Do We Still Have To Do It Like That?

Across the Atlantic two billionaires, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, are racing to develop reusable rockets. This idea has been around since the 60s, but was only successfully achieved last year. Learn why the Space Shuttle never delivered on its promises, and how a new generation of reusable spacecraft will enable the public to journey into space and allow humans to colonise Mars. Discover how students from the University of Sheffield are developing new ways to ensure reusable rockets are reliable and low-cost, using micro-robots as part of a Europe-wide competition.

In our daily life, we are - sad but true - used to crashing or otherwise non-working computer systems. Gerald Weinberg, an American computer scientist, once said: "If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilisation." Is building correct and secure programs really so hard that we cannot master this task, or are we just careless when implementing programs? In this talk, we will explore the difficulties of implementing correct computer programs and learn techniques for building secure and reliable programmes.

Ultrasound is used in medicine to understand what is going on inside the human body. This is achieved by reflecting soundwaves off tissue and bone and translating this signal into an image based on the time between reflections. Engineers at The University of Sheffield have developed ways to use this technology to see inside of dynamic mechanical machines by using permanently installed ultrasonic sensors and smart processing techniques. It's possible to understand a wide range of machine parameters such as lubricant films, contact pressure, wear, viscosity, component position stress and strain.