New UROP opportunities will be listed here for one month, and thereafter will appear on the relevant faculty page (UROP website) until notified otherwise by the relevant member of academic staff.
Please note: The vast majority of advertised UROPs are advertised within academic departments for an internal audience (Imperial undergraduates) OR (and this is the route taken for most UROPs) are sourced by an individual student (whether an Imperial undergraduate OR an eligible undergraduate at another university) through direct contact with academic/research staff. Therefore this NEW OPPORTUNITIES page is normally used only by research groups who are looking to widen the audience for any UROP they are planning.
Posted: 14 February 2025
Quasicrystalline metamaterials (the aperiodic monotile): The project involves studying the behaviour of inhomogeneous wave systems (electromagnetic or acoustics) geometrically organised in a quasicrystalline manner. Quasicrystalline arrangement of matter shows exotic and different properties compared to ordered and disordered arrangements. The idea behind this project is to explore the properties of a metamaterial organised following the rules of the so-called “Einstein hat”, the first aperiodic monotile.
Skills and experience: Background in PDEs and computational skills using Python/Matlab or any other high-level programming language.
A bursary would need to obtained from a third party source for the Dept of Mathematics to approve and subsequently register as a UROP.
Contact details: Dr Marc Martí Sabaté, Huxley Building, 6m10, Dept of Mathematics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, South Kensington Campus. E: m.marti-sabate23@imperial.ac.uk
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Posted: 11 February 2025
Compliant Surgical Tool Design within a Human Factors Framework: Surgical procedures are fundamentally dependent on effective, intuitive, and ergonomic manual tools. Established actuation mechanisms for such tools involve mutually opposing levers, which are concurrently used to support, steady, and direct the distal tool end. This inherently leads to instability during actuation, which is only compounded by required hand grips not being biomechanically optimized for precise movement. Implementing for the first time in a surgical tool handle, our approach allows adoption of a precision ‘pencil’ grip, with single finger isolated actuation, biomechanically optimized for precise control and small movements, such as those required for delicate microsurgical procedures. While the proposed solution shows potential for improving clinical workflows, particularly in the context of neurovascular aneurysm clipping, the protypes remain substantially unvalidated and incomplete. Furthermore, all working mechanical models are currently 3D printed.
Potential directions for next steps, to be explored through this UROP, include:
- Evaluation and redesign of the handle with human factors in mind, ensuring design meets ergonomic requirements for precision and prolonged operation.
- Analysis of mechanical functional requirements for realistic force delivery while actuating with a single finger.
- Development of “works-like” prototypes that robustly deliver required mechanical advantage and can be trialled by clinical users on in vitro anatomical models.
- Exploration of manufacturing techniques to reduce costs and weight while maintaining reliability of compliant design.
- Inclusion of a temporary locking mechanism in the handle, which is a frequently requested feature addition from clinical partners.
Skills and experience required: Experience with CAD (e.g. SOLIDWORKS or OnShape) and FEA. Background in human factors aided design.
When: Summer vacation only. The host dept would be the School of Design Engineering.
Contact details: Dr Weston Baxter, School of Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, 1M02, Mezzanine, Royal College of Science Building, South Kensington Campus. E: weston.baxter@imperial.ac.uk AND Dr Matthew Cavuto, Department of Infectious Disease, B422, Bessemer Building, South Kensington Campus. E: matthew.cavuto17@imperial.ac.uk; T: 07463969654.
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Posted: 22 January 2025
Modelling Material Degradation to Accelerate Net Zero: Development of multiphysics finite element models to understand and prevent the degradation of materials that can hinder the energy transition, such as hydrogen-assisted fracture of metallic components, corrosion and oxidation of alloys in wind and fusion energy applications.
Skills and experience required: Interest and skills in mechanics of materials and/or finite element modelling.
Contact details: Dr Livia Cupertino-Malheiros, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Room 249, 2nd Floor, Skempton Building, South Kensington Campus. Email: l.cupertino-malheiros@imperial.ac.uk ; Tel: 07897185223