This edition of THINK highlights the innumerable flickers tended by an army of researchers at the University of Malta (UM), all of them feeding into the almighty blaze of innovation.
Prof. Ing Luciano Mule’ Stagno has breathed new life into a dilapidated lab in Marsaxlokk and turned it into the recently-inaugurated state-of-the-art Solar Research Lab. His mission is to perfect silicon in solar cells for use in increasingly efficient solar panels that could have a substantial impact on the worldwide sustainable energy market.
When talking of efficiency in sustainable energy, the FLASC project spearheaded by Dr Ing. Daniel Buhagiar and his colleagues must be discussed. Currently, energy garnered from renewable resources needs to be used immediately or it will be wasted—it has to be stored. Using principles tied to compressed air energy storage, the group might be on the verge to unlock the secret to a problem that has plagued renewables.
Taking things a step further, Dr Nicholas Sammut and his team are part of the team building the Tokamak, the machine at the centre of the €17 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in Switzerland. Should they be successful in igniting a miniature sun through nuclear fusion and harness the energy output, they will be able to produce reliable electricity with virtually zero pollution. The answer to all our energy prayers.
Prof. Simone Borg outlines the fiery battle that rages on between science and the legal world and why it even exists. While advances have been made to combat climate change through action, every win seems to take more effort than it should, and it all lies in the differing goals lawmakers and scientists have.
Other research coming out of the UM is as varied as ever. At the Institute of Digital Games, researchers are focusing on balance in video games. The issue also looks into ALS treatment development in Malta and a local company whose mission it is to impart coding skills and critical thinking to our children.
On top of all this, THINK Issue 22 also contains articles on new technology that could help dementia sufferers, an app that could make lawyers’ research work more efficient and art therapy.
THINK, the University of Malta’s research magazine, can be picked up for free at the Msida Campus or with the MaltaToday newspaper in newsagents around Malta and Gozo. It is also available online at www.um.edu.mt/think, on Issuu www.issuu.com/thinkuni or liked on Facebook.