APRIL NEWS 2010

NERC 2M bid for the development of a UK Virtual Observatory

As part of a consortium lead by CEH, and the universities of Reading and Leeds, Wouter Buytaert has won a NERC 2M bid for the development of a UK Virtual Observatory. The Virtual Observatory aims to be a platform to study the complex interactions that make up the soil-water system, by improving data access and assimilation, model coupling and integration, and communication of observations and simulations. As leader of the environmental modelling work package, Imperial College will be responsible for developing new modelling techniques that allow tighter coupling of data and models, and to enable environmental models to be implemented as  cloud services.

PhD student Aida Saad presented a paper entitled "Energy use implications of effluent quality targets for the oxidation ditch proces in wastewater treatment" at the 11th IWA UK National Young Water Professionals Conference held at Cranfield University on 14-15 April.

Professor Cedo Maksimović gave  keynote lecture(s) at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum on Flood and Water Management: Prevention, Protection and Remaining Concerns on  London 25th March 2010 and State-of-the-Art in Urban Pluvial (Surface) Flood Modelling / Management, was delivered at British Hydrological Society (BHS) Conference: Integrated Urban Drainage and Flooding. ICE London, 24th March 2010

Each year, MIT's Technology Review selects what it believes are the 10 most important emerging technologies. The winners are chosen based on the editors' coverage of key fields. The question they ask is simple: is the technology likely to change the world? Some of these changes are on the largest scale possible: better bio-fuels, more efficient solar cells, and green concrete all aim at tackling global warming in the years ahead.

So this year, we were delighted to see Novacem highlighted in the May/June issue of Technology Review that has just come out.  Seesee video interview with our Chief Scientist Dr Nikolaos Vlasopoulos: www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=562