Students from all three Sensor CDT cohorts traveled to Marston Vale to meet up with the MAS CDT for a joint away day aiming to solve research problems together.
Students from the Sensor CDT and the Molecular Analytical Science CDT met at the Marston Vale Forest Centre about half way between Cambridge and Warwick for a packed day of academic and fun activities.
Problem solving - idea pitching
Mixed teams of students from the Sensor CDT and the Molecular Analytical Science CDT combined their diverse research experiences and skills to propose new products or solutions which could overcome a scientific or technical challenge in one of the team members' PhD project.
Ideas from the students ranged from capacitive sensors to detect crystallization and clogging in pipes to using scanning probe microscopy and NMR to investigate the shapes of active sites in antibodies.
It was impressive to see the students go from explaining their research to one another at the start to forming efficient teams and presenting a new product in one day. During this exercise the students made excellent use of their knowledge in different science and engineering backgrounds and research areas.
Alongside the exercise students soaked up ideas to advance their individual projects.
Team building
The away day helped to create an expanded network of young scientists from both CDTs, which have complementary and partially overlapping themes: molecular analytical science is not possible without sensors while the develop of new sensors often relies on an understanding at the molecular level.
To develop their leadership and problem solving skills the student teams took part in team building challenges, including building a sculpture using a limited set of information and guiding blindfolded colleagues to erect a tent.
The day has allowed the students to connect across CDTs and cohorts and everybody is looking forward to future events between the Sensor CDT and the Molecular Analytical Science CDT.
More images from the day
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