Date: 3 May 2023
Time: 11:30 - 14:10
Venue: VC101, IT ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ Building, University of Malta
The Transdisciplinary Research and Knowledge Exchange Complex (TRAKE) Research Seminar is being organised by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Malta.
Programme
11:30 – 12:00 Welcome coffee
12:00 – 12:05 Welcome
Prof. Andrew Sammut, Dean, Faculty of Engineering
12:05 – 12:10 Address
Prof. Simon Fabri, Pro-Rector, Research and Knowledge Transfer
Session 1: Room VC101: Chair – Prof Andrew Sammut
12:10 BrainCon
12:30 COSTORE
Coordinated Energy Storage for Low Carbon Power Networks
Lead: Prof. Cedric Caruana
RSO: Dr Somesh Bhattacharya
12:50 ITERATE
13:10 MiTreat
13:30 EyeDesign
RSO: Dr Peter Ashley Varley
14:10 Refreshments
Session 2: Room TR107: Chair – Prof. Glenn Cassar
12:10 CONFORM
12:30 DLANComp
12:50 MaltaHip-II
13:10 NanoFab
13:30 CRYSMED
13:50 Pharma-Taxis
14:10 Refreshments
BrainCon – BrainCon is focused on designing a brain-computer interface (BCI) through which a user can intuitively control a smart wheelchair. A qualitative study into the needs of spinal cord injury patients was conducted to guide this research. Subsequently, we developed a versatile post-processing approach which stabilizes the output of a multiclass BCI classifier to facilitate more robust control. This approach is tuned through a reinforcement learning technique, which was found to be significantly faster than competing approaches. We also investigated the use of a hybrid control paradigm, which combines motor imagery and speech imagery commands to improve classification performance.
CONFORM – In recent years, studies have proven that Conformal Cooling Channels (CCC) in an additively manufactured mould result in a more efficient and effective injection moulding process. The CONFORM project aims to design a novel type of CCC which is freeform in shape, thus moving away from the traditional circular channels that are still widely used in injection moulding. In order to set a benchmark for circular CCCs and conventional cooling channels, a study is being carried out using the same case study part, shown in the figure below, which will be used in the design of freeform CCCs. The benchmark will be used to compare the performances of the freeform CCCs. This study explores the effect of the tool material’s conductivity on the performance of various CCC designs in comparison with conventional, straight drilled cooling channels. The study will also be presented in the ACEX Conference in July 2023.
DLANComp – DLANComp is aimed at developing methods to create greener composites utilising locally harvested agave fibres. Local agave fibres have been successfully extracted using a mechanical decorticator, dried and spun into yarns. In addition, a study has been conducted to determine the ideal fibre treatment to enhance the adhesion with the bio-based resin. Composite non-woven and plain-woven plates have been manufactured albeit the process needs improvement since complete fibre wetting and control on the fibre direction of non-woven fibres is challenging. The current study will lead to the development of agave reinforced plates suitable for material characterisation.
ITERATE - This research investigates Hybrid Turbo-Electric Propulsion Systems (HTEPS) for regional- aircraft. European Union in Flightpath2050-strategy targets reducing in-flight CO2, NOx and noise addressing adverse climate-change. Consequently electric, hydrogen-based and sustainable fuel-based aircraft are researched worldwide. Electric-propulsion is advantageous but as battery energy-density doubles every 23 years, it will take five decades attaining targets for Airbus-A320/Boeing-B737 type-aircraft. Filling gap, HTEPS is proposed with concurrent electric powertrain-gas turbine for short-haul ATR- 72 turboprops. This research focuses on theoretical derivation of HTEPS-equipped regional-aircraft performance parameters like range-endurance, shows trade-off between battery-weight, payload, range and fuel consumption and create technological-roadmap for scaling HTEPS to single-aisle aircraft.
MaltaHip-II – The MaltaHip-II project aims to advance in developing the MaltaHip implant by expanding its size range and meeting other requirements for commercialisation. Finite element simulations indicate that a reduced implant with a 46 mm acetabular cup diameter is viable, showing comparable results to those observed for the original 53 mm version. A further reduction to 42 mm is being evaluated, which is the smallest size commercially available. In addition, an uncemented version of the implant with an added titanium backing is being developed.
MiTreat - The MiTreat project studies the use of microwave electric fields for treating tumours as an alternative to surgical therapies. An uncooled coaxial-based monopole antenna was designed for percutaneous microwave ablation cancer treatment. The designed antenna delivers optimal power with liver tissue at 2.45 GHz. The antenna’s diameter was kept at a minimum by using an RG405 coaxial cable type, thus keeping the treatment minimally invasive. The project aims to further antenna optimisation with improved simulation modelling through accurate tissue complex permittivity, which is both frequency and temperature dependent. This will be achieved by developing a liver perfusion system and real-time measurement of complex permittivity during the ablation process.
NanoFab - Micro- and nano- plastics (MNPs) (<5 mm) have become an emerging environmental issue due to their potential harmful impact on ecosystems and human health. As MNPs age, they undergo transformations that affect their properties, fate, and behaviour. To date, the understanding relating to this is limited. In this work PET pellets were subjected to UV light in water columns within an ad-hoc weathering chamber to simulate accelerated seawater plastic degradation. Preliminary results show that, after 60 days, minimal levels of MNPs were detected in the water and the pellets showed initial signs of degradation.
EyeDesign - In the collaborative design process, multiple users interact together with a single object in a shared visual space. Supplementing this collaboration with gaze visualisations of where each collaborator is looking at, can enrich the communication between them, especially when the collaborators are not co-located and first-hand observation of the attentiveness of the collaborators is not possible. This project investigated challenges associated with using eye-gaze tracking for multi-user collaboration, such as reducing calibration and increasing the user-to-screen distance, while looking at different gaze visualisation techniques that can help improve the communication between collaborating entities in a shared visual space.
CRYSMED - Most purines form crystals when they precipitate out of solution, some of which deposit in various parts of the body, especially in the joints. The latter is responsible for the medical condition known as gout, which is characterised by inflammation. With this in mind, morphology studies, including different diffraction techniques, were designed to explore whether the shape of these crystal that form in the body can be altered and thus, offer a different way to treat Gout. Our studies revealed that by introducing different, non-toxic, metal ions into the system, differently shaped non-spiny crystals can be obtained (refer to figure).
Pharma-Taxis - The incorporation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as guests, and the conjugation of stimuli-responsive molecules onto the surface, to create smart Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) drug carriers, is a novel application of COFs to the field of therapeutics, which provides an alternative route to enhance the loading capacity of nanoparticle drug delivery systems. It can effectively increase drug solubility and protection from degradation in biological environments, and provide additional control on the distribution and release of the entrapped drug molecules. [1, 2]
[3] Scicluna, M. C., Baisch, U., Vella-Zarb, L. Manuscript in preparation.
Kindly register your attendance by Friday 28 April 2023 through the .
