Science minister attends launch of new transatlantic research link

Official launch of the Global Lab at Imperial College London

(The Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Ian Pearson (seated) manipulates an electron microscope in Oakridge, Tennessee)

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 today. 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 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. The Rail enables the seamless transfer of vast amounts of data and high speed communications tools and will allow scientists to simultaneously manipulate complex equipment in the US.

All three institutions involved are now exploring how to use this data rich, high speed communications tool to share ideas and research through collaborative projects and international seminars and lectures.   

As an example of the Global Lab in action, th e 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 0.0.1nm 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 tech nology 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.

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 environme ntally-damaging long haul international flights.”