Earlier this year Thomas Smith, a research student from the Department of Engineering, was named the L'Oréal-Royal Institution Science Graduate of the Year, for his efforts to develop a cheap and efficient pump with no moving parts.
"By heating and cooling fluids, causing them to expand and contract in carefully shaped tubes, he has shown that it is possible to pump water higher than previously thought possible without mechanical engines. He has designed and built a device that can pump water to the top of a two-story building, inflate balloons and irrigate crops. He plans to exploit the technology through a company called Critical Point Dynamics and plough the revenues back into research." wrote Roger Highfield, Science Editor, The Daily Telegraph 23/06/04.
