Contact: Dr Patricia Scully
/ Address:-PHY153 Arts/Science Building | Physics: University of Galway | Phone: +353 (0)91 492717 / patricia.scully@nuigalway.ieONE PhD project available immediately at University of Galway.
Flexible Polymer-Carbon Composites for Medical Sensors-Characterisation & Application
Project starts Sept/Oct 2023
A Four Year PhD Scholarship (2023-2027) in Laser Functionalisation of Flexible Polymer-Carbon Composites for Medical Sensing are now available are available immediately located at NUIG (National University of Ireland Galway). Funded by Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future Project fund
New carbons, such as graphene, create novel electronics at an ultra-compact scale, replacing metals, silicon and semiconductors, but are disadvantaged by complex and toxic manufacturing methods, requiring process liquids/gases, clean rooms and controlled atmospheres. This project creates flexible polymers, for sensing spatial variations in temperature, moisture and strain for smart polymer skins or smart dressings are required for wound healing, or contaminated or damaged surfaces in structural health monitoring. A single step direct laser writing (DLW) process will structure the solid carbon material in 3D to tune the composite conductivity, functionalization and sensitivity to strain, temperature and moisture.
Applicants should demonstrate excellent performance at Undergraduate level and/or Masters level in a physical or engineering subject (Physics, Materials Science, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering) and be prepared to work in a multidisciplinary environment.
They will learn optical and chemical analytical techniques for chemical and electrical characterisation of materials.
PhD Project PS2 specialises in Polymer Characterisation. The student will receive training on optical quality polymer material analysis and testing. They will perform chemical characterisation such as Raman, SEM, XPS, and electrical characterisation of DLW carbon structures. and evaluate the performance of structures and sensors. The student should have an interest in material and electronic analysis and instrumentation.
This research work will equip a student with skills in the following research areas:
Instrumentation: photonic materials for sensors and devices, ranging from functional materials, to laser inscribed photonic and conducting structures in transparent materials that affect their optical and electronic properties.
Materials: Advanced functional materials, and their optical, materials and chemical properties for structures and devices. Nano-electronics, materials characterisation and analytical methods.
Manufacturing & Process analytics: industrial/manufacturing processes using laser and photonic technologies for sensors and devices. Key enabling technologies, such as laser/additive/subtractive manufacturing.
Funded by recently awarded Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future project.
The PhD student will be funded for 48 months: €96K including fees €5,500 (EU fees) and annual stipend €19,000. Outstanding International Candidates may be considered.
Contact Dr Patricia Scully for more details on how to apply for the PhD projects.
patricia.scully@universityofgalway.ie
View adverts on external sites on link below.
Graphene growth kinetics for CO2 laser carbonization of polyimide
PhD student Ratul Biswas has published his second paper in Elsevier Materials Letters on optimising laser write conditions for laser induced Graphene created from inscription of polyimide.
Arrhenius Growth of Graphene crystallite from Polyimide was studied and activation energy of growth was calculated for CO2 laser carbonization. This study will help to control average graphene crystallite size by proper control of laser fluence and scan speed.
Thanks to the NCLA – National Centre for Laser Applications team and DCU team for their support!
#Graphene #Laser #micromachining
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X2101795X
How our footsteps could be used for security and health checks.
Check out my article in RTE Brainstorm.
https://www.rte.ie/author/1010414-patricia-scully/
Analysis: new research shows how behavioural biometrics such as walking provide valuable data about who we are and our health and well-being
Image analysis of faces, fingerprints and retinal scans to identify people is well established at this stage. But “behavioural biometrics” such as walking provide valuable biomechanical information since every human has to walk or interact with gravity to get about.
Walking generates periodic motion affected by body characteristics such as age, fitness, sex, health and identity and can uniquely identify a person. Humans can recognise family members by the sound of their footsteps. We can spot a loved one walking at a distance or in a crowd by the sounds and visual signals their body makes. Clinicians can identify diseases and conditions from observing how a patient walks, again from their experiential training from many patients.
The way people walk can be used for ID and health checks
Check out our artcile in The Economist. July 2018.
LISTEN carefully to the footsteps in the family home, especially if it has wooden floors unmuffled by carpets, and you can probably work out who it is that is walking about. The features most commonly used to identify people are faces, voices, finger prints and retinal scans. But their “behavioural biometrics”, such as the way they walk, are also giveaways.
Researchers have, for several years, used video cameras and computers to analyse people’s gaits, and are now quite good at it. But translating such knowledge into a practical identification system can be tricky—especially if that system is supposed to be covert. Cameras are often visible, are fiddly to set up, require good lighting and may have their view obscured by other people. So a team led by Krikor Ozanyan of the University of Manchester, in England and Patricia Scully of the National University of Ireland, in Galway have been looking for a better way to recognise gait. Their answer: pressure-sensitive mats.
Relocation to National University of Ireland, Galway-NUIG
This research group/theme has relocated National University of Ireland, Galway.
Please see contact for new details.
“Towards 3-D laser nano patterning in polymer optical materials,”
Invited Conference Paper at Photonics West 2015, San Francisco
Patricia Scully and Walter Perrie
“Towards 3-D laser nano patterning in polymer optical materials,”
presented 12 February at Photonics West SPIE LASE at Conference 9351: Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing IX, 7 – 12 February 2015, San Francisco, California United States. 30 minutes
Progress towards 3-D subsurface structuring of polymers using femtosecond lasers is presented. Highly localised refractive index changes can be generated deep in transparent optical polymers without pre doping for photo-sensitisation or post processing by annealing. Understanding the writing conditions surpasses the limitations of materials, dimensions and chemistry, to facilitate unique structures entirely formed by laser-polymeric interactions to overcome materials, dimensional, refractive index and wavelength constraints. Numerical aperture, fluence, temporal pulselength, wavelength and incident polarisation are important parameters to be considered, in achieving the desired inscription. Non-linear aspects of multiphoton absorption, plasma generation, filamentation and effects of incident polarisation on the writing conditions will be presented.
Keywords: Femtosecond laser, polymer, PMMA, refractive index, nanostructure, waveguide, volume Bragg grating, spatial light modulator.
UMRI: Creating Critical Mass in New Technologies for Mobility and Motion Monitoring for Healthcare
UMRI: Creating Critical Mass in New Technologies for Mobility and Motion Monitoring for Healthcare.
Patricia Scully1, Emma Stanmore2, Krikor Ozanyan3, Paul Wright3, Lei Ren4, Sarah Tyson2, Michael Callaghan5
CEAS1, NMSW2, EEE3, MACE4, TM5
We have been awarded a grant to form a multidisciplinary network based in the North-West of England, led by The University of Manchester (UoM) to develop and calibrate novel emerging technologies for remote and cost effective monitoring of human movement.
Gait and balance are indicators of well-being, and can identify patients suffering from mobility problems and requiring rehabilitation, enabling changes to be tracked in degenerative conditions, such as dementia, Parkinsons and arthritis.
Remotely monitoring mobility in the patient’s home, would increase the numbers of patients benefitting from prescribed exercises for rehabilitation and improve self-management of care, thus saving clinical costs.
Article in Express Newspaper-High tech health! How robots and magic carpets could keep illness at bay
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/531266/Innovations-change-lives
THE MAGIC CARPET
Falls in the home are the most common reason for hospital admission among over-65s.
Researchers at the University of Manchester have pioneered a carpet which detects if the occupant of the house has taken a tumble.
Using sensors on the underlay which relay information to a computer, the system picks up sudden changes in movement. It can also detect subtle changes in gait which could indicate a mobility problem.
The magic carpets could soon be fitted in homes, geriatric wards and care homes.
Professor Chris Todd who is working on the project says: “Falls are a really important problem for our ageing society. More than a third of older people fall each year.
“The carpets can gather a wide range of information.”
Magic Carpet selected as one of top 20 innovative research projects from UK universities for Universities Week 2014.
http://www.universitiesweek.org.uk/Ideas/Pages/MagicCarpet.aspx#.VGaeKaNFDIU
An interdisciplinary team from The University of Manchester has created a ‘magic carpet’ which can immediately detect when someone has fallen over and can help to predict mobility problems.
Falling is the most serious and frequent accident in the home and accounts for 50% of hospital admissions in the over 65s. Our scientists have demonstrated a ‘magic carpet’ that can show a steady deterioration or change in walking habits, possibly predicting a dramatic episode such as a fall.
The research demonstrated that plastic optical fibres, laid on the underlay of a carpet, bend when anyone treads on it and map, in real-time, their walking patterns. Tiny electronics at the edges act as sensors and relay signals to a computer, which can then be analysed to show the image of the footprint and identify gradual changes in walking behaviour or a sudden incident such as a fall or trip. The technology could be used to fit smart carpets in care homes or hospital wards, as well as being fitted in people’s homes if necessary. Physiotherapists could also use the carpet to map changes and improvements in a person’s gait.
The interdisciplinary team used a novel tomographic technique similar to hospital scanners. It maps 2D images by using light propagating under the surface of the smart carpet. One of the team, Dr Patricia Scully said: “The carpet can gather a range of information about a person’s condition; from biomechanical to chemical sensing of body fluids, enabling holistic sensing to provide an environment that detects and responds to changes in patient condition. The carpet can be retrofitted at low cost, to allow living space to adapt as the occupiers’ needs evolve – particularly relevant with an aging population and for those with long term disabilities – and incorporated non-intrusively into any living space.”
University name: University of Manchester
Researcher name and department: Prof Krikor Ozanyan, Professor of Sensors and Sensing Systems and Head of Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Polymer Sensors & Devices@Galway 