Researcher from UOSE coordinates team of students in ESA experiment
Carla Carmelo Rosa, researcher at INESC Porto’s Optoelectronics and Electronic Systems Unit (UOSE) and professor at the Faculty of Science of the University of Porto (FCUP), was the supervisor of a project developed by a team of students from FCUP’s Physics Department. The team, called “Physics Addicted”, was invited to launch an experiment in microgravity, in the context of the call for the programme “Fly your thesis” of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Set up by Ricardo Zambujal, Ricardo André (INESC Porto BII Grant Holder), Marta Matos and Jorge Leitão, this team launched two capsules transporting the experiment, on 16 and 17 November, at ZARM Fab’s microgravity tower, External Laboratory of ESA, in Bremen, Germany.
The aim of the project was to test the behaviour of Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals - PDLC. During the ten second launch, the PDLC were polymerised in a controlled way, inside the capsule, in the absence of gravity since, in this condition, the liquid crystal drops in the polymer matrix become spherical and larger, thus improving the properties of the PDLC. These materials can be used in intelligent buildings, with the glasses turning transparent or opaque upon the application of an electric current.
Other than ESA, the experiment was also supported by the Institute of Physics of Materials of the University of Porto (IFIMUP) and INESC Porto.
For more information on the project, go to:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFTEOC02G_Portugal_0.html
http://faraday.fc.up.pt/fis/Members/fmartins/noticias/ESA2009
