SensNews Feb 2017

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Sensor100 February 2017 22
Technology
Imperial has started construction works for a pio-
neering research facility, the Michael Uren Biomedi-
cal Engineering Research Hub atWhite City
The launch of construction works
for the new facility was marked with
a groundbreaking ceremony at the
White City Campus on Monday 9
January. The event was attended by
Imperial alumnus Sir Michael Uren
OBE and trustees of his foundation,
whose £40 million gift has made the
construction of the new hub possible.
The donation is the largest ever made
to a London university by an alumnus, and one of the largest in the history of
any UK higher education institution.
“The Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub... will take our existing
success in biomedical engineering to a scale and a level that will bring real health
benefits to individuals and society.” Professor Jeff Magee, Dean of the Faculty of
Engineering.
8 January
Living sensors at your fingertips
Engineers and biologists at MIT have teamed up to
design a new “living material” — a tough, stretchy,
biocompatible sheet of hydrogel injected with
live cells that are genetically programmed to light
up in the presence of certain chemicals. Xuanhe
Zhao, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development
associate professor of mechanical engineering at
MIT, says the group’s living material design may be
adapted to sense other chemicals and contaminants, for uses ranging from crime
scene investigation and forensic science, to pollution monitoring and medical
diagnostics.
15 February