5 Oct 2017
Sairah Bashir was awarded a Rideal Travel Bursary in May 2017 to attend at ICG 2017: 19th International Conference on Glass, Prague, Czech Republic, 04 - 05 September 2017. Sairah is a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde. Here, she describes how her attendance has broadened her scientific interests and the opportunity to present her research to the glass science community and receive valuable feedback.
‘I would like to start by thanking the SCI-RSC Rideal Trust Committee for awarding a travel bursary which allowed me to present my research at the 19th International Conference on Glass (ICG) in Prague, Czech Republic.
‘My oral presentation was entitled ‘A simple chemical approach to regenerating strength of thermally recycled glass fibre’. Glass fibre is a widely-used reinforcement material for composites, and once these composites reach the end of their life cycle, they are commonly subjected to elevated temperatures in order to recycle the fibrous reinforcement. Due to the severe thermal conditions employed in this recycling procedure, the glass fibres become too weak for reprocessing. My research involves regenerating the strength of such fibres through surface treatments.
‘Attending the ICG gave me the opportunity to present my recent findings and receive feedback from experts in the field of glass. My investigation of the surface science of glass fibres and how chemical treatments can improve fibre strength through removing surface defects sparked interest, as this concept has only been significantly demonstrated in the literature with bulk glass. As well as presenting my work I attended several talks on both bulk and fibrous glass which I found useful. It also helped me consider other avenues I can take to progress in my PhD.
‘Overall, I found that attending this conference was a very helpful experience as it gave me the opportunity to present my research to the glass science community and receive valuable feedback and advice on how to go forward. In addition this conference allowed me to improve on my presentation skills which will come in useful for when I attend future conferences. I am also grateful to my supervisor Dr Liu Yang for his guidance throughout my studies, and I would like to thank again the SCI-RSC Rideal Trust Committee for their financial assistance towards my conference travel.’
Sairah Bashir
PhD Student
University of Strathclyde
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