School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences

BEng(H) ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING BEng(H) COMMUNICATION AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

Engineering Project
Project Title List 2011 - 2012
The following is a list of project titles which have been submitted by lecturers to date. If students have suggestions for projects themselves then these will be considered providing a suitable supervisor may be found. If any student is interested in a particular project then it is up to the student to contact the appropriate lecturer, discuss it with him and if both are in agreement fill in the project specification, ethics form and risk assessment forms and return to the school office (PB07) by Thursday 3rd October.

Please note that all students must agree upon a project with an appropriate lecturer and get the project specification form signed.

Prof D. Smith
Ellison building, Room E104

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Design of a wearable RFID antenna Design of a Fresnel Zone Plate antenna for satellite TV reception Design of an UWB antenna for WLAN applications Design of a multiband antenna for mobile applications Design of a Direct Digital Synthesiser, DDS, transmitter for Electronic Article Surveillance, EAS, systems 6. Development of an image reconstruction system for microwave indirect holographic imaging 7. Design of a microwave antenna element for Solar Power Satellite applications 8. Design of a microwave low noise amplifier for mobile applications

Mr. M. Wonders
Ellison building, Room E406
1. Design and development of a KNX smart home controller.

This project will involve the specification and design of a small form factor Linux box running a KNX API. The box will sit on a KNX/Ethernet interface and monitor specific sensors, perform some predefined processing and send messages back onto the KNX network.
2. Development of a Gas flow monitor Using KNX .

This project will involve the adaptation of a gas meter for implementation into a KNX network. Some application development will be required to monitor And log the data, as well as some user interface development.
3. Investigation into message sending from KNX to the Sonos multiroom system

This project will look at the possibility of using Smart home sensor data from a KNX network to influence the output of the Sonos multiroom audio system. Specifically, an application will be developed to enable path finding through an environment using PIR sensors and audio feedback.
4. Development of wearable zigbee sensors for use in Smart homes

This project will research and develop a zigbee sensor network that can identify and possibly locate individuals wearing purpose built wearable sensors.

5. Development of a Brain-computer interface to KNX bridge

This project will follow on form previous projects to produce a working bridge between a brain-computer interface unit and a KNX network. Previous projects have been carried out using a wiimote to control the KNX smart home network and control a PC with a brain computer interface.

Dr M Elsdon
Ellison building, Room E406

1. Analysis and design of planar fed antennas for concealed weapons detection. This project involves the design and simulation of a microstrip antenna array with increased directivity. 2. Analysis and design of antenna for breast cancer detection.

This project concerns the design and simulation of a microstrip antenna with increased gain.
3. Analysis and design of small microstrip antenna.

This project involves the design and simulation of slot loaded antennas to reduce the size of a regular antenna without compromising its performance.
4. Analysis and design of antenna for ultra wideband radio.

This project involves the design of an ultra-wideband antenna for UWB. It will involve the design and simulation of a stacked patch antenna. http://www.piers.org/piersonline/pdf/Vol2No6Page544to549.pdf
5. Analysis and design of solar cell antenna.

This project involves investigating the use of solar cells to receive and transmit electromagnetic waves.
6. Fractal Antenna for wideband mobile communications.

This project involves the design and simulation of fractal antennas as a technique to increase the bandwidth of antennas. http://www.jpier.org/PIERC/pierc02/02.08031005.pdf

7. Development of Computer Controlled Antenna Measuring System

This project involves the development and implementation of a computer program to control a Far-field antenna measuring system.

8. Design of Segway model using Lego Mindstorms / Labview

This project concerns the development of a miniature segway. It will involve the use of labview / NXT software. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ZONn3p1LI

Dr N Beattie
Ellison building, Room E305b 1] Design of a photovoltaic peformance monitoring system It is important to monitor the output from a photovoltaic system in order to determine correct operation. This project involves using National Instruments data acquisition hardware and LabVIEW to build a photovoltaic monitoring system. A student with an interest in programming and renewable energy. LabVIEW is an industry standard programming tool and would be a valuable addition to a student's CV. 2] Optoelectronic investigation of novel semiconductor devices This project will investigate the optoelectronic properties of photovoltaic devices and light emitting diodes. These technologies have an important role to play in creating a more sustainable world and the results of this investigation will have relevance for future device design. A student with good practical skills and an interest in learning more about semiconductor physics and devices.

3] Photovoltaic performance indicator

Photovoltaic facades are a way of integrating solar modules within a building structure. Although this has been successfully achieved (e.g. the Northumberland Building), the function of such technologies often goes unnoticed. This project presents the student with an opportunity to design their own system for showing the performance from a PV module.

A student with good electronics skills and a keen interest in renewable energy. This project offers a lot of room for innovation and will reward creativity. 4] Performance analysis of a building integrated photovoltaic faade The Northumberland Building is an example of a building integrated photovoltaic facade. The aim of this project is to investigate its performance, analysing this aspect within the context of historical data. A student with good analytical skills and a keen interest in renewable energy. This project involves analysing large quantities of data using Excel or Matlab.

5] Photovoltaic system simulator The School of Computing, Engineernig and Information Sciences has recently acquired new hardware which allows simulation of a photovoltaic system and its connection to the grid. This project offers the student the opportunity to perform a wide range of experiments relating to photovoltaic systems. A student with a keen interest in laboratory work and power systems/renewable energy. A key aspect will be to obtain results from simulations and analyse the data. There is considerable scope for creativity in this project.

6] Photovoltaic cell simulation The Northumbria Photovoltaics Application Centre at Northumbria University is developing novel types of solar cells with a focus on performance and sustainability. It is important to support this research with theoretical modelling of solar cells. PC1D is freely available software which can be used to simulate a wide variety of solar cells. This project focuses on using software to simulate solar cell performance to inform the fabrication process. There is also an opportunity to perform experimental work which can be compared to the simulation output A student with an interest in using software to simulate semiconductor devices. The project offers the student the chance to learn about semiconductor physics and to help improve actual solar cell performance.

7] Investigation of flexible photovoltaic modules Flexible photovoltaic modules offer potential benefits in terms of architectural or automotive applications. These benefits are likely to involve some compromise in performance (e.g. by having a variable tilt anlge across the module) and this project

involves analysing the performance of a real flexible photovoltaic module and quantifying the performance-benefit trade-off. A student with good practical skills and an interest in photovoltaics. Data acquisition and analysis are also key parts of this project.

8] Design of a photovoltaic system

This project involves using the widespread photovoltaic design software, PVSYST. This software allows you to design and simulate a photovoltaic system. The student is encouraged to use the software for an application of their choice and quantify the potential benefits and cost of using photovoltaics to provide electricity. This project involves engineering design and would suit a student who wishes to use software as an analysis tool for a real world situation. Although there is very little programming, the main focus is on design and analysis.

Dr G Sexton
Ellison building, Room E108 1] Controlling Systems using a WII remote This project will develop a interface to allow an operator to control a device using a WII remote controller. The WII remote uses Bluetooth to communicate to the base, here you will develop a programme that will read this information to a PC. Your programme will then interpret these command to control some other device. One possible device to control could be a radiocontrolled car, where the PC could generate a serial data stream to control a radio control transmitter. This could also be applied to smart room technology http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/21/wiimote-rc-car-authentic-excite-truck/ http://carl.kenner.googlepages.com/glovepie_download Suitable for a student with good software skills.

2] Animation of robotic head (new 11- 12) We have a robot head that is controlled by a large number of conventional servos. Expression and motion of the face is controlled via these servos. This project will develop an interface for these servos, probably using an Arduino system, to perform animation of the head.

3] Wi-Fi Roaming behavior (new 11-12) A study of roaming efficiency http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3599726

4] Wireless LAN deployment investigation This project will investigate the feasibility of deploying wireless lans to provide short term temporary access to users. One specific example would be to provide wireless access to holiday makers on a camp site. You will be required to investigate and determine the technical difficulties of deployment and in some cases provide working technical solutions. You are also required to develop an appropriate cost model for deployments.

5] Router simulator Routers are complex network components that are essential to the operation of networks. They are however, expensive and difficult to experiment with on live networks. Software based simulators are thus a very important alternative to real routers. An example of a simulator can be seen at www.routersim.com. This project will develop a rudimentary simulator in a fixed topography and will demonstrate the feasibility of building a software based router. 6] Voice over IP In unit en308, you will be studying how to transmit voice over the Internet. This is a leading edge subject and standards are still in development. In this project you will devlope software for the encoding and transmission of voice data over an internet link between PCs. The project will involve a mixture of both PC and networking technology plus some simple signal processing. You will need to investigate how to capture live audio data, set up a voice link and transmit that data. Once a basic working system has been established then you can investigate delay and packet loss anomalies.

7] Network stress testing. Testing network load capacity is essential to allow a fuller understanding of their operation. This project will develop software that is able to inject traffic into a network and then monitor flow rates.

8] Security of Wireless lans. This project will investigate security issues associated with wireless LANS. This will involve theoretical studies and tests are various software to determine wireless LAN vunerability. 9] Denial of service study (Wireless or wired) Network servers are constantly being threatened by mechanisms that prevent them from operating correctly on the network. Often these mechanisms exploit aspects of

protocols that are used on the servers themselves in order to render the server too busy to offer a normal service. This project will study a number of mechanisms for denial of service and investigate appropriate counter measures. This will involve both a theoretical study along with practical tests to examine DoS in action. There are many www references to this subject that the student is recommended to study before starting the work. For wireless systems, can listen interval affect DoS attack effectiveness? 10] Denial of service study directed towards mobile phones Network servers are constantly being threatened by mechanisms that prevent them from operating correctly on the network. Often these mechanisms exploit aspects of protocols that are used on the servers themselves in order to render the server too busy to offer a normal service. This project will study a number of mechanisms for denial of service and investigate appropriate counter measures. This will involve both a theoretical study along with practical tests to examine DoS in action. There are many www references to this subject that the student is recommended to study before starting the work. Specifically this project will investigate the effect of an attack on a mobile phone via WiFi or Bluetooth and determine whether the attack affects other phone functions. 11] Port Scanner: This project will develop a port scanner. 12] Edge enhancement of digital images Digital photography has seen explosive growth over recent years. The appearance of images recorded using digital cameras is closely linked to how well edges are defined. Classically cameras automatically apply some edge enhancement to the images to improve the visual appearance, but the success of this is very dependent on the techniques applied. This project will examine existing techniques and attempt to develop some new ideas for edge enhancement. 13] High performance nicad battery charger. In some situations it is necessary to charge nicad batteries at a very high rate. In order to do this successfully and safely, current, voltage and temperature must be monitored. This project will develop a charger which monitors these parameters to allow the optimal charging of the batteries. The charger should have a PC interface to allow display of data and appropriate control of the device. 14] Data logger for a radio controlled car. Radio controlled car racing is considered a serious sport amongst some, where people spend 1000s on the highest performing equipment. One aspect of the sport that has not yet been fully developed is reliable performance logging, ie live recording and logging of g-forces, speeds, power etc. The data logger would be required to interface to a PC program to enable the display of recorded data.

15] Infrared remore Contol Via Ethernet (new for 10 11)

This project will allow you to design , build and test hardware and software that realises a infrared remote control. The basic concept is to be able to control domestic devices from a network connected device such as a PC or iPhone. Each room will have a infrared driver installed which is connected to the home intranet, where devices in range can be controlled. Client software working from a networked device will send commands to the IR driver to control hardware. The IR driver should be based around an Arduino processor with and Ethernet Shield. This will minimise any required hardware development. A client driver program needs to be developed to run on a PC or other network connected device. The project will conclude with a working controller system. cessing algorithms capable of removing the purple fringing. 16] Detecting physically hidden Wi-Fi NAS drives (New for 2009/2010) Forensics police services are now faced with an additional difficult of locating hard drive storage that may not be physically attached to a PC but be hidden in a small space and connected via Wi-Fi to the PC. Locating such a device can be problematic. There are two approaches to be considered: 1) Scanning using a directional antenna, 2) Examining beacon frames and probe response frames for signatures of Wi-Fi NAS devices. This project will examine one or both of these techniques.

17] Network traffic class simulator Modern routers control traffic through a classification process that allows a fair treatment to all types of traffic. Further, router queues have mechanisms that allow pre-emptive dropping of data to prevent congestion. There are many parameters to set on the queuing and congestion avoidance process and it is hard for the network engineer to understand exactly the influence of each parameter on the network traffic. This project will develop a simulation system to help determine the best settings for the queuing system. It is a software based project that will require reasonable coding skills. 18] Image enhancement for Forensic Science (New for 2009/2010) This project will investigate a number of techniques used in forensics science to enhance and reveal information buried within digital images. 19] Making Gigapixel photos (New for 2009/2010)

This project will investigate techniques for making gigapixel photos via photostitching multiple photographs. Quality results are obtained by controlled panning of original scenes here you will develop a servo controlled panning system capable of automatically panning the camera and taking the shots at each position. 20] Android/iPhone application development (New for 2010/2011) A software and networking project

This project will investigate the concept for and develop an Android or IPhone app that is capable of routing messages to other phones. Phone to phone messaging via Bluetooth is fairly common place and most modern phones will support this process. The peer to peer messaging process can be augmented by allowing multiple phones to act as message relayers, much like routers in conventional wired networks. Further, at may be possible to use Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct to transfer messages rather than just Bluetoth. You will need a good knowledge of (or be prepared to develop it) programming for Android or the iPhone. 21] Interactive Guided Tour for the University (Requires iPhone) (New for 10 11) Suitable for Creative media technology projects Everytrail.com offers an online service that provieds iPhone App pre-made walking guides for cities and places of interest. This project will investigate the principle and potential use of an interactive guide for a new student or visitor to Newcastle. The project will then build and evaluate such a guide using the everytrail.com framework. For examples of guides please refer to everytrail.com 22] Comparison of AutoQoS and hand tuned QoS (New for 10 11) AutoQoS is Ciscos simplest approach to supporting QoS requiring little setting up by he network administrator. This project will investigate: How AutoQoS actually works Determine and set up a set of benchmark tests to evaluate QoS Verify AotoQoS operation Compare the performance against a hand tuned QoS 23] Soft WiFi Access Points (new 11-12) Hostapd is a user space daemon for access point and authentication servers. It operates as a daemon on many implementations of Linux. It implements IEEE 802.11 access point management, IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP Authenticators, RADIUS client, EAP server, and RADIUS authentication server. The current version supports Linux (Host AP, madwifi, mac80211-based drivers) and FreeBSD (net80211). This project will examine and evaluate the operation function and performance of hostapd.

Mr J Allen
Ellison building, Room E106

(1)

Automate testing of display cards

Advanced Electronics Ltd manufactures a range of fire and safety control panels at its Cramlington factory. There is a requirement to 100% functionally test each product following board assembly to ensure correct operation of all components including switches, LCD displays and LED indicators. Currently for all panel display cards much of the final testing is performed manually by an operator who decides on the operation and feel of each switch, the illumination of LEDs and the correct functioning of the LCD display. This reliance on manual testing has detrimental cost implications along with the possibility of human error producing false results. The aim of this project will be to produce an automated system to allow minimal operator intervention in the testing of the display card. (2) Wireless three-axis accelerometer The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a wireless-system for the measurement of the acceleration of various parts of the body for sports training and medical applications. One such example would be the measurement of the cranial acceleration whilst heading a football. (3) Programmable laser diode power supply The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a programmable power supply for use with low power semiconductor laser diodes. (4) Laser beam alignment system The precise alignment of an optical beam is an essential aspect of many electro-optic systems. The aim of this project is to use a position sensitive detector (PSD) to determine both the intensity and the position of the image produced by a laser beam after reflection from a reflecting surface and apply feedback to a stepper motor driven pan/tilt mechanism to provide automatic beam alignment. (5) Electronic altimeter and vertical speed indicator Low cost absolute semiconductor-based pressure sensors based are now readily available and offer the opportunity to design and construct an electronic altimeter. By considering the rate of change of altitude one can then deduce the rate of climb or descent as indicated by a vertical speed indicator. The aim of this project is to design and construct an altimeter and vertical speed indicator with appropriate functionality for application in aviation. (6) Magnetometer The measurement of the current flowing in a conductor is often required in situations where the insertion of an ammeter in the circuit would be undesirable for practical and/or safety reasons. The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a magnetometerbased instrument to measure the magnetic field produced by a current-carrying conductor and hence determine the current flowing in the conductor. (7) Laser Doppler Flowmeter The measurement of the flow rate of particulate suspensions in fluids is sometimes desirable in areas such as medical diagnostics and industrial process control. The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a laser-based system for the measurement of the velocity of a particulate suspension in a liquid. (8) Remote strain measurement

The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a wireless-based system for the remote measurement of mechanical strain. (9) The temperature of a MIG welder The aim of this project will be to design, construct and evaluate a system for the measurement of the temperature of a light source such as the arc in a MIG welder by evaluating the optical spectrum of the light emitted by the arc by projecting the spectrum onto a diode array.

Mr I Elliott
Ellison building, Room E201
These are my projects titles for this academic year. Most of the projects involve digital design and possibly some microcontroller programming in addition to analogue electronics. To be successful in these projects you will need to have an interest in, and basic understanding of, the Verilog hardware description language (preferably having achieved a high mark in the EN0565 exam).

1. Programmable High Quality Signal Generator using FPGA Technology. (Sine, Square, Exponential, Triangle, PWL etc., variable amplitude and frequency) 2. Digital Voice Effects unit using FPGA Technology (delay, echo, doubletracking and pitch shifting). 3. Automated Circuit Generator for Reed-Muller Architecture with Test-Pattern Generator. 4. Low Cost Voice Recognition System for Security Applications. (Small vocabulary, speaker dependent voice recognition using an FPGA) 5. Development of a Programmable Noise Source based on CPLD Technology. (Based on LFRS) 6. Single Chip Data Acquisition System for remote Measurement. (Instrumentation, ADC, Multiplexing, synchronous data transmission over FM radio, possible use of embedded microcontroller) 7. Digital IC Tester using USB/Serial cable, with Verilog-HDL test-fixture import feature. 8. Transient Signal Capture and Noise Reduction System using Programmable Logic Technology. (ADC, sampling, filtering, averaging, PC comms and display)

9. Vital Signs Medical Monitoring Unit using FPGA Technology. (Body Temperature, Heart Rate and Blood Pressure measurement, display and communication and alarm system)

10. Programmable Medication Dispensing mechatronics, real-time clock etc.)

System.

(Microcontroller,

11. Implementation of High Speed Digital Error Correction using CPLD Technology. (Investigation and demonstration of a variety of error correction (single and multiple bit) schemes for parallel and serial data with a view to quantifying the tradeoffs associated with each technique)

Dr B Livingstone
Ellison building, Room E404

Model Car Instrumentation and Telemetry System

Outline In F1 racing and other motor sports the vehicles are equipped with a range of sensors and telemetry relaying information back to the mechanics. This allows some remote adjustment of the vehicles conditions or analysis of the vehicle / driver performance and identify potential problems. This project attempts to replicate some of these instrumentation and telemetry systems. Typical sensors would be velocity / acceleration / temperature / battery life / stress information. Transmitted via radio. Deliverables
1 2 3 4 Vehicle speed / battery charge / stress measurement Microcontroller based data logging Radio transmission of data LABVIEW Display of information

Project requirements
1 2 3 4 5 Accelerometer / velocity sensor Strain gauges and interfacing Microcontroller Radio transmitter / receiver LABVIEW console diplay

Model Car test bed Creation of a vehicle test bed able to rotate a vehicle wheels and measure the tilt and acceleration under driving condition

Zigbee Wireless Network To create a wireless network capable of transferring data from a GPS across the network Zigbee Wireless Network - To create a wireless network capable of transferring data from a GPS across the network GPS Controlled / Radio Controlled Vehicle
Outline GPS systems provide information regarding location, direction, speed etc. In container ports the need for automated vehicles to move containers from one location to another location automatically based upon central control is vital for efficiency. The project is to design a vehicle which accepts GPS information from a GPS receiver and then is able to move to a new location which is specified by initially a keyboard entry but eventually by GSM modem / radio. Deliverables 1 Interfacing via microcontroller to GPS module 2 3 4 Display of GPS data on LCD display Keypad entry to microcontroller Motor control based upon keypad specified location

Project Requirements 1 GPS module 2 3 4 Electronic compass Motors Keypad and LCD

Dr Richard Binns
Ellison building, Room E102

BEng EE/CE related projects Free space optical data link Transmitter

This project aims to use low cost LEDs, or Laser diodes as a source of light to transfer data at 10mbps over short distances (10meters). The work will involve the design of the electronics to drive the LED overcoming issues around its capacitance. The original signal for this will be derived from 10BaseT Ethernet signals. Free space optical data link Receiver This project aims to detect data signals from an LED or Laser at 10mbps over short distances (10meters). The work will involve optical signal recovery, transimpedance amplifier design and then data needs to be reconstructed into the 10BaseT Ethernet format. Light Gates A microcontroller project is required based on the arduino platform to create a measurement system capable of determining the velocity and acceleration of a test vehicle. A key principle in this is timing of sets of light gates to be able to detect when a small vehicle (RC car in this example) crosses specific points. This device can then be used in the build and test of RC cars in other modules. Computer Control over Radio Controlled equipment This project aims to link a standard computer to an RC device (Radio controlled toy). The device should incorporate some feedback sensors to the computer for more accurate control over the motion of the unit and to provide some sensory system that the computer can use to find its location. Such a system should also be controllable over the internet via a web browser, potentially even a small mobile phone browser. Microcontroller data logger This project is to develop a simple embedded system (Arduino) that can be setup to automatically data log a number of sensor inputs. As this unit is a data logger the device needs to be linked to large data storage (USB flash disk or SD memory cards) and needs to have a Real Time Clock attached such that all samples are accurately time stamped. The data in the unit needs to be able to be uploaded to a PC for analysis in Mathcad, Matlab or Excel in a convenient format (CSV for example) Analysing Consumer Electronics This project links together two pieces of work in measuring voltage and current waveforms input to any consumer electronic device (for example a PC). The electronics designed for this have been outlined and need more refining to be able to detect small and large current ranges. The virtual instrument built in Labview also needs refining to provide clear time and frequency domain analysis of the voltage and current waveforms.

Network Power Monitor A system is to be built based on an arduino for monitoring household power. The unit should pick up the current taken from an appliance or from a main supply line to a house and calculate the instantaneous power used. This needs to be in the form of a data logger which can both keep track of energy usage or can provide graphs / exportable data to the end user based on their usa

IGBT Tester testing tool for an IGBT devices with or without gate load. Project is based on a sequence of current test pulses generated by a processor and measured the tested unit response. Project includes PCB and processor software to build

Dr Hoa Le-Minh
Ellison building, Room E405

1. Visible light communications using organic LED 2. Investigation of free space optical communications under sand storm condition 3. Monitoring circuit for controllable current source

Prof S. Foti
Ellison building, Room E410 sjfoti@googlemail.com

Quad-Band Mobile Phone Antenna

The project entails a review of published literature on mobile phone antenna designs leading to the selection of a design to be computer modelled, constructed and tested. Performance testing will include swept VSWR measurements using a Network Analyser and radiation pattern measurements in an anechoic chamber. Learning outcomes include: understanding of mobile phone networks, basic antenna theory and microwave antenna measurement techniques.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

The project will include: review of RFID technology, passive, semi-passive & active tag designs and applications. The student will select a specific design to be constructed and tested to meet the requirements of a particular application. Learning outcomes include: understanding of RFID technology, applications and performance test methods.

Microwave Diplexer
Microwave diplexers are employed in mobile phone networks in the base station to separate the uplink & downlink signals. A diplexer consists of transmit and receive filters interconnected by transmission lines. The diplexer is connected between the mobile phone mast antenna, the transmitter and the receiver. The project will entail: a review of microwave filter design, computer modelling, construction, integration to form a diplexer and performance testing using a Network Analyser. Learning outcomes include: basic understanding of mobile phone networks, microwave filter design, microwave network measurement procedures.

Multi-Beamforming Network for Antenna Arrays

An antenna array is an antenna system which consists of a number of radiating elements and a network which distributes/receives signals to/from the elements. It is possible to simultaneously produce multiple beams from one antenna array by using a multi-beamforming network. Such antenna systems may be used in radar, mobile phone networks and any system where it is useful to spatially process signals simultaneously in multiple directions. The project entails: the review of multibeamforming network designs, selection of a specific design approach, computer modelling, construction and testing using a Network Analyser. Learning outcomes include: basic antenna array theory, multi-beamforming networks and microwave network test methods.

Ultra Wideband (UWB) Antenna

Ultra wideband (UWB) is a short range communication technology wherein short fast pulses are used in areas of high multi-path reflections (indoor communications, for example) because the reflected pulses can be gated out. Since the pulses must exhibit fast rise and fall times to achieve high data rates, the frequency spectra of the pulses are very wideband. The project entails: review of UWB antenna design, selection of a design approach, computer modelling, construction and testing (VSWR and radiation patterns in an anechoic chamber). Learning outcomes include: understanding of UWB technology, UWB antenna design, RF antenna computer simulation and antenna test methods.

High Gain WiFi Antenna

Typical WiFi antennas exhibit low gain and hence, the range for high data rates is short. The so-called Pringles Can antenna claims to be a low cost design that can achieve high gain, but this is not true because of the internal metallisation inside the Pringles tube which suppresses the radiation except at the open end. An improved design method is to be determined which, in fact, can realise high gain. The project

entails: review of published WiFi antenna design, selection of a design approach, computer modelling, construction and testing. Learning outcomes include: basic antenna theory, WiFi antenna design, microwave antenna test methods (VSWR using a Network Analyser and radiation Pattern measurements in an anechoic chamber).

Dr Rob Miles
Ellison building, Room A003a This staff member is offering project contact them for further details.

Prof F Ghassemlooy
Ellison building, Room E408 This staff member is offering project contact them for further details.

Mr P Harrington
Ellison building, Room E201
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Multi level IGBT converter Simulation A Wind Farm Connection Feasibility studies to a Weak Distribution Network An Offshore Wind Connection Comparison Studies HVDC and AC A Fault-Ride-Through Dynamic Studies Real Cost of Offshore Wind Power

Dr M Jovanovic
Ellison building, Room E407 Areas: electric drives and applications; wind energy conversion systems

Interested students have been contacting me directly for specific project titles in the above areas
Motor Tension Simulator To test motor a series of variable loads have to be added. This project will be based on motor unit working as the Back-EMF generator connected with the testing unit. By changing resistance for the Back-EMF signal the testing unit will see a variable load. By measure Back-EMF signal the simulator can display information about the testing device. Project includes PCB, mechanical unit and software to build.

Dr K Busawon
Ellison building, Room E407 This staff member is offering projects contact them for further details.

Dr G. Putrus
Ellison building, Room E305b This staff member is offering projects contact them for further details.

Prof. N. Pearsall
Ellison building, Room E001a This staff member is offering projects contact them for further details.

Prof S. Danaher
Ellison building, Room E403 This staff member is offering projects contact them for further details.