MIF++ is the cross-departmental network of MIF collaborators at the University of Liverpool
- Vision of the MIF++ network : facilitate the collaboration with the MIF.
- Style of network seminars and who is welcome to participate and contribute.
- Network seminars : bi-weekly on Mondays between 11-13 with lunch from 12.
Image: credit SG Photography Ltd
Vision of the MIF++ network : facilitate the collaboration with the MIF
- The Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) is the £68M research institute, which was officially opened in 2018.
- The vision is to provide collaborative opportunities for colleagues from other departments in the University of Liverpool.
- The MIF++ network runs 2-hour seminars that include a presentation combined with lunch and informal discussions.
- The lunch is free and should be well-deserved, so it comes one hour after the start to make all discussions easier.
- The aim is to connect colleagues, who are experts from different areas and would like to start a joint project.
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Style of network seminars and who is welcome to participate and contribute
- An initial presentation should be self-contained and understandable to non-experts, aim at first year undergraduates. A computer projector is available and everyone can use small white boards for extra questions throughout the meeting.
- A chemist (in a broad sense including chemical engineering and physical chemistry) could first explain basic concepts and then introduce a real problem, where computational methods can potentially help, and describe the state-of-the-art.
- A computational expert (computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering) could similarly start from basic concepts and explain their methods on toy examples, also describe types of real data that can be processed by their methods.
- All colleagues in the University of Liverpool are welcome to participate and give a talk. We expect different audiences depending on a talk, say for a group of about 20 people. If you wish to come, please e-mail me for catering purposes.
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Network seminars (in the reverse chronological order) : 2019
- 25 February 2019 : Dr Phillip Maffettone (Chemistry).
- Location : the 3rd floor meeting room in the MIF.
- Title : Describing solids, and challenges for high-throughput analysis.
- Abstract. The talk will introduce reciprocal space and the reciprocal lattice as the inverse of the direct lattice, building on the previous introduction describing periodic structures. The reciprocal lattice plays a fundamental role in understanding wave mechanics in crystalline materials, and is implemented in most analytical studies of materials through the theory of diffraction. These concepts will be presented with a focus on their experimental utility, necessary limitations, and potential implications for high-throughput automation. In particular, we will explore the question: When can we meaningfully invert the diffraction pattern and the pair-wise information it contains, and how can we automate this inversion?
- 11 February 2019 : Dr Mike Gaultois (Chemistry).
- Location : the 3rd floor meeting room in the MIF.
- Title : Searching for new magnetic materials.
- Abstract. Magnetic materials have fascinated humans since the antiquity, but only recently since the 1800's with the work of Oersted and Maxwell did we begin to develop a deeper understanding of magnetism. Magnetic materials are now involved in many technological applications, many of which are limited by the material performance. One area of enquiry is the search for materials that can make hard permanent magnets, and another area of enquiry is the search for materials that conduct electricity without resistance (i.e., superconductors). This discussion is interested in exploring how we can best computationally predict (through first principles, or otherwise) the magnetic properties of a given material. We will describe what others have done to search for new materials using machine learning techniques, and discuss potential areas of interaction between MIF++ where advances can be made.
- 28 January 2019. Speaker : Vitaliy Kurlin (Computer Science).
- Location : the boardroom on the ground floor in the MIF.
- Title : Mathematical challenges for solid crystalline materials.
- Abstract. The talk will introduce periodic structures that model all solid crystalline materials, for example molecular crystals, covalent organic frameworks and inorganic crystals based on isolated atoms or ions. The key problems of materials discovery will be stated in mathematical terms: what structures should be equivalent and how to quantify a similarity between crystals. We will discuss several requirements for potentials solutions that should work for real crystals.
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