Time: Thursday 17 Sep 2020 from 19:15 for 19:30

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will be delivered online. More details can be found here.

TITLE: Natural Light and Fresh Air: The Ultimate Human Drugs?

There are  serious silent chronic impacts on the human condition of poor light and polluted air. We take natural light and fresh air for granted at our peril. For example the average person loses 2/3 of the light reaching their retina by the age of sixty and that poor quality light might be responsible for global epidemics in eye-strain, myopia and sleep deprivation. Pollutants in the air ‘enjoyed’ by 91% of the human population cut the average life of a human being by 3 years, take 10 years off peoples memory, and can contribute to deaths from Covid-19.

SPEAKER: Alex Pratt

Alex is a serial entrepreneur who uses pioneering technology and innovation to bring positive change to the world. His lights have travelled as far as man has travelled into space, and  deep under the ocean. They help to save lives every day in lifeboats and on operating tables. He is currently launching new air filters which kill Coronavirus and cleanse the air of the pollutants which the WHO describe as the biggest single health risk to humans. He has an OBE for services to business and education and is holder of the lifetime Queens Award for Enterprise Promotion. He has chaired over 50 boards and recently retired as Chairman of the IoD South.

Time: Thursday 20 Aug 2020 from 19:15 for 19:30

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will be delivered online. More details can be found here.

TITLE: Passive Covert Radar and similar ESM systems: what they are, and what they can do.

War-fighters have always trying to get good “observation” – preferably without being observed in turn.  Passive systems like Passive Covert Radar, which “piggybacks” on emissions from other sources like for example radio, TV or phone signals,  provide a very useful capability.  While the battlefield implications have always driven “Electronic Support Measures” (ESM) like these, there are far wider benefits in the preservation and use of the limited electromagnetic spectrum by using existing emissions rather than cluttering up the spectrum.This talk covers the advantages and disadvantages of these, and the illuminators we can use, ending with a sharpened focus on a particular war fighting role that can deeply affect aircraft used in war.

Speaker: Andy Cooke

Andy Cooke joined the RAF as an Engineering Officer after a degree in Physics from Imperial College, doing tours in Air Defence Radar, Satellite Communications and Spacecraft Operations, Air Traffic Systems Engineering Authority, Secure deployable IT systems, and Electronic Warfare Analysis (following a further degree at Cranfield University with a thesis on Sensor Fusion of Multistatic Radars of Opportunity).  He retired from the RAF as a Squadron Leader in 2012 and is now an Enterprise Architect specialising in secure IT systems and a District Councillor for Vale of White Horse.

Time: Thursday 16 July 2020 from 19:00 for 19:30

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will be delivered online. More details can be found here.

TITLE: The Immune System: From Basic Knowledge to Novel Anti-tumour Treatments

Our immune system is essential for our survival. It constantly battles pathogens, without us even realising it. To efficiently tackles all types of invaders we encounter, the immune system is composed of multiple cell types, which have to coordinate their actions to avoid spreading of the invading pathogen. During the first part of this talk, I will present the complex journey the different players of the immune system take to ascertain they keep our body healthy. In the second part of the talk, I will move on to situations where the immune system is not working appropriately, focusing on the immune response to cancer. Finally, I will present examples on how we can harness the immune system and train it to control cancer.

Speaker: Audrey Gerard

Audrey Gerard is a group leader at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford. Audrey has been trained as an immunologist in France, and worked in the Netherlands and the US before starting her group in the UK. Her group is interested in understanding how immune cells communicate and how these communication channels are co-opted during carcinogenesis to evade the immune system.

Time: Thursday 18 June 2020 from 19:00 for 19:30
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will be delivered online. More details can be found here.

TITLE: Personal Dosimetry: History and Latest Developments

Personal Dosimetry Services, as part of wider Public Health England, has been in existence in one form or another for around 50 years, but comprehensive legislation that governs working with radiation has not been around nearly as long. This talk discusses the history of nuclear regulation, the developments and improvements of different standards, and how this benefits employers and workers.

A briefing at the end will give a short update as to how Public Health England’s Personal Dosimetry Services department has been supporting the NHS and other key stakeholders during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker: Hugh Schönemann

Hugh Schoenemann has been working at Public Health England for the last three years. He heads up the customer services team of PHE’s Personal Dosimetry Services department, which currently supports over 5,000 client organisations across the UK and abroad. PDS is responsible for calibrating, despatching, receiving and reading over 500,000 personal dosemeters per annum across a range of industries – from the NHS, dental and veterinary, through academia and research, to general industry and its requirement for non-destructive testing. PDS also provides a Dose Record Keeping service for those workers (typically classified workers) working in elevated risk environments.

Hugh has had a 35+ year highly successful career in industry (predominantly in the IT and high-tech sectors), working both in the UK and abroad. He holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Bath.

We could not make an in-person visit to the DIAMOND Light Source as originally planned, but the facility has provided a virtual tour here.

Aditionally, why don’t you take a vitual tour of the ISIS facility, which is also in Harwell?

• Virtual Tour of the ISIS Facility
• Powering a Particle Accelearator (YouTube video filmed at ISIS)
• A day in the Life of ISIS
• Download your Accelerator Simulation Kit (instructions included)