News

Students won Nasa challenge

2013-05-20T07:00:00Z

The International Space Apps Challenge attracted over 9,000 participants in 75 locations in 50 countries on 20-21 April. On Campus Lindholmen in Gothenburg more than 100 people gathered for a weekend dedicated to problem solving, programming and creativity.

The purpose of the NASA-staged the event – which was organized for the second time – was to develop solutions to challenges within well specified areas such as robotics, geographic analysis, meteorology, visualization, 3D technology and wireless communication. All solutions were submitted as open source, and are now available to solve global social problems.

13 teams were formed and took on the task of developing their concepts during an intense weekend. Nico Boh, Patrik Bäckström and James Omoya teamed up with Allen Smith from Ericsson and Marcus Hedenström from Wireless Car, decided on the challenge "Smart Cities, Smart Climate" and proceeded into a two-three hour long brainstorming session that led to the concept of "Greener Cities".

The work over the weekend continued with developing a prototype to demonstrate the vision. Primarily for the jury, but the group went to work with the aim of a concept that could, in the longer term, be presented to the public.
– So basically what we came up with is a garden monitoring sensor, that can do a lot of things. It can monitor your plants and tell you if they need water, and it registers the quality of the air around your garden, says James Omoya.

“Street view” of the air quality
Data from the sensors that people keep in their garden will be crowd sourced in order to provide a holistic picture of, for example, the air quality throughout Gothenburg. The group also sees that it would be possible to to mount sensors on buses and trams, to collect information about for example the emission along the routes.
– The idea is that the city itself has an urge to be as climate friendly as possible, it doesn’t have to be each individual, says Patrik Bäckström.

One of the objectives is to offer a "street view" over the air quality in the absolute vicinity. Areas with low emissions are indicated by green circles, and areas with poor air quality are highlighted in red.
– Environmental data today is available for countries, or maybe bigger cities, but you will never get it for certain areas, neighborhoods or even streets. Our idea is to say “wouldn’t it be nice to see how the air quality of your neighborhood is”, says Nico Boh.

Fuglesang and Coquand in the jury
The concept appealed to the local jury, which featured names such as Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, Olle Norberg, chairman of the Swedish National Sapceboard and former CSE Head of Department Catarina Coquand, and "Greener Cities" was selected for global judging. An international jury will select the four best entries in the world. There will also be a public vote on the website spaceappschallenge.org - the winner of the vote will receive a special “public award”.

For the international assessment, the winning team from Gothenburg has produced a two-minute video presentation.
– We are delighted to be part of the competition. It has been a great experience, but really, it's not so much about competing. The basic idea behind the challenge is to get as many people as possible from as many different countries as possible to come together and develop something great together. It's about collaboration, says James Omoya.

Text: Anneli Andersson and Michael Nystås
Photo: Anneli Andersson

If you want to support the project you can post your vote here

See the promotion video for "Greener Cities" here

Read about International Space Apps Challenge here

Blogg from the Gothenburg-event here

Time for departure to China

2013-05-13T06:00:00Z

One chilly afternoon just before Walpurgis Night, Chalmers Solar Decathlon-team Halo Sweden put on a mingle event in the building project tent on Campus Johanneberg. Canapés and guided tours of the finished competition entry for the international student competition Solar Decathlon were on the program.

Mats Viberg: Now we're changing up a gear!
Chalmers first vice president Mats Viberg was present on site.
‘We have learnt a lot from Formula Student. But now we’re changing up a gear. You can park a good many formula cars in this house,’ he said during his brief welcome speech.
Viberg took this opportunity to thank the sponsors:
‘Without you this would not have been possible’ he said.
To wild applause from the public, and along with student Josua Smedberg, he then hammered a symbolic nail into the house wall to mark the finalising of the building project.
‘I haven’t hammered in a nail since I put up my dissertation,’ he quipped.

Many aspects to consider
The project is so big that students have their own project manager for the practical building work; Shea Hagy. Malin Kjellberg has acted as university project manager for Halo Sweden since January.
‘There have been many aspects to consider, and there is still a lot to learn, because this is the first time Chalmers has participated in a Solar Decathlon. It is important to learn from our experiences in this project and see how these can be implemented in our education courses,’ Malin Kjellberg said.
The Halo project lies close to her heart and she is very pleased over the intense interest exhibited by the students – this bodes well for the future, she says.
‘The students get a chance to combine everything they have learnt during their first year at Chalmers. It’s fantastic to watch them put so much soul into this project. They are ambitious and always finish what they begin. It will be very exciting to see how they perform in China,’ Malin Kjellberg said.

Electric bicycle equipped with camera will document on site
In the throng we found Sven Hagnell, marketing manager for Gaze-Bike, a company selling electric bicycles and now sponsoring Halo Sweden with a bicycle.
‘This is especially piquant considering our bikes are made in China. We brought one back to Göteborg, smartened it up and are sending it over together with the house,’ Sven Hagnell said.
Once in China the intention is for the bicycle to be fitted with a camera and show pictures on the Internet.

Going along to Datong
V-technologists Linus Appelgren and Henrik Erlandsson took the opportunity to test ride the electric bicyle. Both are taking the Structural Engineering and Building technology masters’ program, and are two of the chalmerists going along to Datong.
‘This is very exciting. There are still many challenges ahead, but I think we have come a long way,’ Henrik Erlandsson said.

Text and photo: Michael Nystås

Contacts:
Malin Kjellberg, project manager, +4631-772 1376, malin.kjellberg@chalmers.se
Josua Smedberg, project coordinator and student builder, Team Sweden, +4673-929 8191, josua@halosweden.com

Read more about and follow developments on the Halo site and blog >>>
www.halosweden.com

Watch the Halo walk-thru movie
Film from the construction site

For earlier news about Solar Decathlon >>>
Solar Decathlon house taking shape at Chalmers
Round housing is smarter

Halo Sweden in social media >>>
www.facebook.com/halosweden
vimeo.com/user10974378
www.flickr.com/photos/halosweden
www.youtube.com/user/HaloTeamSweden2013
twitter.com/HaloTeamSweden

Chalmers tops international student survey

2013-05-08T06:00:00Z

International Student Barometer, ISB, is an annual survey of international student assessment of seats of learning. This year 160 000 student opinions were collected from 193 seats of learning in 14 nations.
The survey contains four question categories: learning, support, arrival and living. Several questions are asked from each category to map out student experiences of education and peripheral functions.
The questionnaire was sent out to 1 350 Chalmers students and response was 55%, the fifth best figure of the entire survey.

Chalmers Student Union best in Europe
The survey shows that students find support from the student union to be number one in Europe and 12th in the world. Students reported excellent opportunities for engaging in student social life via committees and associations. Chalmers are ranked seventh best in Europe and the campus restaurant is awarded high marks, coming in at number 12 in the world.

Chalmers first in Europe, third in the world
The results of the education survey were very positive, with Chalmers occupying the first position in Europe and third worldwide. The slightly lower world ranking is caused by students finding too little connection between trade and industry and the education courses.
Accommodation results indicate clearly that opportunities for good accommodation are wanting and many students describe this situation as being a major obstacle for studying at Chalmers.
Students find living costs high too, although this and the accommodation problem are not unique to Chalmers, but apply to Sweden as a whole.

Text: Petter Evertsson, Chalmers Student Union
Photo: Jan-Olof Yxell

Big chalmerist meeting in USA

2013-05-07T07:00:00Z

The alumni meeting is put on at the same time as the association’s annual meeting. This is a traditional gathering for chalmerists in USA and Canada, going back to the early 1950s. The meeting coincides with Memorial Day, the big USA public holiday.
‘We kick-off the annual meeting with a classic Club Emil evening – Swedish pea soup and pancakes,’ Urban Ziegler tells us, who is looking forward to having a memorable time.

Talks on the energy for the future
Friday the 24th of May is spent mostly at the House of Sweden, designed by Chalmers educated architect Gert Wingårdh, and which also houses the Swedish Embassy. The day features talks on the theme “Energy for the future”.
Delegates from Chalmers are president and CEO Karin Markides, professor Tomas Kåberger, CRO Anders Wennberg and alumni coordinator Peter Hellqvist.
Presentations will be delivered by Markides, Kåberger and representatives from trade and industry. There will be a panel debate with Kåberger, Sarah Ladislaw, Center for Strategic & International Studies, Doug Arent of the US energy department, Tony Greszler, Volvo Group Technology and Samuel S Di Renzo, Renewable Energy.
Other participants include Bo Hedfors, chairman of US Friends of Chalmers, Rolf Höijer and Ola Göransson from the Swedish Embassy, Washington.

Guided tours
During this busy weekend, delegates can look forward to guided tours of the House of Sweden and the Capitol congress building and a good opportunity to see and experience the American capital.
‘We only had a few visitor passes for the congress building and these went quickly. But the association’s Arne Dunhem managed to conjure up a few more. And as a back-up, several passes for the 27th of May when there will be an opportunity for our guests to see the building on the inside,’ Urban Ziegler said.

Study visit and gasque
A study visit to the Stella Group, a company that works with alternative energy, is planned for the 25th of May. Another high spot will be the evening gasque, held strictly according to Chalmers traditions.
‘We are now discussing the menu with a catering company,‘ Urban Ziegler said, ‘and this is beginning to shape up nicely.’

Text: Michael Nystås
Illustration: A glint in the eye of Åke Hellman, chairman of CING USA-Canada division – the Capitol decorated with a Chalmers cap!

For more about CING USA-Canada division and more information about the annual meeting >>>
www.cing-usa-canada.com

For more about US Friends of Chalmers >>>
usfriendsofchalmers.org

Download the program for Energy for the future [pdf, 174kb]

Sharp chalmerists brainstormed sustainable house

2013-05-07T06:00:00Z

‘Actually, it’s not really possible to prepare for the final, because we get no previous information about the competition subject. All we can do is go there with the same positive attitude we have maintained so far. It will be a tough challenge, but we intend to do our very best,’ Magda Collado said.

Powerful student network
EBEC is a competition arranged by the student organisation Board of European Students of Technology (BEST), a powerful network of engineering students operating at over 90 universities across Europe.
Iuliia Kosulko is vice president of BEST in Göteborg and the person holding the competition strings together with project manager Mats Lindström, who is studying applied physics. One afternoon 40 students in 10 separate teams competed for tickets to the regional finals in Lund. Hunched before their computers and drawing pads in the Chalmers students union, their high speed brains hummed almost audibly.
‘It’s important to understand the case, be able to work in a team and be good at presentation technique. Apart from formulae and tables an engineer needs to understand and analyse the problem and convince the audience of the validity of the concept,’ Iuliia Kosulko said.

More sustainable offices
The chalmerist challenge was to come up with a solution as to how the head offices of engineering consulting company COWI could be made more sustainable and attain a higher environmental certification grading in the long term perspective. COWI is an active partner in this competition. Jonas Klarén (E97), electrical and automation manager, and environmental consultant Johanna Millander (V11) were present in the student union building.
‘It’s a nice way to encourage students and a good way to make our presence known at Chalmers. We have been at the CHARM labour market fair for many years and are interested in recruiting new staff. We have a generation change underway at present,’ Jonas Klarén said.
COWI’s approximately 1 000 employees are divided among 14 offices in Sweden. Half of them work at HQ in Göteborg.
‘Chalmers is important to us. Our employees come from just about all the university’s educational programs,’ Jonas Klarén told us.
He draws similarities between this competition and the Idol talent program:
‘You have three minutes and you need to be the best,’ Jonas Klarén said.

Combines creativity and knowledge
Magda Collado’s team “Enjoyneers” won the Chalmers competition leg. She sees EBEC as a fun and rewarding opportunity to combine creativity and knowledge while putting people’s ability to work as a team to the test.
‘The strength of our team lies in friendship and our different experience. Members come from such widely varied master's programs as Architecture, Mechatronics, Sustainable Energy Systems and Industrial Ecology,’ Magda Collado said.
She’s happy and proud of their victory, which came as a total surprise:
‘It was a tough challenge, the other teams had very good suggestions. We noticed that the building per se had a pretty good design, but was not being used as efficiently as it could have been. Our idea was to create a building with which personnel could integrate, on the theme “orange is the new green”,’ Magda said.
Victory was celebrated with carrot cake, billiards and fun YouTube clips from the competition prizes – factory new Ipads for each member.

Intense planning and preparing
Mats Lindström is project manager at BEST and had worked intensively with planning and preparing EBEC with all manner of things such as printed name tags to contacting sponsors:
‘There are lots of things I’d never realised took such a long time. I was apprehensive about calling companies for support and initially I was extremely nervous,’ he told us.
But he gained confidence quickly when he received a positive response from COWI almost straight away.

Regional finals in Lund May 8-11
The Chalmers competition jury was manned by Johanna Millander, Iuliia Kosulko and MariAnne Karlsson, professor of Human factors engineering - The winning team, “Enjoyneers” comprised Chadalavada Ravi Teja, Thomman Thomas Nellimoottil, Magda Collado and Anna Larsson. The prize was an Ipad for everyone and a place in the regional finals in Lund 8th – 11th May.
They will be competing against teams from Lund University, the Technical University of Denmark, Aalto University of Finland, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. The team that wins in Lund will compete at the European finals in Warsaw, Poland 1s t- 9th of August.

Text and photo: Michael Nystås
Winner photo: BEST Gothenburg

More information about EBEC Nordic

More information about BEST Gothenburg

Invisible pattern can put a stop to counterfeit designer clothing

2013-05-06T06:00:00Z

According to Swedish Customs, trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has exploded the past few years in Sweden, the EU and globally. The situation impacts companies, their employees and unknowing consumers. It is often difficult to see the difference between a genuine garment and a knockoff.

Christian Müller, researcher in polymer technology at Chalmers University of Technology, has found a solution to the problem. He has created a partially invisible thread made of polyethylene and a dye molecule that absorbs visible light. The thread can be weaved into a pattern that is invisible to the naked eye, but which can be seen using a polarization filter.

"The production process itself uncomplicated," he says. "Clothing manufacturers could start using the thread right away to put a signature pattern in their garments. The equipment needed to see the pattern is fairly simple, and is already in place at Swedish Customs, for example."

The invisible thread can be created using several different dye molecules and several different synthetic fibre textiles such as nylon. The dye molecule can also be bonded to natural fibres such as wool and silk. The technology can be used both for clothes and for different types of expensive speciality fabrics such as the textile used in vehicles and caravans.

The idea is for a brand to be associated with its own special combination of textile fibres and dye molecules. The thread is easy and inexpensive for a company to produce.

"It is very difficult for pirate manufacturers to copy the unique combination," says Christian Müller. "They can obtain the equipment needed to read the pattern and ascertain the optical spectrum produced by a specific signature, but they cannot know which combination of components will produce the specific spectrum. And there are loads of different dye molecules available for use."

He published his results last year in the Applied Physics Letters scientific journal. Prior to that, it was not known that a pattern can be created in textile that is part of the actual fabric, and that is only visible under polarized light. There is, however, a similar technology available for creating invisible patterns on banknotes, which is used in Switzerland, for example.

From a long term perspective, Christian Müller's discovery could also be used to manufacture "smart textiles", such as clothing that changes colours based on electrical charge.

Caption, top picture: Using invisible thread can help clothing manufacturers create a logotype that is part of the actual fabric and that only becomes visible under polarized light. The technology produces a specific optical spectrum that is very difficult for pirate manufacturers to copy.
Photo: Christian Müller

More about piracy
According to Swedish Customs, piracy continues to be a major problem in the EU. Piracy is a major industry that currently comprises all types of products – everything from clothing and accessories to pharmaceuticals and car parts. Not only does piracy impact companies and their employees, it also entails a risk for consumers since the knockoffs can be of inferior quality and are sometimes nothing short of dangerous. Knockoffs originate in particular from China, but India, Turkey, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates are also common places of origin.

Read the scientific article in Applied Physics Letters

For more information, please contact:
Christian Müller, assistant professor in polymer technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, +46 31-772 34 06, christian.muller@chalmers.se

International researchers' mingle in Gothenburg

2013-05-03T06:00:00Z

For the sixth consecutive year, Gothenburg’s Trade and Industry Group, the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers gathered international researchers for a mingle event in connection to the annual International Science Festival. This year, the event was held at the science centre Universeum and the invitation was extended to the researchers’ partners and children.

400 people got together
Around 400 people got together at Universeum and were treated to an evening with free access to the science centre’s exhibitions.
“Inviting the families has turned out to be very successful. We decided to make this change based on an evaluation from last year, where many said they would like to bring their family members and spend time together,” said Eva Henricsson, project manager at the Trade and Industry Group, to the web based news site Göteborg Daily.

Looking forward to exploring the science centre
Thomas Yang, a post doc researcher, and Wenwen Sheng, a lab assistant at the University of Gothenburg, brought their young son to the event.
“We came here to have fun with the family,” they said and were looking forward to exploring the science centre together with some friends.

Hoping to find colleagues from Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg
The event is also largely designed to be an opportunity for the researchers to meet and mingle across departments, faculties and nationalities.
“I hope to find some colleagues from both Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg, mingle and have fun,” said Nojan Najafi, PHD student at Chalmers department of Technology Management and Economics.

“Universeum is also particularly suitable as a venue, as both Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg have much research that can be connected to here,” said Eva Henricsson to Göteborg Daily.

Text: Linda Genborg, www.goteborgdaily.se
Photo: Anita Fors

Ninva Shamoun and Michael Andersson awarded the Microwave Road Scholarship

2013-05-02T05:00:00Z

The prize ceremony was held at the workshop Swedish Antenna Veterans’ Day in association with EuCAP 2013, the 11th of April. The scholarship amount is 10 000 SEK.
The students have been attending the Wireless, Photonics and Space Engineering Master's Program at Chalmers.
Microwave Road is a national cluster focusing on international technology and market development uniting industry, universities, research institutes and regional and national public authorities.

Caption:
Ninva Shamoun and Michael Andersson together with the chairman of Microwave Road, Ingmar Andersson. Photo: Jan-Olof Yxell

More information about Microwave Road:
www.microwaveroad.se

More information about the Wireless, Photonics and Space Engineering Master's Program

Charging electric vehicles cheaper and faster

2013-04-30T06:00:00Z

Saeid Haghbin, doctor of electric power engineering, undertook his doctoral studies in order to develop the optimal electric vehicle charger. The result is a novel high-power integrated motor drive and battery charger for vehicle applications, where a new power transfer method has been introduced involving what is known as a rotating transformer.

“The ideal scenario would be to have a charger powerful enough to charge a car in five to ten minutes, but this would cost over $100,000, which is more expensive than the car itself,” says Saeid Haghbin. “The question we posed was: how can we reduce the size, weight and price of the on-board charger”.

Since the electric motor and the inverter are not used during battery charging, the researchers looked into the possibility of using them in the charger circuit and building some kind of integrated motor and battery charger. In other words, would it be possible to use the motor and inverter in the charger circuit to increase the charging power at a lower cost?

“Instead of having a separate isolated battery charger, we introduced a new concept for the power transfer, the rotating transformer, which was developed to transfer electric power while rotating,” says Saeid Haghbin. “The battery is charged through the transformer and a split-phase electric motor that was especially designed for this purpose.”

Model of the integrated motor drive and battery charger. The image shows a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which also has a fuel tank and a combustion engine, but the technology system works equally well with a purely electric vehicle.

The Chalmers integrated charger is, from a university perspective, still on laboratory level. To achieve a more optimal system, further investigations and experimentation are necessary. However, the product has resulted in both a Swedish and an international patent. Chalmers is trying to find a potential industrial user, and Volvo AB is working on the concept for further enhancement to be used in its system.

“Electric cars have been discussed as a possible solution to reduce carbon emissions for a long time, but scientists debate whether this mode of transportation is the future or not,” says Saeid Haghbin. “If we manage to solve the main problems with the battery and the battery chargers, I think the electric vehicles will succeed. And in general, I think electric transportation will become more common in the future, for example trains, trams and plug-in hybrids.”

Caption, top picture: Saeid Haghbin and his co-workers have developed unique solutions for isolated and non-isolated integrated electrical vehicle chargers.
Photo: Peter Widing

The research was funded by The Swedish Hybrid Vehicle Centre (SHC)

Saab and Chalmers sign 10-year pact

2013-04-29T11:00:00Z

PRESS RELEASE FROM SAAB AND CHALMERS

The companies hope the agreement will lead to enhanced conditions for more effective research, with Chalmers providing an effective boost to Saab's efforts and vice-versa. Prior to the agreement, Saab was only able to invest 25 percent of sales revenue in research and development, but Chalmers' input will propel the efforts even higher.

According to Saab CEO Håkan Buskhe, the research collaboration with Chalmers will give Saab access to expertise that is essential to being able to develop and maintain "world-leading" radar and sensor technology.

Another important goal of the agreement is to secure a long-term supply of well-educated engineers. As one of Sweden's most research-intensive companies, Saab is dependent on technical expertise to develop its competitiveness. The agreement with Chalmers is a way for Saab to contribute to engineering education becoming as attractive and qualitative as possible.

"A long-term, strategic partnership with Saab strengthens Chalmers' capacity for vigorous efforts in areas of common interest, both in research and education," says Chalmers president Karin Markides.

The teaming agreement also provides for activity beyond the scope of radar and sensor technology. As time progresses, new research and educational activities can be selectively added, matching Saab's long-term production plans against Chalmers' main areas of research.

Photo: Peter Lloyd

Chalmers' world class industrial cooperation

2013-04-25T22:00:00Z

"It is gratifying that the university ranking from Leiden points out our positive cooperation with industry since the results are completely in line with our ambitions. We already know that we are good at strategic research. Now we have proof that our research cooperation with industry is on world class level," says Mats Viberg, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Chalmers.

The CWTS Leiden Ranking is the only university ranking that measures scientific results entirely on the basis of bibliometric data, which entails statistical analysis of scientific articles and books, and how these are cited.

Third best in the world
Leiden is presenting the results for cooperation with industry for the first time, and Chalmers came in third place; 13.9 percent of the articles published in the Web of Science database were written in cooperation with an industrial partner. The industry cooperation list is topped by two Dutch universities: Eindhoven Technical University, 15.6 percent, and the university in Delft, 14 percent. As comparison, Leiden Ranking mentions Harvard University in the U.S., which published 7.6 percent of its articles in cooperation with an industrial partner. Harvard is one of the largest research universities in the world.

Large proportion of well-cited articles
Within Sweden, Chalmers is also in third place on the list of universities with the highest proportion of frequently cited scientific articles. Chalmers comes right after Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet.

The Swedish 3rd place means 93rd place in Europe and 209th place on the global list of 500 major universities. The Leiden ranking also shows that the U.S. is still the dominant actor in the scientific world. Countries such as China, Iran and Brazil, however, are gaining ground in terms of having a scientific impact.

The analyses are solely based on articles that were published 2008-2011 in the international Web of Science database, which comprises peer reviewed articles in scientific journals.

Further reading: CWTS Leiden Ranking

More information about cooperation between universities and industry is available from Leiden's own research project, which was made public with Leiden Ranking 2013: University-Industry Research Connections 2013

Text: Anita Fors

Contact:
Mats Viberg, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Chalmers, phone +46 31- 772 1773, mats.viberg@chalmers.se

Chalmers Bicycle Day 2013

2013-04-22T07:00:00Z

We see you Thursday the 25 of April at Campus Lindholmen outside Kuggen and Friday the 26 of April at Campus Johanneberg at Teknologgården. The event starts at 10 am until 2 pm. On Friday, at 11:30 on Campus Johanneberg, there will be a number of free second hand bicycles handed out, so make sure to be there on time!

Chalmers Environmental Unit, the Student Union, Chalmers Students for Sustainability and our property owners, Chalmersfastigheter and Akademiska hus, organize the event. All students and employees are welcome to attend.

Photo: David Gillblom

More information:
Therese Frisk, tfrisk@chalmers.se

Meet up with Chalmers in Barcelona and Madrid

2013-04-18T09:00:00Z

The dates for the mingle in Barcelona is April 21, and Madrid April 24.

If you are interested in joining the mingle, please contact ann-christine.nordin@chalmers.se or kerstin.jonsson@chalmers.se

All the best from Chalmers!

More information on Facebook:
Next Stop Chalmers in Barcelona

Next Stop Chalmers in Madrid

Chalmers MasterCard launch new international scholarship

2013-04-18T07:00:00Z

The Chalmers MasterCard is no ordinary card. Half a percent of all purchasing amounts is returned directly to university students by means of support for projects and master's thesis work. A simple way to support the engineers and architects of the future.
In this way, a total of 451,000 Swedish crowns were shared out to various student technology projects at home and abroad during 2012.
A special investment is now being made in paying masters students by means of launching The Chalmers MasterCard Scholarship.

Potential chalmerists from Central and South America – including Mexico – can apply for the scholarship worth 280,000 Swedish crowns and that covers study fees for all master's programs except Architecture.
’Chalmers needs to maintain a high international standard and attract excellent students from outside Europe. Personally, I think it’s fantastic that our scholarship program can contribute in this way. I feel very pleased and very proud,’ said Peter Hellqvist, alumni coordinator at Chalmers and responsible for Chalmers MasterCard.

A high presence of international students provides great advantages for all students at Chalmers:
‘Our Swedish technology students benefit from a cosmopolitan student environment that prepares them for the global labour market,’ said Peter Hellqvist.

Text: Michael Nystås
Photo: Jan-Olof Yxell and Torgil Störner

Read more about the Chalmers MasterCard Scholarship

Philosopher opens The Reflecting Engineer lectures

2013-04-16T13:00:00Z

The Reflecting Engineer gives students the opportunity to mingle with inspirational professionals to discuss and reflect upon questions related to technology, sustainability and ethics.

Lunch will be provided for the first 100 guests at each lecture.

This year's sessions will include:
April 17, at 12, lecture hall HA1, Hörsalsvägen, Campus Johanneberg: Bengt Brülde, Professor of Practical Philosophy and expert in aesthetics, ethics and philosophy of science.

April 19, at 12, lecture hall HA1, Hörsalsvägen, Campus Johanneberg: Simon Eisner, the entrepreneur behind Allwin, a company whose business is to reduce food waste and help feed those in need.

April 26: Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability officer at Max Hamburger Restaurants, that has turned sustainability into their business core.

April 29: Tomas Kåberger, the Swedish Boss in Asia, the man Japan brought in to turn around their energy system.

Photo: Mattias Jacobsson, University of Gothenburg

Join The Reflecting Engineers in finding out what is our role as engineers in society and how we contribute to a better world!

Follow The Reflecting Engineer on Facebook and register for the events >>>
www.facebook.com/thereflectingengineer

More information about Chalmers Students for Sustainability >>>
css.chs.chalmers.se

More information about Engineers without borders >>>
www.ingenjorerutangranser.se

Solar Decathlon house taking shape at Chalmers

2013-04-12T08:00:00Z

Solar Decathlon is a student competition that launched in the United States in 2002. Universities from all over the world compete to design and build solar-powered houses which are then transported to a common exhibition site in the Chinese city of Datun where they will be viewed both by the public and the critical eyes of the jury.
Since 2010, the competetion has also been held in Madrid and in 2013, Chalmers is the team to represent Sweden when the competition is being held in China for the first time.

"A taste of what it feels like to walk around inside Halo”
The Swedish entry to the competition is a round structure that goes by the name of Halo. Last week, the walls of the house were raised in a tent at Chalmers.
”It’s super cool. What an amazing feeling to get to see the building take shape on a full scale after a year at the drawing board. Now we can finally get a taste of what it feels like to walk around inside Halo,” says Josua Smedberg.

The mood is soaring high, and the team is buckling down – there is much to be done, and there’s no time to waste on the tight schedule.
”There’s still a ton of work to do, and so much depends on being able to get everything we need over here in time. Still, it’s really fun to hang out and build, so spending extra time on the project isn’t really a chore,” says Josua Smedberg.
What happens next – and after that?
”The floor and ceiling structures are starting to come together, and we have bathroom, kitchen and closet/bedroom modules on the way. Soon we’re going to start building the ceiling structures, which will also feature solar panels. We’re also going to start shifting over to the finishing stage, which is going to be a challenge – it’s important that we have time to do a good job. Aside from the ceiling and the finish, we have the whole wooden deck, and foundation plates for our ceiling rods are being built. Starting on May 1, the house will be packed up into containers to arrive on site at the harbour on May 8, and be sent off to China around May 15,” says Josua Smedberg.

Participating for the first time
Shea Hagy is project manager for Team Sweden’s practical construction project:
”This is the first time Chalmers is participating in a Solar Decathlon and there’s a lot of new things for both students and teachers to think over. It’s super cool that we students get to be a part of this and actually build our project, but at same time there is much to learn along the way and we have to be efficient in order to get it all done,” he says.

Good advice from the Formula Student team
Team Sweden has obtained assistance and advice from Chalmers’ successful team that takes part in Formula Student, one of the world’s biggest student competitions, where not houses but racing cars are constructed.
Chalmers’ Formula Student has over ten years of experience with carrying out this kind of practical project and has already gone through many of the challenges Team Sweden is now facing. One of the major differences between the competitions is the freight factor, since it’s much easier to ship a car than a house. Once built, Halo, which measures approximately 60 square meters, will consist of a total of 26 floor, wall and ceiling modules and two central core modules with a kitchen, bathroom and equipment area.

Exhibition and judging in China
Once on site in Datong, the house must be put together in fifteen days and then opened for the public and the jury.
”The period from mid-July to mid-August is going to be an intense month. After the first two weeks of assembly, Halo will be open for viewing and judging for an additional two weeks before being dismantled. The Chinese competition organisation expects around 15,000 visitors per day at the exhibition, so there are bound to be lots of guided tours to go on,” says Shea Hagy.

Text: Michael Nystås and Halo Sweden
Photographs: Josua Smedberg, Agnes Hammar, Galini Afentoulidou and Halo Sweden

Contacts:
Josua Smedberg, project coordinator, Team Sweden, +4673-929 8191, josua@halosweden.com
Malin Kjellberg, project manager, +4631-772 1376, malin.kjellberg@chalmers.se

Read more and follow the development at the Halo web site and blog >>>
www.halosweden.com

Watch fresh film from the construction site >>>
vimeo.com/62599088

Halo Sweden in social media >>>
www.facebook.com/halosweden
vimeo.com/user10974378
www.flickr.com/photos/halosweden
www.youtube.com/user/HaloTeamSweden2013
twitter.com/HaloTeamSweden

Plants communicate what type of light they want

2013-04-07T22:00:00Z

Current greenhouses use what are known as high pressure sodium lamps, which are basically the same type of lamps that are used for street lights. They generally only have two positions, on or off.

"Everything in modern greenhouses is very high tech except for lighting," says Anna-Maria Carstensen, who is a PhD student in automatic control at Chalmers. "Temperature and nutrition are meticulously controlled. Lighting regulation, however, lags far behind."

The light spectrum provided by high pressure sodium lamps corresponds very poorly to the spectrum plants use during photosynthesis (see image). Plants do not receive very much of the blue and red light that they need the most. They do, however, receive a great deal of infrared light, which is harmful to some crops, and yellow light, which the plants cannot utilize to any great extent.

.The diagram shows: 1. How the efficiency of photosynthesis depends on wavelength (green). 2. Wavelength content for regular sodium lamps (pink). 3. Wavelength content for an advanced LED lamp (turquoise).
Image: Torsten Wik

Researchers interpret plant signals
The research project at Chalmers aims to ascertain how much and what type of light different plants require at specific times. In the development of the method a spectrometer is used to measure which wavelengths are sent back by the plants. The plants send back light in two different ways:

• Direct reflection, where the light bounces back without being absorbed by the leaf.
• Fluorescence, which is light emitted by plants. This light is created by photosynthesis and consists of wavelengths other than those from the supplied light.

Researchers can analyse these signals to determine which light plants require. The image below is an approximate diagram of photosynthesis. In reality, there are great variations depending, for example, on which plant it is, where the plant is in its development cycle and how warm it is.

"This is uncharted territory," says Torsten Wik, associate professor of control engineering and head of the research project. "How plants react to light is generally determined by taking manual samples on or close to leaves using special equipment. We perform the analysis remotely, however, using the lamp's control options. This means that an entire plant population can be measured, which automatically enables a representative average for the kind of light they need."

Plants' response will control lighting
The project's aim is to produce a system that employs the plants' response to automatically regulate the lights in the greenhouse. Natural sunlight can then be supplemented with light from lamps to ensure the total lighting is that required by the plants, both in terms of brightness and light spectrum.

This can be achieved using advanced LED lamps, which consist of several groups of dimmable light emitting diodes with different colour spectra. This kind of lamp can also be programmed to provide lighting that is adjusted to the needs of the plants.

"The technology has enormous potential for energy savings," says Torsten Wik. "We are counting on being able to save about 30 per cent by switching from sodium lamps to LED. Furthermore, it is possible to save 20 per cent by regulating the light's intensity and spectrum using our method. This means that greenhouses in Europe alone would be able to save as much electricity as half of Sweden's electricity consumption."

Facts: The method offers several potential environmental advantages
• Half the regular energy consumption. Greenhouses in Europe consume as much electricity as Sweden does as a whole, which is 160 terawatt hours a year.
• Reduced need for chemicals in greenhouses. Chemicals are currently used on many plants to keep them compact and prevent them from growing too tall; the same effect can be achieved using the right light spectrum instead. The taste and sustainability of crops can also by influenced by using light.
• Reduced amount of waste in commercial greenhouses. About 15 per cent is currently discarded since production is sometimes greater than what can be sold. Utilisation of lighting can both slow down and speed up plant growth when necessary.
• As opposed to high pressure sodium lamps, LED lamps do not contain mercury.

Facts about the research
The project has received funding in the amount of SEK 6.5 million for four years from Mistra. Funding will continue through 2015, and the researchers' objective is to perform experiments in commercial greenhouses during the project. Experiments are currently being performed on plants in the laboratory.

The researchers have applied for two patents. One pertains to optimising the light spectrum in lighting. The other one concerns which type of light helps plants recover as quickly as possible when they have been stressed from having received too much or the wrong type of light.

Caption, top picture: Anna-Maria Carstensen and Torsten Wik in the laboratory where researchers from Chalmers are investigating how plants react to different types of lighting.
Photo: Oscar Mattsson

Swedish national television has covered the research

For more information, please contact:
Torsten Wik, Control Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, +46 31-772 51 46, torsten.wik@chalmers.se

Chalmers puts out the lights for a brighter future

2013-03-22T09:00:00Z

During Earth Hour households, businesses and governments are encouraged to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.
Earth Hour 2012 took place in more than 7001 cities and towns in 152 countries and territories across all seven continents. Hundreds of millions of people switched their lights off for an hour, and the campaign experienced its biggest growth since 2009.
Earth Hour 2013 will mark the seventh year of the campaign.

More information about Earth Hour:
earthhour.org

Cooled integrated circuit amplifies with lowest noise so far

2013-03-22T07:00:00Z

A fundamental property for the first microwave amplifier in the radio receiver is its noise figure. This is normally given in decibel (dB). A typical noise figure for low-noise amplifiers in mobile communication systems is tenths of a decibel.

Last year, Chalmers reported a world record for a low-noise amplifier in the prestigious journal Electron Device Letters. The amplifier exhibited a minimum noise figure of 0.018 dB across a bandwidth of 4-8 GHz. However, since the low-noise amplifier was designed in a hybrid solution, scaling up to larger quantities turned out to be very difficult.

Chalmers has now in collaboration with a company called Low-Noise Factory published an article on an integrated ultra-low-noise amplifier. The scientists have developed a unique indium phosphide-based process for what is known as high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). Transistors and other semiconductor components have been fabricated on a monolithic chip on an indium phosphide wafer. All parts of the design such as semiconductor layers, components, process and circuit design have been optimised for the lowest noise performance.

As a result, an integrated 2.0 x 0.75 mm amplifier with an ultra-low-noise figure of 0.045 dB was demonstrated. The amplifier had a very large bandwidth of 0.5-13 GHz and a high gain exceeding 38 dB across the frequency band. In order to show such extreme performance, the amplifier was cooled to minus 260 degrees of Celsius.

“The combination of high gain, large bandwidth and ultra-low-noise figure makes this circuit very attractive for large multipixel arrays containing thousands of antennas,” says Jan Grahn, research group leader at Chalmers.

“The integrated ultra-low-noise process enables the fabrication of thousands of amplifiers with identical performance. One potential future application is in the world’s largest radio telescope SKA (Square Kilometer Array) that is being planned, an international project where the Onsala Space Observatory at Chalmers is one of the acting members. In huge applications such as the SKA, even a small noise-figure reduction in the first low-noise amplifier in the receiver chain may potentially bring about major savings in the final system design.”

More information about the research
The research has been performed at Gigaherz Centre, a joint research and innovation centre in microwave technology, by Chalmers, one research institute and twelve companies. Gigahertz Centre is part of the Vinn Excellence Program year 2007-2016 that was initiated by the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova).

Read more about the SKA (Square Kilometer Array):

http://www.chalmers.se/en/news/Pages/Sweden-joins-global-radio-telescope-project.aspx

For more information, please contact:
Jan Grahn, Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology, jan.grahn@chalmers.se, +46 730 34 62 99

Securing statistics in medical research

2013-03-15T10:00:00Z

Can you talk a little bit about cooperating with the medical researchers?
– I was recently involved in a major study called MoBa, together with gynaecologists Verena Sengpiel and Bo Jacobsson from Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The study collected data on mothers and children from a large number of Norwegian births. Genetic and other factors related to premature birth and low birth weight were studied. The article that we recently published on the correlation between the baby's birth weight and the mother's coffee intake has received a great deal of attention in the press, both internationally and in Sweden. It seems that coffee gets the whole world involved!

What is your contribution to the research in your role as mathematician?
– Statistics play a central role in all medical research. When the impact of several factors needs to be studied simultaneously, as well as any interaction between them, the results are often technically complicated and difficult to interpret. Selection of suitable analysis methods and help interpreting the results are important considerations. Presenting the results is also an important aspect.

Because of the anonymous peer review procedure that is performed prior to scientific publication, it is important that the medical researchers are helped to understand the statistics-related questions from the reviewers and are able to respond to them.

Can you tell us about some of the other research areas where you have taken part in multi-disciplinary cooperation?
– My area of specialisation is genetic epidemiology, which involves examining how hereditary predisposition can entail greater or lesser sensitivity in terms of resisting the harmful effects of environmental factors on health. Thanks to an agreement with the Sahlgrenska Academy, I have had the opportunity to cooperate with researchers who are charting out the genetics underlying many illnesses such as breast cancer, colon cancer, neuroblastoma (nerve tissue tumours), gluten intolerance, stroke, MS, ALS, Alzheimers, cataracts and gestational diabetes.

Genetics is a very interesting area where many stochastic models are applicable. Stochastic models are mathematical models where an event or phenomena is allowed to take different courses, without a specific cause.

I have also collaborated with AIDS researchers from Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy for five years. Infectious disease physician Magnus Gisslen from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and his PhD students are conducting a study on HIV treatment that involves most of the clinics in Sweden and a few in Norway. As many of the other cooperation initiatives I have been involved in, this one started by a PhD student in medicine contacting me after a statistics course. I subsequently started cooperating with Magnus.

What are the research results regarding AIDS?
– The study compared three different treatment strategies for HIV, and found that all three are equally effective. They differ, for example, in how quickly the viral count drops after treatment commences and how great the risk of bacterial translocation is. Bacterial translocation is the spread of bacteria from the intestines to the blood resulting from damage to the intestinal wall. This is an important disease factor for HIV, and contributes to chronic activation of the immune system even when treatment is working well.

Text: Johanna Wilde

Press release from the Sahlgrenska Academy on the correlation between caffeine and low birth weight:

http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/english/news_and_events/news/News_Detail//coffee-and-tea-during-pregnancy-affect-fetal-growth.cid1152154

New York Times is one of the many news publications to report on the results:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/caffeine-linked-to-low-birth-weight-babies/

The scientific article in the BMC Medicine journal:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/11/42/abstract