You mean like this below? This is from the Glasgow Uni website homepage
this morning. The company listed at the end of the press release is
Rockwell Collins, a multinational, US based high-tech weapons maker.
Their corporate motto is “Building trust every day”. Here are two links
to their website:
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/products/gov/surface/index.html
Regards,
Aaron
Ps. We were wrong. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were not about
oil– they are about the Sunshine.
From the University of Glasgow homepage, September 24, 2009:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_131676_en.html
Solar-powered soldiers are the future
Issued: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:55:00 BST
Soldiers of the future will look to the sun for their equipment’s energy
needs, according to University of Glasgow scientists.
Researchers in the Department of Chemistry are working on ways in which
soldiers on the battlefield can harness solar energy to power equipment
such as radios, counter-measure devices, weapons and sights and torches.
The project has received £657,437 from the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council and the Ministry of Defence Science and
Technology Laboratory.
Professor Duncan Gregory, who is leading the project, said: “Ensuring
soldiers are as mobile as possible and not burdened with unnecessary
weight is essential to enable them to operate as efficiently and as
comfortably as possible on the battlefield.
“At present, soldiers are required to carry significant amounts of
battery power but in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where the sun
shines so much, there is a plentiful supply of clean, renewable energy
which could be harnessed.”
The team will use thermo-electric and photo-voltaic devices integrated
into battle fatigues to generate the electricity.
Thermo-electric devices take advantage of the Seebeck Effect to generate
electricity between two different types of material when there is a
temperature difference between them, for example; the difference in
night temperature between the cool exterior and warm interior of battle
dress could generate electricity.
Photo-voltaic cells, on the other hand, produce electricity as a result
of electrons in the material of the cell being excited by photons – or
light rays – from the sun.
If the battle dress could be coated in photo-voltaic cells, energy from
the sun could be captured and the fatigues would also have the advantage
of being invisible to infra-red detection systems such as night-vision
equipment.
Prof Gregory added: “Our initial objective is to produce nano-structured
films of photo-voltaic (PV) and thermo-electric (TE) on substrates
separately, then together and then on flexible substrates. PV materials
will be developed by partners at Loughborough.
“If we can achieve these things then we can begin to think about how the
next stage will happen – the integration of the flexible devices in a
uniform, on body armour or, more likely to start with, on equipment or a
soldier's helmet, for example.”
The solar cells on the battle dress would be protected against wear and
tear and climatic conditions by polymeric films and it would be possible
to camouflage the material by applying colours as required.
A battery would be required to story energy that wasn’t needed for
immediate use but the battery would be rechargeable and, hence, much
smaller than those currently in use, extending the range of an
infantryman considerably.
At present, soldiers typically carry between 45 and 70kg of equipment,
dependent on role, with batteries and power sources accounting for more
than 10 per cent of this weight. This limits the duration of operations
before batteries need to be recharged.
In collaboration with partners at Leeds, Reading and Brunel, the Glasgow
team hopes to halve the weight of power systems, and by integrating the
energy systems into dress and equipment, also reduce the bulk.
Prof Gregory said: “Our system will include supercapacitors developed by
partners at Strathclyde which are well equipped to store charge and cope
with peak output on demand.”
The two-year project is being led by the University of Glasgow, working
with Strathclyde, Loughborough, Leeds, Reading and Brunel universities.
Funding is also being provided by Rockwell-Collins, the University of
Leeds and Brunel University.
________________________________________
For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow
Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email [log in to unmask]
Andy Power wrote:
> Oh dear... More moves afoot by the UK government to exert extra pressure
> on university departments to focus on work that has "demonstrable
> economic benefits"
>
>
> 'Pointless' university studies to be weeded out by new government
> panel
> *
>
> * Polly Curtis <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/pollycurtis>,
> education editor
> * The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian>, Wednesday 23
> September 2009
> *
>
> The government is to stop funding "pointless" university research,
> forcing academics to prove that their academic inquiry has some
> relevance to the real world, funding chiefs will announce today.
>
> Universities will have to show that their research influences the
> economy, public policy or society in order to secure the biggest
> research grants, the government's funding body for higher education
> <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/higher-education> said.
>
> The plans are contained in proposals for a new system of allocating
> £1.76bn in government funds for academic research every year called the
> Research Excellence Framework (Ref). Lecturers warned that the move
> would restrict academic freedom by preventing speculative "blue skies"
> research.
>
> It comes as the government exerts extra pressure on universities to
> focus on work that has demonstrable economic benefits. It also follows
> criticisms of some academic work ranging from the gender politics of
> Tarzan and Jane to surf science and "David Beckham studies".
>
> From 2012, each university department will submit evidence to be rated,
> with 60% of marks awarded for the quality of their research as judged by
> academic panels, 25% according to the "impact" the research makes and
> 15% according to the quality of the department. This will rate the
> department's research strategy, staff and postgraduate development and
> engagement with the public.
>
> The move aims to counter the previous system that involved universities
> hiring star academics at the last minute to boost results, a system seen
> as akin to the football transfer season.
>
> The plans include a U-turn on an earlier suggestion that the ancient
> system of peer review – whereby panels of professors rate standards of
> research – be scrapped in favour of more quantifiable measures, such as
> the number of citations of papers by other academics and the value of
> research contracts. Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University
> and College Union, criticised the plan.
>
> She said: "Academic research should never be at the behest of market
> forces. History has taught us that some of the biggest breakthroughs
> have come from speculative research and it is wrong to try and measure
> projects purely on their economic potential."
>
> A spokesman for the Higher Education Funding Council for England
> (Hefce), which set out the plans for consultation, insisted the system
> would reward the impact of academic research for arts and humanities
> subjects as well as science and technology.
>
> David Sweeney, the director for research at Hefce, said: "The Ref will
> recognise and reward excellent research and sharing new knowledge to the
> benefit of the economy and society, and will ensure effective allocation
> of public funds. It will encourage the productive interchange of
> research staff and ideas between academia and business, government and
> other sectors."
>
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/23/panel-funding-university-research
>
>
>
>
> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
--
Aaron Franks
PhD Candidate, Human Geography
Geographical and Earth Sciences
University of Glasgow
[log in to unmask]
GES office: 0141 330 4782
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