general public at the Didsbury Sci-Bar and at ‘Firmly Uninformative’, an evening of light-hearted scientific talks in a pub! He is regularly invited to give more general mathematical talks, either in local schools/colleges or within the University, as well as at alumni events.
Subject area
Mathematics
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.008
Workshop overview
This talk will demonstrate creative uses of mechanics concepts to solve challenging practical problems and development of new concepts. The cases range from reducing the vibration of the London Eye to improving meat quality of chickens. Some concepts can be illustrated in a simple manner being seen, touched and heard.
Presenter biography
Tianjian Ji is a Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering at The University of Manchester, specialising in structural dynamics. He brings his research and engineering practice into teaching, which effectively stimulates students’ interest in the learning of mechanics concepts (visit the Structural Concepts website).
Subject area
Mechanical engineering
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.003
Workshop overview
This workshop will focus on neutrinos, nature’s most elusive particles, and in particular how neutrinos can be studied at experimental particle physics facilities all across the world to answer fundamental questions about our universe. Participants will become familiar with neutrino production and detection, and get a glimpse into how massive neutrino detectors can be utilised to study these particles in order to learn about their fundamental properties and interactions. Toward the end of the workshop, participants will work in small groups to work out optimal design parameters for a neutrino oscillation experiment, using 'back-of-the-envelope' calculations.
Presenter biography
Georgia Karagiorgi is an experimental particle physicist whose research focuses on neutrinos. She received her PhD in 2010 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for searches for new physics with the MiniBooNE neutrino experiment.
As a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University, she worked on the design, construction, and commissioning of the readout electronics system of the MicroBooNE neutrino experiment, which is currently running at Fermi U.S. National Lab. Since 2015, she has been leading The University of Manchester’s involvement in the MicroBooNE experiment, and she is also involved in the design and construction of the future SBND and DUNE neutrino experiments, which aim to further advance our understanding of neutrino properties, and the fundamental role these particles play in nature and our universe.
Subject area
Physics
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.009
Workshop overview
This session will discuss some of the techniques used to find planets around other stars (exoplanets) as well as the latest results in a research field which did not exist a little over 20 years ago. There will be emphasis on concepts and ideas for activities that can be imported into the classroom.
Presenter biography
Eamonn Kerins obtained his BSc (Hons) degree and PhD in Astronomy from the University of London, and subsequently was an EU Marie Curie Research Fellow at Strasbourg Observatory, and then a postdoctoral researcher in the Theoretical Physics department at Oxford University. He was awarded a PPARC/STFC Advanced Fellowship from 2004-2009, initially working at Liverpool John Moores University and then the University of Manchester.
His current research concentrates around gravitational lensing searches for exoplanets as well as large-scale surveys for variable stars in the inner Galaxy. Eamonn is co-lead the Exoplanet Science Working Group for the European Space Agency's Euclid mission, which is due to launch in 2020.
Subject areas
Physics and astronomy
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 2.2
Workshop overview
This workshop is designed to demonstrate to participants that it is possible to describe and perform seemingly complicated processes using simple off-the-shelf products (of which many of them may already be aware).
In this instance we are using a £15 Arduino Uno, and some basic components to make a fully-functional handheld metal detector system. The activity is supported by handouts and other necessary resources so that the participants are able to undertake the full activity in their own time following the session.
Presenter biography
Liam gained a first class MEng degree (with honours) in Electrical Engineering and Electronics from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 2007. During this period he undertook two projects in the SISP group, one at BEng and one at MEng level, under the supervision of Professor Hugh McCann and Professor Anthony Peyton respectively.
He studied for his PhD at the University of Manchester (following the merger of UMIST and The Victoria University of Manchester), under the title ‘Electromagnetic Tomography and People Screening’. Upon the completion of his PhD in 2011 he took up the post of ‘Research Associate’ at the University of Manchester. In this role he designs and constructs next-generation 'intelligent' metal detector systems for a variety of applications.
Liam is currently funded by the Cheshire-based charity ‘Find A Better Way’ to produce a specialist metal detector for the purposes of identifying buried or visually obscured landmines. Liam is also a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was awarded Chartered Engineer status through the Institute of Engineering and Technology in 2014.
Mike is a Leverhulme Trust early career Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester. He gained a First-class MEng (Hons) degree in Integrated Engineering at the University of Reading, and was awarded a PhD in Robotics and Control at Loughborough University in 2011. He has worked on a range of projects since completing his PhD, including work on analytical tools for rigid body mechanics, new non-contact systems for detecting the quality of fruit and meat, and a new sensor for identifying and sorting automotive shredded scrap metal pieces. His current research interest is towards creating a wideband radiofrequency spectroscopy system as a diagnostic tool for head-injuries.
Subject area
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 2.4
Workshop overview
This workshop provides an introduction into how everyday people can display and analyse astronomy images used in professional astronomy research. This will include information on where to find images, how to interpret the images, and how to convert the images into everyday image formats such as jpg and png.
Presenter biography
George Bendo is currently a support scientist for ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). His research primarily focuses on interstellar dust and star formation in nearby galaxies. He also has extensive experience with processing data from multiple telescopes to produce images for both scientific analysis as well as for use by the general public.
Subject areas
Physics and Astronomy
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 3.3