Improvements in global quality of life, including more personalised healthcare and harnessing more sustainable energy resources, rely on continued innovative development of mechatronic systems (the fusion of mechanical, electrical, electronic and control engineering elements) to enhance or expand automation of physical interaction with our environment, and more perceptive and comprehensive sensing, processing and actuation to implement such devices.
This exciting interdisciplinary research at Southampton covers many key engineering challenges across a wide range of application fields, for example: the development of sensing techniques and algorithms to produce an ‘electronic tongue' for monitoring the quality of drinking water; the detection of objects buried at shallow depth using seismic wave reflection; vibration suppression and associated energy harvesting from smart structures; ultrasonic microfluidic particle manipulation for enhanced drug delivery and preparation; the use of acoustic emissions to quantify undersea gas leaks in carbon capture and storage facilities; enhanced energy management of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; the integrated sensing, control and operation of wind turbines.
Our research and teaching activities in this field are underpinned by active collaborations between a range of engineering, science and medical disciplines, and funded and supported across a complementary range of fundamental, strategic and applied partners, including Research Councils, EU and industry. Our world-leading interdisciplinary research involves contributions in theoretical development of algorithms and associated simulation, material and device development, advances in sensing and control techniques and the associated implementation, testing and validation of this work. The practical utility of our research output continues to motivate our team for further developments, in addition to evidencing the quality of our researcher training and capability.
Electro-Mechanical Engineering
Energy Technology Research Group
If you are interested in joining us either to study or to become part of our research team please select the relevant link below for further information.