Launch of new transatlantic research link

Oct 15 2007

Scientists in London will be able to use and manipulate, in real-time, leading multi-million dollar scientific instruments and technology in the USA, following the official launch of the Global Lab at Imperial College London.

The launch was attended by Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Sir Keith O'Nions, Director General of Science and Innovation, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), and Dr Thom Mason, Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA.

The Global Lab has been established as part of the AtlanTICC Alliance, a sustainable energy research consortium comprising Imperial College London, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta USA, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA. The AtlanTICC Alliance was established four years ago as part of a £1.5m grant to support research collaborations between Imperial and leading US research organisations on energy sources and the treatment of cancer. This grant was made by the UK Government's Office of Science and Innovation, which is now part of DIUS.

The AtlanTICC Alliance has also recently established a unique UK-USA framework agreement between the three partner organisations to facilitate open and collaborative working with joint research and development teams.

The Global Lab links together laboratories in the UK and the US via a high bandwidth/low latency network, the Lambda Rail, running across the Atlantic seabed. Its low latency and high bandwidth means that the Lambda Rail can move vast amounts of data virtually instantaneously across thousands of miles. AtlanTICC scientists have already shown that they can simultaneously manipulate complex equipment in the US, and talk to each other on the Lambda Rail via video link-up, without the time-delay and low resolution usually associated with such long-range communications. All three institutions involved are now exploring how to use this data rich, high speed communications tool to share ideas and research through international seminars and lectures.

As an example of the Global Lab in action, the Minister controlled and manipulated, from London, one of the world's leading electron microscopes at Oak Ridge, the JEOL 2200FS Aberration Corrected Electron Microscope (ACEM). In this extremely powerful microscope, electrons are focussed into a probe that is less than 0.1nm in diameter, which is less than the length of a typical chemical bond. By scanning this probe across a sample, it is possible to analyse individual atoms.

There are only a small number of such machines worldwide that provide scientists with true atomic-scale resolution. Imperial researchers will now be able to access this technology to carry out important research into alternatives to fossil fuels - such as the next generation of low-cost solar power cells, advanced fuel cells and innovative biofuels - in collaboration with their colleagues in America.

The AtlanTICC Alliance event at Imperial's South Kensington campus in central London began with a video conference outlining the AtlanTICC Alliance's aims and research goals, including live input from all three institutions. The Minister then saw the Global Lab in action, and was able to use the equipment at Imperial to image the atomic-structure of an exciting new type of superlattice structure for use in fuel cell devices using the ACEM at Oak Ridge.

Imperial's Dr Tariq Ali, Director of the AtlanTICC Alliance, said: "The Global Lab link will be an invaluable tool for scientists from all three institutions involved in the Alliance. Remote use of state-of-the art apparatus such as the ACEM will mean that our scientists can share ideas, experiments and data towards developing new 'green' fuels and energy alternatives without the need for costly and environmentally-damaging long haul international flights."

Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, said: "This project demonstrates the importance of international collaboration in modern scientific research. Major scientific projects will frequently require researchers from different nations to work together. The UK already has a very good record on collaboration with researchers in other countries and I am pleased that the DIUS has been able to support this project through our £6m UK-US Science Bridges initiative."

Thom Mason, Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory said: "We are pleased to join our partners, Imperial College London and Georgia Institute of Technology, in today's demonstration and in the long-term pursuit of answers to global energy problems. Technology allows us to share resources and communicate science with collaborators, whether they are a few miles down the road or across an ocean. We believe that this kind of joint research brings together the strengths of our institutions in ways that will benefit us all."

Charles Liotta, Regents Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, added: "The AtlanTICC Alliance is a unique partnership between a leading research university in the United States, the leading technical university in the United Kingdom, and the largest energy lab in the United States to collaborate on global energy issues and solve energy challenges."