EPS

EPS Technical Photo Competition 2009

• Sponsored by School of EPS, Heriot-Watt University and supported by Vestas Wind Systems and ST Imaging

• 195 submitted photos and 42 participants

• 40 selected photos into final stage

• Top 3 best photos and many runner-ups

The winning photo

1^st prize

		Plasma Attraction By Heather Dalgarno Electrical discharge reveals strange patterns beneath the hands. This plasma ball is used to demonstrate the strange and beautiful phenomena as the discharge is attracted to any conductive object placed close to its surface. Click on the image to see a larger version
2nd prize
		Cell aggregation By Rama Yusvana Microscopic view of a single cell aggregate (of skin cells) between electrode castellation. The cells are arranged in a tightly-packed 3D architecture facilitating direct cell-cell contact and communication via signalling molecules. The cells can be immobilised in an artificial extracellular (gel) matrix and remain viable. The aggregates are used for long-term in vitro studies of developmental processes in skin.
3rd prize		Click on the image to see a larger version
		Retina for oximetry by Gonzalo Muyo Our research exploits the subtle variations in the absorption spectra of blood that accompany changes in its oxygenation. These are captured using a patented spectral retinal imaging instrument and computer algorithms are used to produce images that map retinal blood oxygenation and metabolic activity. This technology has promise for screening, monitoring of disease progression and the effects of treatment in patients with diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. The image is a composite of several spectral images of the retina. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Runner up Prize
		Focus by Heather Dalgarno This image shows part of a teaching experiment designed to demonstrate the basic principles of reflection and refraction. Click on the image to see a larger version
		Decane in water By Christopher Brown Measurement of interfacial tension between decane and water Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Plenoptic camera By Tom Bishop, Sara Zanetti, Paolo Favaro We have constructed a "Plenoptic camera", a modified camera which captures many images simultaneously through a standard lens.  The images are captured by inserting an array of microlenses very close to the camera's sensor.  Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Packaged Micromachined Three-Axis Accelerometer by Craig Lowrie The sensor pictured here was fabricated using a micromachining process in which a silicon wafer is subjected to various doping, deposition and etching steps to produce this piezoresistive three-axis accelerometer. The sensor has been designed to be sutured to the heart wall of a patient who has undergone heart bypass surgery and has dimensions are 2.5x3.5x0.9 mm. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Smiley face by Rainer Beck Beam shaping result using a Spatial Light Modulator and a calculated diffractive optical element phase pattern (Gaussian beam shape incident on the SLM). Photoshop combination of two beam shaping results using a Spatial Light Modulator. Click on the image to see a larger version
		Albert Einstein by FIB By Jining Sun FIB technology is one of the most state-of-art precision engineering methods. This technique is used particularly in the materials science fields for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Fibre Pathway by Heather Dalgarno Fibre optics form the backbone of modern telecommunications. This image of a fibre optic bundle, part of a teaching experiment, was taken to represent these pathways of communication. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Microconductor By David Flynn Flip-chip bonded microconductor with alternative core samples positioned on a 5 pence coin. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Diamond film in plasma fusion reactor By Philip John The world’s first experiment of a diamond film within the Tokamak plasma fusion reactor (Culham Laboratory, UK) Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Surface wetability alteration by Christopher Brown Droplets of water on rock as part of investigations into surface wetability alteration. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Polarisation Reveals by Heather Dalgarno Polarised light can be used to reveal hidden detail. Stress contours within a polymer appear as rainbows of light when viewed through crossed polarisers. This image is from part of a teaching demonstration. Click on the image to see a larger version
		Wind-powered water purification system By Gavin Park These photos were all taken whilst testing a wind-powered water purification system at a wind tunnel facility run by TUV NEL in East Kilbride. The water purification system uses a reverse osmosis membrane to purify water from brackish groundwater sources. All of the equipment is mounted onto an off-road trailer and is powered by a 1kW wind turbine without the use of energy storage.  This system would supply drinking water for a community of up to fifty people, and would be ideal for disaster relief or refugee camp situations. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Nessie By Robert H Hadfield Wirebonding is a technique for creating electrical connections to silicon microchips.  A metal wire (comparable to the width of a human hair) is fused to a surface using ultrasound.  This is a standard tool in our research laboratory, but also has some creative potential.. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Micro-Cantilever Beam By Alice Daniels Microcantilever beams cut using the laser facilities in Earl Mountbatten. Each with a width of 100 microns. I am using these beams in my four years project and will be incorporating them into microfluidic channels which as a combination will form a major part of a MEMS device. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Light Waterfall by Heather Dalgarno A fibre optic bundle from an undergraduate teaching experiment forms a waterfall of light. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Fly and device By David Flynn Scanning Electron Microscope Image of Microinductor next to a Fly. The highest power density micro-inductor achieved to date. UV-LIGA manufacture was used to fabricate the device. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Beauty of the HWU Sun Pointer By Pasidu Pallawela This device is an experimental unit which is used to pin point the suns location at any given time without any moving parts or a tracking system. The systems consist of 6 steel balls encircled by a ring and a positive meniscus lens (concave-convex) kept on top of them. For any given position of the sun in its trajectory, suns image will get incident on three balls as point images. Because of the reflection of the steel balls and because of refraction effects of the lens, they make real images on a particular plane when the setup is correctly arranged. Depending on the positions of these three points, the position of the sun can be calculated. A 0.1 watt red LED was placed in the middle of the balls and thereafter an additional steel ball was placed on the middle of the lens. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Grating Reflections by Heather Dalgarno This abstract image is of three diffraction orders, created by reflection of a light source from a specially designed diffraction grating. These gratings form the heart of our 3D imaging optics – Originally developed for astronomy to de-twinkle the stars these gratings are now finding new application in Biology. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Fluorescence Shines by Heather Dalgarno Fluorescein dye emits green fluorescence when excited with blue light. The sample shown is mounted on our 3D imaging microscope. Accurate particle tracking of fluorescent bio-markers is key to visualising and understanding complex biological processes. We work with biology groups in the UK applying our 3D imaging and tracking to real biology problems Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Coils by laser By Jack Ng Electroless copper plated micro-coil fabricated by laser direct-writing Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Electronic circuit By Lukasz Michal Sznajder This is photography of an electronical circuit. It consists of photo interrupters and resistors soldered to vary board. They are part of a card reader that I designed and built for third year group project. The purpose of the project was to create a machine that would make storage of atomic waste easier by changing it into glass. The process is called verification and it makes the radioactive waste easier to handle and more stable. Click on the image to see a larger version
		Dielectrophoresis in 3D By Rama Yusvana Accumulation of cells initially starts at electrode edges where electric field strength is the highest. Cells start to fill up the remaining regions of high electric field. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Aligned nanofibres Mohamed Basel Bazbouz A magnified photograph of an array of aligned centimeter long composite nanofibres (nylon 6 + CNTs), were deposited in a curved parallel path between two copper disks with a uniform diameter distribution. The photo is important because it shows a mechanism for stretching and aligning a super high ratio l/d material body in nanoscale dimensions by geometrical, mechanical and electrical forces. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		S*L*M By Rainer Beck Phase profile on Spatial Light Modulator with grouped pixels in order to simulate a deformable mirror with 400 actuators. Additional Fresnel-lens required for compensation of curvature of the display. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Flying Bird By Rehan Ahmed Finite element analysis results: output-from-creep-mode showing a bird shape Click on the image to see a larger version.
		Electric field distributions By Zhang-cheng Hao They are the full-wave simulated vector electric field distributions of my recent developed multilayer ultra wideband bandpass filter. Click on the image to see a larger version.
		3D density plots By Rama Yusvana Image analysis of the various cell patterns made using dielectrophoresis can be used to obtain information about the cell aggregation process and further development. The images presented are 3D density plots. Click on the image to see a larger version .

EPS local organisation members:

Dr. Richard Fu

Dr. Lynn Paterson; Dr. Ai-Lan Lee; Dr. Changhai Wang; Dr. Nicholas Willoughby; Dr. Xichun Luo

Advisory Board Members:

Prof. Douglas Greenhalgh; Prof. Ian Galbraith; Mr. David Nisbet; Prof. Bob Reuben; Prof. Andrew Moore; Dr. Graeme White; Prof. Duncan Hand; Prof. Marc Desmulliez; Dr. Kevin McCullough;

Supported by

(1) Vestas Wind Systems http://www.vestas.com/

(2) Imaging