The Employers’ Forum programme continued with the second event being successfully hosted by AWE on the subject of Academic Technical Outreach.
Nearly 50 delegates from industry, commerce and education, attended the event – with presentations given by leaders in their field. There was rich debate and discussion on technical academic outreach, through the sharing of common issues, and best practice.
AWE plays a crucial role in the defence of the UK by providing and maintaining warheads for the country’s nuclear deterrent. The company has been at the forefront of the UK nuclear deterrence programme for more than 60 years, delivering to the UK Government, providing innovative solutions to national nuclear security and supporting Continuous At Sea Deterrence.
Orion Target Positioner
Opened by AWE Chief Scientist Professor Peter Roberts OBE, the one-day forum took place in the world-leading Orion laser facility. One of the biggest capital projects in the UK, Orion is used to perform high energy density physics experiments supporting UK deterrence in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty era. www.awe.co.uk
Presentations
AWE Manager Technical Outreach, Dr Toni Lilly on Technical Academic Outreach at AWE
AWE William Penney Fellow, Professor Mike Christie, Heriot-Watt University on Maths, Physics, Oil & Bacon = Technical Outreach
Dr Stuart Brewer, Dstl MOD National PhD Scheme Futures and Innovation Domains
Claire Tansley, EPSRC on Delivering Impact from EPSRC Research
The afternoon highlight was a tour of the Orion laser facility itself, providing an opportunity to explore a facility built with academic outreach in mind. The Orion laser facility houses a large neodymium glass laser system and is designed to generate matter many times denser than solid at temperatures up to 10 millions degrees – only found naturally in stars. As one of the world’s most powerful lasers, Orion is of immense interest both domestically and internationally and to the wider academic community, working in areas such as fusion energy and astrophysics, as some of the laser’s system time is available for collaborative experiments.
Delegates at the Second Employers’ Forum: Academic Technical Outreach held in the Orion facility
