Optional tours hosted by the University of York

The University of York will be hosting a number of tours on offer for delegates attending the Summer Soirée.

Archaeology: Early weapons engineering

Star Carr in North Yorkshire is one of the world’s most important early Mesolithic sites and sheds new light on techniques used more than 10,000 years ago to make projectile points from antlers – a talk and demonstration will take place at the historic Kings Manor.

Length of tour: 1hr
Number of tours: 2

Biology : Microscopy

Europe’s only JEOL ClairScope is just one a range of high powered microscopes on show at the Department of Biology and will demonstrate how a collaboration between engineers and biologists is revealing the hidden world of living cells.

Length of tour: 30mins
Number of tours: 4

Computer vision

A Cyberware 3030 headscanner and a geodesic light dome are the centerpiece of a tour of the Department of Computer Science. We will show how the reflectance properties of light are used to probe the shape, structure and material properties of surfaces including an analysis of terrain topography using radar returns.

Length of tours: 30mins
Number of tours: 4

Electronics - High altitude platforms – wireless communication

Demonstration of High Altitude Platform wireless communication payloads and video of trials that took place in Sweden from an aerial platform at 24km. The tour will also include a demonstration of the first test of broadband wireless and free space optical links from the stratosphere. The launch and recovery phases of a 12000m3 stratospheric balloon and its payload will be shown.

Length of tour: 20 mins
Number of tours: 6

Electronics: Transistors at the atomistic level

We will focus on one of the greatest challenges in electronic design: taking the physical effects of intrinsic variability into account when the shrinking of device sizes approach atomistic levels, in order to achieve functional circuit designs. A novel reconfigurable VLSI device that can be manipulated at the analogue and digital abstraction levels will be demonstrated.

Length of tour: 15-20mins
Number of tours: 6

Electronics: Finding your voice

Fellows have the opportunity to observe demonstrations of key aspects of the work of the Department of Electronics into the human voice at Genesis 6, a six-sided acoustic anechoic room; the tour will also feature a demonstration of a loudspeaker listening ring in Genesis 6 to illustrate further aspects of our work.

Length of tour: 20 mins
Number of tours 5

Electronics: Body water analysis

One or more resonant cavities will be connected to a network analyser to show that placing a sample of salt water within the cavity changes both its resonant frequency and Q-factor. This illustrates a method of investigating body water that has implications for the treatment of kidney and heart diseases, and for the diets of elite athletes.

Length of tour: 20mins
Number of tours: 4

Physics/Electronics: Magnetisation reversal processes

We will conduct a tour showing our collaboration with private sector partner, Plasma Quest, and the development of Remote Plasma Sputtering as a solution to a wide range of materials and applications. Larger equipment used in this process will be shown.

Length of tour: 30mins
Number of tours: 4

Environment: Nanoparticle tracking

Demonstration of Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis technology: this technology detects and visualises populations of nanoparticles in liquids down to 10nm and enables us to understand the aggregation behaviour of engineered nanoparticles in natural systems.

Length of tour: 25mins
Number of tours: 4

Plasma: Intel and fusion collaborations

The EPSRC funded York Plasma Institute (also a partner of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy) is home to Intel’s plasma nanofabrication and other devices which form a core part of YPI’s collaboration with Intel. Fellows will also have the opportunity to see a linear confinement device, where diagnostic development for larger fusion activity like MAST and JET at Culham takes place.

Length of tour: 25mins
Number of tours: 4

Sound engineering

The Music Research Centre – including the anechoic Rymer Auditorium – is one of the finest large-audience spaces for listening to electroacoustic music. The tour will comprise of presentations of recent compositions and research, along with an explanation of the impact of the acoustic engineering embedded within the MRC.

Length of tour: 45-50mins
Number of tours: 2

Improving MRI performance

The Centre for Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance (CHyM) aims to improve the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to provide valuable information on diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer: Fellows can take a tour of the centre and gain an understanding of the likely outputs of the Centre’s research in medical diagnostics and technology.

Length of tour: 20 mins
Number of tours: tbc

Robotic research: Robotics Laboratory

The University of York Robotics Laboratory is developing a range of robotic applications, from robot mounted chemical agent detection to modular robotic systems. The Tour will stow a variety of robotics research that is on-going at York and illustrate the challenges of developing robotic systems for use in everyday life.

Length of tour: 20mins
Number of tours: 5
 

Additional tour 28 June

We are delighted to announce an additional tour by York Minster, available on the morning of the 28 June, times tbc.

A guided tour of York Minster

Learn more about its art, history, and music and how these have changed with York over the centuries. The Minster's qualified voluntary guides will take you through the entire cathedral, pointing out its hidden treasures and stunning stained glass, giving you an informative and interesting look at its amazing history and life. Also included as part of the tour, The Orb is a must-see for all visitors. An elliptical treasure house of stained glass, showcasing five examples of some of world's most important medieval art.