a) Bob Smith:
I am a PhD student in Chemical Engineering, supervised by Dr. Wells. Taking a PhD course at the University of Leeds is more than just molding yourself into an effective researcher. It is about becoming an independent innovative individual, with the confidence and ability to perform in any environment. I chose the University for its strong links with industry, and I 've really benefited from opportunities to gain knowledge and skills outside of my research area, for instance business skills and commercial awareness. When 1 finish my PhD course, I’ll have gained more than just a qualification.
The title of my disserta tion is “Developing New Hydrogen Fuel Technologies”. Hydrogen fuel cells offer clean and efficient energy generation without the need for fossil fuels. They work by converting hydrogen gas directly into electricity, and produce only water as a by-product. Although they were invented over 150 years ago, so far fuel cells have always been too expensive for mass-market applications — mainly because they contain expensive platinum catalysts and tend not to last as long as existing technologies, like petrol and diesel engines.
My research aims to reduce the amount of platinum required by the fuel cell, making the catalyst more durable in order to reduce their cost and extend their lifetime. I will reduce platinum loading by making better use of the precious metal. To improve durability, I will try to form a protective coating on the particles to prevent them from dissolving or fusing together during use.
If I am successful in achieving targets for platinum loading and catalyst durability, this will represent a significant step towards enabling widespread adoption of this technology for power generation in homes and vehicles. In turn, the replacement of dirty, inefficient engines and turbines with clean, green fuel cells will help to achieve improvements in efficiency and reductions in harmful emissions.
b) Robert Brown:
I started my PhD course in 2011. I am going to submit my draft thesis for examination in June 2013. I hope it will be passed and the final version will be submitted in February 2014. My PhD thesis is titled “Interactive 3D Modelling in Outdoor Augmented Reality Worlds”. I am conducting my PhD research at the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Birmingham.
My thesis presents interaction techniques for 3D modelling of large structures in outdoor augmented reality environments. Augmented reality is the process of registering projected computergenerated images over a user’s view of the physical world. With the use of a mobile computer, augmented reality can also be experienced in an outdoor environment. Working in a mobile outdoor environment introduces new challenges not previously encountered indoors, requiring the development of new user interfaces.
My thesis describes a number of novel contributions that will improve the state of the art in augmented reality technology. The augmented reality working planes technique gives the user the ability to create and edit objects at large distances using line of sight and projection techniques. This technique overcomes limitations in a human’s ability to perceive depth, and requires simple input devices that are available on mobile computers. The techniques lam going to introduce can be used to create and capture the geometry of outdoor shapes using a mobile augmented reality system with real-time verification and iterative refinement. To provide an interface for these techniques, a novel augmented reality user interface with cursors and menus was developed. To develop applications implementing these contributions, a new software architecture is going to be designed to provide a suitable abstraction to make development easier.
Based on these contributions, a number of modelling applications will be developed to demonstrate the usefulness of these techniques. These modelling applications will allow users to walk around freely outside, and use interactions with the hands to control the task. I hope these applications will demonstrate in the field to verify that the techniques will perform as claimed in the dissertation.
c) Ivan Smirnov:
I am carrying out my research work in civil engineering. My PhD thesis is titled “Fiber-Reinforced Concrete and Bridge Deck Cracking”. The objective of my research is to identify the causes of bridge deck cracking. The thesis consists of three chapters ', the first chapter is theoretical, the second and the third ones are practical. At the first stage of my research I am planning to study the properties of polymer fibers to be used in concrete. Polymer fibers are a possible solution to many of the causes of bridge deck cracking, and they can improve post-cracking behaviour. The second stage is aimed to investigate different impacts of polymer fibers on concrete.
All experiments are carried out on macrofibers and microfibers which are tested at several dosage rates to identify optimum dosage levels. 1 employ different research methods to study such parameters as shrinkage, compressive and tensile strength.
I have been working on my dissertation for a year. Before starting my research I studied a great amount of scientific literature and carried out a lot of experiments. I have come to the conclusion that the subject of my research has not been studied at all. This fact accounts for its topicality and novelty. If we benefit from this research, the results will be useful in combating the bridge deck cracking problem.
My plans for the nearest future are to write the first chapter of the dissertation and finish the experimental work to estimate the results obtained. I plan to defend my dissertation in two years though the greatest part of the work is still ahead. My research supervisor is Dr. Klimov, professor of the department of civil engineering. He helps me a lot with my research. If I have any problems concerning my work, I always consult him.
Retell the above postgraduate students’ stories in your own words, using the italicized expressions. Do these stories reflect your own experience of doing research work?