Air pollution threats and women of the future: News from the College

Here’s a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.

From a new report highlighting the invisible threat of air pollution in the UK, to nominations for a Women of the Future award, here is some quick-read news from across the College.  

The Invisible Threat 

A new report finds millions of people are being exposed to harmful levels of air pollution that could be damaging their lung health. The Invisible Threat shows over a quarter of care homes in England, nearly a third of hospitals and almost a third of schools are located in areas with dangerous levels of pollution (breaching WHO recommendations). 

The report from the British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK concludes that too little is being done to protect people from air pollution, especially those most at-risk – pregnant women, children, older people, people living with lung conditions and people on lower incomes. They are calling for new, life-saving clean air plans from the UK’s leaders, underpinned by stronger clean air laws that enshrine the WHO’s recommended guideline.    

View digital map to see the air pollution in your area. 

High-energy software upgrades 

Imperial researchers are among those developing vital software to exploit the large data sets collected by the next-generation experiments in high-energy physics. These include experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and upcoming neutrino experiments, such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the US and the Hyper-Kamiokande in Japan. 

These experiments can produce an exabyte of real and simulated data every year. If scientists used everyday computers to store one exabyte of data, they would need almost one million powerful home computers to do it. The researchers will develop more efficient software, which will also help reduce the usage of computing resources and thus the carbon footprint of data centres across the world. 

Read more on the Science and Technology Facilities Council website. 

Managing climate change risk

A new Climate Change Risk Management Training Course will be delivered by Imperial College London, the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment and the Institute of Risk Management.

It will train risk managers on why managing physical risks of climate change risk is vital and give tips on dealing with climate change regulations and targets.  

Professor Martin Siegert, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute, will teach part of the virtual six-hour course. He said: “Business leaders and decision-makers must understand the environmental risks we are facing.

"The only way to do this is through programmes like this, where we draw together experts from academia, industry and business to develop a common understanding of the problem. Our world's future needs such knowledge, and people who are properly informed to make the necessary decisions.”

Read more on the Institute of Risk Management website. 

Award shortlisting 

Imperial was shortlisted for the Women of the Future Corporate Award in 2020.  

The Women of the Future Corporate Award identifies organisations that support and nurture young women within their workforce. The College joined Google, Coca-Cola European Partners, the BBC and winners Baringa Partners in the shortlist. 

Imperial staff, students and alumni were also recognised in other categories: 

• Dr Nuria Oliva Jorge, Research Fellow, Department of Bioengineering – Highly Commended (Science) 
• Dr Emma Chapman, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow, Department of Physics – Highly Commended (Science) 
• Alice Wainwright, Taught Postgraduate, Business School – MBA Star 
• Lynette Kebirungi, (MSc Advanced Aeronautical Engineering) – Highly Commended (Commonwealth) 

View the full list of winners here  

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