The University of Southampton

- Event

Date:
21st of February, 2020  @  14:00 - 15:00
Venue:
Nuffield Theatre (6) - 1081
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Event details

Presentation Title: Analysis of dielectric data: Challenges and Benefits

Abstract: The information contained in the dielectric response of materials can be used to investigate the micro-structure, charge motion and the ageing of dielectric materials. However there are several issues which may impede the correct interpretation of the data. For example, the measured dielectric spectra are often a superposition of several distinct processes, the electrode contact can change significantly the measured response and last but not least the choice of dielectric function to model the relaxation processes is often based on personal preferences and prior experience. Therefore, for the correct analysis and interpretation of the data, it is necessary to decompose the response into individual processes, split the bulk processes from the electrode contact and select a suitable dielectric response function.

In this talk, Dr Chalashkanov will explore the techniques available for analysis of dielectric data and will focus on the application of equivalent circuit models.  The use of equivalent circuit models offers an effective method to investigate the measured dielectric response data using discrete electrical components representing relaxation and conduction processes. The method of constructing the equivalent circuits and the rationale for using specific components in the circuits will be explained in detail. Some issues related to the application of the equivalent circuit method will be illustrated through examples.

Dr Nikola M. Chalashkanov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1981. He graduated from the Technical University of Sofia in 2003 with a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and gained the Master’s degree there in industrial engineering in 2005. He joined the University of Leicester, UK in 2007 as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and received a Ph.D. degree for his work on charge transport and electrical breakdown in epoxy resins in 2012. In the period 2011-2019, he was a Teaching Fellow in the Electrical Power and Power Electronics Research Group in the Department of Engineering, University of Leicester. He joined the University of Lincoln as a Senior Lecturer in 2019.

Dr Chalashkanov is author and co-author of more than 40 peer reviewed papers. His research interests include partial discharge and electrical treeing phenomena, dielectric properties and charge transport in polymers, chaos theory, statistical analysis and data mining. He is a member of the Institute of Physics, a senior member of the IEEE and a fellow of the HEA.

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Published: 17 February 2020
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Developers from Team Zepler Studios demonstrate their egg-pairing platformer, Re:Pair.

Creative teams generated over 20 action-packed games at the University of Southampton as part of the world’s largest game jam.

Around 80 students, alumni and professionals from game studios gathered at Electronics and Computer Science’s (ECS) David Barron Computing Laboratory at the start of February as they joined close to 50,000 developers in over 100 countries taking part in the Global Game Jam.

The teams planned, built and showcased series of video and board games in just 48 hours, with their creations now available to download and play on the Global Game Jam website.

Dr Tom Blount, ECS Research Fellow and Southampton Game Jam co-organiser, says: “The jam is a chance for people to meet, work together, learn new skills and have fun creating something. It isn’t a competition and one of its biggest draws is taking pride and joy in building something to share with others.

“There’s always an interesting mix of games created as a result of the jam but frantic, multiplayer games are always a very popular choice. We had an amazing 23 games submitted this month, which brings our grand total to 156 across the event’s six years.”

This year’s global theme was ‘repair’ and Southampton entries included airship action strategy game Isle of Sky, platformer puzzle Larry the Worm and World War I arcade title Medic!. Point and click special Nuclear BopIt! was voted the 2020 Southampton People’s Choice for its playful take on twisting, tapping and entering passwords to halt a nuclear reactor explosion.

Participants watched a video of keynote speakers from the Global Game Jam on the Friday evening before groups were formed to discuss ideas that could be programmed at pace in the computer labs. Some teams worked through the nights before a Sunday afternoon showcase when everyone could try each other’s games and vote for their favourite.

This year’s teams largely consisted of Southampton Electronics and Computer Science students but also included visitors from the universities of Portsmouth and Bournemouth along with professionals from Climax Studio. In previous years, experts from the Bitmap Bureau, Boss Alien, Freejam and Studio Gobo have also attended.

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Published: 14 February 2020
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Professor Simon Hettrick

A new national competition sponsored by academics from the University of Southampton is diversifying the recognition of research excellence by celebrating all who contribute to its creation.

Professor Simon Hettrick, Deputy Director of the Software Sustainability Institute, has marked the launch of the hidden REF with an article on Research Professional News, outlining its objective to credit overlooked achievements from the arts to zoology.

The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is a widely viewed assessment of the quality of research in UK universities, however its submissions are often dominated by academic publications.

“The research community’s myopic fixation on publications as the metric of research excellence means that the REF overlooks many skilled people who are essential to the conduct of research but do not get authorship of papers,” Simon says.

“Research is about more than publications. By raising awareness of the full range of different and vital outputs, I hope the hidden REF will lead to greater recognition of the variety of people that make research possible. Ultimately, we’re running this competition because we believe a fairer research environment is a more effective one.”

The competition’s first phase, which runs to July this year, is seeking suggestions for categories of research outputs that are currently unrecognised. The second phase will then receive submissions for newly identified research categories and judge them through expert panels before winners are announced in November.

Simon’s opinion piece, Hidden REF reveals unsung heroes, is available in full from Research Professional News.

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