Instrumentation for hostile environments - 12 March 2008

STFC/SiKTN Knowledge Exchange
1 Great George Street, London
12 March 2008

This event, run in conjunction with the Sensors and Instrumentation Knowledge Transfer Network (SiKTN), was to examine the user requirements for the technology state of Instruments and Sensors in remote, harsh and dangerous environments. The objective of the workshop was to identify the barriers to deployment of commercial instrumentation, the innovation in sensing technologies and the ruggedisation requirements of the instruments in order to identify potential methods and opportunities for using commercially available instruments to meet the challenging operating specifications of hostile environments. The environments discussed in the presentation ranged from Antarctica to Space; nuclear power to gas turbines; lighthouses, automotive engines and biohazards. Rutherford Appleton facilities and capabilities were also represented through Isotron and CLIK (Central Laboratory Innovation & Knowledge Transfer)

71 attendees from a mixture of industry, academia and government organisations attended and there were a number of stimulating presentations on the subjects of instruments for: ultra high temperatures; the challenges of measurements in gas turbine engines, radiation effects, the extreme environments of Antartica, Life Marker Chips, Silicon Carbide semiconductors and experiences of using COTS (common-off-the-shelf) technology in Space.

The workshop offered an opportunity for industrialists, academics and users engaged in the hostile environments sector to network, compare needs and capabilities and explore possibilities for collaboration. It also promoted attendee participation on a SiKTN action group and contribution to an outline report on the deployment of COTS Sensors in Instrumentation in Hostile Environments.  This was a highly interactive event and raised some interesting challenges from “snow static” effects to how to deal with issues in an instrument 152 million miles from Earth! A challenging thought was that Sensor development in this area could possibly be identified as “1% inspiration and 99% packaging”.

Programme