The IEEE ICL Student Branch at Imperial College London hosted the 2023 edition of the Advances in Communications, Devices, and Systems (ACDS) Conference on September 7th, 2023 in coordination with the EEE departmental student representatives. The event drew an enthusiastic audience, including Imperial students from the EEE and Materials departments.
The audience enjoyed presentations in morning and afternoon sessions, with opportunities for discussions between members of the Imperial community to share knowledge and ideas. There were 15 IEEE members in attendance alongside 10 guests.
The event commenced with the IEEE Local Student Paper Contest (SPC) for undergraduate students. This offered an opportunity to write a paper and share their work through a presentation at the Conference. The top students will be put forward to the IEEE Region 8 (R8) SPC, with the best five entries in the R8 SPC being selected to present their work at MELECON 2024. The Student Branch congratulates all participants for their submissions, with four engaging presentations covering a variety of topics.
Shirley Xu opened the session with her presentation on “Revolutionizing Quantum Technology: robotic optimization in single-crystal growth for optically-pumped high-performance room-temperature MASERs”, explaining the principles of MASER operation in both experimental laboratory settings and future applications in space communications, for which she won 3rd place.
Mahanoor Syed then delved into the world of “Piezoelectric Crystals and Energy Generation,” emphasizing the potential for sustainable energy solutions within applications such as road lighting and signage based on the vibrations created by passing vehicles.
Vaclav Pavlicek and Tim Newman impressed the audience with “Reusable High-Power Rocketry with Atmospheric Data Collection,” a fusion of aerospace and data sciences, including a video of a successful launch and recovery of their rocket. Vaclav and Tim achieved 1st place within the Local SPC – congratulations to the rocket team for their attention to detail and immersive delivery.
Harsh Gupta’s research on the “Microstructure and Deformation Behavior of Inconel 718 after Hydrogen Charging” contributed to the field of sustainable materials science, considering the impacts of hydrogen immersion on the life span of metal alloys. Harsh was awarded 2nd place for his thoughtful and visually engaging presentation.
Following a well-deserved lunch break, the event continued with an introduction to the IEEE ICL Student Branch, reinforcing the importance of community and collaboration.
The afternoon session featured three outstanding PhD presentations, giving the PhD students a forum to share their ideas and results, and offering undergraduate students in attendance an opportunity to discover more about PhD research projects. Aimon Mirza Baig addressed the critical issue of “Co-Optimizing Frequency-Containment Services from Zero-Carbon Sources in Electricity Grids Dominated by Renewable Energy Sources”, clearly outlining the benefits of the approach.
Will Bolton explored “Personalizing Intravenous to Oral Antibiotic Switch Decision Making Through Fair Interpretable Machine Learning” with a well thought through basis for establishing the needs of medical staff and the implied requirements on system design.
Finally, Ali Arjomandi-Nezhad provided insights into a “Stability Assessment Benchmark System Model” for power systems, looking ahead to a future power grid that relies on grid-forming inverters rather than synchronous machines for frequency stability of the grid.
Prizes were awarded as follows:
1st place – Will Bolton
2nd place – Ali Arjomandi-Nezhad
3rd place – Aimon Mirza Baig
Following the afternoon presentations, a drinks reception was provided for attendees, where they discussed their thoughts on the day’s talks and topics.
