Category: College of Science

International Women In Engineering Day

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Today we are celebrating the amazing work that women engineers around the world are doing to support lives and livelihoods every day.

We’re profiling some of our staff here at Lincoln, who are helping to build towards a brighter future and #makesafetyseen.

Valerie Andrews

First up we have Valerie Andrews, who is one of our Research Associates within our Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology.

 What would you say to anyone thinking of studying or having a career in engineering?

‘Engineering’, it’s just one single word with a plethora of different meanings and applications, it’s often not what you think it will be, but so much more you weren’t expecting. 
Engineering in essence is what you make of it (quite literally in many cases). It’s only limited by one’s imagination and passion, if you have either, or both of those things, then let nothing stand in your way, be diverse, be creative, be unusual, and think outside the box, it’s a subject that thrives on those things. It doesn’t matter who or what you are if you see things and wonder how it’s made or think you can make it better, you think like an engineer. As engineers we strive to make the world a better place, it’s not always about making things, but how we can also adapt, or improve on what we have. If you have an idea – you have the power to make it happen!

What made you choose a career in Engineering?

I chose engineering because I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. I was brought up by my grandmother so when things broke, I’d just fix them. I had a ‘knack’ for it. As I got older I’d fix my cars, do the general DIY and wiring, and would end up in technical roles. I would look at things and see ways to improve them, I just understood how they worked. There’s nothing more satisfying and gratifying than fixing something or improving it, no matter how little, and I guess that’s where I found I had a passion for it. Albeit later in life, I went to college to do a BTEC in engineering and continued to the University. 

What are your professional achievements as an engineer?

Throughout my career, I have worked on a variety of projects. These include researching compostable and recyclable food packaging, creating a habitat for Black Soldier Larvae to reduce food waste, and designing a compact mechanical blueberry harvester that can operate within polytunnels. Additionally, I was part of a team that built one of the first electrified agricultural vehicles with a sprayer body and electric hub. As a team, we also developed a versatile robotic platform that is suitable for various research applications at the university.

Dr Natalie Evans

Next up we have, Dr Natalie Evans, who has recently joined our School of Engineering as an Assistant Technician.

I am proud to be a new member of the technical team where despite not actually being an engineer, I utilise my scientific background and chemistry knowledge to support activities within the department. My experience with safe use of chemicals and equipment as well as COSHH and risk assessment procedures has been useful to contribute to safer working practices in the laboratories. 

Biomedical Science Day

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To celebrate #BiomedicalScienceDay2023, we are showcasing some of our Biomedical Science Staff.

First up we have Dr Claire Walker, who is our Senior Lecturer in Immunology. What does Biomedical Science Day Mean to Claire?

“As a Senior Lecturer in Immunology on the Institute of Biomedical Sciences accredited course at the University of Lincoln, I’m often asked two questions. The first is always ‘why immunology” and the second is “well what is so important about IBMS accreditation”? For me personally, few fields hold the potential to transform lives so profoundly as immunology. Ground-breaking discoveries and innovative treatments are reported every month in this extraordinary discipline, from CAR-T cells to gene therapy to cure disease. I can’t think of a single scientist who wouldn’t want to be a part of this innovative work which pioneers a new frontier in medicine. As for why I teach on accredited course, the IBMS is a professional body that represents biomedical scientists and completion of an IBMS accredited degree course is essential to becoming a registered professional who works in a clinical laboratory. The translation of the exciting novel technologies I describe into NHS pathology is entirely dependent on our accredited workforce and I undertook my teaching position here at University of Lincoln to inspire our next generation of scientists to lead the way in this field. Biomedical Science education is a powerful tool for progress in NHS pathology and I feel incredibly privileged play a role in it.”

What Does Biomedical Science Day mean to Michael, one of our Senior Lecturers in Biomedical Science?

“I have been a Biomedical Scientist for 15 years, and being able to share knowledge about my profession with colleagues and the wider public is something that makes me feel visible and valued.

I currently work as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln where we run an IBMS Accredited Biomedical Science course.  It is great to see just how popular this course is becoming, and how many students are aware of the importance of accreditation is to their prospects of becoming a Biomedical Scientist.

I am privileged to work with laboratories across Lincolnshire and beyond, supporting our placement students to work in diagnostic laboratories, gaining the knowledge skills and behaviours required to work as a Biomedical Scientist.

The partnership between the University and the laboratories is vital in ensuring we continue to deliver highly skilled and motivated Biomedical Scientists into the workforce.”

What does Biomedical Science Day mean to Dr Carol Rea, one of our Associate Professors?

“After 8 years of working in pathology and almost 29 years of teaching biomedical science, it means helping provide the next generation of biomedical scientists. I am proud to have helped hundreds of students begin that journey over this time. Initially at the University of Wolverhampton, moving to the University of Lincoln in 2002 to set up the BSc Biomedical Science, in response to local difficulties in recruitment of biomedical scientists. We started with just 16 students, several of whom I am still in touch with and are contributing to the service in a variety of ways. We have grown significantly since then with the current first year being around 130. In that time, we have introduced a placement year, largely placing students locally, an integrated masters to appeal to high achieving students and a foundation year to widen access. A key aim has always been to develop relevant practical skills and to put learning in the context of patient care, using case studies and problem-based learning. This is often in the context of interprofessional learning with other health professionals, emphasising the importance of working in a multi-disciplinary team.”

What does Biomedical Science Day Mean to Sue?

“My name is Sue and I have worked as a Biomedical Scientist for almost 30 years. In my current role as Deputy Manager and Training Officer, I support training in the Blood Sciences department at Lincoln Hospital. This included Trainee Biomedical scientists and students on placement with us to achieve their IBMS registration portfolio.

Being a training officer allows me to pass on my knowledge and to support the Biomedical Scientists of the future.

I am proud to support Biomedical Science Day.”

What does Biomedical Science Day Mean to Rebecca?

“As a new Biomedical Scientist at Lincoln County Hospital, I am very proud to be a part of this day and it is important to recognise the vital role Biomedical Scientists have in the patient pathway by managing and monitoring diseases and even aiding in the diagnostic process, this day helps us do that.

I studied Biomedical Science at the University of Lincoln and completed a placement year at Lincoln County Hospital where I obtained my registration portfolio and gained invaluable knowledge and experience. I would encourage any student that is given the opportunity to take a placement year as it provides brilliant laboratory experience, the chance to complete the registration portfolio and gives a great insight into the everyday role of the Biomedical Scientist.

I am very lucky to work as part of a multidisciplinary team at Lincoln, where we work in Haematology, Biochemistry and Transfusion. As a person who enjoys learning and being challenged, it is a perfect place to work as no two days are the same.

I thoroughly look forward to advancing my career and adding to my knowledge and in time, helping any further students and new staff that chose this rewarding career.”

“Taking Part in a University Study Saved My Eyesight”

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A staff member’s participation in a voluntary research study detected a sight-threatening disease which was misdiagnosed by opticians.

Tammie Farley, College of Science Events and Schools Liaison Manager at the University of Lincoln, UK responded to an open call to take part in a study where her eyes were to be routinely photographed. The study was being ran by Dr Bashir Al-Diri, Associate Professor and Programme Leader at Lincoln School of Computer Science as part of his project titled ARIAL (Automated Retinal Image Analysis Lab).

She volunteered as someone with healthy eyes to provide Dr Bashir with photographs to help build software designed to automatically analyse retinal images. The images can detect vascular segmentation which, if untreated, can cause blindness.

In February 2022, an irregularity appeared on the photographs of Tammie’s eyes. A month prior, she had noticed that straight lines appeared to have kinks in them. Spreadsheets, for example, became especially difficult for her to see clearly. An optician had diagnosed age-related macular degeneration (AMD), though Dr Bashir believed that this was a misdiagnosis.

Through corresponding with a fellow researcher at the University of Sunderland, Dr Maged Habib, a Consultant Ophthalmology and Retina Specialist, Dr Bashir was able to confirm that Tammie had Central Serous Chorioretinopathy with CNV (choroidal neovascularisation) rather than AMD. This disease can be sight-threatening.

The first four months are crucial in determining whether a patient with this disease will lose sight or not. By taking part in the study, Tammie was correctly diagnosed quickly and able to receive treatment with Dr Maged in March this year at no charge.

 “I am incredibly grateful to Dr Bashir for not only detecting the issue in my right eye but also his concern and continued monitoring of it over the past 15 months.  Had Bashir not liaised with Dr Habib at Sunderland Eye Infirmary I would not have received such speedy treatment. If it had been left without treatment or undiagnosed, I could have been left with permanent central vision loss.”

Tammie Farley

Tammie’s experience is just one example of the exceptional work ARIAL is doing to protect people’s eyesight. Since the project began in May 2018, 12 per cent of the participants were found to have abnormal signs in their retinal images and were encouraged to follow up with their opticians and continue with the retinal scans to detect any further changes.

A further five per cent of the participants had started to develop more serious conditions that would have been undetected by the participant and were referred to their GPs for more investigations.

Dr Bashir Al-Diri, Lead Investigator of ARIAL, said:

“Our vascular system adapts to various conditions, age, and lifestyle activities. It is crucial to differentiate between changes due to pathology and those due to normal aging and lifestyle factors. However, this has been difficult in the past due to a lack of images from non-pathological participants.
“The ARIAL project aims to address this issue by collecting images over time to discover patterns and learn cause-and-effect relationships. By analysing these images and correlating them with other clinical data, the project hopes to develop a set of integrated techniques that will influence routine clinical patient care in the years to come.”

Dr Bashir Al-Diri

Dr Bashir was the first ever PhD student at Lincoln’s School of Computer Science and has been researching this subject for almost 20 years. To develop an artificial intelligence system that monitors changes to a patient’s eye, he requires considerably more photographs of eyes where any segmentation is manually measured and logged.

This manual process, however, is incredibly time consuming. He hopes to employ the assistance of medical students or colleagues to continue progressing the project which could have a transformative impact on UK provision of optical care.

Image 1 shows the abnormality identified in Tammie’s eye in photos captured on 01/12/2022. Image 2 shows Tammie’s healthy eye report from 31/03/2023 following treatment. The retinal thickness shadowgraph indicates where the disease is present and shows the significantly increased thickness. A ‘hole’ is also visible on the left-hand photos which is shown to be repaired in Image 2. The fully green thickness graph displayed in Image 2 also shows the success of the treatment, with only faint traces of abnormality left on the shadowgraph.

International Women’s Day 2022

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Happy International Women’s Day!

Today (8 March) is all about WOMEN! A whole day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women globally.

International Women’s Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, it belongs to all groups collectively everywhere and marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are going to meet some of the inspirational women involved within the College of Science, each with their top tip for all you reading this…whether your female, male or agender.

So let’s start, introducing…

Professor Libby John, who is Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Science at the University of Lincoln.

Professor Anna Wilkinson, who is a Professor of Animal Cognition within our Department of Life Sciences.

Professor Elizabeth Sklar, Professor in Agri-Robotics and Research Director of Lincoln Agri-Robotics & LIAT.

Professor Mini Saaj, who is a Professor and Global Chair in Robotic Engineering.

Professor Claire Hills, Professor of Renal Physiology within our Department of Life Sciences.

Professor Sharon Green, who is Deputy Head for Apprenticeships and Business Partnerships at our Holbeach Campus.

I hope you enjoyed today’s read and found all the top tips given useful!

Goodbye February, Hello March

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Is anyone else excited for a new month? Here at the College of Science, we are.

March is by far one of the most exciting months for us and science, with British Science Week giving us a 10-day celebration of science, technology, engineering, and maths from 11-20 March.

Over the past couple of months, we have been busy planning our on-campus event to celebrate British Science Week. Our event will take place on Wednesday 16 March, from 12:30pm until 4pm, in our Isaac Newton Building at our city-centre Brayford Pool Campus.

The event will include a science showcase, where you will be able to get involved with interactive activities, including testing out our fantastic Virtual Reality equipment – how cool is that? We will also have a schedule of talks delivered by some of our academic staff who are experts in their fields and can’t wait to share their passion with the next generation of scientists.

If you would like more information on our event and to book your space, please click here.

Can’t attend our event but want to get involved? Why not enter our competition?

We have two £50 Amazon gift cards up for grabs and one could be yours. So let’s be crystal clear, all you have to do is grow the biggest and brightest salt crystal following our recipe, adding in your own experimental materials to make them spectacular! It’s as easy as 1,2,3!

For the recipe and entry details please click here.

Good Luck!

Welcome to our Blog

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Hello! How are you? Thank you for visiting our corner of the internet. Here you will find we talk all things university and science! So, feel free to take a look and keep up to date!

Are you thinking about going to university, do you currently study at Lincoln, or are you just a true science fan? Our blog is here to keep you in the know about everything exciting that happens in the College of Health and Science. We’ll be posting about upcoming events, exciting research, students success stories, and much more.

Within the College of Health and Science at the University of Lincoln, we have expertise in a range of subjects including agri-food technology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, food manufacturing, geography, biomedical and life sciences, mathematics, medicine, nursing and other health disciplines, pharmacy, physics, psychology, sport and exercise science, and social work and social care.

Our academic staff undertake world-leading and internationally excellent research, often working at the forefront of new discoveries. This includes pioneering research to develop more effective radiotherapy treatment for thousands of cancer sufferers, to ground-breaking research into climate change and meteorology.

So, grab yourself a drink, get comfy and learn something new with us.

Read all our latest blogs? Why not check out our website and find out more about our programmes and research on our website College of Health and Science.

This is Emma writing from the College of Health and Science, signing out.