Nb. 11 - September 24th, 2024 - The platforms are all ready for the new academic year!

It's becoming a habit: at each new season, there is a new platform newsletter with a lot of news!
 
This autumn sees the long-awaited launch of a new system for managing, inventorying and booking the platforms' equipment and consumables.
For managers, this tool will simplify administrative management. For users, it guarantees a more global and centralised view of available equipment.
 
As far as training is concerned, CISM will be offering new sessions dedicated to high-performance computing from October.  
 
In research and innovation, the CREDEM and LEMSC platforms are actively involved in an original study related to the installation of offshore wind turbines, while the SMCS is involved in the development of statistical methods for processing ‘omics’ data relating to women's health.
 
In terms of equipment and infrastructure, the greenhouses (SEFY platform) have replaced all their lighting and renovated their phytotrons, while a new building has been completed and is currently being fitted out to house the ANCA platform in early 2025.
 
In the area of expertise, we will be talking about eco-design, with the solutions proposed by the P2C platform for developing new recycling methods and new materials, implementing them and testing their performance with a view to the circular economy.
We will also be focusing on magnetic resonance, with a range of technologies gathered within the NEST platform. These non-invasive technologies enable real-time monitoring of changes in tissue metabolism.
 
Enjoy your reading and we wish you all the best for the new academic year!
 
The platforms community

Do not hesitate to talk about this initiative and to relay it around so that an ever-growing public is informed of what is happening within the UCLouvain platforms!

A new equipment management, inventory and booking system

Under the impetus of the Science and Technology Sector, this new tool was developed with the Outsystems application, in collaboration with the SGSI and with the support of the ICTEAM Institute. It was largely inspired by the experience of the WELCOME platform.
That's why, with over 150 users, almost 350 pieces of equipment and 1,500 consumables and accessories, the platform has accepted to define and test all the functionalities required to deploy this new management system.

Wallonia ELectronics & COmmunications MEasurements
• Service and expertise in electromagnetic characterisation of materials, devices, sensors, circuits, systems
• Access to characterisation infrastructure
• Equipment rental
Contact

Trainings

CISM: registration now open for 2024 training courses in high-performance computing!
The trainings cover the fundamentals of using Linux and the command line, through to more advanced topics such as parallel computing on GPUs and data management.
Sessions start in October, with a new feature this year being an introductory session to Make and CMake for developers.

Center for High Performance Computing and Mass Storage
• Scientific computing clusters and data storage
• Consultancy and training
Contact

Research and innovation

How can offshore wind turbines - whose blades can reach heights of 300 metres above sea level - be installed on monopiles, hollow metal cylinders driven into the seabed, measuring more than 10 metres in diameter and 40 metres tall, and weighing more than 1,000 tonnes?
The CREDEM and LEMSC platforms - in collaboration with the University of Delft - have focused on the vibro-piling technique, which applies a vibration at the head of the pile, allowing it to sink under its own weight into the seabed.
They have thus developed a high-frequency mini vibro-piling device under 50 times Earth's gravity to optimize vibro-piling parameters and enhance the reliability of this technology.

Prototyping platform Prototypes tailored to meet specific needs in a large variety of research areas: robotics, mechatronics, bioengineering, fluid mechanics, process engineering, thermodynamics, and energy

Mechanical testing, structures, and civil engineering laboratory
• Mechanical control tests on materials
• Special tests on railway equipment
• Design of special tests on the 200 m² test floor
Contact

SMCS and women's health
The platform is starting a collaboration with Professor Laura Symul, whose research aims to apply and develop statistical methods for omics data concerning women's health (vaginal microbiota, fertility, menstrual symptoms, etc.).

Statistical Methodology and Computing Service
Data analysis training courses and consultancy services

New equipment and infrastructure
With support of Wallonia and UCLouvain

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the SEFY platform is getting a facelift, with renovated phytotrons that simulate the natural curvature of the sun.
In addition, new lighting for the greenhouses, which is now white, will offer greater intensity and a wider range of wavelengths.

Plant Cultivation Facilities
Greenhouses and growth chambers for monitoring and management of crops under semi-controlled conditions (aeration, humidification, heating and lighting)
Contact

The new infrastructure that will house the ANCA platform gets off the ground
Work on the interior and exterior is continuing, with delivery scheduled for early 2025.
 

Animal facilities
 • Housing, breeding and experimentation on rodents and fishes
• Animal welfare expertise and advice for the different housed species (Animal Welfare Units)
• Expertise in the breeding of single or multiple transgenic lines
• Breeding of fish model
Contact

Expertise
Like their equipment, the platforms have cutting-edge expertise that we invite you to discover

Let's talk eco-design!
The P2C platform has the expertise and equipment needed to rethink the design of polymer-based materials with a view to their recycling in the context of a circular economy.
This ‘eco-design’ approach makes it possible to develop new recycling solutions and new materials (bio-sourced, composites made from resins that are easy to depolymerise, etc.), process them and then test their performance from a circular economy perspective.

Polymer Processing & Characterization
• Processing of polymers and composites: extrusion, 3D printing, RTM/SQRTM resin transfer moulding
• Characterization of polymers and composites: thermal analysis, rheological analysis, mechanical and thermomechanical analysis
Contact

Magnetic resonance ? For which applications?
The NEST platform provides advanced magnetic resonance technologies for real-time monitoring of changes in tissue metabolism, oxygenation, oxygen consumption, perfusion, cell death, reactive oxygen species, redox status and pH, in vitro and in vivo.
This non-invasive approach to assessing the tissue micro-environment considerably reduces the number of animals required for experimentation.

Nuclear and Electron Spin Technologies
• Cutting-edge magnetic resonance technologies
• Studies on biological samples and small animals
• Identification of convenient biomarkers for monitoring parameters involved in several pathologies

Welcome!
Nearly 300 people are working on a daily basis within the UCLouvain platforms. Discover those who have joined this community in the last 3 months!

The SMCS welcomed a new member to its team early this month: Laura Vermeren.
Laura holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master's degree in statistics from UCLouvain, and joins the platform as a statistics consultant.

Tribute

A special thought to Marc Sinnaeve, head of the LACAMI (Analysis, characterization, and processing laboratory) platform, who left us prematurely this summer.

In addition to his human qualities, we will remember his professional involvement and his commitment to promoting the work carried out by the platform teams.

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