Open Days
Open Day 2010
The next University Open Days for prospective undergraduates will take place on Friday 25th June 2010 and Wednesday 22nd September 2010.
As part of the University Open Days, the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering will be holding a series of displays and activities throughout the day. This is your chance to talk about your chosen subject, meet academic staff and current students, and to take a look around. If you're thinking about studying electrical engineering, come along and see for yourself!
Tours of the Department's research facilities and teaching areas will take place on both Open Days throughout the day and will visit some of the following areas:
Wireless Communications
Visit the Wireless and Networks Research Laboratory! See how antennas are designed, characterised and tested, and explore how the physical environment effects a wireless signal. Learn how our current research is making such systems more efficient and more accurate. The work of electrical engineers at all levels of wireless systems and networks come together in some of the projects that will be looked at, such as endoscopic video for horses and improved breast cancer detection.
Signal Processing
Come and visit the Image and Video Processing Research Laboratory where we will explore the facilities used in the research activities of the Signal Processing group. Participate in an eye tracking experiment and see how eye tracking equipment can be used for improving video compression. An automatic video object tracking method will be demonstrated for following objects of interest with a camera. We will also show you the camera rig facility which allows us to capture multiple view-point video and generate synthesised views.
Electrical Energy Management Group
In the Electrical Energy Management Group's Research Laboratory you can see examples of high-efficiency electrical machines designed for renewable energy systems and 'more-electric' applications such as electric and hybrid vehicles. In addition, we will see examples of the power electronic converters and control systems required to efficiently and safely manage the interchange of electrical and mechanical energy. We will see examples of electrical actuators designed for 'more-electric' aircraft applications, such as the Airbus A380, and working test rigs for an electrical helicopter rotor drive and for a wind turbine generator. In the Advanced Control and Test Laboratory, we will see a 200kW dynamometer being used to test drivetrain for heavy electric vehicles.
Photonics
We will visit the Photonics Research Labs where you will get a flavour of the work carried out in our research group. We work in many different areas of Photonics including device fabrication in our cleanroom where we make lasers, optical amplifiers and switches all on the same piece of semiconductor material. In years to come this kind of optical processing chip - known as a Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) may even replace the electronic chips that we know so well. You will see examples of the nanofabrication that we are involved in order to control how light flows through structures. You will also be introduced the strange world of Quantum Information where single photons are used to create completely unbreakable codes.
For further details about Open Day 2010 or to book your place, please visit the the University Open Day webpages.