Bristol Vision Institute, University of Bristol Botanic Garden, and Bristol Eye Hospital have been working closely with the Artist Luke Jerram on a new set of experimental sculptures that explore vision and how we see. The installation is called the Impossible Garden and is open to the public at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden until November.
Author: sophie.paterson
Games Day: Playing with students’ creations
Every year third year MEng Computer Science students work together in teams of six to create a state-of-the-art computer game. The groups spend up to 2400 hours between them building games that will thrill, delight or immerse the player and provide a spectacle for those watching them play. ‘Games Day’ is an annual tradition for the games to be played, showcased and marked. We spoke to senior Lecturer Dr Tilo Burghardt and students on the course to find out more.
In their games, students integrate technologies from across various computing subjects whilst flexing their creative muscles building new worlds and scenarios to explore. The CS students often work with MA Composition of Music for Film and Television students to produce the soundtracks for their games. They also get advice from industrial mentors in the games, software or media industry.
The department of Computer Science (which sits in the School of Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Engineering Maths) has been running a computer games module since 1996.
Hi-Tech Kitchen at We The Curious this summer
This summer the SPHERE (Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment) project is setting up home at We The Curious, Bristol’s hands-on Science museum.
The ‘hi-tech house’ is a kitchen set up that showcases SPHERE’s health sensor technology in a way that kids and grown ups can try it out for themselves. The exhibit is more than just a simple tech showcase, visitors will learn and share their own thoughts about the research cycle, ethics and the way that research is designed to achieve its end goal of making people healthier in their homes.
Engineering Swarms: TEDx talk by Dr Sabine Hauert
360° tours of Engineering
We can’t always show people all of our cutting edge labs and facilities when they come to visit the Faculty of Engineering.
It’s impractical to take hundreds of people up on the roof to see our satellite antenna and our Robotics Lab is on another campus up in Filton. With this in mind we’ve made some 360° videos so that you can see the spaces from the comfort of your own computer.
New game simulates crowd evacuations
Are you calm under pressure? How about in an emergency? Are you sure?
Dr Nikolai Bode from Engineering Maths has developed a game simulation which puts your assumptions to the test. Using mathematical and computational models to predict how crowds of people might move through a building based on assumptions about ordinary human behaviour.
Dr Bode is now carrying out further research and is considering adapting the game for use by event planners, architects and safety stewards, in the hope that the interactive experience it offers could be useful for designing safe evacuation procedures. He is also exploring whether the game could be incorporated into online safety training courses.
Learn about 5G and Smart Cities with BBC Click
This episode of BBC Click is a great primer for anyone who needs to explain 5G, Smart Cities and the future of wireless to a lay audience. The piece contextualise the benefits of 5G as well as explaining of the technology. It talks about driverless cars, smart cities and the internet of things whilst helping to move the conversation beyond the misconception that 5G is ‘one up from 4G’.
The episode also features Professor Dimitra Simeonidou and the ‘Layered Realities’, the first public demonstration of 5G technology led by our very own Smart Internet Lab.
Aerospace PhD in Three Minute Thesis final
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition that celebrates exciting research by PhD students around the world. Developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), the competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. Presenting in a 3MT competition increases your capacity to effectively explain your research in three minutes, using lay language. Competitors are allowed one PowerPoint slide, but no other resources or props.
This year Andres Rivero from the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering made it to the Bristol final with his presentation, ‘Flexible airplanes: achieving higher fuel efficiency by adapting wing shapes during flight’.
New wing, new opportunities
The Faculty of Engineering has invested £19 million+ in a new wing and refurbishment of the Queen’s Building. Building work started in June 2016 and the space opened for teaching September 2017. Since the opening the space has been used extensively to support hands-on teaching, learning and research. It’s also been used to support our outreach and industrial engagement.
The new and improved facilities include:
The Bill Brown Design Suite (flexible 500sq m divisible flat-bed teaching space)
A student focused atrium
New 500 sqm general Engineering Teaching Lab Space,
Lab write up space
New Propulsion Laboratory
The Sonardyne Electrical and Electronic Teaching Laboratory
10 group and study rooms (6 to 25 capacity), Post Graduate office space, New Café and associated study space,
A new entrance and reception desk to help welcome visitors
New technician’s office
2 small meeting rooms
1 project laboratory
1 Thermodynamics research Lab,
1 refurbished UNDT research Lab and associated office space (including state of the art Faraday cage and laser suite)
Watch the new wing being built and see the final building: