Module Overview

The World Wide Web has changed the world. It has changed the ways we communicate, collaborate, and educate. We increasingly live in a Web-dependent society in a Web-dependent world. The Web is also the largest human information construct and it is growing faster than any other system. Web Science aims to predict the impact that future developments in the Web will have on society or business, from search engines and social media to the forthcoming Web of Things. Web Science is the study of the social behaviours in the Web at the inter-person, inter-organizational and societal level, the technologies that enable and support this behaviour, and the interactions between these technologies and behaviours. It is therefore inherently interdisciplinary and represents a fundamental collaboration between computer science and the social sciences.

This module provides an introduction to Web Science methods, the issues that it addresses and an appreciation of the diverse set of disciplines that make up this multidisciplinary research area.

This module does not require technical Web expertise in the form of programming or Web site administration. It does require experience of using a wide variety of Web sites and services.

Module Overview

The manipulation and display of geometric information is at the heart of many computer applications and graphical output plays an important part of modern Human - Computer interactions.

The aim of this course is to show how to generate, manipulate and display synthetic scenes. The module concentrates on the generation of 3D images in a Computer Games context.

The module covers the underlying theory and algorithms, as well as providing opportunity to practice the use of these techniques in an OpenGL Environment.

Mathes up to basics calculus, matrices and vectors. Programming in C++, using an Object Oriented interface but not necessarily generating them.

The modules is not about human computer interfaces, windowing systems, specific API's or 3D content creation tools like Blender or Maya 3D.

Module Overview

Biosensors combine the typical advantages of electronics and optics (high speed, micro/nanoscale fabrication, etc) with the unique recognition properties of biomolecules, which can selectively bind their target molecule even at a high background concentration of similar molecules. A generic biosensor consists of a transducer and a biomolecular interface: the analytes bind to the interface and the transducer transmits this binding event, for example as an electrical signal.

ELEC6210 starts with a brief recap of biomolecular structure and function and then proceeds with explaining how biomolecules can be attached to typical transducer materials. Subsequently, the working mechanism of the most common transducers is addressed in detail. The lectures will touch on the commercial criteria for a succesful biosensor, for example for point-of-care diagnostic applications.

The practical work takes places in the Centre for Hybrid Biodevices (aka the bioECS lab). You will first measure the amount of glucose in various samples with an enzymatic assay using a state-of-the-art UV-VIS photospectrometer and subsequently with commercial amperometric glucose sensors. The second experiment is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for protein analysis of a blood sample.

The last weeks will be dedicated to analysis of specific papers from the scientific literature. In these tutorial sessions we will discuss key points of pre-selected journal papers with the entire group.

Note that ELEC6205 Bionanotechnology (semester 1) is a prerequisite for this module because ELEC6210 builds on biophysical and biochemical concepts introduced in ELEC6205.

Module Overview

The student will be introduced to state-of-the art sensor and instrumentation technologies by studying recent developments in the subject. The student will get the opportunity to study and investigate advanced sensor systems. The student will be presented with real-life engineering scenarios within which the technical work must fit.

Module Overview

The aim of this module is to provide an overview of the emerging Micro-system-technology (MST) and their applications. Students will gain an insight in the design of MST micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) and an understanding of the physics of different sensing and actuation mechanisms. They will become familiar with the technicalities of the most important examples of MST devices and will be prepared for this key technology. The basic knowledge on MST/MEMS taught in ELEC62XX Introduction to MEMS is pre-requisite. 

Module Overview

The aim of this module is to provide an overview of advancement of quantum devices and technology in line with the development of nanoelectronics and nanotechnology. Students will gain knowledge of basic quantum mechanics and how the quantum mechanics are playing a key role in the state-of-the-art nanoelectronics. Then they will become also familiar with quantum information processing including quantum computing and quantum communication technologies. 

Module Overview

This course consists of two parts: 'Nanofabrication' deals with the fabrication of structures that are smaller than 100 nm, while 'Microscopy' concerns the visualization of such small features. Advanced optical lithography concepts are illustrated by a computer simulation lab with the industry-standard software "GenISys LAB".

We start with a general overview of nanotechnology, explaining why the properties of materials are so different at the nanoscale compared to the microscale. The difference between top-down and bottom-up fabrication is explained and the ultimate industrial nanofabrication process (CMOS) is outlined, including the technological issues related to further scaling according to Moore's Law.

After introducing general microscopy concepts such as magnification, resolution, depth of field and contrast, it is discussed how image formation is achieved in optical microscopy. Many of the principles of optical microscopy also apply to the next topic. Optical lithography is crucial for top-down nanofabrication (and CMOS scaling) because it defines the smallest feature size that can be fabricated. The historical development of optical lithography is presented, up to the present state-of-the-art and looking forward to future developments of this patterning technique.

We then switch back to the microscopies: transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and scanning helium ion microscopy all enable visualization of nanoscale structures but image formation, resolution, contrast mechanism and sample preparation are quite different. The images of MOSFET cross-sections will be explained. These particle beam techniques are also used in fabrication: e-beam writing is a serial lithography that enables ~10 nm patterns, while focused ion beam milling has numerous applications in nanofabrication.

The microscopy characterisation part concludes with the scanning probe microscopies, scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, which have driven the development of nanotechnology and are perhaps best known for the stunning 2.5D images of carbon nanotubes. Once again, the technique can also be applied to nanofabrication, for example as dip-pen nanolithography, which enables the positioning of (catalyst) material with nanometer resolution.

We finish the nanofabrication component with a brief description of bottom-up processes such as the chemical synthesis of carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowires and gold nanoparticles. This is put in the context of fabricating nanoelectronic devices by a mix of top-down and bottom-up fabrication processes. For example, carbon nanotubes can be grown inbetween micro-electrodes by patterning these with a catalyst material. Similar examples from the recent literature will be highlighted.

The computer lab sessions involve simulations of photoresist exposure for different optical lithography techniques and explores various resolution enhancement methods that enable nanometer scale patterning in general and advanced CMOS scaling in particular. As part of the lab you will design your own photomask. The GenISys LAB lithography simulation software is used in commercial nanofabrication facilities and is only available for this module because of a special agreement with the company.

Please note that ELEC6206 Nanofabrication and Microscopy (see the Notes directory for info slides) does not deal with fabrication techniques that are essentially the same as for microfabrication. Etching, deposition and process flow are explained in detail in ELEC6201 Microfabrication, and this module is a prerequisite for ELEC6206 Nanofabrication and Microscopy.

Module Overview

Modern biology poses many challenging problems for the computer scientists. Rapid growth in instrumentation, and our ability to archive and distribute vast amounts of data, has significantly changed the way we attempt to understand cellular function, and the way we seek to treat complex diseases. Data from biology comes in various forms: nucleotide and amino-acid sequences, macromolecular structures, measurements from high-throughput experiments and curated literature in the form of publications and functional annotations. It is nowadays widely acknowledged that computational modelling will play a key role in extracting useful information from vast amounts of such diverse types of data. The computational challenges faced by the human genome project and Alan Turing’s contribution to morphogenesis are classic examples of such roles.

The aim of this module is to develop an understanding of some of the computational challenges that form the basis of research in modern biology, skills associated with which are seen as important in biomedical informatics and pharmaceutical industries. You will get hands-on experience in formulating computational problems and analysing large and complex datasets to make model-based predictions about the underlying biological problems. 

Module Overview

This module will provide an introduction to the theory and practice of bio-nanotechnology, and introduce students to working in a cleanroom and a wet laboratory.

ELEC6205 includes a bionanotechnology experiment involving state-of-the-art equipment that is normally only used by researchers. The experiment starts with fabrication and characterisation of a microstructured master mold, and continues with casting of an elastomeric stamp and printing microscale patterns of biological molecules. This will take place partly in the Mountbatten clean room and partly in the bio-ECS lab (Centre for Hybrid Biodevices) in the Life Sciences building.

This module is a prerequisite for ELEC6210 Biosensors, except for students that already took ELEC3223 in Part 3. ELEC6205 cannot be taken by students who took ELEC3223 in Part 3.

Module Overview

This module teaches the basics of the behaviour of fluids in microsystems, specifically focussing on the interaction of fundamental physical mechanisms and the design of microfluidic devices.  It also reviews and analyses the state of the art in applied microfluidics such as Laboratory-on-a-Chip technology