Simulating Spontaneous Shape Changes in Programmed Elastic Sheets

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Computing, data and communications infrastructure have transformed modern life. They all require software, security and trained personnel to work effectively and it has become common to use the term e-Infrastructure to refer to the whole of this interconnected ecosystem. E-Infrastructure has become a major contributor to advances in science and technology and it is clear that no industry will be able to compete internationally unless it exploits e-Infrastructure at highest level. The proposed EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Methods for Materials Science is focused on the development of new functionality in existing software, and even entirely new codes that will address challenges in materials that cannot presently be addressed. The UK is making large capital investments in e-Infrastructure but these investments will only achieve a fraction of their potential impact unless investments are also made in software development. The CDT will primarily focus on software development for materials science, which is itself, of course, extremely broad. However, the training provided in numerical methods, modern software development techniques and the exposure to present and emerging computational hardware means that the students will have the skilled set to work in any area of software after their PhDs. Given the universally acknowledge lack of highly trained personnel in software development one of our most important impacts will be in providing nearly 80 people who can apply this training in industry, including the very large number of UK software-based SMEs, or academia. The emphasis of the training and subsequent research project in the CDT is on development of innovative new methods for materials modelling and these will have impact in both academia and industry in further expanding the capability of materials simulation and the range of phenomena and processes that can be simulated and/or the amount of information that can be extracted from experiments. Thus we expect the CDT to have a significant impact across a very broad spectrum of disciplines.