3 August 2012
Australian women triathletes Emma Moffatt, Erin Densham and Emma Jackson have high hopes for the the 2012 Olympics, and have been honing their fitness at Imperial’s own sports centre, Ethos, in the days before they compete at Hyde Park.
See below for a slideshow of the athletes
Tags: London 2012, Sport Imperial
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30 July 2012
Scientists have developed an ultra-sensitive test that should enable them to detect signs of a disease in its earliest stages, in research published in the journal Nature Materials on 25 May.
The scientists, from Imperial and the Universidade de Vigo, Spain, have created a test to detect particular molecules, or biomarkers, that indicate the presence of disease, even when these are in very low concentrations. Tests are already available for some diseases that look for biomarkers using biological sensors, or biosensors. However, existing biosensors become less sensitive and predictable at detecting biomarkers in very low concentrations, such as when a disease is in its early stages.
Tags: Bioengineering, Materials
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30 July 2012
Emma Chesterman, Digital and Creative Media Manager (Communications and Development), on going to see the Olympic Opening Ceremony on 27 July 2012.
“I was really lucky as my boyfriend’s folks managed to get hold of some tickets a week before the Opening Ceremony and they were lovely enough to give one to me.
I knew that it was going to be an amazing spectacle as two of my mates were taking part – one was a dancing NHS nurse in roller boots and the other was playing the drums. The stories they told in the run-up of secret mass rehearsals on special grid systems left my mind boggling!
After the technical and dress rehearsals there was mounting excitement around the City. Rumours of bikes with wings and dark dream catchers were rife.
I had braced myself for a bit of a crush to get into the Olympic Park as 80,000 people descended upon Stratford. However, arriving at the Olympic park was so easy. Five minutes going through security and we were there. Everyone, including the Games volunteers, was so excited. There was a buzz of anticipation and energy bubbling around the park and coursing through the crowd in the stadium itself.
The ceremony was amazing. The sound system was truly spectacular. I held back a tear as the Red Arrows flew overhead. It was all gobsmacking – idyllic English countryside transformed into Industrial Britain in a smoulder of bleak smoke, iron Olympic rings suspended above our heads and thousands upon thousands of dancers.
The entire event was thrilling. We danced and sang and clapped until our hands were sore. It took ages before the GB team paraded around the arena but when they stepped out the whole stadium went mental. That must have been a truly amazing experience for our top athletes.
Bikes with wings, a giant Voldemort, oversized glowing NHS beds, an ode to rave , Dizzee Rascal, the Queen, Daniel Craig, Kenneth Branagh, Mr Bean… I can’t imagine not being there to see it all and join in with the joy of everyone around me. I even forgive Sir Danny Boyle for wheeling Sir Paul for another tired rendition of Hey Jude!”
Off to an Olympic event and keen to share your experiences on Reporter? Email: reporter@imperial.ac.uk for more information
Tags: London 2012
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27 July 2012
At 7.18am this morning, on the final day of the torch relay, first year medical undergraduate Klara Weaver carried the Olympic torch through Hampton Court Maze stopping only to pose for the cameras in the centre.
Klara, who is on a rowing scholarship at Imperial and hopes to compete in the 2016 Olympics, was given the chance to carry the flame by Lloyds TSB as she is one of the up-and-coming athletes sponsored by the Banks’ Local Heroes Scheme. The grant has helped to pay for Klara’s rowing training and equipment.
Since the 16 July Klara has been on the Lloyds TSB bus which has been travelling ahead of the torch relay to stir up the crowd. Klara was only offered the chance to be a torchbearer on Wednesday so she didn’t have much time to prepare. “I’d been watching the relay for the last week and a half but it was unbelievable to actually carry it,” she says.
A number of Kara’s classmates from Imperial and friends from the Rowing Club came to support her as well as her dad and boyfriend and her mum who watched it online. “I was really surprised how many people there were lining the maze especially at that time – it was overwhelming!” she reveals.
Klara didn’t have to worry about getting lost in the maze as she had a guide who worked at Hampton Court to lead her through although she did admit to having one concern about the experience: “I had lots of texts from friends in the last couple of days warning me not to set fire to the maze!” Klara says. “I was a bit worried to be honest – there was one archway that was quite low so I had to put the flame in front of me to get through,” she adds.
Klara was selected by Lloyds TSB because of her commitment and dedication to her sport of Rowing. Klara was double junior European champion when she was 16, she has won four national titles, competed at the Junior World Championships, and came 7th out of 24, and has won Women’s Henley twice.
— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development
Tags: London 2012
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26 July 2012
Good luck to students Melanie Wilson and Adam Scholefield – Imperial’s Olympic athletes who will start competing this weekend in the London 2012 Games. Adam is the Vice Captain of the GB Water Polo team and Melanie forms part of the GB Rowing squad.
MELANIE
ADAM
Adam will play with the GB water polo team on:
Find out what the Olympics mean to Melanie and Adam
Follow @AdamScholefield on Twitter and get his take on the Olympic experience
Read more about Olympic rowing fixtures
Read more about Olympic water polo fixtures
Tags: London 2012
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25 July 2012
Pamela Agar, Head of Digital and Creative Media (Communications and Development), shares her experiences of going to the technical rehearsal of the Olympic Opening Ceremony on 23 July:
“At times, it’s felt like I’m in the minority for being ridiculously excited about my city hosting the Games – but sitting in the new Olympic Stadium on Monday evening with 60,000 other enthusiastic people reminded me of how hotly the event is anticipated.
Lucky enough to have been given a ticket to the technical rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony by my husband, a 2012 volunteer, I travelled to the Olympic Park leaving plenty of time spare for the much hyped traffic and security chaos. My journey from South London was surprisingly smooth and the security screening fast, friendly and efficient, leaving me lots of time to explore.
I’d been to the Olympic Park much earlier in the year, to see the cycling and diving test events, but much of the area was still a building site. What a transformation! The glorious sunshine helped present the Park at its very best – and I was surprised to see so many beautiful wild flower banks framing the walkways and the dramatic architecture of the Stadium and Orbit.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rehearsal itself – it was quite a surreal experience as some parts of the Ceremony were being kept strictly under wraps and were consequently missing, leaving odd gaps. Following Danny Boyle’s social media plea to #savethesurprise – I won’t divulge any details of what I did see. But I can say that I found it spectacular, moving, sometimes confusing (I think I might need Huw Edwards’s BBC commentary to help me follow the story!), funny and very British! I can’t wait to see it in its entirety on TV on Friday evening.
I couldn’t help but laugh when the first announcement at the end of the show was an alert that the Central Line was suspended – can’t help wonder if it was a TfL test to see how the network would cope after a major event in the Olympic Park. As it happened, leaving the Park was just like leaving any large scale venue – lots of slow shuffling towards the local station – but generally quite efficient. I was back home 90 minutes after leaving my seat.
I can’t wait to get back to the Park next week for competition. Monday has left me even more excited – and very proud of it!”
Read more stories about the London 2012 Olympics
Tags: London 2012
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25 July 2012
On 17 June a group of students from the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology, in the Department of Medicine put on a series of interactive demonstrations for both children and adults at the Cheltenham Science Festival.
The focus for the demonstrations was the question ‘How Are Your Hormones?’ which addressed themes including appetite, attraction, exercise and emotion. The demonstrations were aided by a grant from the Society for Endocrinology. PhD student Katherine Banks (Medicine), describes the event:
“2012 marked the celebration of the tenth Cheltenham Science Festival, attracting tens of thousands of members of the public of all ages – and over 300 participants from around the UK and beyond. The Cheltenham Festival Series showcases some of the brilliant talent, minds and achievements from the sciences and arts, challenging our opinions and encouraging inquisitiveness. This year was no exception, including discussions and debates on everything from the origin of life to the art of explosions, delivered by the likes of physicist Professor Brian Cox.
The Science Festival encourages audience participation to aid the public understanding of scientific concepts, and one exhibition venue in particular proved to be extremely popular. The Discovery Zone has been phenomenally successful in fascinating children of all ages with science and technology, and this year saw a group of postgraduate students from Imperial take the stage with the ‘How Are Your Hormones?’ display. The activities helped the students to explain the science behind attraction and being in love, what happens to you as a teenager and addressed questions such as ‘why do we cry?’ The students used exercise bikes and heart rate monitors to teach children about exercise, and school pupils were also given the chance to measure blood glucose which helped them to learn about metabolic hormones and how they work in our bodies. With the help of artist Dr Lizzie Burns, children also created their very own human models with coloured and labelled glands to take home. The addition of real-life organs in jars and edible brain cupcakes only enhanced (if not repelled!) the fun aspect of the exhibition.
The success of the day was reflected in the brilliant feedback from children, parents and scientists alike, and with thanks to the grant support from the Society for Endocrinology we hope to see you there next year!”
Tags: Faculty of Medicine
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25 July 2012
My name is Lorenz Gruber and I have just finished my second year at Imperial in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. It’s amazing to have the chance to work for the Olympics in the city I am studying in and I have been looking forward to it for a long time.
Indeed my application to become a Games Maker was the first email that I sent from my new Imperial address in September 2010 (yes, 22 month ago)!
Imperial had the chance to select over 100 Games Makers amongst its staff and students willing to volunteer for handball [an Olympic sport in which two teams try to throw the ball into their opponents' goal] or goal ball [a team sport designed for blind athletes]. To be in with a chance of taking part we had to attend a selection event at Ethos, followed by an interview with LOCOG (the organisation responsible for planning the Olympics) a couple of months later, followed by an utterly useless information event in the Wembley Arena, followed by role specific training, followed by venue specific training… there have been lots of events in the last 22 months!
Frankly, I believe the reason why I was selected was that I had heard the word ‘handball’ before which turned out to be pretty rare amongst all the applicants!
For those of you who have never heard of handball, don’t worry, you will know what it is after the Olympics! The reason for this is that both the GB men’s and women’s teams have qualifies for the Olympic tournament. The fact that the host is automatically qualified might have helped the teams slightly but hey, nobody cares anymore now! Although this is unlikely to be mirrored in the UK, but handball attracted the third most TV spectators during the Games in Beijing which show its massive popularity with the rest of the globe.
Coming back to the actual work I have to do. I am a FOP (field of play) team member. During the matches I will be on the edge of the field of play making sure that only the people that belong on the pitch are there. Before and after the matches our job is also to make sure the athletes are happy! As the matches don’t start until Saturday 28 July at the moment we are just on hand to help during the athletes’ training.
On Monday 23 July most of the volunteers were allowed to go to the final dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony in the stadium. We were asked to keep all the details a secret until Friday but the only thing I can say: Don’t get the wrong impression from the first 15 rather boring minutes because the rest will be great! This was the most impressive spectacle my eyes have ever witnessed! Well done GB!
Hear more about the Olympic site, our uniform and the Opening Ceremony:)
Read more of Lorenz’s blog posts
Tags: London 2012, Olympic handball blog
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25 July 2012
After more than seven years of planning, the eyes of the world are finally now on London - with 10,500 athletes and millions of spectators descending upon the capital. But how will the Games of the 30th Olympiad look through the eyes of the Imperial community? Throughout the Games, Reporter will be blogging and reporting – following our student Olympians Melanie Wilson and Adam Scholefield, talking to world-class competitors training on campus, speaking to volunteers taking part and getting an insider’s view from staff and students going along to the events. And while the focus is on sport, it’s also a unique cultural event – bringing together the best in music, food and art from all over the world.
Read more Reporter stories about the London 2012 Olympics
Tags: London 2012
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19 July 2012
On 21 June, Sport Imperial held the annual Imperial ARCS (Appreciate, Recognise and Celebrate Sport) event bringing together over 140 guests including students, staff, coaches, officials, volunteers, sponsors and partner organisations, as well as alumnus Simon Dennis, Great Britain team rower and Olympic gold medallist. The evening closed with the recognition of students Adam Scholefield and Melanie Wilson, have both been selected by Great Britain to represent our nation in the London 2012 Olympics. Adam is the Vice Captain of the Water Polo team and Melanie forms part of the Rowing squad.
Read an interview with Imperial’s two Olympians.
Tags: Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, London 2012
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12 July 2012
Reporter met with Head of NASA and former astronaut Charles Bolden on 11 July and asked him to describe what it felt like to be in space and explain why he had come to Imperial to inspire schoolchildren to pursue science-related subjects.
I think it is critical because it is our future. I was blessed to have had a mum and dad who did things and worked really hard to make the world better for me. Now it’s time for us to prepare today’s children so that they can pick up where we leave off when we aren’t here anymore.
With a science degree you can do anything you want. For example my daughter did a chemical engineering degree and some of her classmates ended up on Wall Street working as analysts advising people on investments, based on what they knew about engineering principles.
I think space holds a fascination for humans as it helps us to try to answer a question which has been around since humankind came into existence- is there any possibility of life on another planet? Space allows us to go to distant planets and maybe someday other solar systems to see if there is life elsewhere.
It’s a very realistic possibility – whether or not we’ll find life today remains to be seen. We know everything is there to sustain life – its got water, its got ice. We don’t know much about its atmosphere but we are going to hopefully going to find out when we send Curiosity to Mars in August. I was certainly looking for life when I went up in space but didn’t see anything!
You lie on your back during the countdown, then you hear the ‘5,4,3,2,1’ and then three main engines fuel up loudly and you feel like the space shuttle is falling over. Then suddenly it straightens up and then you lift off really gently. The force is only 1-G and it takes just eight-and-a-half minutes to get into space.
It is very loud! My experiences have all been on the space shuttle and the shuttle has lots of pumps and motors churning all the time – it is a pretty noisy place like being on a factory floor but after a while you kind of ignore it – your ears become atuned to it so it didn’t sound as loud as it really was.
The first thing you experience is a floating feeling and then you get a really fuzzy head as all of the fluid in your body rushes to your head, making you feel like you have the worst head cold. The best way to overcome this is to go to the toilet which helps get rid of the headache. It’s the same when you return to Earth – you have to gulp down huge amounts of water on re-entry.
In a space craft you circle the Earth once every 90 minutes and so you see the sun rise and set 16 times every normal Earth day. It is incredible! Also the constellations in space are brilliant – it is like an incredible exhibition. As an African American before my first mission I wanted to study the continent of Africa before I left so I could identify all the countries from above, What I didn’t realise was that up in space you can’t see any lines like you can on a map – it was just one big island! Seeing it from above with no political divisions was very emotional for me – it all looks very peaceful.
It doesn’t matter if you go for a few days or a few months your body needs to adapt in the same way. You have to do lots of deep knee bends and the muscles take some time to know how to respond after you have been in microgravity. The thing which takes a bit more time to return to normal is your balance – your inner ear completely goes to sleep without gravity as you have no reference for the human body body other than vision. In space which way is up and which is down are not important!
— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development
Tags: Outreach, Physics
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12 July 2012
On 11 July over 300 schoolchildren got the chance to put their questions to a real-life astronaut as Head of NASA Charles Bolden came to Imperial to encourage schoolchildren from underrepresented groups to follow a career in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM). Reporter’s Emily Ross-Joannou went along to listen to the talks .
As well as Charles Bolden, the event featured talks from alumni Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE and Professor David Southwood, former Head of Department at the Blackett Laboratory at Imperial who went on to be the Director of the European Space Agency. American folk singer Beth Nielson Chapman entertained the schoolchildren in between speakers with space-related songs. The day was organised by the Outreach Office and Senior Teaching Fellow Dr Mark Richards (Physics).
Dr Richards gave the welcome speech, introducing the schoolchildren to Imperial, challenging common perceptions of the stereotypical crazy scientist and emphasising that people from all walks of life come to the College. “If you are able – our doors are firmly open,” he said.
Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock gave an enthusiastic speech about the power of dreams. She revealed that as a child she had always imagined she would become a space scientist and although she hasn’t made it to space (so far) she describes herself as doing the next best thing – building things which go into space such as satellite parts. She talked to the children about a number of projects she has worked on including the Aeolus satellite, due to be launched in 2013, which will monitor climate change from space.
Throughout her career Maggie has worked for the Ministry of Defence, presented television programmes about space and she now focuses her efforts on inspiring schoolchildren about science and her career – a role which saw her awarded an MBE for Services to Science Education.
Maggie admitted that despite her ambition she struggled with dyslexia at school and still found maths really hard when she arrived to begin her Physics undergraduate degree at Imperial. “Luckily my tutors nursed me through the course. I clearly remember running down the corridor to ask a Nobel Laureate who worked at the College to help me with my maths homework – he was so helpful-in fact I found it an incredibly nurturing environment.”
Encouraging the schoolchildren not to get deterred from their dreams she says: “I think there is a bit of scientist in all of us – it isn’t about being white or being male it is about having the drive, the vision and the curiosity.”
Q and A with Charles Bolden
The event built up to the arrival of Charles Bolden to the stage and he didn’t disappoint- taking multiple questions about his experiences in space. Charles has been to space four times – once on Columbia, twice on Endeavour and the final time on Discovery- with his longest flight lasting just nine days. “My first time in space was awesome, exhilarating and exciting but I was also anxious to do everything right. I wasn’t scared as we had spent a lot of time training and were confident that there was a huge crew on Earth monitoring our every move.”
Charles admitted he never dreamed of going to space and came from a very segregated area of North Carolina in the USA – when he was growing up all the visions of astronauts he saw were of white men. “What pushed me was meeting the late Dr Ron McNair, an African American astronaut. He asked me if I was going to apply for a space programme and I told him I was worried I wouldn’t be chosen but he convinced me to go for it.”
Commenting on the potential of a science degree he said: “If a child takes STEM-related course there is no door that is closed to them. They can do anything they want.” He also encouraged the pupils to “study hard and not to be afraid of failure”. He went on to relate how even he questioned his career path shortly after his first trip to space when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight in 1986 however he said he was determined to stay on the space programme even after being aware of the risks. “I really think it is human destiny to explore,” he explains. Although Charles now has a more administrative role as head of NASA he admitted: “I’d like to go back to space but who knows!”
Charles noted his excitement about NASA’s Mars Space Laboratory (MSL) mission which Imperial’s Professor Sanjeev Gupta (Earth Science and Engineering) is involved in. “I am really looking forward to 5 August when the Mars Rover called Curiosity will land on Mars. Scientists involved in the project across the world will experience seven minutes of terror as that is how long it will take for the radio waves to reach Earth and for us to find out if the project has been successful. Then we can begin to discover what the atmosphere is like and importantly whether we are alone and if there is life out there.”
Charles left to a cacophony of applause and the schoolchildren seemed suitably wowed. “Working at NASA has always been a dream and hearing Charles Bolden speak today was a great experience,” said 16-year- old Charles from City of London Academy in Islington. “I hope to study physics at somewhere like Imperial so it was amazing to get the chance to come here,” he added.
— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development
Read the full interview with Charles Bolden.
Tags: Department of Physics, Outreach
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10 July 2012
Anti-gravity demonstrations, molecular gastronomy and Luke Skywalker on campus are all among the hit videos that have recently pushed Imperial’s YouTube channel past the one million views mark.
Featuring almost 350 videos, the channel lets viewers learn more about the College, its research and facilities, and about student life.
Launched in April 2008, the channel now has nearly 2,000 subscribers. The most popular video, with over a quarter of a millions views alone, shows Professor Eric Laithwaite in 1983 using a gyro wheel to showcase some of the stranger principles of Physics.
Tags: News, Research communications, Students
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6 July 2012
On 26 June, eight postgraduates graduated from Imperial’s INSPIRE scheme which aims to bridge the gap between scientific research at universities and schools by placing top postgraduate research scientists in classrooms to enthuse schoolchildren.
An awards ceremony was held at 58 Prince’s Gate to mark the occasion – attended by the participants – Dr Jennifer Lardge, Dr Ruth Carley, Dr Jason Green, Dr Katherine Flack, Dr Asma Qazi, Dr Helen Miller, Alex Bishop and Sultana Khanam in addition to funding bodies and representatives from the 14 schools involved.
Based at Imperial, INSPIRE (Innovative Scheme for Postgraduates In Research and Education), began in 2002 and has evolved into a project offering a seven month PGCE for postdoctoral, PhD graduates and postgraduates coming to the end of their research, organised in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University. The PGCE is combined with two months of INSPIRE activities for young people where the postgraduates put on science clubs, provide university-level training for students over 16, give careers advice, organise science conferences and trips for the pupils to come and see the research laboratories at Imperial.
INSPIRE aims to encourage research graduates with a passion for teaching to bring their enthusiasm and research experience into the classroom with the help of Imperial’s Outreach office and Physics Department, in order to tackle the shortage of Physics and Chemistry teachers in state schools.
Dr Naheed Alizadeh (Outreach) who is Director of the Inspire Project spoke about this year’s cohort: “We had a fantastic bunch this year – five of our students got distinctions and I’m so proud that all of them have teaching jobs lined up for September. It is amazing training postgraduate researchers to use their degrees to wow schoolchildren.”
Professor of Science and Society Lord Winston gave a speech at the event. He said: “The INSPIRE postgraduates not only are great role models for school pupils, but also are able to take excitement of the science to the classroom – creating a lasting benefit for both pupils and teaching staff in the schools.”
Tags: INSPIRE, Outreach
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29 June 2012
Ethos, Imperial’s sports centre in Prince’s Gardens, South Kensington has won the Educational Club of the Year Award at the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) FLAME 2012 Awards.
This is the second time that Ethos has won this award and the third time that they have reached the final three. Finalists for the Educational Club of the Year award were put through a vigorous three stage assessment process, which began in March.
Members of Sport Imperial’s management team together with Neil Mosley, Head of Sport and Assistant Director of Commercial Services, attended the FLAME 2012 Awards evening at the Magna Centre and Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 27 June.
Mr Mosley said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive the FLAME award for the second year running. Since winning in 2011 the team have worked extremely hard to keep Ethos up to the standard celebrated by the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) and to win again at the industry’s most prestigious awards ceremony is a really outstanding achievement.”
Tags: Commercial Services
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