Better limbs, teeth, and free-thinking robotic assistants await. ..... 4/ Take the first picture and drag the camera smo
SUMMER 2013 • ISSUE 6
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GOING BIONIC the future human
DIGITAL EDITION
CARVING A BETTER FUTURE. TOGETHER. YOU ARE THE CUTTING EDGE. YOUR RESEARCH SHOULD REFLECT THAT. 32.78% INCREASE
88.16% INCREASE
24.57%
SMS...
INCREASE
48.75%
ROAMING ACTIVITY MINUTES
INCREASE
28.19% INCREASE
OUTGOING TEXT MESSAGES OUTGOING MOBILE VOICE MINUTES OUTGOING MOBILE VOICE CALLS ACTIVE MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS AVERAGE SPEND PER USER ON MOBILE SERVICES
22.68%
DECREASE 2009
2010
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We live in an increasingly connected world and Malta is a unique microcosm that outpaces most other countries where communications and internet use are concerned. If you are planning to undertake research related to the latest developments in communication or technology, we would love to hear from you. At the Malta Communications Authority we have lots of information and resources, which we are happy to share with those who are dedicating their research to this rapidly evolving sector.
CONTACT US TODAY TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN COLLABORATE FOR A SMARTER, BETTER CONNECTED FUTURE.
2012
TEL: +356 21 336 840
[email protected] WWW.MCA.ORG.MT
HELLO
CONTENTS
ISSUE
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SUMMER
6 2013
COVER STORY
The Bionic Human Reloading humanity
Research for Tomorrow
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ou're in for a whopper of an issue. Eight new pages and we could hardly fit in everything we wanted. We put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this issue that the team had to plan a holiday. Our front cover symbolises humanity reimagined through research. Again, I'm sensationalising. Our The Bionic Human catches your attention, while Ing. Emmanuel Francalanza gathered all the research happening at the Faculty of Engineering to try and answer the question: how will today's research help humanity? Better limbs, teeth, and free-thinking robotic assistants await. Apart from over 20 pages celebrating 50 years of the Engineering Degree, I recently went to the UoM's Gozo campus. A research station has detected how the volcano Etna can effect Malta. Ash plumes can reach Malta annoying citizens, but also capable of covering plane engines with a thin glass covering shutting down their engines. We even snuck in a world first. We've featured and reviewed the world's first game based on a song. Will love tear us apart, a question that touches us all. Our special feature shines a bright, obvious light on why we need to support research in Malta. Finland invests nearly 4% of its GDP into research, Malta 0.68%. Finland gave birth to Nokia, a mobile phone company whose inventions changed our planet. How would Malta change if we seriously started investing in research? This issue opened the doors to advertising. Please let us know your thoughts by sending me an email or tweet, see below.
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EDITOR
[email protected] @DwardD
Transport 2025
How would Malta's ships, planes, and cars look in 2025?
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FEATURE
Etna
How does one of the most active volcanoes of the world affect Malta?
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Edward Duca
SPECIAL FEATURE
FEATURE
Through the Looking Glass World first: love and games
CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTORS Ben McClure
Prof. Ing. Jonathan C. Borg
ISSUE 13
Dr Ing. John C. Betts
Ing. Emmanuel Francalanza
Ing. Francelle Azzopardi
Prof. Raymond Ellul
Prof. Ing. Carl Debono
Sedeer El-Showk
Prof. Gordon Calleja
Prof. Isabel Stabile
SUMMER
6 2013
OPINION
Incubator Helps Start-ups Take off Ben McClure talks about kickstarting new companies
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SPECIAL FEATURE
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SPECIAL FEATURE
50 Years Engineering Degree
A Greener Malta Malta cleaner, more pleasant, better health
Dr Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone
Noel Tanti
Graziella Vella
The Faculty of Engineering
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ALUMNI
Alumni Talk What can you do with a maths degree? How do you enter pharma patent law?
FEATURED ARTIST
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Sonya Hallett
CULTURE
Mapping Cultural Space Where are Malta's cultural hotspots?
Illustrator, graphic designer, and naturalist based between London and China. My interests are zoology, visual communication, and engaging people in interesting ideas through pictures. I am now focusing on conservation and science communication through art and public engagement. bit.ly/SonyaHallett
Are you a student, staff, or researcher at the University of Malta? Would you like to contribute to THINK magazine? If interested, please get in touch to discuss your article on
[email protected] or call +356 2340 3451 66
CULTURE GENES
Meme
CONTENTS
COVER
STUDENTS
Students' thinking
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About: the stars, underwater Malta, diabetes, and 3D paintings OPINION
Should Malta Be The Next China?
The Bionic Man, playfully nicknamed Dante, was patiently sculpted in 3D by Jean Claude Vancell and featured in one of the magazine's articles.
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Prof. Ing. Jonathan C. Borg shares his thoughts on Maltese products
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SUMMER 2013 - ISSUE 6
EDITORIAL
Edward Duca EDITOR DESIGN 46
Immersive 3D experience A new 3D technology is being developed. How do you transmit it?
Jean Claude Vancell
THINK is a quarterly research magazine published by the Communications & Alumni Relations Office at the University of Malta.
FEATURE
COPY-EDITING
Daphne Pia Deguara, Patricia Ellul-Micallef PRINTING
Print It Printing Services, Malta ISSN 2306-0735 Copyright © University of Malta, 2013 The right of the University of Malta to be identified as Publisher of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Act, 2001. University of Malta, Msida, Malta Tel: (356) 2340 2340 Fax: (356) 2340 2342 www.um.edu.mt
FUN
Two Films. Two Reviewers.
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This month's horror film review
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of research and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this magazine are correct and active at the time of going to press. However the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent issues.
FIND US ONLINE www.facebook.com/ThinkUoM RESEARCH
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Racing into the Future The UOMR is building a new racing car
www.twitter.com/thinkuom www.youtube.com/user/ThinkUni www.issuu.com/thinkuni 5
STUDENT
students’ THINKing Conserving Maltese culture, saving bats, refining materials and new molecules, all by UoM students
The Universe is Strange and Beautiful SUPER DENSE STARS shooting jets of radiation, black holes swallowing up stars, supernovae, and unexplained bursts of gamma rays. These are all examples of a ‘transient event’, an incident that lasts at most a few days. They are amongst the most powerful and mysterious phenomena in the universe, but from Earth they appear as ‘blips’ on our telescopes, making them very difficult to study. Byron Magri (from the Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Programme (AACRP) and supervised by Dr Kris Zarb Adami) is shedding light on how to detect these fleeting wonders. His work is focused on fast transients that only last a few seconds. Earth-based radio telescopes (aka antennae) are as big as they can get. The problem is that astronomers need bigger telescopes to produce higher resolution images to reveal finer de-
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tails about these objects and find new discoveries. The solution is to use arrays of smaller radio antennae that are linked together. Interferometry is used to combine the data. The technique uses enormous computing power to measure the radio waves phase delays being gathered by the individual antennae. Interferometry then overlaps and superimposes them to produce a stronger signal and an image with a much higher resolution. For this technique to work, it must carry out all the calculations as the event is happening. The computer algorithm interpreting the data must also filter out all the noise due to the Earth’s atmosphere. To top it all off, the transient events need to be singled out. To meet these challenges Magri used GPUs (Graphic Processing Units), which are usually used by hardcore gamers to power the most advanced
graphics. The design of GPUs lends itself well to heavy numerical processing. Magri wrote an algorithm that acts as an inferometer on a GPU and he is testing it on data from the BEST2 radio telescope array in Medicina, Italy. Developing these algorithms is important to make future arrays larger. The next generation interferometer, the Square Kilometer Array, will have hundreds of antennae, meaning that information extraction will need to be extremely efficient and rapid. These algortithms are a keystone to maximise the potential of a €1.5 billion telescope to find more amazing phenomena in our universe.
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This research was performed as part of an M.Phil. (Melit.) in Physics at the Faculty of Science. For more about Malta’s role in the Square Kilometre Array see pg. 14, Issue 02 of THINK magazine (http://bit.ly/SKATHINK).
THINK STUDENT
Deep Sea Malta THE DEEP SEA covers 70% of the Mediterranean seabed, with Malta on the boundary of the Sea’s two main biogeographical sectors. Despite its importance in detecting changes in biodiversity, research on what lives in this habitat lags behind. Kimberly Terribile (supervised by Prof. Patrick J. Schembri) characterised the marine life on the seabed in deeper waters around Malta as a first step to find out what lives far beneath our waves. Terribile studied species by-catch samples that were caught from depths of 72 to 201m during deep sea trawls from 2009–2011. These were part of the Mediterranean International Trawl Surveys (MEDITS), which is meant to assess the state of fish stocks around the Mediterranean. Over 100 samples were analysed, which showed that light and the grain size of the sea bottom great-
ly influence the species that can live there. The type and number of species found were different from distributions seen in the western Mediterranean. She also mapped which species groups were found where. Taken together, these results show that the assemblages of species in the western Mediterranean are different from those in the central and eastern areas. The knowledge of these ecosystems is essential to properly manage these areas to maintain the health of fish stocks and for the management of the marine environment around Malta. Mapping the deep sea holds strong commercial importance. By knowing where important feeding, spawning, and nursery areas may occur, fish stocks and other commercially important species can be properly managed to maximise the catch
from the Mediterranean without causing the populations to collapse. The study attempted to start understanding the deeper seas around Malta. Fish do not exist individually, they need to breed, shelter and feed on other organisms. To maintain commercial fish you need to understand how all species affect each other. The study is a first step in maintaining our seas for tomorrow.
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This research was performed as part of an M.Sc. (Melit.) in Biology at the Faculty of Science. This project forms part of a collaboration between the Department of Biology and the Maltese Government’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Clockwise: Nemertesia sp, a Sphaerodiscus placenta, Dardanus calidus
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STUDENT
Haemoglobin
Haemoglobin A1C
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NH2
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CHO
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CH2OH Glucose
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CH2OH (Schiff base)
CH2OH (Amadori product)
Diabetes: from genes to blood TYPE 2 DIABETES mellitus is a disease that affects over 250 million people worldwide. Many in Malta suffer from the disease because of our high carbohydrate diet and lack of physical activity. Type 2 diabetes arises when levels of the sugar glucose remain very high in the blood. Testing normally involves frequent finger pricks to determine blood sugar levels, or otherwise a patient can take a sugary drink followed by regular urine/blood testing over 2 or more hours. Alexandra Fiott (supervised by Prof. A. Felice) studied whether the absolute HbA1c levels (the haemoglobin fraction with sugar attached multiplied by the haemoglobin concentration) would provide a better method to describe the link between one’s genetics and diabetic condition. She attempted to reduce the frequency of the testing needed while using a relatively non-invasive test — the withdrawing of one tube of blood,
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while investigating the genetics of diabetes. Haemoglobin (Hb) transports oxygen throughout the blood through red blood cells. The HbA1c forms when glucose binds to haemoglobin. This can be used as an indirect measure of average blood sugar concentrations. Measuring HbA1c levels is rapid, but unfortunately the results are influenced by factors that affect red blood cells. With around 5% of Maltese having red blood cell disorders, an alternative measurement would help reduce inaccurate results and unnecessary worry for patients. The absolute HbA1c was used for this study. The genetics and blood profile of five different patient groups were determined using genetic and biochemical methods: adults with a normal blood profile, anaemics, beta-thalassaemics, pregnant women, and type 2 diabetics (on limited treatment). Statistical anal-
ysis did not reveal an improved link, but the absolute HbA1c did help distinguish between the different patient groups. To improve the reliability of these results, a separate set of experiments was carried out to see whether a known Maltese variation in haemoglobin, with a prevalence of around 1.8% in the Maltese population, has an effect on the amount of sugar that binds to the haemoglobin. This variant was found not to influence the blood glucose levels and therefore the HbA1c. Taken together these results showed that the absolute HbA1c does not improve the link between the genetics and blood profile of the patients. However, it could distinguish between different groups of patients.
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This research was performed as part of an M.Sc. (Melit.) in Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta.
Think ahead
Our vision statement: Be the recognized software leader for small to mid-sized businesses. For more information visit: www.gfisoftware.com
STUDENT
You have to see the real thing! BUT WHAT DOES real really mean? Is there only one reality or are there multiple realities? These questions have been asked over and over again ad nauseum throughout humanity’s history only to end up with the same paraphrased answer: ‘Dear Sir, we can’t give you a definite answer since up to now we are not sure enough of what we are really speaking about.’ Socrates said reality is One, The Matrix says that the reality we experience is an illusion, while Stephen Hawking argues that reality is made up of distinct sets of laws of physics interwoven together into what he — plus a few other scientists — calls M-Theory. Indeed the digital era has not improved the situation. What was once the domain of the tangible and spiritual world ended up expanding exponentially into virtual worlds entirly created by humans — a hyperreality! Indeed the hyperreal has found its way in the visual arts. In the 60’s Photorealist painters created paintings indistinguishable from photographs. Their succesors, the Hyperrealists, depicted photoreal realities that never actually happened. How can a painting feel more real and tangible than reality? Up to the beginings of the last century mimesis (roughly means to imitate) was one of the main preocupations of western art. Artists made use of various visual tricks such as perception, oc-
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clusion, and chiaroscuro to fool the eye and give life to their works. But no matter how hard they tried they were doomed to failure because in an instant the brain would discover the illusion and reveal the flatness of the painted surface. The reason is simple, painted surfaces are monoscopic, from one point of view, whereas the brain builds a picture from what two eyes see to understand space and depth, a binocular system. For this reason, Darren Tanti harnessed binocular vision to his advantage and implemented stereoscopic principles into his paintings to create 3D images. 3D images form in our brains when two images (a left and a right image) are set slightly apart. Our brain fuses the two images together giving the illusion of depth and form. The trick is to recreate the two images onto the same canvas with two different paints, to align them slightly apart as precisely as possible, and to calibrate colours to match the colour filters of 3D glasses. The right combination of all three creates a fully functioning 3D painting. At first glance, 3D artwork might seem simple but there is a lot of work behind it. This technique cannot be used for its own sake. By combining it with other drawing or painting methods then there is a good chance to break ‘through the looking glass’ and enter a whole new world.
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Artworks by Darren Tanti exhibited at the MFA in Digital Arts Exhibition 2013
THINK STUDENT
give it a Try
Below is a simple method to create an anaglyph 3D image. Words by Darren Tanti 1/ Get hold of a high resolution digital camera. 2/ Build a simple camera slider (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=W9BrPCVuqCo). It is important that it allows smooth horizontal movements, which do not lead to vertical variations. 3/ Set a simple object as a model and put it within 1 to 2 meters from the camera (for the first attempt use a white plain background). 4/ Take the first picture and drag the camera smoothly on the slider about 2.5–4cm to the right and take the second shot (keep steady and avoid tilting, changing the angle of the camera, or zooming, at least for the first trials). 5/ Once you have the two pictures (referred to as chips) you have your stereo pair that can be viewed by a stereoviewer to make 3D images. 6/ The images are ready to be turned into a type of 3D image called an anaglyph. For this step, you need to edit them in Photoshop
or software like StereoPhoto Maker (http://stereo.jpn.org/ eng/stphmkr). Do not overdo the 3D effect because it will look unpleasant.
‘ghosting’ problems that will ruin your 3D image.
7/ For your first experience I recommend StereoPhoto Maker. It’s free, easy to use, and spares you the technicalities of converting a stereo pair into an anaglyph image.
10/ When the filters are swapped, the red paint will be seen as black through the cyan filter and the same for the cyan paint through a black filter. The luminosity of the two painted colours should be equal when viewed through the coloured filters. If not, the effect won’t work.
8/ There you go, you have your first anaglyph image. You need to view it from 3D red/cyan glasses which are cheap to buy (www.3dglassesonline.com) or make.
11/ Now paint the outline of your painting using ‘the grid’ technique, a very mechanical (and tedious) method but my favourite for precision drawing. As long as you are precise any method will do.
9/ Now paint it! There are different ways how to turn a 3D anaglyph image into a painting. It really depends on your artistic skills. The trick is precision. Initially, you have to find the correct paints that match the 3D glass filters that are going to be used. The red paint has to be perceived as white when viewed through the red filter and the cyan paint has to be perceived as white when viewed through the cyan filter. If not, you will have
12/ Try to replicate as accurately as possible the anaglyph (red/cyan) picture. Remember any distortions will make it extremely difficult for your brain to fuse the anaglyph image into a 3D image.
Above: The resulting images as described in step 4 Right: Painting the image as described in step 9
13/ If you succeeded, remember that this is only the beginning. Art is about self expression and creativity; give this technique your own twist and context to develop it into something authentic.
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SmartCity Malta’s ICT Infrastructure: Malta’s most capable host for digital operations
M
odeled on the business parks of Dubai Internet City, Media City and Knowledge Village, and forming part of a global network of business townships, SmartCity Malta is designed to act like a hub for the ICT-enabled knowledge economy of Malta and surrounding region. SmartCity Malta is implementing the most advanced and reliable ICT infrastructure available today. Through a progressive integration of technology and services, it has developed an ICT Infrastructure to meet the technical demands of mission critical digital operations. Such ICT infrastructure forms the blueprint of all current and future SmartCities. It incorporates five crucial elements, a built-in core telecom IP network, a multi-homed fiber network to doorstep, Malta’s most secure power supply, a unified central campus and building management, and on-site technical support. SmartCity Malta is connected to the rest of the world through two separately routed fiber-optic cables. These cables are connected to a network distribution centre on the SmartCity Malta campus. This centre is the main aggregation point of the entire network within SmartCity Malta. Each building in the campus will be interconnected through this centre.
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This is a paid editorial
Any business tenant can have up to a massive 1 GB Internet connection. Even if a connection fails, this multiple network connection will ensure seamless online operations. With such a strong backbone infrastructure, SmartCity Malta is an ideal location for mission-critical ICT operations such as data centres, disaster recovery centres, satellite teleports and similar activities, but also business process outsourcing, eMoney institutions, electronic payment gateways, online trading platforms, and so on. ICT infrastructure cannot function without reliable power. SmartCity Malta has its own large-scale power distribution centre that is fed with a 33KV power from two sources through a protected tunnel. This provides both high capacity and redundancy for use during peak periods and unforeseen power cuts. At building level a full-power generator provides a third redundancy level. SmartCity Malta has a fully unified campus management system. Its single access card systems recognise individual companies and people to offer a personalised service. Access to company information over the phone, use of one phone number over multiple devices, voice interaction with emails, and video communication are all a way of life at SmartCity Malta — all made possible through a fully supported ready-built platform.
SmartCity Malta’s heavy investment in reliable infrastructure offers business partners significant cost savings. The ready-made infrastructure at SmartCity Malta eliminates setup costs of a Metro Ethernet and dramatically reduces telecom expenses. Business partners can run their office automation system from the central campus system, eliminating setup and operation overheads. On the basis of this robust IP backbone, a fully integrated building management system is being implemented. Integrated with SmartCity Malta’s central campus system, lights and ACs are centrally monitored and controlled, ensuring that no power is wasted. The fire detection system, linked to the elevators and sprinklers, is activated throughout every building and linked with the access control system. Employee access is controlled through identity authentication. SmartCity Malta is designed to be more than an international work-liveplay business township concept, with localised practices. The investment made in SmartCity Malta is spurred from a vision to make it the latest destination on Malta. Just pay a visit to SmartCity Malta, look at the master plan, and see how the city is being planned and developed.
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THINK OPINION
Incubator Helps Start-ups Take off
Ben McClure
“Tucked away in their laboratories, garages, and workshops, Malta’s innovators are not networking”
T
he old saying goes: it takes a village to raise a child. In other words, to get it right a community effort is needed, shared by family and friends who pass on their experience and knowledge to the youngster. The same saying applies to building technology companies. Budding technology entrepreneurs in Malta need plenty of nurturing and guidance to get their innovations off the ground and into the marketplace. A supportive and well-connected entrepreneurial community is what is needed to transform Malta’s innovations into start-up ventures that will expand the economy. The good news for Malta is that the basic components of a technology start-up community already exist. The University of Malta is a hothouse of world-class scientific, engineering, and creative research that holds the potential to spin out exciting commercial ventures. A new generation of bright, technically-skilled graduates is starting to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path. Malta lacks a professional venture capital investment industry, but does have high net worth entrepreneurs and private ‘angel’ investors. Many of these have valuable experience gained abroad and are hungry to find and fund high-potential technology companies. The government is exploring ways of encouraging early-stage investment by way of tax incentives and seed fund development. Ideas, entrepreneurial energy, and money — the key ingredients for raising technology start-ups — are all here on the island. So, what is holding us back? I recently spoke to Steve Blank, a highly successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor. I asked him what he thought was
missing. His reply: ‘much of the Valley’s alchemy lies in connectivity’. Innovators, entrepreneurs, investors – Malta has got them all. Unfortunately, they are not finding each other. Tucked away in their laboratories, garages, and workshops, Malta’s innovators are not networking. They need skilled and experienced business people to push their technologies past the idea stage. Wealthy angel investors are here in Malta, but they frequently operate ‘under the radar’ and can be hard to access. In the absence of connections, both investors and innovators miss out on potentially rewarding opportunities. Promising young ventures, which might takeoff with a little support and funding, consequently get left to struggle on their own. The University of Malta Business Incubator will start operations this year and create a platform for new start-ups. Opening its doors to researchers, students, and aspiring technology entrepreneurs, the incubator will provide them with space to plan, launch, and grow businesses. There, a network of seasoned entrepreneurs, business mentors, and angel investors will join them. These ‘parents and village elders’ will be mobilised to concentrate efforts to guide startups to create a company, raise capital, and reach the marketplace. We aim to make the incubator a lively hub to create businesses. Building a company, like raising a child, is a lot of hard work. Bringing the community together under one roof, where it can do the job right, will ease the labour of start-up development, and improve the odds of scoring triumphs.
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Ben McClure is Manager at the University of Malta Business Incubator
[email protected]
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OPINION
Should Malta Be The Next China?
A
fter repeatedly visiting Asia, I totally disagree with comments occasionally made that China’s industrial success is wholly attributed to its ability to replicate low quality versions of branded products at rock-bottom prices. In China there are many good examples of good quality products and brands being produced such as Audi, Airbus, and Armani. Based on these facts, what Maltese industry and policy makers should focus on is making our industry more competitive by improving the current situation and analyzing products being developed elsewhere. The Maltese industry is not really dying. Our industry has indeed changed, for example from textiles to pharmaceuticals. Overall, the number of employees has declined. However, this is either due to industry becoming more efficient hence able to produce more with less, or due to the way statistical data is being collected. Malta’s industrial sector can become more competitive. However, what does it mean to ‘be competitive’? Goods should be produced with shorter delivery periods, better costs and quality compared to competitors. Since we lack raw materials cost is very challenging to compete on. On the other hand, improving quality provides much more opportunity. Quality can be improved by increasing the external quality of the products manufactured, the product’s functionality, the interactions that take place with clients during product development, the quality of support and after sales services, management of op-
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Prof. Ing. Jonathan C. Borg erations, and how operators work. Core to adopting this quality-based approach is the need to focus on shifting from just manufacturing products to designing and manufacturing products in Malta. To design their own products, Maltese manufacturing firms need to set up an internal Research & Development unit. At the same time, industry needs support through government policies and incentives. In their publication ‘Vision 2015’ American consultants clearly specify product design as an enabler to higher value added manufacturing. The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise & Industry has also recommended starting a Malta Business Research & Innovation Body. These recommendations need urgent implementation to shift Malta’s manufacturing industry towards becoming ‘design driven’.
“Goods should be produced with shorter delivery periods, better costs, and quality compared to competitors” The UoM’s Faculty of Engineering has been actively contributing towards a design driven approach. Our undergraduate engineers are purposely trained in this design-centric ap-
proach. Additionally, some final year student projects focusing on design are sponsored by industry: an excellent win-win mechanism. A number of both mechanical and electrical engineers have also benefited through an evening M.Sc. in Integrated Product Development. The Faculty also collaborates with industry through MCST funded Research & Innovation projects. More financial support to University would help every academic active in research to regularly receive decent research funds. Considering the above, Malta does not and should not aim to be the next China. On the other hand, Malta should nurture its unique strengths such as a highly educated, flexible English-speaking workforce. We should aim to address weaknesses related to Malta’s manufacturing sector. This requires short-term and long-term commitments from our policy makers. Business leaders can also proactively embrace change by aiming to offer quality and innovative solutions, rather than aiming for higher production rates of existing products. The Maltese industry should support continuous training and collaborate on research activities with University. The UoM can help them become more innovative. Like Airbus, Armani, and Audi, Maltese business leaders should exploit, rather than fear, Asian industry. Some Malta based entities, such as Toly Products Ltd, are already going down these routes and are reaping the rewards of growth during a recession. Clearly others should aim to do the same to keep Malta competitive.
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THINK ENGINEERING SPECIAL
S SP E C I A L F E AT U R E
Maltese government requests assistance from UN to teach Engineering
1958
1960
Marsa Power Station Commissioned
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mart phones, supersonic planes, Formula 1 cars, green cities, the Internet; engineers built them all. Engineers are everywhere. The world needs them and so do you. The University of Malta is celebrating 50 years of teaching the engineering degree (to mould tomorrow’s engineers). THINK magazine collaborated with Ing. Emmanuel Francalanza to peek into the future. The cutting edge of research is always trying to solve new problems, manufacture better artificial limbs, cheaper electric cars, an endless power source, or even an exoskeleton. We took Malta’s latest findings and went a step further: five, 10, 30 years into the future. Where will this research end up? »
First six undergrads graduate
1966
Polytechnic Institute starts teaching Engineering Degree
1978
First two female Electrical Engineers graduate
First two female Mechanical Engineers graduate
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1989
Polytechnic incorporated into University as the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
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Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering established
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ENGINEERING SPECIAL
The late Charles Bezzina (left) and Daniel Mallia (who emigrated to Australia) at the University Workshop. Both were apprentices at the time.
The first of three articles, The Bionic Human (pg. 18) sees how this research can improve human abilities. In the years to come we will be able to integrate ourselves with a robotic arm capable of gently holding a baby or of crushing metal. We might even be able to control that arm just by thinking about it, then glance at a curtain and smile as it opens. Tomorrow’s new and improved human would even have man’s new best friend: a robotic assistant. A Greener Malta (pg. 25) sees how research can help us clean up our act. During Malta’s post war rebuilding and subsequent economic boom, the environment was neglected. The latest technology and more research can help turn back the hands of time. With the right support Malta could be one of the cleanest islands in the Mediterranean that we’d all enjoy a lot more. Following up on reducing pollution, car traffic is a big reason for Malta’s air pollution problems. In Transport 2025 (pg. 34), Francalanza takes the latest research in car, ship, and plane improvement, and sees how it could change the country. Our cars could be cleaner, ships lighter and stronger, planes made safer by reimagining them from the inside out. The future looks bright.
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Faculty of Engineering founded
First two postgrads graduate 101 students graduate
1992 111 students graduate due to new policies at UoM
1996/7
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Combined cycle plant installed in Delimara
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Celebrating 50 years of the Engineering degree at UoM Dr Ing. John C. Betts
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f there is one constant in engineering, it is change, and the very nature of the profession demands a belief in research-driven change which is powered by creativity and the competitive desire for innovation. The students of the first year of entry, 1963, are greatly outnumbered by the present day cohort but postgraduate student research is the greater cultural change within our Faculty. In 1988, the unmarked 25th anniversary, practically no engineering research was performed, and the Faculty focused on teaching undergraduates only. The situation has changed beyond anyone’s expectations. Research lab facilities are of an international standard, and Faculty members regularly take part in multi-million euro projects. Last November, these collaborations helped the Faculty present a compilation of over 122 peer-reviewed papers from the last 21 months to President George Abela. In the coming years we plan to exceed this output as our research projects mature and develop. New fields are being explored, and collaborations with industry, with foreign institutions, and perhaps most important-
ly, with other professions are being cemented – our endeavours in bioengineering (check The Bionic Human pg. 18) are particularly noteworthy. University needs more funding to achieve operational sustainability and attain a critical mass of researchers, a requirement which has not matched the dedication of researchers, which in some cases is of lifetimes, and which has received little recognition outside of University. Frequently it is seen as an individual choice or sacrifice rather than a national or public decision. Over its 50 years, the degree has consistently and successfully provided engineers with the skills to drive the technological infrastructure of society. From aeroplanes to mobile phones engineers are essential, but apart from these infrastructures technology needs to be driven forward. Progress can only come through research, and teaching research skills to our students. A successful degree is not attained by the stagnant memorising, compiling, and delivering of facts, but by dynamically questioning them and that is what research is all about.
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First engineer elected to parliament
President of Malta visits Faculty
2013
Sharp increase to 120 international research publications over the last two years
Oldest undergraduate student ever celebrates birthday
Thanks for the assistance of Prof. Michael Saliba, Dr Claire De Marco, Michael Spiteri and Enemalta. Special thanks to Rev. Prof. Saviour Chircop and the staff of the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences for their assistance during the staff photoshoot for the Faculty of Engineering
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Faster, fitter, and flawless? What would it take to build a Bionic Human? Emmanuel Francalanza delved into research at the Faculty of Engineering to see how Malta could contribute. 3D Art by Jean Claude Vancell 18
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F
rom the ‘Bionic Woman’ and ‘Cyborgs’ to the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ and ‘Robocop’, science fiction has fired our imagination of augmenting humans with man made prosthetics. An upgraded human would prevent, even correct, the errors of evolution. Although a wonderful machine, its complexity makes it fragile and easily harmed. Our bodies also suffer from disease. As the population ages and obesity rates increase, a swell in the need for hip and knee replacements is inevitable. This is when medicine turns towards engineering. Biomedical engineering combines engineering with medicine to build the bionic human. »
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Upgraded Teeth First of all to construct the Bionic Human we need the right materials. The human body naturally attacks implanted foreign materials. Transplanting organs needs heavy drug use to knock-out the immune system and prevent the immune system attacking the organ. These drugs lead to many complications but are our current best tool. A cleverer approach would be to deceive the human body into accepting these foreign elements system. Biocompatible materials can trick the body into thinking they are one. Biomaterials can be used for simple dental material to complex bone replacements. These materials have two main characteristics, their bulk material properties and surface composition. The bulk material properties take care of toughness, rigidity, integrity, while surface composition defines how the implant interacts with other materials and the surrounding tissue. Memories of toothache: sleepless nights, stress, and waiting in a dentist’s chair for a dreaded tooth filling. These memories can become a footnote in history. Materials scientist Prof. Josette Camilleri and materials engineer Dr Bertram Mallia (University of Malta) are collaborating to develop a material that can replace current dental sealer to reduce the number of visits at the dentist, make them more pleasant, and help healing after surgery. This material is composed of the same compounds that hold our houses together, Portland cement. The cement reacts to other naturally occurring minerals in our bones to trick the body into believing that the material is normal bone. It is then prepared into a resin-based mixture which sets when exposed to a dental light. These scientists are experimenting with different compositions to try and find the best mixtures to reduce surgery time while optimising bio-compatibility and
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strength, to ensure your teeth won’t break when eating a tough bread crust!
Replacement limbs Worldwide about 10% of men and 18% of women suffer from arthritis. Many will need hip and knee replacements which last on average 10 to 15 years. They deteriorate due to high stresses imposed by the human body, and wear and tear; we are constantly using these dynamic joints. Metal materials are commonly used since they complement good mechanical properties with reasonable costs. Yet even metal cannot take the stress our legs regularly take. Leg implants frequently fail. The implants loosen, dislo-
“Worldwide about 10% of men and 18% of women suffer from arthritis. Many will need hip and knee replacements which last on average 10 to 15 years”
cate, or wear down. Survival rates are extremely unsatisfactory and there are better materials like ceramic-on-ceramic implants, but these are much more expensive. Dr J. Buhagiar and a team of engineers and medical researchers are developing new surface treatments for metal-on-metal implants to make them last longer. The main problem is that the two metal surfaces between the moving joint parts wear each other down. To improve wear resistance they are infusing the metal (cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy) with carbon using a patented method called Kolsterising®. The researchers infuse the metal with different amounts of carbon. Each material is then tested to check its properties. Material surfaces are analyzed with high-end microscopes to see the surface nano-structure, biocompatibility is tested to see if the body accepts it. A host of other experiments figure out wear resistance. Ultimately, this will find which material has the best improvements. Better hip implants will help humans live longer and more comfortably. By extending implant life expectancy the need for revision surgery is reduced. This leads to two main benefits: avoiding the pain and hassle of redoing a total hip replacement, and reducing the
A robotic hand at the laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering. Photo by Edward Duca
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financial burden on national health institutions.
Repairing the bionic human If we are to try to replicate human body parts to make a bionic human, we have to first understand how the human body works. The human skeleton bears the body’s weight, while muscles, ligaments, and joints allow us to walk, talk, and play football. Understanding these systems from a mechanical engineering perspective is called biomechanics. There are two ways we could study the human body: use human guinea pigs to test every engineering dream, or create a computer model of a human.
For obvious ethical issues scientists prefer computer models. Engineers can use the same know how and techniques used to model bridges when analysing the human body. In one of their studies mechanical engineer Dr Ing. Zdenka Sant and her research team simulated the human breastbone and sternum. This computer model is very useful for heart surgeons, a mechanical simulation model of the sternum allows them to plan the best path to access the heart and nearby vessels. Planning the best route to the problematic area reduces a patient’s complications and reduces the risk of things going wrong. By only passing through the minimal tissue patients recover more quickly.
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Our bodies are so well designed that each organ efficiently occupies the least space possible. Sounds great but constitutes a problem for implanted devices, where can they fit? Enter biomedical devices. These implants sustain or replicate bodily functions, take pace makers and artificial heart valves. Miniaturisation needs micro and nano manufactured parts. Parts so small that they are impossible to view with the naked eye. This brings many challenges and requires precise manufacturing techniques. Dr Ing. Philip Farrugia together with a team of manufacturing engineers and researchers are currently developing technologies capable of mass-producing such micro components. The EX-MMIM project has brought together researchers and »
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a number of Maltese manufacturing companies to develop microinjection molding processes. This type of research partnership ensures that knowledge generated in the research labs is efficiently transferred to industry. Other types of biomedical devices help doctors during complex operations on the human body. Minimally invasive surgery uses a small incision to the body and the surgeon directs surgical tools to operate through these cuts. Prof. Ing. Jonathan Borg lead a research team that developed a new tool used for minimally invasive surgery. Laparoscopic surgery, a specialized form of minimally invasive surgery, uses tools that have to pass through small incisions the size of a one-cent coin. The problem is that each part of an operation needs a tool to do a different job from grasping to cutting. By studying operating procedures and how surgeons use these tools the research team developed a tool that combined different functions. The tools did not need changing during the operation, minimising the operating time which keeps the surgeon relaxed and the pahand tient healthier. The minimal impact these tiny tools leave means the patient usually spends days in hospital instead of weeks.
A hand please And what if our Bionic Human needed an artificial hand? Then we would need to design and construct a robotic hand with a controller able to reproduce the intricate movements of the human hand. Over the last fifteen years, Prof. Ing. Michael A. Saliba has been developing robotic hands that can grasp, and manipulate fine objects. His team have also developed gloves to control robotic hands remotely. Replicating the dexterity of the human hand is no mean feat! The human hand can execute 21 different joint motions (not including wrist and arm motions). Their combination lets us pick delicate crystal glasses or climb sheer cliff faces. Research on the measurement of dexterity in human hands has led to artificial hands design guidelines that achieve a fair balance between dexterity and simplicity. Nine carefully selected and designed joint motions would be all we need for our Bionic Human. »
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Apart from finger movement, robots also need to control the force with which they grasp objects. No one likes bone-crushing handshakes. The force needs to be carefully monitored and adjusted. Imagine you want to pick up a fragile test tube with your robotic hand. Pressing too much would shatter it to pieces, not pressing enough would drop it to the floor. Local roboticists have developed sensors that can sense an object slip from a robotic hand before it starts to fall. Prevention is better than cure.
Your personal assistant Our Bionic Human might need an assistant on their quest. But not just any robot, an intelligent robot like Marvin from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (the cleverest robot ever built). Cleverness needs the design and implementation of intelligent controllers. And what better way is there to think cleverly like us, but to replicate our brains? Neural networks do such a job. These software programs are configured to learn from specific behaviors and associate a particular output to a triggered input. When we slip or lose balance (input) our body intelligently reconfigures our muscles (output) to avoid us falling on our backsides. This approach allows a robot to continuously adapt itself on its own to changes it observes around it. By doing so, the robot can move around on its own reliably. In Malta, Prof. Ing Simon Fabri and his team at the Control Systems Engineering Laboratory are helping build the future’s intelligent robots. They are designing control systems to allow robots to move around and behave with little human help.
Science Fiction becoming reality In Star Wars, the force is used to move objects just by using thought. Jedi Knights need years of training to har-
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ness this force. The ability to move objects just by thought is possible, not through a mystical force but through a computer. Our Bionic Human will be able to communicate with and control machines with the power of his or her brain. Today we have already taken the first steps to make this Sci Fi dream a reality. Electrodes can be attached to a person’s scalp to read the electrical signals from a person’s brain. These brain signals are called Electroencephalgraphic (EEG) recordings and since they need to pass from our brain to the surface of the skin, the readings become noisy and fuzzy. To extract useful information the signals are fed into a sophisticated computer program (signal processing techniques) to tease apart the confusion. The computer can then interpret our thoughts into commands. For example, ‘I want to move my arm left’, and a robotic arm or wheelchair moves, the same command could even be used to switch on a TV if eye tracking software detecting ‘I’m looking at my flat-screen monitor’.
“Does this all mean that on our next call to the police we should expect Robocop to come to the rescue?”
muscles have time to respond. Not only can they give mobility to everyone, but also save lives. Locally, Prof. Ing Kenneth Camilleri and his team have been experimenting with the use of brain signals to communicate with the environment. Their work has helped tease apart these signals to help computers understand them better and faster. A major limitation in current technology is the time and computer power you need to decipher these signals. Their computer algorithms are aiming for brain signals to be read and interpreted as they form. Does this all mean that on our next call to the police we should expect Robocop to come to the rescue? And, this Robocop will be shooting and arresting criminals with his augmented body, while controlling robotic helpers through his thoughts. Well definitely not. Whilst there have been large advances in engineering in the past 50 years, we are still a long way from the dreams of science fiction authors and movie directors. But some of this technology is already finding its way into our daily lives. The next time you visit the dentist, keep in mind the engineers who have worked relentlessly to make your experience less terrifying and perhaps the next video game console may work just by thinking about it.
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This is the world of brain to computer interface devices. These devices open up the possibility to patients suffering from reduced muscular control to obtain a degree of interaction with the physical world. Applied to everyday circumstances they could help us drive a car by thinking about it, or more importantly avoid a car crash when your brain registers an accident ahead before our A robotic hand mixes liquids at the laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering. Photo by Elisa von Brockdorff
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A Greener Malta Sweden generates nearly 50% of their electricity from renewables, Germany is trying to achieve 80% supply by 2050, while Malta currently generates less than 1% from renewables.
Malta is the second highest generator of greenhouse gas emissions amongst all the European states per capita.
Finland annually produces 20,000 m3 of renewable freshwater (collected rainfall, rivers, etc.) per capita. Malta generates 121 m3 per capita, nearly 160 times less than Finland and 25 times less than Italy. We live in absolute water scarcity and few people know it.
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he facts are clear: Malta has a challenge. It needs to build up a 10% electricity generation from renewables by 2020. Beyond that, it needs cleaner air, cleverer homes, and a consistent power source for its people and economy. The big question is how can we enjoy Malta’s newly won benefits of the developing world without compromising our environment? This challenge motivates researchers worldwide. Malta is doing its bit in environmental engineering: developing green skies, green energy, green homes, and the opportunity for a green Malta.
Greener Skies Nearly 100,000 commercial flights take off every day worldwide causing 2% of
man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year. In Malta, over one million tourists visit each year and flights are critical in connecting an island to the outside world. How can we address Malta’s economic needs with a growing public concern on airplane pollution, noise, and contribution towards climate change? A €1.6 billion Clean Sky project funded by the European Commission is trying to make this apparent conflict work. It brings together major European industrial partners, research establishments, and academia to develop breakthrough technologies for the air transport industry. In Malta, the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering is »
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optimising flight paths known as trajectories. The idea: reduce a plane’s flight path, reduce the time it is airborne, lower CO2 release. Computer algorithms can find a plane’s best trajectory and minimise air pollutants and noise. Malta is handling a part of the software development to optimise flight paths. The purpose of the software platform being developed by the Maltese team is to allow partners to bring together their optimisation models and tools. This will allow the international consortium to solve the complex algorithms that come with flight trajectory problems. Another project called Clean Flight is tackling local airplane flight paths. Current flight trajectory calculations are
based on lowering costs. This does not necessarily mean that these trajectories provide the least pollution for our skies. Clean Flight’s approach is to lower flight costs by being green. Usually these two qualities match: burn less fuel, spend less, pollute less. Commercial aircrafts should have new flight paths for Malta.
Harnessing the winds Every time we switch on an appliance at home or at our workplace we are consuming energy. And energy means money and pollution. Pollution can be nullified by using renewables. Denmark, famous for windmills, has invested heavily in wind energy. By 2011 it generated around 26% of the total electricity demand through wind farms. Denmark also has one of the lowest electricity prices in the EU. Wind energy’s success has come with a backlash. The rapid increase in land use has caused public outcry on despoiling views, animal activists are worried about bird deaths, and increased pressure on limited land avail-
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ability. In Malta land is of premium value. Green and open spaces are limited. Out at sea these problems could disappear and floating offshore wind structures may provide accessibility to deeper waters. Deeper seas have other plusses. Out there, the wind speeds are higher and more consistent, which makes electricity generation more realistic. The flipside is the expense in sending the precious electrical energy back to shore to power homes. Floating wind turbines may be the key to fulfil Malta’s renewable energy targets. Malta has agreed to a 10% electricity generation from renewables by 2020 with the EU. If the country fails to meet its target it will be smacked with a huge fine. To give more opportunities for the government to reach this target the Faculty of Engineering is pushing new research into wind energy. There are major differences between floating and fixed offshore structures. Waves cause ever changing stresses on the turbine’s structure and bobbing movement could
change the turbine blades’ aerodynamics that reduces power output. The researchers at the Faculty’s Fluids Lab are testing a model floating wind turbine. Till now, the experiments have examined the change in power experienced by a wind turbine’s rotors when bobbing up and down on waves. The
“Floating wind turbines may be the key to fulfill Malta’s renewable energy targets” data has been inputted into a computer model to simulate large-scale floating wind farms. By simulating the air flow the drop in generation can be better understood. The simulations are based on the application of free-wake vortex
methods. Since the air flow changes with the oscillation of the platform and therefore with time, these methods are capable of capturing the changes in the wake formed by the rotor. Large wind farms face the problem of having generators and gearboxes mounted on each turbine at great cost. Instead the energy generation could be centralised, with individual turbines pumping seawater towards a central station which makes use of a positive displacement pump. This concept would mean that a centralised hydroelectric power station could be located on our shores. Replacing every wind turbine’s gearbox and generator with a hydraulic pump offers many advantages. It reduces expense, by minimising the number of moving parts’ maintenance costs, and make a lighter turbine. Wind farms that pump water could also be easier to combine with wave energy, energy storage systems, and reverse osmosis plants that use up a big chunk of Malta’s electricity to make drinking water from the Mediterranean. »
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The only way is up Normally we think of wind turbines as a tall central structure with a generator on top and propeller-style blades powering everything. But this is not the only possibility. Blades can spin around the turbines’ central structure doing away with expensive maintenance costs and complex gears to turn the blades into the wind. These Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) do not need to be oriented into a specific wind direction. Their problem is a requirement for higher wind speeds before they start to spin. Dr Ing. Pierluigi Mollicone is coordinating a project that is coming up with new design concepts for this type of wind turbine. By working with both local academics and industrial players, a state-of-the-art design has to improve both the starting speed and the capability of controlling the turbine at varying wind speeds. Starting off from a con-
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ceptual idea, the design is then detailed and developed in the first step to make a wind turbine. The computer design then needs to be tested for aerodynamics and structural integrity—does it spin well and can it take a beating? The computational model then needs to be translated into a real world structure and tested in a wind tunnel, with further experiments back and forth needed to come up with a new wind turbine.
Malta’s very own windmill: restarted The Raddiena or Chicago windmill is a well-known sight in rural Malta. These windmills harness the winds to draw water from the water table and irrigate fields. In 2001, 300 windmills were listed across Malta and Gozo. Unfortunately, the introduction of electricity has led farmers to abandon this clean source. Many windmills are gradually deteriorating. »
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Dr Ing. Tonio Sant (Department of Mechanical Engineering) and his team are developing a new wind turbine concept to replace these badly damaged Chicago windmills. Together with the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs they are upgrading the rotor design structure’s aerodynamics to improve water-pumping efficiency. At the same time, the researchers want to maintain the original visual appeal of a multi-bladed rotor. The turbine will also produce electricity and be grid-connected. It won’t just pump up water but also provide clean energy.
Green Homes Malta is covered in houses. Covering their roofs with PV (photovoltaic) panels is a way we could all help by making renewable energy. In the past five years, Malta has seen a drastic increase in PV panel use. Electricity generation is shifting from a centralised power station to our homes. Distributed generation is characterised by small-scale electricity generation, deployed near the point of use: our homes. Currently our national grid cannot handle large PV installations. The stability of the grid may be compromised leading to power outages. And we all know what being in the dark for a few hours means. No Internet, no TV, no cold drinks in summer. The storage of electric energy can be used to balance the generation and consumption demands for a single household or company. Excess energy generated during periods of high generation can be stored. This stored energy can then be used when supply cannot meet demand, perhaps when using several heaters on a cloudy day. Microgrids can solve these challenges. These grids are low voltage (electrical distribution within a home) or medium voltage (electrical distribution within a neighborhood) electrical distribution networks designed to supply small electrical loads. They are needed to hook up PV panels to a small community like a housing estate, university, schools, shopping mall, or industrial area. They
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consist of three major components. The homes equipped with PV or wind turbine installations, systems to store the energy generated, and other electricity users connected to the grid. Microgrids generate energy near where it will be used. This increases reliability and reduces losses due to long transmission lines. Microgrids can also be used to provide electricity in remote locations unconnected to a main grid. Researchers are developing new methods to reliably operate and control microgrids across an island. They want to implement a low voltage microgrid capable of reliable operation that is connected to the national grid. Many households have PV panels and solar water heaters. Local researchers are combining the two systems. For a sunny country like Malta, such a system makes perfect sense. One major advantage of a combined system is efficient conversion of concentrated solar energy to heat energy. The homeowner can then flip a switch to either generate electricity or heat water. A parabolic trough, a curved surface, is used to focus the sun’s rays onto a fluid. The heated fluid can reach temperatures of up to 300°C. Hot enough to power a stirling engine used to generate electricity or pump water.
Greener Seas The Mediterranean has over 150 million people living on its coast. A quarter of a million fishermen live off its fish. Even closer to home, the sea around Malta sees one third of the world’s shipping. The only way this sea can survive is by knowing how much we are polluting
The Malta Freeport
and exploiting it by monitoring it. Then the effect needs to be evaluated and the situation managed by administrators around the Sea to balance development and environmental health. A study that will help gather information about maritime traffic across the Straits of Sicily is being carried out by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the University of Catania. By quantifying the emissions produced, they will find out the consequences of these emissions on the local plant and animal life. The project aims at supporting the monitoring of pollution at sea in the Straits of Sicily and so contributing to future legislation at national and European level. Engineers designed a towfish that will be used to monitor a number of pollutants in the Mediterranean Sea. A towfish is an underwater platform that is towed behind a surface boat and can reach a depth of 50m. The towfish will be equipped with an HD camera that can take images of zooplankton and phytoplankton in order to study colonies that exist in the Straits of Sicily.
Another HD camera will be used to monitor swarms of jellyfish and their location.
A Green Malta Pollution bothers everyone with dirty atmospheres and smelly odours. Pollution also makes us sick and causes many health problems including birth defects, and burdens health institutes. We all have a role to play to protect and safeguard our environment. Whether it is our skies, seas, or our homes we all have to do our part. A greener Malta means a greener future for all of us. In 30 years’ time the electric energy we use in our homes and at the workplace will come mainly from renewable energy sources. We will all be driving electric vehicles. The familiar black clouds of smoke from dirty engines will be a thing of the past. But these advances in technology will not be possible without government funding, industrial collaboration, and the sweat of engineers and researchers to find exciting solutions to power nations and our green homes.
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Emmanuel Francalanza imagines how Malta’s transport system might look in 2025. Illustrations by Sonya Hallett
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’m writing this article at 30,000 feet as I am flying back home. At a mere 316 km2, Malta is one of the smallest countries in the world and everywhere is ‘close’. But it still takes a long time to reach work. Reaching University is only the start of the problem, that’s when the parking nightmares begin. These issues apply to everyone, not just University academics. Don’t we all wish that we could call out ‘beam me up Scotty’ and be teleported to our destinations, especially if you’re caught in a traffic jam in Marsa on the way to catch a flight? Traffic and parking issues are not our only problems. Being an island nation causes major logistical headaches for construction, retailing, and manufacturing companies. Sustaining Maltese companies and attracting foreign investment is a challenge. Let alone for Gozo.
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As I sit here thinking, I ask myself the question: What can transportation in Malta look like in 2025? But as an engineer I know that I must first ask myself: what will Malta’s transportation requirements be in 17 years time? How will cars change? How can ships be more efficient? And, how can we make planes safer?
Cars of Tomorrow In the close future we will be seeing smaller, greener vehicles. Many car manufacturers are downsizing engines — nothing new. Cars like the Beetle, Cinquecento, and Mini have always been around encouraging smaller, more economical vehicles. Today, a different approach is coming into play. Engine downsizing is being managed by introducing turbocharging. Turbocharging works by forcing air and increasing the
pressure in the engine’s combustion chamber. By doing so the energy is released when the fuel is ignited, pumping more power. Increased energy leads to a greater torque to turn the car’s wheels. Having a turbocharged engine means that you can still achieve a higher brake horse power (bhp) for a smaller engine. A smaller engine uses less fuel and pins the car to a less expensive license. Consumers gain cheaper running costs at lower emissions helping out the environment. Turbocharging has been around since 1885, used to power fighter plane engines in WWII and supercharge Formula 1 cars. In cars it was first used to increase the power for smaller diesel engines. Now, it is being used to turbocharge small petrol engines. Turbocharging sounds powerful, but it does add some problems. Turbocharging places a compressor at the air
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inlet of an engine. The turbocharger increases the air pressure and temperature. Hotter gases can cause the fuel-air mixture in the compression chamber to ignite before the peak of the combustion cycle. When this happens the car engine knocks. Knocking can be avoided by cooling the charged air with a bulky inter-cooler which cools the compressed air before being forced into the combustion chamber. Knock is elusive to study since it is irregular making mathematical and physical modelling tricky. Dr Ing. Mario Farrugia is trying to model knock and get the timing right. He is testing turbochargers on motor bikes and a standard Ford engine. Pressure measurements in the combustion cylinder are taken to try and better understand the conditions where knocking is caused. By preventing knock, turbocharged engines will continue en-
tering the mass automotive market and become more common.
“In the late 90s it used to take 48 months for a vehicle to make it from the drawing board to our garages. In 2013, it takes 18 months” 3D everything The time it takes to design a car, from concept to our roads, has plummeted over the past decades. In the late 90s it used to take 48 months for a vehicle to make it from the drawing board to our
garages. In 2013, it takes 18 months. By decreasing product development time, companies are under added pressure to quickly translate ideas into cars. Companies use 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs to build car models. However, 2D sketches are faster and more intuitive than 3D models. Sketching communicates ideas to others. One might, for example, sketch a map to explain to someone how to get to a place. An architect will sketch the plan of a building to illustrate his design ideas. An engineer might sketch circuit diagrams, models of 3D prototypes, or machine parts. A picture can say a thousand words. Humans easily interpret sketches. Machines don’t have it so easy. Industrial designers need their sketches quickly turned into 3D models. A local team is developing software that turns a sketch into a 3D model. »
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First they developed a sketching language, with certain symbols giving commands to the programme. Then they created a programme that could interpret the objects drawn. The researchers could sketch a new kettle or make-up case and it turned into a 3D image ready to be popped into a CAD programme for further development and refinement. The number of drawings the programme can interpret is limited, so Alexandra Bonnici is developing a more advanced version. She plans to let designers draw normal shaded drawings, which means that the programme needs to do more legwork. It uses a much more sophisticated algorithm to interpret shadowing, curves, and other cues in the sketch. Designers might soon be able to draw whatever they want, send the information to a computer, and out comes a 3D model they can turn into reality. Cars (and other products) might start popping out of factories much faster.
Factories of the Future Future factories look nothing like the dirty, smelly, and menacing environ-
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ments we normally associate with manufacturing. Future factories will provide clean, safe, and highly automated environments. Most car companies use vast automations in their assembly lines. Computer controlled robots cut, slice, piece together, and weld, with a few engineers playing puppet master.
“stronger, lighter, longer-lasting boats, definitely by 2025” To be competitive, the local manufacturing industry needs to go down the same line. Prof. Ing. Michael Saliba has led a research team that surveyed automation use in Maltese companies. Local manufacturers face particular problems automating their factory. Our geographic isolation combined with a general shortage of local suppliers and expertise. Perceptions seem to link automation with expensive big foreign manufacturers but this research found that recent automation approaches
could be very beneficial. They allow a plug and play approach to manufacturing. Different modules can be added or removed to a production line depending on the manufacturing requirements. Its versatility is its attraction.
Boats: sleeker, stronger, smarter As summer sets in we all look forward to spending more time at the beach, enjoying water sports, or just cruising around Malta. As a group of islands, boats are part of our culture. But how will they look, drive, and feel in 2025? What will they be made up of ? Most of our boats right now are made of fiberglass. Fiberglass is a composite material made up of two components: an epoxy resin that bulks the material and glass fibres that reinforce everything. Boats are produced by layering several layers of fiberglass sheets. Polyester resin is then added manually using a brush or roller. The resin combined with the fiberglass is called a single skin laminate. Later, wood reinforcements are added to stiffen the hull, which makes everything much heavier.
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A more advanced technique of manufacturing fibreglass structures uses sandwich construction. Sandwich construction is widely used for wind turbine blades and in the aerospace industry, but locally it has not been adapted to make boats. Marine engineer Dr Claire De Marco is leading a project to introduce these advanced fibreglass manufacturing techniques to the local boat building industry. By 2025 this research will help make boats in Malta lighter saving fuel and reducing costs. De Marco’s project will also make boats stronger. By making use of a new process for fabricating fiberglass laminates called ‘vacuum bagging’ the final structure will have more fibres in it, strengthening it. Vacuum bagging works by sucking out the air when the resin is being applied, creating a thinner, more even layer. The reduction in resin content reduces thickness making the material less stiff. To withstand the high forces that boats find in rough seas, a lightweight foam core is added between the two thin skins of fiberglass. This project will help boat designers to easily choose the appropriate fiberglass sandwich laminate for a boat design. These laminates produce boats which are lighter and stronger than today’s single-skinned boats. Combine this with vacuum bagging manufacturing and we will have stronger, lighter, longer-lasting boats, definitely by 2025.
common cause of accidents. Bad weather and unfamiliarity with airports normally lead to these accidents. Automatic taxiing could help prevent these accidents.
“With these advances, by 2025 gone might be those missed holiday celebrations due to bad weather” A new cockpit design that will help airplanes taxi on the ground is being developed in part by the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering. Sensors communicate to an airplane’s cockpit and raise an alarm if a crash might happen. The system tells the pilot to stop or continue and where to turn. With this system pilots can quickly respond to possible collisions. At the University of Malta, the concept was first tested in a mock-up simulator. The system was also tested all over Europe. Airplanes’ systems cannot really fail after all. Commercial airlines were also involved in assessing the performance and value of the cockpit. The system passed with flying colours. Snow, thunderstorms, and other extreme weather can ground an airplane.
Another project, ALICIA, is trying to develop new cockpit applications that would help pilots operate under any weather conditions. Preventing flight cancellations or delays would save millions and keep many customers happy. ‘Simple is better’ is the design concept behind this new cockpit. Complex solutions would only distract the flight crew. Too much information is overwhelming. The cockpit streamlines the workload helping to interpret some of the data gathered by the plane. Faster responses to emergencies help prevent catastrophe. New systems are also being developed to help guide pilots while taxiing. Instead of raising alarms, synthethic vision is being developed. Synthetic vision uses inputs from on-board sensors to provide a location on a 3D map (similar to Google Maps) of the surroundings. Hangars, terminal building, control towers are all in crisp 3D guiding the pilot. The system can also be overlaid with other layers of info. Air traffic signals, pressure, temperature can all be added as needed, letting the pilots modify the system to their needs. With these advances, by 2025 gone might be those missed holiday celebrations due to bad weather. Pilots might also have better planes that alert them to collisions and use 3D maps to guide them around airports. »
Not falling to pieces While at 30,000 feet above the ground, it dawned on me that we must all have some fear of flying. After all, we didn’t evolve to fly, let alone in a thin, long cylinder. Spectacular airplane crashes in the news do not help. Engineers need to keep airplanes safe. How much safer can they be by 2025? Ground collisions cause injury and are costly for companies. Research shows that aircraft taxiing is the second most
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THINK SPECIAL
ENGINEERING
Touching the future The future will see captains and flight crew interacting with their airplane commands in a way we would have not imagined up to a decade ago. Touchscreen cockpits are being developed that would show a single display, instead of the myriad controllers we see today. On this screen the pilot could see altitude, direction, destination, and interact with it by a swipe of the hand. A team of local researchers led by Prof. Ing. David Zammit-Mangion is working on this next step in airplane control by participating in a number of research projects funded by both national and EU funds. The project Touch Flight might change how commercial airplane pilots interact with their aircraft. Currently pilots input data, and programme flight management and guidance systems through a keyboard and buttons, while using knobs to set speed, altitude and navigation. This could change by applying touch-screen technologies. In cars the technology made car satellite navigation systems much more intuitive and convenient to use. The same could soon be coming to planes. Zammit-Mangion is finding solutions to display all of this information on a touch screen display. He is focusing on mission management and flight navigation information. Touch screen cockpits would revolutionise aircraft displays representing the future in cockpit displays. The upgrade will not come easily. Major challenges exist since airplanes fly under stringent safety requirements and harsh operational conditions. The pilot needs to be able to input data correctly on the touch screen in turbulent, stressful, and emergency conditions. Dreaded blue screens and system crashes cannot happen mid-flight.
While revolutionary the system could take longer than 2025 to see it in most planes. Single cockpit displays are another concept the Department is working on as part of a big European project. New projection technologies employing multiple projectors can project a seamless image over a wide area. Touch-sen-
sitive technologies were coupled to the projectors to allow touch inputs on this single screen. The concept was developed and tested on different simulators. Common cockpit uses (primary flight display, navigation display and others) were developed for the screen making the first ever single, end-to-end interactive cockpit. The mock-up has already attracted strong interest from industrial stakeholders, which means that we might see this technology by 2025.
Maltese Transport 2025
“Touch screen cockpits would revolutionise aircraft displays representing the future in cockpit displays”
2025 is just 12 years away; can research change Malta so quickly? The potential is huge. Our engineers could make boats which are faster, lighter, and harder to sink. From the outside the boats would not look very different, but the way they are made would be radically improved. The problem of making boats powered by renewable energy is still up for grabs. Cars would also get an upgrade. Car engines would be smaller and more powerful. They would use less fuel, be more environmentally friendly and relatively cheaper to run. Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve the problem of having one of the highest car densities in the world, which clogs our roads every day. By 2025 planes could guide the pilot to avoid mistakes. The cockpit would be radically redesigned and if you manage to land a jump seat your experience would be revolutionised. Planes have other problems and questions to overcome. Will they be smaller or bigger to increase efficiency and reduce the burden on our planet? Will they become personal and enter Blade Runner’s world of flying cars? Will we take humans out of the equation to make them safer? In the hands of engineers, the future will surely be an interesting place to live in.
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ETNA
Etna erupting on 13 January 2011. Photo: Cirimbillo, Wikimedia Commons 40
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The ancients saw volcanoes as the wrath of their mighty gods. Volcanoes have been blamed for clearing whole towns, even planet-wide extinctions. A local team based in Gozo has just found out if Etna affects the Maltese Islands. Words by The Editor
Prof. Raymond Ellul Ing. Francelle Azzopardi 41
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n the year 1329, a Sicilian exile saw a blackish cloud coming from the north. Fine dust swept over his fields and the whole island. A few days later news arrived with a merchant vessel. Monks from Sicily recounted how the largest active volcano in the Mediterranean, Etna, had spewed hell and erupted from its eastern flank. The details are imagined but the date is not. Since 1329 Etna’s volcanic plumes have been known to reach Malta. Ash arrived again in 1694, 1787, three times in the 19th century, and even as recently as 2013, with irregular covering this year. Unfortunately, we do not know what damage it does to our Islands, if any. Volcanic ash can stop aircraft in mid-flight, damage infrastructure, contaminate crops and water, and harm humans and animals. Etna is a decade volcano. These are a set of 16 volcanoes from around the world chosen for special monitoring because of their ferocity, destructive-
ness, and proximity to populated areas. Etna is around 200 km away from the Maltese Islands. Ash plumes can travel much further. Despite these facts, most Maltese are unaware of Etna’s potential effect on Malta.
“most Maltese are unaware of Etna’s potential effect on Malta”
nic ash 14 kilometres high in 1989 and caused damages worth $160 million. PUFF can forecast how volcanic eruption plumes will spread, how dense they will be, and how much ash they will deposit. To get an idea how Etna would affect Malta, the team input local weather data into the model and ran it on three different eruption scenarios. Volcanoes can erupt in many different ways. They discharge either through build up of hot gases, superheated
Etna’s effect on Malta has never been seriously studied. To change this Prof. Raymond Ellul, Ing. Francelle Azzopardi and a team of Italian volcanologists adapted a computer model called PUFF to see what happens when the volcano becomes over active. PUFF was developed to study the Redoubt Volcano after it shot volcaA possible scenario modelled using PUFF software
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Photo: gnuckx, Flickr
steam, or contact between hot magma and cool water. The researchers chose to model three recent eruptions of Etna, which were the most relevant for Malta. The first is from 2001 and 2002 when Etna erupted with a violent strombolian eruption (due to gas build up) that shot up ash 5 km high. The second happened in 1998 and was much more violent but short lived, a sub-plinian (also due to gas pressures) eruption formed a 12 km column. Sub-plinians are among the strongest eruption types, named after the description of Pliny the Younger who witnessed the death of his father when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79ad burying Pompeii. Lava fountains are the third eruption type they modelled. In 2011 and 2012, 25 lava fountains occurred — some formed ash columns 9 km high. ‘Over a period of two years we ran a simulation [of each eruption type] at midday and midnight and we saw whether it [the plume] affected Malta or not. We drew a circle around Malta and if the plume went over this circle then [we noted] that Malta was affected,’ said Azzopardi. On the whole they predicted that Etna’s eruptions covered Malta with ash 13% of the time. They compared this value to the 25 lava fountains that happened a few years ago. »
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An aerial shot of Etna’s eruption in 2002. Malta can be seen to the right of Sicily. Photo: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania
The lava fountain ash plumes passed over Malta 16% of the time — remarkably accurate, proving the model powerful. The reason for the low frequency of Etna’s ash reaching Malta depends on wind speed and direction rather than the eruption type. For ash to reach Malta it needs a strong wind from the north-northeast. Most of Malta’s wind comes from the northwest. Eruption type influences the time it takes for ash to reach Malta. The more explosive sub-plinian eruptions reach Gozo within four hours, but do not cover the Islands for very long because of the eruption’s short duration. The weaker strombolian eruptions take the longest at 6 hours to reach Gozo but cover Malta for the longest time, which might make them the most problematic. ‘In 2001 and 2002 there was a warning for people who suffer from respiratory problems,’ said Azzopardi. This warning is really as bad as it gets for Malta. ‘Till now Etna has not done any damage to vegetation or animals.’ Their model predicted ash deposition of 0.1 g/m2–0.01 g/m2, while damage threshold is set at 10 kg/m2 for vegetation. There is no reason to sound any alarms.
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While humans are safe at these levels, planes are a different issue. ‘[Ash] mostly affects airplanes when they are flying,’ explained Azzopardi. ‘The damage: it forms a glassy surface on all the nozzles and the combustion chamber switching the engine off. One 747 engine costs 20 million US dollars, the airbus engines we have cost less but are not that cheap,’ interjected Ellul. In
“Till now Etna has not done any damage to vegetation or animals” 1989, KLM Flight 867 passed straight through an ash plume killing its four engines. Remarkably, no one died as it plummeted more than 14,000 feet since its pilots managed to restart the engines in time to land safely. It cost the company $80 million.
The threshold ash levels which planes can fly through are unknown. The potential expense and loss of life if an airplane shuts down mid-flight is grim. The researchers’ primary goal was to extend the forecasting model of the Osservatorio Etneo in Catania from 28,900 km2 to 99,000 km2. The increase widens the model from just northeast Sicily to include all of Sicily and Malta to protect local aviation flight paths. The Italians now model the new larger area to give early warning systems to airplanes. Unfortunately, a rigorous procedure isn’t in place and the Italian team do not alert the Maltese metrological office directly. Malta’s Met. office needs to find out from the web-based model. The lack of flight levels is another problem of the model. ‘On the 19th April 2013 we [Air Malta] had a very close shave where the aerosols passed over Malta and fell over Żejtun. An Air Malta craft saw this plume and they contacted us to see if there was the possibility of damage,’ explained Ellul. Thankfully, the ash plume was mostly water and contained levels of ash that left the plane unharmed. The local
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team would like to work on and solve these problems. The Maltese public are strangely unaware of what Etna is capable of. Using an online questionnaire, Azzopardi collected data from 442 University of Malta students to try and figure out what the Maltese public knew about volcanoes. Although 69% said that Malta is affected by Etna, ‘they themselves admitted that they had never thought about this topic and were answering on the basis of the proximity of Sicily and Malta,’ said Azzopardi. Many of these thought that Etna affects human health, water, plants, and animals — it doesn’t. Azzopardi continued, ‘In 2001– 2002, [Etna’s] coverage was much greater and affected both Islands.’ She then explained how the ‘black soot’ was misinterpreted as pollution from the Marsa ‘power station, hospital, or even a passing plane that dropped something’. The conspiracy theories were endless. Volcanologists need to launch a strong campaign to raise awareness about Etna. Somewhat ironically the survey itself ‘ended up raising awareness about Etna’.
The next step Apart from the problems mentioned above, there are some unanswered questions. Volcanoes are known to spew out lots of sulfur dioxide, nitrous gases, and other pollutants. ‘We expect sulfur dioxide to remain high up in the air, not like particulates [ash] that fall quickly,’ said Azzopardi. Modeling gases requires tweaks to PUFF. Despite this issue, she does notice some gas peak levels on their air pollution monitoring devices at the Giordan Lighthouse in Gozo. ‘If we verify this, it would be new.’ Malta’s air is pretty polluted. Traffic and other sources have resulted in Malta’s bad air quality that affects all of our health. Malta has a high percentage of respiratory problems. ‘We are analysing the extent of sulfur dioxide levels,’ explained Azzopardi. This would need to be compared with man-made sources. Then we’d know which is responsible for Malta’s problems. However, it is unlikely that Etna’s intermittent eruptions affect our health so much. After all Malta’s air is always polluted rather than only when Etna erupts.
Right now Etna seems to have calmed down after the lava fountains of 2011–2013; though Azzopardi does not ‘exclude that Etna might have other [bigger] eruptions’. Yet, ‘these [eruptions] will mostly be important for airplane traffic, some ash does land on Malta and it does cause hassle for the residents, but it mostly affects airplanes when they’re flying.’ This research has a happy ending: we’re safe, we’re sound, don’t panic.
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FURTHER READING • Vamos Seguro project now monitoring ash plumes over Malta — http://bit.ly/VamosSeguro • Azzopardi, F., Ellul, R., Prestifilippo, M., Scollo, S. & Coltelli, M. The effect of Etna volcanic ash clouds on the Maltese Islands. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 260, 13-26, (2013). Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. jvolgeores.2013.04.019 • Local group website www.um.edu.mt/science/ physics/apr/staff
Etna volcano erupts on 12 January 2011. View from the East side. Photo: gnuckx, Flickr Inset: Satellite image of an ash plume reaching Malta
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Prof. Ing. Carl Debono
IMMERSIVE
3D
C
omfortably sitting in seat 3F, John is watching one of his favourite operas. This close he can see all the details of the set, costumes, and the movements of the music director as he skilfully conducts the orchestra by careful gestures of his baton. He is immersed in the scene, capturing all the details. Then all of a sudden, the doorbell rings. Annoyed, John has to stop the video to see who it is. This could be the mainstream TV experience of the future. This scene is called free-viewpoint technology that is part of my research at the University of Malta (UoM). Free-viewpoint television allows the
EXPERIENCE user to select a view from which to watch the scene projected on a 3D television. The technology will allow the audience to change their viewpoint when they want, to where they want to be. By moving a slider or by a hand gesture, the user can change perspective, which is an experience currently used in games with their synthetically generated content — synthetically generated by a computer game’s graphics engine. Today we are used to seeing a single viewpoint. If there are multiple perspectives we usually don’t have any control over them. Free-viewpoint technology will turn this idea on top of its head. The technology is expected to hit the market in the near future, with some
companies and universities already experimenting with content and displays. New autostereoscopic displays do not need glasses (pictured next page), these displays ‘automatically’ generate a 3D image depending on which angle you view them. A clear example was the promise made by Japan to deliver 3D free-viewpoint coverage of all football games as part of their bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The bid was unsuccessful, which might delay the technology by a few years. Locally, my research (and that of my team) deals with the transmission side of the story (pictured). For free-viewpoint to work, a scene needs to be captured using many cameras. The more »
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The autostereoscopic display technique without glasses. Depending on the position of the viewer, the filter directs the left image to the left eye and the right image to the right eye
Left Eye
Right Eye
Display
{
Filter
L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R
cameras there are, the more freedom the user has to select the desired view. So many cameras create a lot of data. All the data captured by the cameras has to be transmitted to a 3D device into people’s homes, smartphones, laptops and so on. This transmission needs to pass over a channel, and whether it is fibre cable or wireless, it will always have a limited capacity. Data transmission also costs money. High costs would keep the technology out of our devices for decades. My job is to make a large amount of data fit in smaller packages. To fit video in a channel we need to compress it. Current transmission of single view video also uses compression to save space on the channel so that more data can be transmitted and save on price. Note that, for example for high definition we have 24 bits per pixel and an image contains 1280 by 720 pixels (720p HD standard), that’s nearly 100,000 pixels for every frame. Since video is around 24-30 frames per second the amount of data being transmitted every minute starts escalating to unfeasible amounts. Free-viewpoint technology would be another big leap in size. Each camera would be sending their own video, which is the same amount of data as we are now getting. If there are ten cameras, you would need to increase channel size by a factor of ten. This makes it highly expensive and unfeasible. For the example above, the network operator needs ten times more space on the network to get the service to your house, making it ten times more expensive than single view. Therefore, research is needed to drastically reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted while still keeping high quality images. These advances will make
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the technology feasible, cheaper, and available for all. So the golden question is, how are we going to do that? Research, research, and more research. The first attempts by the video research community to solve this problem were to use its vast knowledge of single view transmission and extend it to the new paradigm. Basic single view algorithms (an algorithm is computer code that can perform a specific function, like Google’s search engine) compress video by searching through the picture and finding similarities in space and in time. Then the algorithms send the change, or the error vector, instead of the actual data. The error vector is a measure of imperfections and how it is used by computer scientists to compress data is explained below. First let us look at the space component. When looking at a picture, it is quite clear that some areas are very similar. The similar areas can be linked and the data grouped together
into one reference point. The reference point has to be transmitted with a mathematical representation (vector) that explains to the computer which areas are similar to each other. This reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent. Secondly, let us analyse the time aspect. Video is a set of images placed one after another and run at 25 or 30
“For freeviewpoint to work, a scene needs to be captured using many cameras”
frames per second that gives the illusion of movement and action. To make a video flow seamlessly images that are right after each other are very similar. If we have two images the second one will be very similar to the first, with only a small movement of some parts of the image. Like we do for space, a mathematical relationship can be calculated for the similar areas from one image to the next. The first image can be used as a reference point and for the second we transmit only the vector that explains which pixels have moved and by how much. This greatly reduces the data that needs to be transmitted. The above techniques are used in single view transmission, with freeviewpoint technology we have a new dimension. We also need to include the space between cameras shooting the same scene. Since the scene is the same there is a lot of similarity between the videos of each camera. The main difference is that of angle and the problem that some objects might be visible from one camera and not from another. Keeping this in mind, »
From the pixel information in the picture captured by Camera A and that of Camera B, we can construct an image in between the two cameras
CAMERA A
VIRTUAL VIEW
CAMERA B
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a mathematical equation can be constructed that explains which parts of the scene are the same and which are new. A single camera’s video is used as a reference point while its neighbouring cameras only transmit the ‘extra’ information. The other camera can compress their content drastically. In this way the current standard can be extended to free-viewpoint TV. Compressing free-viewpoint transmissions is complex work. Its complexity is a drawback, mobile devices simply aren’t fast enough to run computer power intensive algorithms. Our research focuses on reducing the complexity of the algorithms. We modify them so that they are faster to run, need less computing power, and still keep the same quality of video, or with minimal losses. We have also explored new ways of reconstructing high quality 3D views in minimum time, using graphical processing units (GPUs). GPUs are commonly used by high-end video games. Video must be reconstructed with a speed of at
least 25 pictures per second. This speed must be maintained if we want to build a smooth continuous video in between two real camera positions (picture). A single computer process cannot handle algrothims that can achieve this feat; instead parallel processing (multiple simultaneous computations) is essential. To remove the strain off a main processing unit in a computer processing can be offloaded to a GPU. Algorithms need to be built that use these alternative processing powers. Ours show that we can obtain the necessary speeds to process free-viewpoint 3D video even on mobile devices. Since free-viewpoint takes up a large bandwidth on networks, we researched
“The road ahead is steep and a lot of work is needed to bring this technology to homes”
whether these systems can feasibly handle so much data. We considered the use of next generation mobile telephony networks (4G). Naturally they offer more channel space, we wanted to see how many users they can handle at different screen resolutions. We showed that the technology can be used only using a limited number of cameras. The number of users is directly related to the resolution used, with a lower resolution needing less data and allowing more views or users. This research came up with design solutions for the network’s architecture and broadcasting techniques needed to minimise delays. The road ahead is steep and a lot of work is needed to bring this technology to homes. My vision is that in the near future we will be consuming 3D content and free-viewpoint technology in a seamless and immersive way in our homes and mobile devices. So for now sit back and imagine what watching an opera or football match on TV would look like in a few years’ time.
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The transmission chain in free-viewpoint technology showing four cameras. The encoder is where our algorithms are being implemented
Set-top box Encoder
4X 4X
3D Display
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THINK FEATURE
Through the looking glass What’s your favourite game? Pacman? Doom? World of Warcraft? Most of us have spent hours immersed in video games, many still do. Prof. Gordon Calleja studies why and how we get so involved in games. Science writer Sedeer El-Showk found out about Calleja’s latest book and game that are gaining worldwide fame
Sedeer El-Showk
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A screenshot from Will Love Tear Us Apart
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ordon Calleja has a dream job: he studies video games. It may sound like frivolous fun, but his work is serious research. He examines how people perceive the world around them and interact with it. His research blends aspects of philosophy, neuropsychology, and literary theory with futuristic concepts like cybernetics and post-humanism; his papers are peppered with references to Wittgenstein and Borges alongside quotes from avid gamers. In his book In-Game: From Immersion to Incorporation, published last year by MIT Press, Professor Calleja tackles the question of how we experience games – how the barrier created by the screen and the controls dissolves into a sense of really being there. ‘Ultimately,’ he says, ‘studying presence in games is asking how we are conscious here in the physical world.’
A revolution in gaming Professor Calleja didn’t start out in game studies — a field which didn’t even exist in his youth. As a student at the University of Malta (UoM), he studied literary theory and media communications before finding work as a teacher and auditor. Still, his involvement with games and game design dates back to his earliest
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years. ‘My dad used to set me up with hex paper, some dice, and a bunch of figurines,’ he recalls. ‘It was his idea of babysitting.’ The young Calleja grew up playing and designing games, and even won the New Zealand Blood Bowl (tabletop game) championship as a teenager. Despite this strong start, games became a smaller part of his life as an adult, giving way to work and other commitments. Video games underwent a major transformation during Professor Calleja’s hiatus. The proliferation of broadband led to the development and growth of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) like World of Warcraft and Second Life, persistent online virtual worlds populated by people from across the globe. Through their avatar, players of MMOGs interact with one another and with the virtual world, exploring, completing quests, and even getting married. ‘I got a bit glassy-eyed with amazement at the realisation that there were other people actually connected to the same world,’ said Professor Calleja, describing his first experience in an
MMOG. He became fascinated with understanding how players relate to these game worlds. As he learned more about the subject, he realised that there were significant gaps in our understanding which he could address thanks to his background. He switched his Ph.D. to game studies, launching a research career that led to him heading ITU Copenhagen’s Center for Computer Game Research at the age of 31. Five years later, he became director of the Institute of Digital Games at the UoM.
Bringing in a new perspective One of the problems Calleja faced was the description of how players become involved in a game’s virtual world. Despite the question’s importance, researchers had been using terms like ‘presence’ and ‘immersion’ without a precise definition, leading to confusion. Calleja described how the same terms were being used for two different experiences: a sense of absorption and of being present in another place. Language from older me-
“When intention and action flow seamlessly from each other in a rich virtual environment, the line between player and avatar fades away and the world of the game becomes real”
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dia was being used to describe games, a new kind of medium. Unlike films or books, games offer a sense of agency by acknowledging the existence of the player in the virtual world and responding to their actions. While it’s perfectly possible to be deeply absorbed by a book or film, only the agency and feedback loops afforded by games can deliver the sense of inhabiting another world. Professor Calleja took a new approach to the question. Rather than getting bogged down in the vague terminological issues of presence/immersion, he stepped back to analyse the experience of playing a game, breaking it down into six different aspects of involvement. The player involvement model, which he developed in his doctoral thesis and wrote about in InGame, was received extremely well by the research community. It provides a general framework for understanding
how games can make players feel as though they’ve been transported to a different world, offering a solid foundation for future research in the field. The model describes six aspects of involvement: mastery of the control system, an awareness of space, planning and achieving goals, following and creating a storyline, feeling emotions in response to the story and our actions, and sharing an experience and space with others. Unlike other media, games bring these aspects together to give us the sensation of inhabiting a different world. Each aspect can engage us on the micro-scale of moment-to-moment involvement while playing a game or on the macro-scale of involvement between sessions, when players make plans, revise strategies, or reflect on their experiences. Calleja also points out that the six aspects aren’t independent, but are experienced together and in relation to
each other; he likens them to stacked transparencies. According to Professor Calleja, when the different aspects of involvement act in concert, our attention slips away from them and we stop being conscious of the game itself. When action and intention flow seamlessly from each other in a rich virtual environment, the line between player and avatar fades away and the world of the game becomes real. Professor Calleja uses the word ‘incorporation’ as a metaphor for the twin dynamic at work: internalising the environment and controls of the game while becoming embodied (made corporal) within that environment. The sense of embodiment and the reality of games is clear in the language players use to describe their experience. In his interviews Professor Calleja found that they consistently say ‘I’ instead of ‘my character’ and recount »
A screenshot from PlanetSide 53
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events as though they were real. ‘I just stopped, and stared at [the cathedral]. I worked my way around it as much as I could to see if from all angles and ended up on a rise a little above it, just watching it. I don’t remember the time of day, but it might have been [around] sunset and I swore, I could practically feel the breeze on my face and hear the wildlife.’ In many ways, we experience virtual worlds the same way we interact with this one: through our senses. ‘How we’re aware of physical reality and virtual worlds is not different at all,’ said Professor Calleja. ‘I don’t see any difference between the real and the virtual whatsoever aside from the physicality and haptic feedback of one. Whether you can give the right feedback to the brain is [just] a technological question.’
A different kind of game Having designed games and game systems ever since his father used to entertain him with dice and figurines, Professor Calleja finally decided to try his hand at making a video game. Unsurprisingly, his goal was something that hadn’t been done before: making a game based on a song. Will Love Tear Us Apart is a free browser-based game (review pg. 57) based on Joy Division’s cult hit Love Will Tear Us Apart; the game consists of three stages, one for each verse of the song. It’s a unique game which takes advantage of our expectations in order to explore the challenges and emotions of a troubled relationship. I asked Professor Calleja about his goals in adapting the song. ‘I wanted to design a game that was true to the essence of the song,’ he said, ‘not just to the story or the atmosphere.’ Will Love Tear Us Apart focuses on emotional responses at the expense of other aspects of involvement; it lacks the spatial involvement and other aspects that create a strong sense of in-
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A screenshot from Will Love Tear Us Apart
“‘Humans have always been storytellers and created worlds, but now we can inhabit each other’s imagined worlds and create things together” corporation in games like World of Warcraft or Planetside. Calleja’s design breaks with one of the traditional goals of games; rather than trying to entertain players, Will Love Tear Us Apart aims to provoke a response from them. The resulting experience feels different from traditional games — it’s more like an emotional journey than a game. ‘I wanted to turn it around and look at how games control us,’ said Professor Calleja. Games are loaded with a range of implicit assumptions, from the effects of our actions to the idea of ‘winning’; Calleja skillfuly subverts these in order to create emotional impact. ‘It was very hard to get the difficulty just right; we had to tweak it a lot,’ he said. ‘You have to believe you could have succeeded in order to feel cheated. You have to feel like you had a chance. Hopefully the player will reflect about that experience afterwards.’ Can we expect to see more games from Professor Calleja? ‘Definitely,’ he replied instantly. Assuming there’s enough funding, he’d like to explore the range of possibilities for games inspired by songs or poems, as well as a follow up
on a few other ideas. Given his record to date, it will be exciting to see what the future brings.
Understanding a changing world For the moment, Professor Calleja is turning his attention to understanding how players construct and relate to the narratives of games. Traditional media convey a designed, structured narrative to the reader or viewer, but games bring an additional layer to this as players create their own stories individually and together. ‘All of a sudden you have elements of the theatrical as our actions become part of the narrative,’ observed Calleja. Narrative theory, which has been based on an analysis of traditional media, will have to be updated to take these aspects into account. Professor Calleja spoke eloquently about the importance of researching games and virtual worlds. ‘Virtual worlds are here to stay,’ he said. ‘Humans have always been story-tellers and created worlds, but now we can inhabit each other’s imagined worlds and create things together. I think it’s important to critically examine this and understand how it happens, so we can better understand ourselves and our experiences.’ As we march into a future where the virtual and physical overlap ever more heavily, the science of games may prove essential in understanding the world around us, a world we both inhabit and create.
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Sedeer El-Showk is a freelance writer based in Finland who blogs at http://inspiringscience.wordpress.com and tweets as @inspiringsci
THINK ALUMNI
ALUMNI talk
All in a days job: airplane safety, patents, and financial mathematics
Natural Hazards, Maths, and the Financial World MICHELA DEGAETANO lets us peek into the insurance sector IN JUNE 2007, I completed a B.Sc. in Maths and Physics (University of Malta). I was always interested in studying natural hazards so I pursued an M.Sc. in the Science of Natural Hazards (University of Bristol). During my degree, I researched the mechanics behind landslides and returned to Malta in 2009 after completing my degree. Due to limited opportunities, I did not read for a Ph.D. After some thought, I gave the financial sector a try since I wanted to apply my mathematics degree to the business world. I sat for two exams, one in financial mathematics and another in statistics. Then I started working for PSA Insurance, a subsidiary of Peugeot Citroën Bank whose headquarters are in Paris. Initially, my role was unclear, as I had no experience in insurance. Though the challenge was great, I strove to learn and improve. I represent the Actuarial Function of PSA and my role is to increase the predictability of future financial performance of existing insurance products
by analysing quantitative data to reduce financial uncertainty. I work with Actuarial consultants in France and the UK. My responsibility for new products is to establish their price and create a business plan. I carry out detailed quantitative analysis and monitor their performance. My biggest responsibility is the implementation of Solvency II within the company. Solvency II is a new set of regulatory requirements, which will become mandatory by 2016 for insurance firms that operate in the European Union. The system is not only about capital investments but covers corporate governance, supervisory reporting, and public disclosure; it re-enforces the need for insurance companies to build a solid risk management structure which will help protect the insurance company and customers against financial loss. Implementing this project has given me the opportunity to work with new departments and areas of the business, and coordinate team members to meet deadlines. Taking charge of the project’s
quantitative requirements enabled me to use thinking skills I gained through my maths degree. By being exposed to many company departments, in the last three years I gained substantial work experience. By shifting my career into the financial sector with PSA Insurance I managed to build a career that I would not have imagined possible during my undergraduate years.
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This is a paid editorial 55
ALUMNI
Taking Einstein’s job DR ALAIN CAMILLERI talks to us about his life journey from Malta to patent examiner in Munich
IN 1996 MY JOURNEY began with my undergraduate studies in Biology and Chemistry (University of Malta). Science was my natural choice as it constantly peaked my curiosity. It was my method to find out how machines, technology, and nature work. My undergraduate thesis was on plant biotechnology and I studied ways to grow endemic Maltese tree species in vitro in the lab. After graduating in 2000 I moved to Basel, Switzerland, for an IAESTE traineeship. I worked at a big pharmaceutical company in nervous system pharmacology research. My research focused on testing molecules that enhanced or inhibited two brain neurotransmitter receptors, NMDA receptor and GABA-B receptor. The NMDA receptor is important in controlling synaptic plasticity and memory. The GABA-B receptor is implicated in a number of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Basel was a great experience both professionally and personally. As my first experience living abroad, I met trainees from all over the world and learnt about a new culture. It also sparked off my curiosity to study the brain and nervous system. Invaluably, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, researched, and learnt about drug development. Following my traineeship to continue working in nervous system research, I moved north to the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). I worked in a molecular neurobiology lab for 8 months, gaining further research experience making mice that lacked certain genes, staining tissues with antibodies to identify proteins, and more.
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THINK ALUMNI
My journey then brought me to the University of Zurich in 2002. I began my Ph.D. in Prof. Christian Fuhrer’s lab. I used the neuromuscular junction, which is the connection between nerves and muscles, as a model to learn how the connections between neurons develop. Within this system, my research focused on studying the balancing act between two protein families: tyrosine kinases and phosphatases. My research revealed the importance played by the fine equilibrium between these two protein groups to form and stabilise neuromuscular synapses. I concluded my Ph.D. in 2006 and stayed on in the lab one year longer as a postdoctorate. Then I moved into the patent field. I needed a new challenge but
wanted to maintain a connection with science. Since 2007 I worked as a patent examiner at the European Patent Office in Munich, examining patents in the field of biopharmaceuticals. I love the mix between science and patent law. The legal side needed a little getting used to, but being a patent examiner has proven challenging and satisfying. I work with employees from 38 different countries using the three official languages English, French, and German. My job allows me a good work-life balance, allowing me time to enjoy sports, leisure activities, and time with my family, which I find essential to a balanced and happy life.
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Flying Safely Every Time AIR MALTA TAKES safety very seriously. Many people are involved in ensuring aircraft safety. This is of paramount importance to our airline. Our aircraft are fit to fly at any time since they have satisfied all legal requirements. The Engineering Department’s role is to keep our aircraft airworthy. The Engineering Department within Air Malta is certified in accordance with two Implementing Rules by the European Aviation Safety Agency: Part M (CAMO) and Part 145. Part M deals with the management continuing airworthiness. Part 145 deals with performing maintenance on aircraft. Various sections with appro-
This is a paid editorial
priately qualified Engineers run these processes. The Engineering Section closely monitors aircraft reliability, studies and carry out manufacturers’ recommendations. It also implements airworthiness directives, service bulletins and any alterations or improvements to Air Malta airplanes. The Aircraft Maintenance Section performs these procedures in accordance with a maintenance plan based on an approved maintenance programme issued by the Planning Section. Technical records related to aircraft maintenance, registration, and certification are kept in accordance with legal requirements.
The Aircraft Maintenance Section carries out unscheduled maintenance and structural damage repairs. The Workshops section supports maintenance by providing component repairs, minor fabrications of aircraft parts as well as the calibration of tools and Non Destructive Testing. The Materials and Purchasing Section source the provision and logistics of all parts, materials, tools, and ground support equipment. The Quality Department ensures that all work is carried out in accordance to legal requirements by monitoring the other departments. An in-house training school performs continuous training for all employees within the Engineering Department.
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FUN
BOOK REVIEW by The Editor
. 99. 100
6. 4 7. 4 . 51. 50. 49. 4 8. 4
4 5. 4
41. 40. 3 42. 9. 3. .4
98
.9 . 93. 92 1. 90. 8 . 94 9. . 95 8 96 7. 9 .
. 76. 75. 74. 73. 7 . 77 2. 7 78 1 .7 9. 0. 69 . 6 8. 67, 66 65, 64. 63. 6 2. 38. 37 9 . 36 61 . 1. . 25 .6 . 34. 33. 32. 31. 30 .
. 83. 82. 5. 84 81. 6. 8 80 .8 .7 87 8.
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28. 27. 26. 2 5 , . 4 . 23. 22. 2
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56. 55. 54.
53. 2
20. 19. 1 8. 1 7 . 16
. 1 5. 14. 13
Physics of the Future
. 11. 10. 9. 12
8
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0. 59. 58 .5 2. 1 7. 3.
100 WORD
ideas to change MALTA
Replace Summertime with Flexitime by PROF. ISABEL STABILE Imagine the possibilities... parents can look after their sick children, assist ailing relatives, run errands or even just relax. In return, our government offices, institutions of higher learning, etc. are open for business 8–5 Monday to Friday, year round. It’s a win-win situation. But, I hear you say… it’s too hot to work in the summer afternoons (air conditioning?), I want to go to the beach (it’s too hot to go out between 2 and 4), I worked 8 extra hours each week in the winter, so now I deserve this... Give and take. Wake up! It’s just a dream.
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Michio Kaku SPACE ELEVATORS, internet-enabled contact lenses, magnetically levitating driverless cars, limitless energy, Jedi-like powers, the future has it all. Michio Kaku paints a bright, beautiful picture of our future in Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Kaku is one of the founders of string theory. For this book he interviewed over 300 leading scientists and engineers, which make up its scientific backbone. Married to scientific rigour Kaku brings a well written and beautiful turn of phrase to scientific principles clearly explained. Reading it will teach you new things. At the same time, you’ll experience the world through a writer who clearly sees everything through a different lens — a true visionary. He doesn’t hold back his punches, ‘by 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped and feared.’ After that statement you would imagine his predictions would be pretty out of this world. Some are, but this is where those interviews come in handy; he backs them up with solid science explaining why they will happen. Rivetting. He starts off the book with a lengthy explanation on why his predictions are right and why many others failed.
The reason? Simple: evolution, ‘whenever there is a conflict between modern technology and the desires of our primitive ancestors,’ writes Kaku, instinct wins every time. It is ‘the Cave Man Principle’. While making sense this discussion makes for a somewhat dragging read, we really just want to know about the cool inventions of tomorrow. He tackles the upcoming years topic by topic, mind over matter, rise of the machines, energy from the stars and in each section he takes that idea apart giving its background and some great discussions such as: will robots take over the world or who is best: man or machine? Then he goes into his predictions, Near Future (present to 2030), Midcentury (2030 to 2070), Far Future (2070 to 2100). Nicely structured, but again makes for a slightly repetitive and somewhat dragging book. If you’re a researcher you might notice that he will miss a few ideas in your field. Considering the book’s breadth, I find the research and knowledge of the author to be remarkable. The amount of information he packs into its pages is astounding. It is probably one of the better prediction books out there, a nice read. However, you might be pretty familiar with its ideas if science magazines, case in point, are your cup of tea.
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THINK FUN
GAME REVIEW by Sedeer El-Showk
Will Love Tear Us Apart Production: Mighty Box Platform: Windows, Mac (web-based, no Chrome support) DON’T BE FOOLED by its brevity or the fact that it’s a free, browser-based game: Will Love Tear Us Apart is anything but a ‘casual’ game. Based on Joy Division’s cult hit Love Will Tear Us Apart, the game consists of three sparse but beautifully portrayed levels that guide the player through the emotional journey of a relationship on the brink of collapse.
Developed by Mighty Box Games with support from the Malta Arts Fund, Will Love Tear Us Apart is a unique game. Game designer Gordon Calleja (featured pg. 51) eschews conventions, using the game’s mechanics in the service of the emotional and thematic content. In general, it works remarkably well, creating a rich and rewarding (if mildly depressing) experience. Breaks while the next level loads can be an unfortunate disruption, but the excellent second level more than makes up for it.
FACT or FICTION?
? Does
It’s incredible that a relatively short and simple game manages to provoke such a strong emotional response. If you allow yourself to be absorbed by it (use headphones!), you’ll probably find yourself reflecting on the experience as it lingers in your mind. In fact, playing Will Love Tear Us Apart even taught me something about myself — now that’s a gaming first!
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http://willlovetearusapart.com
Send your questions to
[email protected] and we’ll find out if it’s the truth or just a fib!
ALCOHOL kill brain cells?
Have there been any studies to modify the domestic refrigerator into part fridge and part air conditioning unit? Asked by Tony Bugeja
«» This myth is HUGE! Urban leg-
«»
end says that drinking kills cells, some even say: ‘three beers kill 10,000 brain cells.’ Thankfully, they are wrong. In microbiology labs, a 70% alcohol 30% water mix is used to clean surfaces pretty efficiently. It seems our neurons are made of sturdier stuff. Alcohol does affect brain cells. Everyone knows that and it isn’t pretty. Alcohol can damage dendrites, which are delicate neural extensions that usually convey signals to other neurons. Damaging them prevents information travelling from one neuron to another — a problem. Luckily, the damage isn’t permanent.
Not sure if it has been studied. What we’re pretty certain about is that it probably won’t work. Refrigerators work by transferring heat from the inside of the fridge to the outside. As thermodynamics dictate, if you left the fridge door open this would basically end up making your room hotter unless you stayed right in front of the fridge. The idea might work if the fridge transferred the heat outside the room. The problem is that food has to be kept at around 4–5oC, rooms at a nice 22– 25oC, it would be a tough engineering challenge to maintain both temperatures.
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12/07/2013 11:45
FILM REVIEW
THINK FUN
by Noel Tanti and Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone
Film: Maniac (1980)
«««««
Director: William Lustig Certification: Restricted Gore rating: SSSSS
Noel: I recently saw William Lustig’s Maniac (1980) and Franck Khalfoun’s 2012 remake back-to-back. The latter is rather faithful to the original’s spirit. Frank Zito (played by Joe Spinell [1980] and Elijah Wood [2012]) is more of a textbook psychopath, and more brutal in Khalfoun’s film; but still remains faithful to its source.
Two films. Two reviewers. comfort zone — rather than just being ‘naturalised’.
Krista: I thought the first’s ‘rawness’ was more brutal. The second had a polished style despite the first person perspective. The 1980 film was grittier.
N: The subjective point of view didn’t help me to get closer to the killer. I only saw this technique being used effectively in Enter the Void (2009). I find it a bit distracting because it can turn into a weird game (Spot the reflection in the mirror!). That said, in Maniac they were well aware of this and tried to have fun with it. The moments when the film veers away from the first person perspective, it sort of clicks into another gear.
N: True. The remake looks slicker. For instance, the murder scenes are meticulously choreographed, operatic even. Lustig’s film is truer to life, scarier too, because in his lucid moments the killer acts normal.
K: Good point about the first person perspective being the default here, and the veering away from it becoming a ‘moment’ in itself. It calls to mind Bret Easton Ellis’ book American Psycho (1991).
K: The first person perspective didn’t convince me. Eventually I even forgot about it till it suddenly jumped to the fore again. It was inconsistent and uneasy without being very unsettling. It reminded me of Peeping Tom (1960), which made better use of the first person perspective.
N: I liked the fact that the remake created a deeper relationship between Frank and the mannequins. They are more than just a manifestation of his childhood trauma — a dysfunctional, promiscuous mother. The restoration of the mannequins is a genuine labour of love which underscores the affection that he nurtures towards the photographer (Anna, played by Nora Arnezeder). She is a mediocre artist unable to hold her camera properly. Frank is the real deal, getting his hands dirty.
N: Agree, but it didn’t distract me. K: I hoped it would be more ‘distracting’. It would have been preferable if the first person perspective had been more defamiliarising, puncturing the viewer’s
K: That’s a well-noted criticism of the
Film: Maniac (2012)
«««««
Director: Franck Khalfoun Certification: Restricted Gore rating: SSSSS
photographer. In the first movie, I couldn’t really ‘judge’ whether she was a good artist or not — there wasn’t a focus on her art, instead they showed the world she moves around in, which made me think she was a budding artist. In the second one she’s portrayed as an underwhelming artist. She tries to use the mannequins to underpin her art and to somehow appropriate his by projecting an image of her face onto their blank heads. N: Besides Anna, two other victims in Khalfoun’s film are a dancer and an agent. In both murders the director abandons the first person perspective, suggesting that either Frank is seeing his actions as a form of art, or that we, the audience, should see Frank himself as a work of art. K: Yes, perhaps even perverting the sublime into the brutally grotesque. Yet ‘getting his hands dirty’ is counterpoised by the film’s stylishness. N: So which is better? K: Both films ultimately do different things. This is down to stylistic differences, enjoyably the remake doesn’t try to ‘replace’ Lustig’s film. N: Totally agree. They’re like brothers sharing one (hell of a disturbed) mother, similar yet so different.
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CULTURE
Mapping Cultural
Space Graziella Vella from the Valletta 2018 Foundation
C
ulture is expressed through using spaces, which depend on the nature of the celebration, event, or performance. Maltese people make innovative use of many outdoor public spaces, in line with our climate and assets. The cultural sector lacks information of where and how the cultural spaces are used. To fill this need a cultural map was commissioned in 2011 by the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the European Capital of Culture (IMC_ECoC), one of the Governors within the Valletta 2018 Foundation. These spaces were interpreted in a wide sense, from spaces used for community or national celebrations, to others for niche audiences, and included both the general public and minority groups. This exercise focused on classifying cultural infrastructure projects in seven different categories: (1) Strategic, (2) Accessibility, (3) Creative Clusters, (4) Cultural Heritage, (5) Culture & the Arts, (6) Regeneration, and (7) Restoration. This exercise resulted in 2 main outcomes. The first is that in 2011
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cultural infrastructure projects were mainly focussed around Valletta and the Greater Valletta area (see map) with a few exceptions in northern Malta and Gozo. The second outcome showed how government and EU funding focused on regeneration and cultural heritage, with minimal funding on culture, the arts, or creative clusters.
“It will be accessible to all citizens and part of the process to enable the long-term social, economic and cultural development of Valletta” A Cultural Mapping project by Valletta 2018 Foundation and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture followed this exercise. The Cultural Mapping project is the first research collaboration by the Valletta 2018 Foundation and University of Malta (UoM). Over a two-year period, a
number of University academics will be involved in this project. The aim of the project is to analyse the cultural use and practices in public and publicly-accessible spaces, venues, and sites in Malta and Gozo. Its output will result in better data to formulate and plan V.18’s cultural programme. The data can be used to strategise venues and allow for the implementation of an important part of the V.18 research programme. The project is structured into two parallel phases and is aimed at producing two types of outputs. One output is a series of maps, of public spaces and venues, combined with who makes use of them. Data will be sorted into three main categories, cultural infrastcrurture, sports infrastructure and educational facilities. These maps will be interactive, updatable, and freely available online. Findings will also be published for all interested users. GIS (Geographic Information System) technology will be used to map the areas through the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The second phase and output of
THINK CULTURE
the project will analyse contemporary cultural activity and how space and community practices interact, focusing on seven thematic areas. These are the built environment, sociology, culture, education, anthropology, public policy and economics. Each thematic area is linked to a UoM academic, who will focus on different localities, including Valletta and the Three Cities. By encouraging a multi-disciplinary analysis, the Valletta 2018 Foundation will encourage inter-faculty and inter-disciplinary collaboration to achieve better results. In line with the project’s philosophy, a final conference open to the public will communicate all findings. The organisations involved will be looking for direct ways to communicate the project to local communities to help make sure that the Maltese population is aware of the maps and research to enhance their use. Similar projects have already been developed in Europe. The Aarhus mapping project was carried out by the Danish ECoC for 2017. This ECoC culturally mapped the city of Aarhus in the spring of 2010 to understand its
weaknesses. It also mapped the city’s strengths, the city’s external and internal image, the city as viewed by minority groups, children, and young people. They analysed Aarhus as a creative and democratic city, and assessed its cultural resources. Another cultural mapping project was undertaken outside of Europe in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Inter-American Foundation for Culture and Development (FICD) completed an intensive regional analysis. This Foundation will create an Atlas Cultural Infrastructure of the Americas, an information platform for the cultural resources of the region to generate reliable statistical indicators and sector comparable culture. The V.18 Cultural Mapping project will provide a visual and deep analysis of the use of space for cultural purposes. Maps will be available online for everyone. It will be accessible to all citizens and part of the process to enable the long-term social, economic and cultural development of Valletta. The project will help make the most of Malta’s climate and space.
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WORKING GROUP Dr Mark Aloisio Dr Jean-Paul Baldacchino Prof. Carmel Borg Colin Borg Perit Ruben Paul Borg Marie Briguglio Dr Josann Cutajar Dr Maria Attard Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona, Ed. Dr George Cassar, Ed. advisor Prof. Greg Richards, Ed. advisor
FURTHER READING • Aarhus 2017, www.aarhus2017.dk • Lin, J. & Mele, C. (eds.), 2013. The Urban Sociology Reader. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. • Ministerio de Cultura, Peru www.mcultura.gob.pe/atlas • National Statistics Office, 2012. Culture Participation Survey 2011. Valletta: National Statistics Office. • Valletta 2018 Foundation, www.valletta2018.org
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THINK RESEARCH
Racing into the Future
W
ay back in 2007, a dedicated group of six people put together a formula-style race car in just six months to compete in a prestigious international competition called FSAE. Since then no other team has participated. Students were always interested to build a racing car but found it too hard to actually carry out — the underlying logistics were simply too much. In December 2012, a group of motivated university students founded the University of Malta Racing (UoMR) team. Their mission statement: ‘To encourage and facilitate students of the University of Malta to unite together as a team in the planning, design and construction of a Formula-style race car
and to participate in the Formula SAE, or similar competitions.” They were brought together by a love of cars, engines, speed and a competitive spirit. The 2007 team placed 17th out of 20 teams. The new team has stiff competition and huge challenges to overcome for the upcoming competition in July 2014. Foreign universities compete every year and build a database of knowledge and experience which students use to continue improving their cars. For the UoM to compete effectively with top-class international universities, there must be a strong framework which supports and encourages students from every faculty, especially the Faculty of Engineering. To overcome this challenge the team extensively researched the parts, materials needed and procedure to build a competitive vehicle. The
PR and Finance team of the UoMR also drew up a sponsorship proposal, which was used to attract sponsors and collaborators. Without them the project would not be possible. The team is currently working on the car’s design. At the same time they are fabricating some parts and structures inside their workshop at University. They are looking for financial or in kind assistance from driving enthusiasts and organisations.
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For more information on UoMR and contact details visit: uomracing.com. The University of Malta’s research trust, RIDT, fully supports the UoM racing team initiative. The trust aims to sustain and grow the UoM’s research activity. Please consider making a contribution at www.ridt.eu
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MEME
culture genes
MEME THINK
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