The invention of heat engines has played a key role in human evolution and this is the starting point for our discussion about thermodynamics with our guests, Prof. Massimiliano Esposito (University of Luxembourg) and Dr. Emanuele Penocchio (Northwestern University). Emanuele is currently working in the intersection between chemistry and physics - studying chemical motors - which we also discuss in this episode. Obviously, two guests also mean two pub quiz questions!

SHOW NOTES

Massimiliano Esposito on Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UTezPWgAAAAJ&hl=en
Emanuele Penocchio on Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=w0buCtcAAAAJ&hl=it
Rolf Tarrach Prize - https://www.uni.lu/en/news/rolf-tarrach-prize-2023-for-physicist-dr-emanuele-penocchio/
Video about Emanuele's PhD - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU0820ENNuo
University of Luxembourg - https://www.uni.lu/en/
Northwestern University - https://www.northwestern.edu/

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If you want estimate the expected impact of a policy intervention, for example a modification of a tax rate, you can use microsimulations. Microsimulations can inform decision makers on the possible effects of their policies on individual households and support them in evidence-based decision making.

Get to know more about them from our guest, an expert in microsimulations, Dr. Denisa M. Sologon (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)).

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This episode felt a little like going back to school as Dr. Archibold Mposhi from LIH was nice enough to first explain very basic genetics and only then moved to his specialisation, epigenetics - the study of the influence of environment and behaviours on genes. So much going on in the field that we did not know about!

SHOW NOTES

About Archibold's research: https://researchportal.lih.lu/en/persons/archibold-mposhi
LIH Website: https://www.lih.lu/en/
Video about Archibold's mentor, Jonathan Turner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqT2BOB7jOI

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Sustainability seems to be discussed in all areas of our lives nowadays. But what does it actually mean for a materials engineer? And most importantly, how can we convince the consumers to buy sustainable materials not only because they are better for the environment, but because these materials are simply pleasing to the eye and nice to touch?

In this episode we had a chance to talk to Dr. Tim Huber (LIST) about his multi-disciplinary approach to designing sustainable materials. Tim, who also has extensive experience of teaching design students, is currently trying to convince more people about the necessary dialogue between material engineers and designers. He definitely got us hooked. And you?

USEFUL LINKS

Tim Huber on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=i97I4r4AAAAJ&hl=en
LIST: https://www.list.lu/

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After a couple of weeks of discussion we finally had the pleasure to talk to the head of the amazing space labs at SnT (University of Luxembourg) and one of the postdocs who is a member of the space robotics group (SpaceR). Prof. Miguel Olivares Mendez and Dr. Carol Martinez told us what a robot really is, what it means when it has some intelligence and how it is to create labs which emulate space conditions. We also touched about the increasingly important issue of space debris and talked about an upcoming conference iSpaRo24.

USEFUL LINKS

SnT - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/
SpaceR - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/research-groups/SpaceR/
Carol Martinez's Website - https://carolmartinez.github.io/
iSpaRo24 - https://www.isparo.space/

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It is not the first episode in which we learn how interconnected everything is. Health economics is all about trying to see the big picture and taking the right cost-effective decisions. Prof. Marc Suhrcke from Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) took the time to explain what his field is about and also presented the various projects he is involved in, spanning from universal health coverage to disability assistance.

USEFUL LINKS

About Prof. Marc Suhrcke - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/marc-suhrcke
Project "Financing UHC in challenging times: leaving no-one behind": https://hfacts.net/
Personal Assistance - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/projects/assistance-personnelle

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What if we just used the soil that is on your plot instead of bringing the building materials from somewhere else? Doable? Angelika Bocian-Jaworska, the founder of Äerd Lab, convinced us that this is going to happen. Right now Angelika focuses on developing the right sustainable materials, but the future is hers - she wants to 3D print your next house.

USEFUL LINKS

Äerd Lab - https://aerdlab.com/
Institute for Advanced Architecture (Barcelona, Spain) - https://iaac.net/
Circular by Design Challenge - https://www.luxinnovation.lu/cbdc/
Fit4Start Programme - https://www.startupluxembourg.com/fit-4-start

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They fly above our head in the thousands yet we tend to forget about them - the satellites! In this episode we had a chance to learn a lot about them, how to communicate with them, where they are, but we also went beyond to quantum communications. All thanks to our amazing guest, Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas from SnT (University of Luxembourg).

USEFUL LINKS

About Symeon: https://ism.uni.lu/person/prof-dr-symeon-chatzinotas/
Symeon about the SIGCOM Group at SnT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG7tib0BE9E

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Ever wondered how housing policies and markets add to inequalities within and across countries? And how does it work in Luxembourg?

In the PROPEL project, Prof. Lindsay Flynn looks at the forces shaping patterns of inequality within and between generations in affluent democracies. In this episode we look both at the housing situation of younger generations, changes in housing policies as well as try to give some solutions.

The PROPEL project is supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR-ATTRACT project 14345912).

USEFUL LINKS:

PROPEL website: https://propel.uni.lu 

Institute of Political Science at the University of Luxembourg:  https://www.uni.lu/fhse-en/research-groups/institute-of-political-science/

About Lindsay: https://www.uni.lu/en/person/NTAwMzMzNjBfX0xpbmRzYXkgRkxZTk4=/ 

The article about wealth concentration since the Global Financial Crisis is: Post-crisis developments in young adults’ housing wealth: https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287211040443

The article about financial strategies and housing wealth in the United States: Acquisition capital: using a new concept to explore housing outcomes among millennials in the United States: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2023.2241841 

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Would you think about building a bridge or constructing a house before actually making a plan? Probably not. Yet for software we have a tendency of not starting with the bigger picture. We often forget that for complex programmes we need proper software engineering. And this is exactly the domain in which our guest, prof. Jordi Cabot from LIST and University of Luxembourg, specialises in.

We also had a chance to ask Jordi for explanations of quite a few buzzwords so this episode is definitely worth a listen!

USEFUL LINKS

Jordi’s Website - https://jordicabot.com/

Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology - https://www.list.lu/

Modelling Languages Portal - https://modeling-languages.com/

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