The Materials and Engineering Research Institute's annual Symposium was held on 17th and 18th May 2016 at Sheffield Hallam University. The event brought together colleagues from across MERI and the Department of Engineering and Mathematics providing an opportunity for staff to meet in a supportive, collaborative environment to discuss current research projects, research proposals and act as a catalyst for new ideas.

Over 100 delegates attended a varied programme of talks over the course of the two days. Professor Alan Smith, Director of MERI, hailed the event as an excellent showcase for the broad range and high quality of research which takes place across the Institute.

To round off the first day of the Symposium Professor Wayne Cranton presented a professorial lecture on Light, colour, displays, and the science behind the screen. His presentation centred on how the science of light and its interaction with materials has been used to develop technologies for display systems and how this relates to the capabilities of human vision and perception.  

As part of the Symposium, prizes were awarded to students who gave presentations and presented posters at the event. Congratulations go to

Presentations

Joint 1st Prize

Alireza Dastan - Computer simulation of fibre self-assembly: the effect of seeding
and Ronak Janani - A new class of ionogels as electrolyte for solid-state supercapacitors

Runner-up

Cristina Pascual-González - Piezoelectric-to-electrostrictive crossover in promising photovoltaic ceramics 

Highly Commended

Kallum Burgin, Enohor Igbeyi, Ayotunde Ojo, Alex Scrimshire.

Posters

PhD 1st Prize – Judges Vote

Carolina Elicker - Potassium niobate for photovoltaic devices

PhD Runner up – Judges Vote

Georgia Christopoulou - Understanding the in-service behaviour of a novel fibre insulation material

Highly Commended

Ali Madlool Al-Jawdah, Khalid Rmyadh Muhammed, Mirjam Skof

Undergraduate – Public Vote

David O' Dea - Design of a Differential for a Formula Student Class 2 Concept Vehicle