Third 'Physics with Industry' workshop starts
From 19 to 23 November the FOM Foundation, Technology Foundation STW and the Lorentz Center are organising the third edition of 'Physics with Industry'. This is a workshop in which about 50 physicists work on five physics problems submitted by companies. The workshop has three aims: to allow young physicists to actively help in solving problems from industry, to give them a chance to become acquainted with industry and to allow companies come into contact with these talented researchers.
Following a call for problems the programme committee selected problems from the companies Janssen Precision Engineering, Microdish, NXP, PamGene and Shell. For each problem a senior academic researcher will supervise the case prior to and during the workshop together with the company concerned.
Workshop
During the workshop young scientists will enter the world of the participating companies. In five groups they will tackle a practical problem from the company concerned supported by senior academic researchers and researchers from the company. For the participants it is a good opportunity to make contacts and acquire new knowledge. After five days of discussions, literature research, modelling and calculations the groups will present their results to the companies on Friday 23 November.
Physics with Industry takes place from Monday 19 to Friday 23 November at the Lorentz Center in Leiden. Further information about the programme and the address details can be found on the Lorentz Center website. The press are welcome to attend the closing presentations on Friday 23 November. Please register for this with Isabel Poyck +31 (0)30 600 1222, communication advisor at FOM. If you would like to know more about the content of the workshop then please contact Marcel Bartels +31 (0)30 600 1217, programme coordinator at FOM.
History
The workshop Physics with Industry was organised for the first time in 2010. It is, however, a tried and tested concept. Since its start in Cambridge in 1968, mathematics workshops organised by the 'International Study Group Mathematics with Industry' are held each year throughout the world. Both large and small companies eagerly participate in these. Besides the direct results from the workshop, these workshops have led to new collaborative projects and researchers being employed by the participating companies.
Results
The reports of Physics with Industry 2010 and 2011 can be downloaded from www.fom.nl/pwi. At Youtube an impression of the 2011 workshop is given.
Dr. Herman Wijshoff and Hans Reinten from Océ were highly impressed by the collaboration within the group that tackled their problem in 2011: "Under which conditions can an air bubble from a corner or elsewhere be rinsed along in a liquid channel? In a very short time this problem from Océ was divided into several subsidiary questions and the participants tackled the problem from different angles. The outcomes they came up with were in line with previously known trends obtained with empirical methods but the participants sharpened our insights into how the process depended on the moisturising characteristics of the channel walls. We can take this information into account during the development of future ink jet products".
Physics problems
The problems come from the R&D department of companies and must satisfy two important criteria: it must be possible to tackle the problem within a period of one week and physics must be able to contribute to solving the problem. Janssen Precision Engineering, NXP, MicroDish, Pamgene and Shell submitted the following cases:
Janssen Precision Engineering (JPE)
Various techniques are available to measure nanometre movements. However, these do not work under cryogenic conditions in a vacuum. JPE has seized the opportunity the workshop provides to come up with a physical concept for a sensor that works under these extreme conditions.
NXP
The colour and luminosity of LEDs can differ per manufacturing batch. NXP is asking the participants to come up with some ideas about the electronic measurement and tuning of the LED output.
MicroDish
Determining the activity of bacteria is a time-consuming process (for example: a tuberculosis test can take several weeks) that is difficult to automate. Together with the physicists MicroDish wants to come up with a biophysical method to rapidly and unequivocally determine whether bacteria are dead or alive.
Pamgene
Tissue samples are used a lot in medical research. The problem that Pamgene wants to tackle with the participants is how the sample can be transferred quickly and intactly (i.e. deep frozen) from the patient to the pathology laboratory.
Shell
In a Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) reaction natural gas is converted into a liquid fuel. Shell challenges participants to devise a model for the physics of water, gas, and reaction products in the nanopores of catalyst particles.
FOM, Lorentz Center and STW
The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) advances fundamental physics research in the Netherlands. One of FOM's objectives is to build bridges between the world of research and industry. The workshop Physics with Industry can make both researchers and companies enthusiastic about collaborating with each other. The Lorentz Center, which organises a wide range of workshops within the natural sciences, and Technology Foundation STW, which realises knowledge transfer between technical sciences and users, are logical partners for this initiative.