FREEZEFRAME
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» GETTINGAGRIPONQUANTUMDOTS FORSOLARENERGYCONVERSION
By Jennifer O'Reilly, School of Physics and Solar Energy Conversion Cluster
Dark lead sulphide quantumdots on a titaniumdiox- ide host use light to generate electricity. These nano- sized particles, typically less than 10nmin diameter, act as a photo-sensitiser in a third-generation solar cell. These devices offer a low-cost alternative to energy intensive silicon-based technologies. The size andmorphology of quantumdots visible through a transmission electronmicroscope illustrate the vari- ous patterns these sensitisers can form. Indeed, a ran- domswirling patternmatching that of quantumdots adsorbed on the titaniumdioxide.
» WINTERWARMTH! ByDr Brian Tobin, School ofAgriculture & Food Science
“Thewinter of 2010 appears to suggest an oscillation of winter climate away froma decade andmore ofmild weather,” says Tobin. “Such variation in climate is pre- dicted to increase dramatically in the coming decades and will place significant pressure on long-lived organisms like trees to adapt to such change. The ClimAdapt project looks to study the past reaction of trees to climate-induced stress, asmeasured by data taken fromtree cores, in order to model the possible range of adaptation to future climatic changes. Thiswill inform present and future forestman- agement to best aid the adaptation of our forest heritage.”
» DIGITALORGANIC ByDrMiguelNicolau, School of Computer Science &
Informatics andUCD CASL
Evolutionary computation is a research field that uses computers to breed solutions, using principles taken from natural evolution. Such algorithms can be used in an interactivemanner, allowing the human user to evaluate the goodness of those solutions. “We used such a system to evolve logos, based on projections ofmathematical structures,” saysNicolau. “Every design is potentially unique, but the user can guide the evolutionary process so that the imagesmatch his/her taste. This imagewas evolved for a logo competition at the CASL laboratory in UCD,which itwon.”
Issue 4 Spring/Summer 2012 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 41
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