The 2014 conference featured a Research Marketplace showcasing Imperial's capabilities and exploring key initiatives taking place within the sector. It was an opportunity to start conversations and build new connections. 

Nine spotlights were scheduled to take a closer look at work in lasers, space weather, magnetometers, next-generation satellites, planetary impact, antenna technology, handling intellectual property, and satellite data communications services. 

Please see the Research Marketplace listings below to find out more about the 40 spotlights, stands and exhibits. 

If you would like to get involved in the Research Marketplace in 2015, please contact us.

Marketplace Contributors

Next Generation Space Lasers for Future Earth Observation Missions (Spotlight)

Michael Damzen, Imperial College London  

We present the goals and results of our development of a high efficiency laser technology which addresses new wavelength region(s) and flexible wavelength tunability to address new science goals. Projected applications are monitoring of global vegetation canopy height and also as a more general atmospheric lidar for weather prediction, understanding atmospheric dynamics and climate change science.

Instrumentation for Space Physics and Industrial Partnerships (Spotlight)

Patrick Brown and Barry Whiteside, Imperial College London  

We specialise in magnetic field 'magnetometers' for solar-system and planetary research missions such as Cluster (ESA) and Cassini (NASA). Instruments for the Solar Orbiter and JUICE missions are in-design. Our hardware programme is driven by vigorous scientific exploitation of data returned by our instrumentation.

Understanding the Interactions Between Organic Compounds and Geological Materials Within Earth, the Solar System and Beyond (Spotlight)

James Lewis and Peter Gordon, Imperial College London  

In our research we look to answer key questions such as 1) How are organic molecules generated, transported and modified throughout the Universe? 2) In what forms are organic compounds preserved in the geological record? 3)What are the optimal methods for accessing these organic materials? 4)What do organic species reveal about the history of carbon in the Solar System and beyond?

The VenSAR Phased Array Radar for EnVision (Spotlight)

Richard Ghail, Imperial College London  

The 24 phase centre, dual polar, VenSAR is arranged in two rows on a 5.47 by 0.64 m plank aligned along the orbit track and is based on the NovaSAR-S radar payload developed by Airbus Defence & Space (Space Systems). Operating at 3.2 GHz (9.4 cm) significantly reduces atmospheric losses compared with the 5.4 GHz (5.6 cm) C-band radar used in Sentinel-1. The customised antenna permits a highly-flexible data collection strategy, including simultaneous stereoSAR stripmaps, pass-to-pass (frequency offset) interferometry, and high resolution dual polar modes. It is designed to provide 20 m resolution global stereo coverage, 20 m resolution differential interferometric data for one third of the surface, and <5m resolution dual polar images from up to 10% of the planet. The end of its 5-year mission will generate more than 120 TB of data from our closest exoEarth.

iSALE: A Multi-Material, Multi-Rheology Shock Physics Code for Simulating Planetary Impact Phenomena (Spotlight)

Gareth S. Collins and Thomas M. Davison, Imperial College London  

Co-developed at Imperial, iSALE is a powerful tool for studying hypervelcity impacts. Applications include planetary cratering, asteroid collisions, atmospheric airbursts and shock compaction of meteorites.

Space Weather Research at Imperial College London (Spotlight)

Jonathan Eastwood, Imperial College London  

Our research include: (a) development of instrumentation for in-situ monitoring, (b) blue-sky research into the physics that controls space weather phenomena; and (c) development of computer simulations that can model and predict properties of the Earth's magnetosphere with application to space weather forecasting.

Next Generation Ka-band Satellite Systems - Key R&D Steps Needed to Increase Satellite Capacity (Spotlight)

Kumar Singarajah, Avanti  

Avanti is a UK HQed satellite operator providing two high quality data communication broadband services via Ka-band Geostationary satellites across the EMEA region. A key activity is the design of the next generation of Ka-band satellites which deliver higher throughput capacity in MBits/sec. The short talk will focus on key 'R&D' enablers to delivering higher throughput capacity in MBits/sec and will focus on in particular on the need to develop, trial and use viable signal processing techniques in the ground segment of satellite systems to achieve this goal

Deimos-2: Heralding a New Generation of Low-Cost High-Resolution Imaging Satellites (Spotlight)

Philip Davies, Deimos Space UK Ltd  

In June 2014 the Deimos-2 satellite was launched. Deimos-2 represents the start of a new generation of small low-cost satellites capable of sub-metre resolution. The talk will cover the specification, design and production of the satellite and will include a look at some of the early images acquired in the days and weeks after the launch.

Technology Transfer (Spotlight)

Lamia Baker, Imperial Innovations  

This poster describes the commercialisation process of technologies coming from Imperial College, from invention disclosures to implementation in products. It also provides some case studies.

Climate Change and Space

Catherine Oriel and Richard Templer, Climate KIC  

Climate-KIC is Europe's largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate change, consisting of dynamic companies, the best academic institutions and the public sector.

Supporting Students and Businesses in Downstream Applications of the Satellite Programme

Stephen Fuller, GRACE  

GRACE is a business support, technology transfer and knowledge exchange unit within the Nottingham Geospatial Institute at The University of Nottingham. We specialise in satellite applications. The Institute has collaborated with Imperial College for many years.

The Highlands of Venus

Chris Cochrane, Imperial College London  

The Poisson-type hypsometry of Venus implies many independent events raise(d) highlands incrementally and their concentration into various forms make these interesting targets for an Interferometric SAR mission, for which key parameters are given.

Large Impact Crater Formation on the Moon and Earth

Gareth S. Collins, Katarina Miljkovic and Mark Wieczorek, Imperial College London  

Numerical simulations and new lunar gravity maps explain why giant nearside craters are larger than those on the farside and constrain early impact bombardment.

Meteorites, Cosmic Dust and Impact Rocks: Messengers from the Past

Matthew Genge, Imperial College London  

One of the key areas of study in planetary sciences undertaken by the Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre is the study of natural samples. Meteorites and cosmic dust are samples of asteroids and comets that fall on Earth and provide us with natural samples that record conditions in our solar system's protoplanetary disk. Impact rocks record the arrival of larger meteorites on Earth and have been transformed by high shock pressures. They record impact events on Earth and provide analogues to the surface materials of other terrestrial planets.

Space-based Technologies to Support Railway Operations

Sophie Damy, Imperial College London  

The development of a novel low cost and reliable positioning system able to support a large range of railway applications while ensuring safety through the monitoring of its performance.

Impact Processing of Planetesimals in the Early Solar System

Thomas Davison, Imperial College London  

Planetesimals were the first solid bodies that formed around our Sun. They were the building blocks of planets; those that remain in the Solar System today are known as asteroids. We can use numerical models to quantify the collateral effects of hypervelocity collisions between planetesimals on their thermal and compaction histories.

Cassini-Huygens Science

Adam Masters, Imperial College London  

The poster will highlight some of the exciting science discoveries that have been made based on the data returned from Saturn and Titan by the pioneering Cassini-Huygens mission.

J-MAG Consortium: Magnetometer Science on the JUICE Mission

Patrick Brown, Leah-Nani Alconcel and Michele Dougherty, Imperial College London  

The magnetometer consortium (J MAG) has unrivalled experience in designing, building, operating and exploiting space magnetometer data over several decades. Science outcome from the J MAG team will lead to an understanding of the formation of the Galilean satellites, a characterization of their oceans and interiors, and will provide deep insight into the behaviour of rapidly rotating magnetized bodies and how they accelerate particles.

Array Signal Processing for Space Applications

Vidhya Sridhar, Imperial College London  

The focus of this research is to explore avenues in which space sensors, working together as large flexible array systems, may contribute and enhance space technology, earth observation, remote sensing and telecommunication. One of the main challenges this research plans to address is related to sensor formation control and building a flexible array system incorporating geometrical and electrical sensor uncertainties due to external disturbances.

Spectral Signatures of Climate Variability and Change Diagnosed from IASI and IRIS Satellite Observations

Helen Brindley, Richard Bantges, Jacqueline Russell, Jonathan Murray, Christopher Dancel, Claudio Belotti and John Harries, Imperial College London  

Spectral measurements of Earth's outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) offer the potential to monitor our climate, detecting and attributing change. Here we diagnose the natural variability seen in OLR, assess whether existing satellite records are sufficiently accurate to unambiguously detect real climate shifts, and discuss what this implies for future instrument design.

Data Science Institute

David Johnson, Imperial College London  

The Data Science Institute at Imperial conducts research on the foundations of data science and supports data-driven research at Imperial and beyond.

Monitoring Clouds and Aerosol and their Effect on the Earth's Radiation Balance from Space

Sian Williams, Jamie Banks, James Ingram and Helen Brindley, Imperial College London  

We use high temporal resolution satellite observations to monitor clouds, atmospheric moisture and aerosols, and to study their effects on the Earth Radiation Budget. Furthermore, we estimate how much dust aerosol heats or cools our climate by combining information on dust loading with synergistic observations from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument, for which Imperial provides the scientific lead.

Using Satellite Data to Manage Extreme Weather Risk in Current and Future Climate Scenarios: An Application to the Rural Sector in Mozambique

Enrico Biffis, Erik Chavez and Wouter Buytaert, Imperial College London  

Due to its spatial coverage, satellite data is key to modelling weather risk across the world. Several industry sectors, such as food and energy production, require novel weather risk management strategies to deal with rising climate risk. We integrate satellite data and climate modelling to deliver new commercially viable instruments to manage rising climate risk while pursuing long term adaptation objectives.

Recycled Composites for Damage Tolerant Applications

Soraia Pimenta, Imperial College London  

The use of carbon-fibres has been growing exponentially, prompting the development of sustainable recycling routes for the CFRP waste generated. This works shows that recycled composites are suitable for semi-structural applications.

Ceramics in Space at the Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics (CASC)

Luc Vandeperre, Imperial College London  

Ceramics enable scientific space missions due to excellent specific stiffness and low thermal expansion. CASC has the expertise to develop ceramics for your project.

Small-Satellite Deployables

Matthew Santer, Imperial College London  

Miniaturization and the addition of multifunctionality enable the design of precision deployable structures and actuators for small-satellite use.

The Blue Green Dream: Achieving Climate Change Resilience for Future Cities

Cedo Maksimovic and Karl M Smith, Imperial College London  

A new, eco-innovative paradigm for achieving climate change resilience and delivering multiple benefits to future cities via nature based, Blue Green Solutions.

Modelling Slosh Dynamics Using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH)

Joaquim Peiro and Mashy Hazan, Imperial College London  

Prediction of propellant slosh motions in orbit is important for the success of space missions. A SPH method that can handle large displacements, including breaking, is used to simulate slosh dynamics.

Aerial Robotics for Planetary Exploration

Mirko Kovac, Imperial College London  

We present an overview of the Aerial Robotics research program at Imperial and describe prototypes that focus on autonomous construction and soil/water sampling applications.

Space Plasma Physics Research at Imperial College London

Christopher Chen, Simon Good, Heli Hietala, Timothy Horbury, Lorenzo Matteini, Imperial College London  

We present a summary of research carried out at Imperial in space plasma physics and space weather, including involvement in the upcoming Solar Orbiter mission.

Rosetta plasma science at Imperial College London: Comet 67P under scrutiny

Susarla Raghuram, Lorenzo Matteini, Marina Galand, Steve Schwartz, Chris Carr, Emanuele Cupido and Anthony Allen, Imperial College London  

We will highlight our scientific involvement in the ESA/Rosetta mission, which are closely linked to plasma and field measurements in the environment of comet 67P

Fast Hot Stamping Process: A Novel Lightweight Forming Technology for Manufacturing High Strength, Complex-shaped Components

Liliang Wang, Imperial College London  

A novel hot stamping process for high geometry complexity and post-form strength components made from ultra-high strength aluminium alloys has been developed for the aerospace industry. The forming process takes less than 5s.

3D Printing with Flying Robots

Pisak Chermprayong, Imperial College London  

We present the design of an aerial 3D printer capable of depositing polyurethane foam in mid flight. Potential applications include adhoc construction of first response structures as well as the bridging of discontinuous terrain.

Space Experts at Your Service

Jane Cryer, Imperial Consultants  

Find out how external organisations with an interest in Space can solve scientific and technical problems by tapping into Imperial's cutting-edge knowledge and expertise through consultancy.

Open Source Mass Customisable Generic Spacecraft for Interplanetary Space Exploration

Michael Johnson, JA  

Space exploration has typically relied on large expensive one off custom built spacecraft. This poster will describe how mass produced, mass customised generic Interplanetary CubeSats and Thin-Film Spacecraft/Lander/Rovers (TF-SLR) are dramatically changing the economics of space exploration and space science.

In-orbit Manufacture of Very Large Space Structures

Andrew Bowyer, Magna Parva  

Deployment of extremely large, repeatable, composite structures through in-orbit pultrusion manufacturing technology. Structures can be designed for Space only (geometrically and structurally) reducing AIT and launch environment requirements.

Quantum LUCA hypothesis

Michael Popov, Prime States Quantum Lab Ltd  

Using the new Q-LUCA hypothesis to provide more exact predictions on first lifeforms on different planets and investigate Life emergence as a "quantum game" and "quantum revolution" in newly discovered Schrodinger-Ivanitskii's context (2010).

Bespoke PCB Solutions for Space Missions

Nick Potts, Printech Circuit Laboratories Ltd  

Display of bespoke PCB solutions