UCL opens new Thermodynamics and Fluids Laboratories

Journalists are invited to attend the opening ceremony and guest lecture that will be delivered by WilliamsF1 Director of Engineering Mr Patrick Head.

The refurbishment of the fluid mechanics laboratory has been jointly undertaken with Birkbeck College and funded by a £850,000 Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF) II grant. The funds have enabled existing wave and flume tanks to be completely overhauled, laboratory space to be expanded and the addition of a rotating tank - a unique facility in the UK that will allow research into bioprocessing technologies and atmospheric oceanic flow processes.

Funding from SRIF I, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council has also greatly expanded the internal combustion engine facilities at UCL. The Fuel System Test Facility (FSTF) - the only facility of its type in any European university - provides a safe environment for testing injectors and fuel systems under simulated engine conditions using flammable fuels. Four state-of-the-art engine test cells enable UCL engineers to work closely with top car manufacturers to improve engine performance.

Professor Nicos Ladommatos, Head of the UCL Department of Mechanical Engineering, says:

"A vibrant interfaculty and interdepartmental exchange already exists between UCL and Birkbeck College and we hope that industry will also be interested in using the facilities.

"Upgrading the infrastructure will catalyse future projects, increase revenue streams, and provide a rapid and dynamic response to changes in the research directions in the future. This fits closely to the UCL strategy of fostering an interdisciplinary environment, investment in laboratory infrastructure, development of groups which can respond to the ever-changing research environment and which have diverse research portfolios."

EVENT: Opening of new Thermodynamics and Fluids Laboratories

DATE: Friday 3 March 2006, 14.30 to16.30

LOCATION: University College London, UCL Department of Mechanical Engineering, Roberts building, Torrington Place, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7JE

MAP: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/images/image_bank/maps/main_site_bw_2005_mid

For further information, please contact: Judith H Moore, UCL Media Relations, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 7678, Mobile: +44 (0)77333 075 96, Email: judith.moore@ucl.ac.uk

Event timetable

14.30: Seminar Patrick Head 'Engineering Design in Formula 1'

15.45: Official opening of the Thermodynamics Laboratory

16.00: Official opening of the Fluids Laboratory followed by a reception and informal display of research work