AUTUMN 2013 • ISSUE 7
I D E A S
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M A LTA
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R E S E A RC H
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P E O P L E
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U N I V E R S I TY
POLLUTION SUPERHIGHWAY
How does it affect us?
DIGITAL
EDITION
Think ahead
Our vision statement:
Be the recognized software leader for small to mid-sized businesses.
For more information visit: www.gfisoftware.com
CONTENTS
ISSUE
14
O
26
EDITOR
edward.duca@um.edu.mt
@DwardD
Shipping’s Black Cloud
FEATURE
Kelma Kelma
Playing with the Maltese
language, on Facebook
36
FEATURE
Cyber Sexuality
Can couples really connect over the
Internet?
46
Edward Duca
COVER STORY
One third of the world’s ships pass
by the Maltese Islands. How do
they affect its citizens’ health?
Language comes first
ne third of the world’s shipping traffic passes by
Malta. A few ships churn out enough pollution to rival our power stations. The predominant wind direction means that this pollution regularly passes over
Malta. In this issue we investigated how big a health and environmental problem it could be for the Islands’ citizens.
Creativity is central to this issue. The M3P project is trying
to save Malta’s music for the next generation. The designer
and I popped down to listen to some great local music, Għana
Maltija, to capture the heart of the article.
By collaborating with Giuliana Fenech, we’ve got two great
articles. One on cybersexuality: can the internet really connect
two human beings? Two, a feature on the game: The Artist is
Present.
Facebook has even reached local researchers. Kelma Kelma
is Malta’s leading educational page with more than 5% of the
population hooked on Dr Michael Spagnol’s Maltese word
games. We explore the story behind the word.
Malta seems to have a dualistic society. A recent EU-wide
survey suggests that Maltese people largely think that science
is changing the world too quickly and conflicts with religion. On
the other hand, locals seem more satisfied than other Europeans that government is promoting science.
I hope that initiatives like NSTF, Malta Café Scientifique,
Science in the City, and this magazine have helped change perspectives. And while this is good news, research in Malta needs
a lot more government and industrial support. Funds need to
be funnelled directly into University, on the scale of millions. We
also need simple solutions to encourage research-based startup companies and R&D departments to setup in Malta.
AUTUMN
7 2013
FEATURE
An Intelligent Pill
Pop a pill, scan your body, identify
that disease
CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTORS
Alexandra Fiott
Dr Pierre Schembri
Wismayer
ISSUE
11
Prof. Raymond Ellul
Ing. Francelle
Azzopardi
Alexander Smyth
Martin Saliba
Miriam Azzopardi
Dr Gianluca Valentino
Dr Ing. Nicholas
Sammut
Dr Ralph Assmann
Dr Michael Spagnol
Cassi Camilleri
Graziella Vella
Giuliana Barbaro-Sant
Maryann Borg Cunen
Dr Toni Sant
Ing. Carl Azzopardi
Prof. Ing. Kenneth
Camilleri
Dr Yulia Hicks
21
Dr André Xuereb
Costantino Oliva
Noel Tanti
It’s All In The Family
FEATURE
Protecting The World’s
Largest Experiment
How do you keep the Large
Hadron Collidor from destroying
itself ? At the touch of a button
CULTURE
Experiencing Stories
V.18 comes to campus and a
follow up of Story Works
51
Dr Kenneth Scerri
OPINION
Alexandra Fiott talks about the
importance of family trees to
protect family members
31
Marc Buhagiar
AUTUMN
7 2013
ALUMNI
Alumni Talk
What can you do after an
undergraduate degree at the
University of Malta?
Mario Cachia
Are you a student, staff, or researcher at the University of Malta? Would you like
to contribute to THINK magazine? If interested, please get in touch to discuss
your article on think@um.edu.mt or call +356 2340 3451
58
CULTURE GENES
Meme
CONTENTS
COVER
STUDENTS
6
Students' thinking
Large ships like oil tankers and
freighters allow our world to
function. They also spew 4 to
5% of the World’s carbon dioxide
emissions and a pollution cocktail.
Local researchers are finding out
how this problem affects the
Maltese Islands. Look through our
pages to find out more.
Illustration by Jean Claude Vancell.
About: Malta’s environment, making
choices, augmented reality, nanomolecules,
and preventing heart attacks
OPINION
To Bank or not to?
12
Dr Pierre Schembri Wismayer shares
his thoughts on stem cell banking for
your children
THINK
I D E A S
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M A LTA
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R E S E A RC H
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P E O P L E
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U N I V E R S I TY
AUTUMN 2013 - ISSUE 7
EDITORIAL
Edward Duca EDITOR
Indie Games
32
What do life, art, frustration, and
video games have in common?
DESIGN
Jean Claude Vancell
THINK is a quarterly research magazine published by the Communications & Alumni Relations Office at the University of Malta.
FEATURE
COPY-EDITING
Daphne Pia Deguara, Patricia Ellul-Micallef
PRINTING
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ISSN 2306-0735
Copyright © University of Malta, 2013
The right of the University of Malta to be identified as Publisher of this
work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Act, 2001.
FEATURE
Saving Malta’s
Music Memory
40
University of Malta, Msida, Malta
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FUN
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Time to Buy a Smart Watch?
This month's tech review. Plus a
100 word idea, book, game and
film review, and Fact or Fiction
RESEARCH
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FIND US ONLINE
www.facebook.com/ThinkUoM
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For a Bright Future
From L-Istrina to research
competitions at the Research Trust
www.twitter.com/thinkuom
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5
Student
students’
THINKing
When studying our shores, helping engineers make the right choices, merging reality with
the digital world, and studying new materials
Can jetties replace rocky shores?
THE MARINE environment
needs to be conserved because all enjoy
it in summer for leisure and fishermen
depend on it for their livelihood. Our
rocky shores also hold a unique ecology
and it must be studied as a whole to understand how a seemingly insignificant
crab or limpet can affect other species
we might consider more important.
Our natural environment can be
likened to a puzzle having thousands
of pieces. If one piece is removed or
changed, it will result in a different or
incomplete picture. Jetties are artificial
structures, in an otherwise natural matrix of rocky shore habitat, which add a
new piece to the puzzle. They are built
at right angles to the shore and are much
smoother than natural rock. These differences are expected to change the environment and species living there. Leanne Bonnici (supervised by Dr Joseph
A. Borg and Prof. Patrick J. Schembri)
studied these jetties to understand how
they would affect the big picture.
Bonnici studied three sites on the
northeastern coast of the Maltese Is-
6
lands (Little Armier, White Tower Bay
and Għajn Żejtuna). The organisms
on jetties in these areas were sampled
from the mediolittoral zone — that
part of the shore that is regularly submerged and exposed to the air. Sampling showed that the most abundant
algae were low-growing green algae (Cladophoropsis sp.), and a red alga (Jania
rubens). The algae serve as a source of
food and shelter to other species.
The most common animals were
crustaceans, molluscs, and polychaetes.
Polychaetes are worms that possess lots
of hair-like structures (chaetae). The
most common polychaetes were small
voracious predators a few millimetres
in length. The diverse crustaceans included small cone shaped barnacles
(Chthamalus spp.), which spend most
of their life attached to rocks. Other
abundant crustaceans included minute
shrimp-like swimming animals known
as amphipods (Hyale sp. and Ampithoe
sp.) that are typically found amidst algae. The molluscs recorded included
different species of limpets Patella spp.,
as well as the chiton Acanthochitona sp.;
all of these are usually found attached to
the substratum, although they do move
to graze on algae.
Bonnici found that jetties share some
species with rocky shores; however, jetties always had a lower diversity and fewer numbers of individuals living on them.
Therefore one can conclude that jetties
cannot replace natural rocky shores.
Keeping to the puzzle analogy, if we
know how modifying a ‘piece’ of the
environment changes the other pieces,
it will help maintain the whole picture.
This study will help better manage how
jetties affect organisms and make the
most out of these artificial structures.
•
This research is part of an M.Sc. in Biology at the Faculty of Science. It was partly funded by the Strategic Educational
Pathways Scholarship (Malta), which is
part-financed by the European Union –
European Social Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, “Empowering People for
More Jobs and a Better Quality Of Life”.
THINK Student
Choices, Choices, Choices…
TAKING THE RIGHT decision
can be a very challenging and daunting
process. Designing a mobile phone, a
makeup case, or even a pipe needs engineering teams to continuously make
important choices quickly. Lawrence
Farrugia (supervised by Prof. Jonathan
C. Borg) developed a framework that
helps engineers evaluate concepts and
take these decisions practically.
In a typical design process, the design
team generates a number of different
concepts that fulfil what is needed from
the product. These design concepts are
then evaluated against conflicting evaluation criteria. Criteria are chosen from
the life cycle of the product and can
include cost, quality, ease of use, and
recyclability (pictured). Evaluation determines the concept chosen for further
development.
Although there are design tools that
are intended to support engineering
design teams in decision making, the
reality check is that these tools are
rarely used. Such tools are typically too
impractical to employ in the real world.
Due to the ever increasing complexity
of products and the importance of early decision making, this research recognised the need to provide engineering design teams with a practical yet
reliable support system.
Farrugia’s research was carried out at
the Concurrent Engineering Research
Unit (CERU) within the Faculty of
Engineering. The framework he developed aids design teams to analyse and
rank multiple design concepts against
several conflicting evaluation criteria.
The proposed framework was then implemented into a prototype computer
aided design (CAD) tool named ACADEMI (pictured).
The tool developed by Farrugia allows for design concepts to be mathematically appraised and ranked automatically. The user inputs the various
evaluation criteria and the best design
is shown in a very short time. This
ranking helps the design team rapidly figure out which design concepts
should be developed.
After the framework and tool were
developed the research work was evaluated in the field by engineers from
industry and academia. Most industry
personnel said that they would be willing to adopt the computer tool in their
daily professional work.
•
More information about the research work may be accessed through:
www.academi.co.nr This research was
performed as part of an M.Sc. (Research)
in Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering. This research was partially funded by the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta). This
Scholarship is part-financed by the European Union — European Social Fund
(ESF) under Operational Programme
II — Cohesion Policy 2007–2013, ‘Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality Of Life’.
7
8
THINK Student
Valletta’s digital layer
DÉRIVE VALLETTA is an initiative by digital art student Matthew
Mamo (supervised by Dr Vince Briffa)
aimed at increasing the visibility of our
capital city’s museums and cultural institutions using augmented reality.
Augmented reality has a host of possibilities to allow people to interact
with art and through this art the city
itself. Inspired by the work of Israeli
artist Yaacov Agam, the digital visuals
featured in Dérive Valletta require the
user to move around the objects being
scanned in order to view the content.
Possessing its own cohesive brand
and identity, this initiative is ultimately intended to contribute towards
the creation of a digital cultural infrastructure within Valletta prior to
2018. Being a digital layer laid over
the real world there will be no negative
impact on this UNESCO World Heritage Site’s unique built environment.
The brand’s aesthetics were kept
minimalistic to create an identity that
can be incorporated into Valletta in
an unobtrusive manner while endowing the initiative with a contemporary
image. Minimalism is reflected in the
restrained colour scheme and use of
clean sans-serif typefaces.
•
The research was undertaken as part fulfilment of an MFA in Digital Arts and
partially funded by the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta).
This Scholarship is part-financed by the
European Union — European Social
Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II — Cohesion Policy 2007–
2013, “Empowering People for More
Jobs and a Better Quality Of Life”.
9
Student
Keeping heart
attacks on hold
The Nanomolecular World
IN LIFE WE are more capable of
observing what we easily see. New
technologies make it much easier
to peek into the nano world to see
molecules and atoms. By looking at
the very small systems we can understand much larger ones.
Dr Reuben Cauchi (supervised
by Prof. Joseph N. Grima, Dept.
of Chemistry and Metamaterials
Unit) has studied the structural
chemistry of particular inorganic
crystals (zeolites) through various
molecular modelling techniques to
learn how nano features result in
unusual properties. By using structural chemistry techniques, Cauchi
also studied the mechanisms that
influenced these unusual properties
under different conditions of pressure and temperature. They resulted
in some extremely useful properties.
Dr Cauchi observed multiple unusual properties in a single zeolite
crystal. Such complex combinations
gave birth to the idea that other systems apart from zeolites can have
more than one property at the same
time. Studying zeolites allowed
the team Cauchi is part of to develop smart systems. These systems can
be controlled by changes to stimu-
10
li indirectly related to each other,
which effect the response to other
stimuli.
Zeolites are naturally found crystals and beautiful systems to learn
from. Studying such structures may
help us think of new ideas and ways
for technology improvement. For
example, some of Cauchi’s findings
are now being used by the Metamaterials Unit to develop smart
honeycomb-like systems which can
improve heart stent designs or make
superior skin grafts.
•
This research was performed as part of
Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Science at the University of Malta and
with the help of Gdansk University of
Technology. It is partially funded by
the Strategic Educational Pathways
Scholarship (Malta). The scholarship is
part-financed by the European Union
— European Social Fund (ESF) under
Operational Programme II — Cohesion Policy 2007–2013, “Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better
Quality of Life”. The Metamaterials
Unit also acknowledges the funds received from the Malta Council for
Science and Technology through their
R&I scheme.
HEART ATTACKS AND
strokes kill millions every year. Most are
caused by blockages to blood vessels.
Vessels can be pried open by heart stents,
tubular devices that are inserted and inflated to prevent vessels from collapsing
or blocking. Stents incur many problems
ranging from flaring at the edges to fracturing to unexpected shrinking. All lead
to complications, further surgery, and
even death.
Luke Mizzi (supervised by Prof. Joseph
N. Grima, Dr Daphne Attard, and Dr
Ruben Gatt) has studied existing stent
designs to identify their weaknesses and
is currently studying novel designs that
overcome these problems. He used computer simulations to replicate the stresses
current stents experience in the human
body. These stents performed well in response to inflation and bending. However, shortening still occurs and they do not
expand uniformly leading to flaring at the
edges.
Mizzi found which current designs
fared well but no design had all the features needed by heart stents. Crowns with
a zigzagging structure allow for high expandability while S-shaped connections
between crowns allow for high flexibility.
Mizzi who forms part of the Metamaterials Unit is designing new stent
geometries that build on these features
incorporating them all and improving
stent performance. The next step for these
researchers are designs that support part
of the throat or oesophagus to continue
saving lives.
•
This research was performed as part of
Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Science
at the University of Malta. It is funded by
the Malta Council for Science and Technology through its R&I programme. This
project is in collaboration between the
University of Malta, HM RD Ltd, part of
the HalMann Vella Group of Companies,
and Tek-Moulds Precision Engineering
Limited.
THINK Opinion
An example of a simple medical family tree
Female
Male
Carrier condition 1
Carrier condition 2
Carrier for both conditions
Affected with condition 2
W
hatever you inherit
comes from your
biological family.
Unfortunately, this
includes
disease.
Talking about inherited conditions
can make people anxious, making
them unwilling to discuss the issue
with their relatives. After speaking to
a number of people my impression is
that it seems taboo to discuss these
things. People seem to feel that they
will be stigmatised or treated differently because of a genetic condition.
A fear of social stigma hinders beneficial research. Research needs the
collaboration of patients, since by investigating their condition researchers
can in the long run develop a treatment
or therapy. Not only that, but avoiding
certain discussions means that relatives
who might be at risk of developing the
same problem would not be aware of it.
If a condition is detected too late there
might be very little that can be done.
It is very useful to discuss these matters with your family and speak to your
doctor together. By building a medical family tree you can easily see who
might inherit what. This way, your
relatives will learn more about their
health and then seek treatment. For
example, a cousin might learn that she
has an increased risk of breast cancer
and would therefore attend screening
sessions to catch the cancer before it
spreads. Not knowing that something
is there does not make it go away but
discussing medical matters with your
family could save a relative’s life.
Scientific studies need family medical information. Scientific studies
using family trees have already shown
how useful this information is in identifying families with a high risk for inheritable cancers, like colon and breast
cancer. Other research showed that
families can benefit from preventative
treatments against cardiovascular diseases like diabetes.
Local research has recently used
this technique to find new genes,
knowledge that can be developed for
new treatments. The researchers were
studying the genetic background of
the protein which carries oxygen in
our blood, haemoglobin. This protein
switches from foetal haemoglobin to
adult haemoglobin 3–6 months after
birth. People with thalassemia have a
problem with the adult version. Therefore, by studying local families that
naturally cope well with the disease,
they discovered the KLF1 gene that
compensates for the malfunctioning
adult protein by raising foetal haemoglobin levels. This was only possible
with the help of family trees.
Speaking to a doctor to prepare a
medical family tree (pictured) is done
in the strictest confidentiality. You may
also create your family medical history
on https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/
fhh-web/home.action to discuss with
your family and doctor. I believe that it
is in our best interest, apart from being
potentially beneficial to the rest of humankind, to help in the creation of our
own family medical trees.
If you have any queries when your
physician or consultant asks you to
prepare a family tree feel free to discuss them rather than avoiding family
trees.
•
It’s all
in the
family
Alexandra Fiott
“It is very useful
to discuss these
matters with
your family and
speak to your
doctor together”
11
Opinion
To bank or not to?
Dr Pierre Schembri Wismayer
Cord blood can be extracted at birth from babies’ placenta. This blood can be banked privately
or publicly for medical uses, mostly in childhood. There is a growing trend of private banking
that uses emotional advertising backed with inflated claims to sell their products
P
ublic cord blood banking
is recommendable. Local
authorities should consider setting up a national
bank once the use increases, making it more cost effective. Hopefully this can happen within a few years.
The removal and storage of cord
blood is not harmful to mother or child
and is something which could be considered by every parent. On the other
hand, I would like to dispel the myths
and hype surrounding the sale of private
cord blood banking services to families.
One publication stated that only one
in 50,000 children would use privately
banked cord blood. The main reason
behind this low statistic is that cord
blood is used to treat rare genetic and
malignant (cancer) conditions. Moreover, not for the children themselves
but usually for their siblings.
Cord blood may reasonably be
banked by families who are much more
likely to develop these genetic diseases,
but such families are few. Similarly, this
may be important for a couple where
one or both partners have a non-Euro-
12
pean origin, such as sub-Saharan African, or far Eastern. For these couples it
would be difficult to find a matching
unit at the numerous European cord
blood banks.
So what are the main medical uses of
cord blood?
“A blood stem cell
transplant can cure
several inherited
diseases. They sum
up around 35% of
cord blood uses”
A blood stem cell transplant can cure
several inherited diseases. They sum up
around 35% of cord blood uses. Locally,
thalassaemia would be the most common condition. When both parents
are carriers for the condition (termed
thalassaemia minor), there is a one in
four chance that their children will
have the disease (termed thalassaemia
major). A stem cell (cord blood) transplantation from a healthy sibling to the
sick child would have a good chance of
curing the condition.
Cord blood is easier to match than
other adult sources of stem cells. Usually there is about a 50–60% chance
of matches between siblings. This percentage decreases drastically to almost
0% when matching parents and other
family members.
The second most common treatment
is for cancers. Leukaemia is by far the
most common malignancy in children
yet 70% are cured using chemotherapy.
A transplant (of haematopoietic stem
cells) is only needed after unsuccessful
chemo, but the donor is almost always
someone other than the patient. The patient’s own stem cells have already lost
the battle against the cancer, so adding more of the same is of limited use.
A potential cure is the cord blood of a
healthy, preferably matched, sibling not
the child’s own cord blood.
Transplants from a child’s own stem
cells are useful in certain rare childhood
tumours, such as neuroblastoma and Ew-
THINK Opinion
Photo by Ricardo Simões
ing’s sarcoma. First, the child would need
to respond well to high dose chemotherapy, followed by replacing their bone
marrow with the transplanted stem cells.
Other procedures do exist if none of the
child’s cord blood was banked.
Why am I only talking about childhood disease? What about Parkinson’s
and Alzheimer’s Disease, heart disease,
diabetes, and the other conditions companies mention? Three reasons. First
the companies only promise to store
cord blood for 25 years. For some extra
money you can bank it for longer but
no one has ever stored cord blood for
such lengths. We don’t know if it would
survive and still be useful — theoretically it might.
The second reason is that diseases like
heart attacks, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and
so on tend to affect us well beyond 25
years of age. Stem cells are only being
researched as treatments. There are no
cures. These diseases also need mesenchymal stem cells (derived from the
cord not the cord blood), which can be
banked at extra cost. Once again we do
not know how long they can be banked.
The third reason is quantity. The
amount of stem cells in a baby’s umbilical cord blood can at most restore
the bone marrow of a 50 kg person.
Banking is either for children or rather
petite people. Lots of research is trying
to increase these stem cells but none are
close to being used.
Only Type I diabetes (which usually affects children) can be treated with
cord blood stem cells. The form of diabetes most common in Malta is Type
II diabetes that develops in adults not
children. It cannot easily be treated
with stem cells.
A child’s mesenchymal stem cells
could possibly be used to suppress autoimmune disease. They might also treat
children who are born with cerebral
palsy or childhood strokes. Unfortunately, no in-depth studies have been
performed to verify this possibility, but
a few interesting cases do exist.
With future research this could
change and more treatments could
be developed. Don’t hold your breath
though, research takes years or decades
to reach patients.
But what about the future? Can
further research make stem cells more
useful? Here one would be completely
right. But by then there might be another even more exciting solution.
Scientists have already managed to
take any adult’s own cells and reprogramme them through a genetic cocktail so that they become stem cells. Japanese researchers have lead research into
this new type of stem cell. These cells
are quickly becoming just as good as any
other stem cell.
Researchers in Japan are also spearheading a project that will see 90% of
the Japanese population able to use stem
cells from adult cells to treat genetic
diseases. Being derived from your own
cells, matching will become a problem
of the past. But growing and processing
such cells will become a clinical necessity. If Europe, including Malta, would
spearhead a similar project our health
department needs to start investing in
cell biology facilities not only for IVF
but for clinical cell biology in general
— a bank to treat everyone.
This article has been edited.
•
13
Feature
14
THINK Feature
Over summer The Editor visited the
beautiful Island of Gozo, meeting Prof. Ray
Ellul and his team based in Xewkija and the
Giordan Lighthouse. Gozo is a tourist hotspot
because of its beautiful landscapes, churches,
and natural beauty. These same reasons
attracted Ellul to obtain baseline readings of air
pollutants; human effects should be minimal.
Their equipment told them a different story
Prof. Ray Ellul, Ing. Francelle Azzopardi
Alexander Smyth, Martin Saliba
Miriam Azzopardi
15
Feature
T
hey’re very big, anything
from 10,000 tonnes to
100,000 tonnes,’ atmospheric
physicist Prof. Ray Ellul is
telling me about the 30,000
large ships his team observed passing between Malta and Sicily over a year. This
shipping superhighway sees one third of
the world’s traffic pass by carrying goods
from Asia to Europe and back.
The problem could be massive. ‘A
typical 50,000 tonner will have an engine equivalent to 85 MW,’ Malta’s
two electricity plants churn out nearly
600 MW. You only need a few of these
to rival the Islands’ power stations.
Ellul continues, ‘this is far far worse.
We are right in the middle of it and with
winds from the northwest we get the
benefit of everything.’ Northwest winds
blow 70% of the time over Malta and
Gozo, which means that around two
thirds of the time the pollutants streaming out of these ships are travelling over
Malta. Even in Gozo, where traffic is less
16
intense, air quality is being affected.
Malta is dependent on shipping.
Malta’s Flag has the largest registered
tonnage of ships in Europe; shipping
brings in millions for Malta. We cannot
afford to divert 30,000 ships to another
sea. Yet Malta is part of the EU and our
politicians could ‘go to Brussels with
the data and say we need to ensure that
shipping switches to cleaner fuels when
passing through the Mediterranean.’
Politicians would also need to go to the
Arab League to strike a deal with North
Africa. Ships currently use heavy fuel oil
with 3.5% sulfur; this needs to go down
to at least 0.5%. The problem is that it
doubles the costs. Malta’s battle at home
and abroad won’t be easy, but the Baltic
Sea has already taken these measures.
German Dreams
The research station in Gozo is a fullfledged Global Atmospheric Watch station with a team of five behind it. Now it
can monitor a whole swathe of pollutants
but its beginning was much more humble, built on the efforts of Ellul, who was
drawn into studying the atmosphere in
the 80s when he shifted his career from
chemistry to physics.
In the early 90s the late rector, Rev.
Prof. Peter Serracino Inglott, wanted the
University to start building some form
of research projects. ‘At that time, we
knew absolutely nothing about what was
wrong with Maltese air and Mediterranean pollution,’ explained Ellul. Building
a fully fledged monitoring station seemed
to be the key, so Ellul sent ‘handwritten
letters with postage stamps’ to the Max
Planck Institute in Mainz. Nobel prize
winner Paul J. Crutzen wrote back inviting him to spend a year’s sabbatical in
Germany, but their help didn’t stop there.
‘He helped us set-up the first measuring
station, [to analyse the pollutants] ozone,
then sulphur dioxide, then carbon monoxide. That’s the system we had in 1996
— […] 2 or 3 instruments.’
THINK Feature
They lived off German generosity until 2008 when Malta started tapping into
EU money. After some ERDF money
and an Italy-Malta project on Etna called
VAMOS SEGURO (see Etna, THINK
issue 06, pg. 40), Ellul now manages a
team of five. In homage to his early German supporters he has structured the research team around a Max Planck model
— ‘one of the best systems in the World
for science’.
Paradise Lost?
Getting data about ships is not easy. ‘It
is very sensitive information and there is
a lot of secrecy behind it,’ explains Ing.
Francelle Azzopardi, a Ph.D. student
in Ellul’s team. It is also very expensive.
Lloyd’s is the World’s ship registry that
tracks all ships, knowing their size, location, engine type, fuel used — basically
“Ships currently use
heavy fuel oil with
3.5% sulfur; this needs
to go down to at least
0.5%. The problem is
that it doubles cost”
a researcher’s dream. However, they
charge tens of thousands. Ellul took the
decision that they gather all the data
themselves.
After 2004, all international ships
above 300 gross tons need to have
a tracking device. Automatically,
these ships are traced around the
world and anyone can have a peek on
www.marinetraffic.com (just check
the traffic around Malta). Every half
hour the team’s administrator Miriam
Azzopardi saves the data then integrates it into the Gozitan database.
This answers the questions: where was
this ship? which ship was it? how big
is it? Easy. »
17
Feature
If only! The problem is that the researchers also need to know fuel type,
engine size, pollution reduction measures, and so on. Then they would know
which ship is where, how many pollutants are being emitted, and how many
are reaching Malta and Gozo. To get
over this hurdle, they contacted Transport Malta (more than once) to ask for
the information they needed. ‘About
50% of the ships passing there [by us or
Suez are] Malta registered,’ explained
Ellul. With this information in hand
they could put two and two together.
They could create a model for ship
emissions close to the Islands and use
the model to get the bigger picture.
Enter their final problem: how do
you model it? Enter the Finns. Ing.
Francelle Azzopardi travelled to the
Finnish Meteorological Institute. They
18
had already modelled the Baltic Sea,
now they wanted access to the Maltese
data, in return the Maltese team wanted
access to their model called STEAM.
STEAM is a very advanced model. It
gathers all the ships’ properties like engine power, fuel type, and ship size. This
is combined with its operating environment including speed, friction, wave
action, and so on. STEAM then spits
out where the team should be seeing the
highest pollution indicators. Malta was
surrounded.
Apart from the model, the team have
seen a clear link between ships and pollution. At the Giordan lighthouse they
can measure a whole host of pollutants sulphur dioxide, various nitrogen
oxides, particulate matter, black and
brown carbon levels, ozone, radioactivity levels, heavy metals, Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs) and more.
When the wind blows from the Northwest, they regularly show peaks of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons
which are all indicative of fossil fuel
burning either from ships or Sicilian
industry. They also picked up relatively
high levels of heavy metals especially
Vanadium, a heavy metal pollutant.
Such metals are more common in heavy
fuel oil used by ships.
Alexander Smyth is the team’s research officer who spends three months
in Paris every year analysing filters that
capture pollutants from the atmosphere.
Two different filter types are placed in
the Giordan Lighthouse. One filter for
particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers
and another filter for particles around 2
to 10 microns. ‘With the 2.5 filter we
THINK Feature
can see anthropogenic emissions or ship
emissions because they tend to be the
smaller particles. The filters are exposed
for three to four days, and then they
need to be stored in the fridge. Afterwards, I take them to Paris and conduct
an array of analyses,’ continued Alexander. The most worrying pollutant he
saw was Vanadium.
Vanadium is a toxic metal. When inhaled, ‘it can penetrate to the alveoli of
the lungs and cause cancer, a worst case
scenario,’ outlined Alexander. It can also
cause respiratory and developmental
problems — none are good news. The
only good news is that ‘they are in very
small amounts’. Quantity is very important for toxicity, and they are seeing
nanograms per cubic metre, a couple of
orders of magnitude more are needed to
cause serious problems. No huge alarm
bells need to be raised, although Vanadium does stick around in bones and
these effects still need more studies.
Vanadium seems to be coming from
both Malta and shipping traffic. ‘The
highest peaks of vanadium are from the
south [of Malta, but the largest number of times I detected came] from the
northwest, [from ships],’ said Smyth.
‘There is a larger influence from ships
compared to local pollution at the
Giordan lighthouse.’
Vanadium is not the only pollutant
that could be affecting the health of
Maltese citizens. Smyth also saw lots of
different Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). At low concentrations these
compounds can affect immunity leading to more disease, at higher concentrations they can lead to cancer. The local
researchers still need to figure out their
effect on Malta’s health. Francelle Azzopardi also saw peaks of sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides. No surprise here
as shipping is thought to cause up to a
third of the World’s nitrogen oxides and
a tenth of the sulfur dioxide pollution.
Inhaling high levels of sulfur dioxide
leads to many problems. It is associ-
ated with respiratory disease, preterm
births, and at very high levels, death.
It can affect plants and other animals.
Nitrogen oxides also cause respiratory
disease, but can also cause headaches,
reduce appetite, and worsen heart disease leading to death. These are pollutants that we want to keep as low as
possible.
Ship emission expert James Corbett
(University of Delaware) calculates
that worldwide around 60,000 people
die every year due to ship emissions.
Most deaths come from the coastlines
of Europe, East Asia, and South Asia.
Shipping causes around 4% of climate
change emissions. This is set to double
by 2050. In major ports, shipping can
be the main cause of air pollution on
land.
Another unexpected pollutant was
ozone, normally formed when oxygen
reacts with light. Yet the Giordan light-
“Ship emission
expert James
Corbett calculates
that worldwide
around 60,000
people die every
year due to ship
emissions”
house was not the first to start measuring this gas. It all started with the Jesuits, scholarly catholic monks.
Monks at work
A lot of time is needed to see changes
in our atmosphere. Researchers need to
gather data over years. To speed up the
process, Ellul was hunting around Malta and Gozo for ancient meteorological
data about the Islands’ past atmosphere.
He was tipped off that there were still
some records at a seminary in Gozo.
‘We expected to find just meteorological data and instead we also found
ozone data as well. It was a complete
surprise and a stroke of very good luck.
We were able to find out what happened to ozone levels in the Mediterranean over the last hundred years.’
Jesuit monks meticulously measured
ozone levels from 1884 to 1900. They
analysed them seeing that the concentration of ozone was a mere 8 to 12
parts per billion by volume, ppbv. Ellul compared these to a 10-year study
he conducted from 1997 to 2006. ‘We
measure around 50ppb on average
throughout the year,’ which is nearly 5
times more over a mere 100 years.
The situation is quite bad for Malta.
In the past, the minimum was in summer and the maximum in winter and
spring. Now, this has reversed with
spring and summer having the highest
ozone levels because of the reactions
between hydrocarbons and nitrogen
oxides. These come from cars, industry,
and ships.
Over the Eastern Mediterranean
ozone levels have gradually decreased.
Over Malta, in the Central Mediterranean, they remained the same. Ellul
thinks this could be because of an anticyclone over the central Mediterranean
bringing pollutants from Europe over
Malta and Gozo. The levels of ozone in
Malta and Gozo are the highest in Europe, and it could be mostly Europe’s »
19
Feature
fault. Our excessive traffic doesn’t
help.
Ozone can be quite a mean pollutant. While stratospheric ozone
blocks out harmful UV rays, lowlevel ozone can directly damage our
health or react with other pollutants
to create toxic smog. It’s been known
to start harming humans at levels
greater than 50 ppbv. It inflames
airways causing difficulty breathing, coughing and great discomfort.
Some research has linked it to heart
attacks — a pollutant not to be taken
lightly.
Over those 10 years Ellul and his
team saw 20 episodes in summer
where ozone levels exceeded 90 ppbv.
Some were during the night, unlikely to be of local origin but due to
transport phenomena in the central
Mediterranean and shipping. Ellul
does nod towards the possibility of
air recirculation from Malta. The atmosphere is a complicated creature.
Plants also suffer from ozone.
Above 40 ppbv yield from fields
decreases. Gozo is definitely being
affected; we could be producing
more.
The devil is in the details
Ellul and his team have found a potentially big contributor to the Islands’ pollution. This would be over
and above our obvious traffic problem. Yet Ellul admits that ‘there is no
particular trend, it’s too short a time
span. What it tells us is that what
we think is a clean atmosphere is
not really a clean atmosphere at all.
The levels are significant.’ Azzopardi
honestly says ‘I can [only] give you
an idea of what is happening’.
20
The team needs to study the problem for longer. It needs some statistics. Clearly they see a link between
ships passing by Malta and peaks in
pollution levels, but the Islands need
to know if shipping pollution levels beat industry, traffic, or Saharan
dust. What is ships’ contribution to
Malta’s health problems?
When the team knows the extent
of pollution, they can see whether
they go above European standards.
Ozone already does, and likely to be
due to pollution from the European
continent. If they can extend it to a
whole host of other pollutants that
skyrocket above European standards
due to ship traffic, then ‘our politicians,’ says Ellul, can go to Brussels
to enforce new legislation. That
could control Mediterranean shipping traffic to clean up our air. At
least it would solve one significant
problem that Malta cannot solve on
its own.
The main problem is economic. A
ship can be made greener by reducing its sulfur fuel content. Low sulfur fuels are double the price of the
bunker fuel they currently use. New
legislation would need enforcement,
which is costly. Ships could also be
upgraded, again at a price. Passing
these laws is not going to be easy.
Ships have been a pollution black
hole for a while. The fuels ships burn
contains 3,000 times more sulfur
than cars are allowed to burn. Quite
unfair. Going back to Corbett’s figures estimating European deaths at
27,000, the current rise in shipping
pollution could end up killing hundreds of thousands if not millions
before new legislation is enforced.
Now that would be truly unfair.
•
THINK Feature
Protecting
the World’s
largest
experiment
The particle beams circulating in the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
have enough energy to melt 500 kg of copper. How can we protect the
machine from itself ? Words by Dr Gianluca Valentino
21
Feature
Dr Gianluca Valentino
Dr Ing. Nicholas Sammut
Dr Ralph Assmann
M
y phone rang, waking me up in the
middle of the night.
It is 2 a.m., and I (Dr
Gianluca Valentino)
am driving from the sleepy French
village where I live at the foot of the
snow-capped Jura mountains to the
CERN Control Centre. As groggy as
I feel, I am trembling with excitement
at finally putting months of my work
to the test.
The operators on night shift greet
me as I come in through the sliding
door. These are the men and women who keep the €8 billion Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) running
smoothly. The LHC produces 600
million particle collisions per second
to allow physicists to examine the
fundamentals of the universe. Their
most recent discovery is the Higgs
boson, a fundamental particle. In
2012, this finding appears to have
confirmed the Higgs field theory,
which describes how other particles
have mass. It helps explain the universe around us.
The empty bottles of champagne
on the shelves of the CERN Control
Centre are a testimony to the work
of thousands of physicists, engineers,
and computer scientists. The LHC has
now busted record after record rising
to stratospheric fame.
22
The LHC is an engineering marvel.
A huge circular tunnel 100 m underground and 27 km in circumference. It
straddles the Franco-Swiss border and
is testimony to the benefit of 50 years
of non-military research at CERN, the
European Organization for Nuclear
Research. CERN is also the birthplace
of the World Wide Web.
The LHC works by colliding particles together. In this way physicists can
peer into the inner workings of atoms.
Two counter-rotating hadron (proton
or heavy-ion) beams are accelerated
to approach the speed of light using a
combination of magnetic and electric
fields. A hadron is a particle smaller
than atoms, and is made up of several
types of quarks, which are fundamental particles (there is nothing smaller
than them — for now). The beams circulate at an energy of 7 TeV, which is
“The beams circulate at an energy of 7 TeV,
which is similar to a French TGV train
travelling at 150 km/hour”
THINK Feature
similar to a French TGV train travelling at 150 km per hour.
For the magnets to work at maximum strength, they need to operate in super-conducting mode. This
mode needs the collider to be cooled
to -271°C using liquid helium, making it the coldest place in the universe.
It is also the hottest place in the universe. Collisions between lead ions
have reached temperatures of over 5
trillion °C. Not even supernovae pack
this punch.
The two separate beams are brought
together and collided at four points
where the physics detectors are located. A detector works by gathering
all the information generated by the
collisions which generate new subatomic particles. The detectors track
their speed and measure the energy
and charge. ‘Gluon fusion’ — when
two gluons combine (a type of boson
or particle that carries a force) — is the
most likely mechanism for Higgs boson production at the LHC.
My role in this huge experiment
is to calibrate the LHC’s brakes.
Consider a simple analogy. A bike’s
brakes need to be positioned at
the right distance from the circulating wheel, and are designed to halt
a bike in its tracks from a speed of
around 70 km/hr. Too far apart, and
when the brakes are applied, the
bike won’t stop. Too close together,
and the bike won’t even move. In the
LHC, the particles travel at nearly
300,000 km/s.
Equipment called collimators act
as the LHC’s brakes. The LHC is
equipped with 86 of them, 43 per
beam. They passively intercept particles travelling at the speed of light,
which over time drift from the centre
outwards. The machine is unprotected if the collimators are placed too
far away from the beam. The beam’s
energy, equivalent of 80 kg of TNT,
would eventually drill a hole needing
months or years to repair. If the collimators are too close to the beam they
sweep up too many particles, reducing
the beam’s particle population and its
lifetime.
The LHC has four different types of
collimators, which clean the particles
over multiple stages in the space of a
few hundred metres. These collimators
also protect the expensive physics detectors from damage if a beam were to
hit them directly. If the detectors were
hit the LHC would grind to a halt.
What does it take to calibrate these
brakes? Each brake or collimator is
made up of two metre-long blocks of
carbon composite or tungsten, known
as ‘jaws’. The jaws should be positioned symmetrically on either side of
the beam, and opened to gaps as small
as 3 mm to let the beam through. They
can be moved in 5 µm increments—
that is 20 times less than the width of
a typical human hair. The precision
is necessary but makes the procedure
very tedious.
The beam’s position and size at each
collimator are initially unknown.
They are determined through a process called beam-based alignment.
During alignment, each jaw is moved
in steps towards the beam, until it just
scrapes the edge. Equipment near the
collimator registers the amount of
particles they are mopping up. Then,
the beam position is calculated as the
average of the aligned jaw positions on
either side, while the beam size is determined from the jaw gap.
The problem is that there are 86 collimators. Each one needs to be calibrated making the process painfully
slow. To calibrate the jaws manually
takes several days, totaling 30 hours of
beam time. To top it all, the alignment
has to be repeated at various stages of
the machine cycle, as the beams shrink
with increasing energy, and imperfections in the magnetic fields can lead to
changes in the beam’s path. This wasted time costs millions and makes the
LHC run slower.
Previously, one had to click using
a software application for each jaw
movement towards the beam. With a »
23
Feature
“The LHC produces
600 million particle
collisions per second
to allow physicists
to examine the
fundamentals of the
Universe”
24
THINK Feature
step size of 5 µm and a total potential
distance of 10 mm, that is 2000 clicks
per collimator jaw! Extreme precision
is required when moving the collimator jaws. If the jaw moves too much
into the beam, the particle loss rate
will exceed a certain threshold, and the
beam is automatically extracted from
the LHC. A few hours are wasted until
the operators get the machine back and
the alignment procedure is restarted.
Over the course of my Ph.D., I automated the alignment, speeding it up by
developing several algorithms — computer programs that carry out a specific
task. The LHC now runs on a feedback
loop that automatically moves the jaws
into the correct place without scraping
away too much beam. The feedback
loop enables many collimators to be
moved simultaneously, instead of one at
a time. A pattern recognition algorithm
determines whether the characteristic
signal observed when a jaw touches the
beam is present or not. This automates
what was previously a manual, visual
check performed by the operator.
The sun’s rays begin to filter through
the CERN Control Centre, and the
Jura mountains are resplendent in
their morning glory. The procedure is
complete: all collimators are aligned in
just under 4 hours, the fastest time ever
achieved.
In early 2013, the LHC was shut
down for a couple of years for important upgrades. Before then my algorithms helped save hundreds of hours;
since the LHC costs €150,000 per
hour to run, millions of euros were
also saved. This software was part of
the puzzle to provide more time for the
LHC’s physics programme and is now
here to stay.
The morning shift crew comes in.
The change of guard is performed to
keep the machine running 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, while I head home
to catch up on lost sleep.
•
25
Dr Michael Spagnol
26
THINK FEATURE
Kelma Kelma
Maltese language 2.0
With a massive following of 25,000 people, Kelma Kelma is the Facebook page that has
taken Malta by storm. From a simple collection of linguistic curiosities borne from one
man’s love of the Maltese language, it has developed to become an unconventional but
highly effective teaching tool. This is the journey of Kelma Kelma from the man behind the
computer screen, Dr Michael Spagnol. Words by Cassi Camilleri
O
n 5th January, 2013 Kelma
Kelma was launched with
the simple yet elegant
black profile picture the
Maltese online community have come to recognise. By the 6th,
the first of countless posts came. This
one defined the word ‘Nomofobija’, the
fear of being away from one’s mobile
phone. Back then, this post received 74
likes. One of the latest posts makes a jab
at Malta’s sky high electricity bills with
the musing ‘Meta kont żgħir kont nibża’
mid-dlam. Issa li kbirt, nibża’ mid-dawl,
l-iktar meta nirċievi l-kont’ (when I was
young, I was scared of the dark. Now
I’m older, I’m scared of the light, especially when I receive the bill). Till writing, it garnered 250 likes and counting.
Second only to Malta Diżastru Totali!, Kelma Kelma’s 25,000 followers
are equivalent to roughly 11% of the
220,000-strong Maltese online population. Its rapid growth shows the concept
has hit a distinct nerve with people, but
for Dr Michael Spagnol, this manipula-
tion of language was always something
of a game.
After all, Maltese itself was a consistent source of amusement in the Spagnol household. His father’s jokes were
always some clever play on words he
would make up during the day. Even
his grandfather was a treasure trove of
expertly structured riddles, witty renditions of the popular Ħaġa Moħġaġa.
Being surrounded with such inspiring
characters since he was a boy, it was only
natural that this linguistic flair would »
27
Feature
seep into his studies. Michael pursued
Maltese all the way to the University of
Malta. As an undergraduate in 2005, his
focus was on literature but linguistics
soon took centre stage. ‘As a science, it
takes you away from language and its
function to look at it from an outsider’s
perspective. It forces you to think about
what language is and how it is constructed. It analyses the smallest of things, like
how a word came to be or how the lips
and tongue work together to produce a
specific sound. This defamiliarisation of
language is now rooted in his approach
to the posts on Kelma Kelma.
The idea came to him at University. It
was just a fun simple exercise to stretch
his linguistic abilities. At first, it was a
magazine or a booklet filled with facts,
stories, and musings about words and
sayings he liked or found interesting.
But it was years later, after he completed
his Ph.D. in Germany, an investigation
of the morphology and lexical semantics of the Maltese language (see text
box), that the idea truly began growing
and taking shape.
When he returned to Malta, Facebook had exploded. People were subscribing in droves. And then it happened. ‘People who I knew spoke
Maltese all day and posted online in English. Inspirational quotes in particular
caught my eye. Even if it was broken English, it didn’t matter, people preferred
using a foreign language to their own.’
This observation affected Michael.
He recalled his idea from University
days. It would be the perfect response,
a subtle jab at the status quo of ‘it can’t
be done in Maltese’. He didn’t care if no
one paid attention. It had to be done.
Michael created the Facebook page,
Kelma Kelma.
28
“There is actually
a great thirst for
knowledge and use of
Maltese”
The page started out with 11 albums,
including il.kelma.tal.lum, a collection
of definitions, and logħob.bil.kliem, a
clever set of jokes based on puns. The
seeds planted by Michael’s father and
grandfather had now grown and began
to bloom.
His memes consist of simple text on
colour. No fuss, just clean, bright labels
that would stand out on a page. The issue of length came into play, but it was
a no brainer, ‘People get bored easily so
they tend to ignore long texts. My work
was based on the idea that the shorter
the message, the more people would
read it.’
The concept worked.
Likes on the page began trickling in
slowly, but after just one week, traffic
began pouring in. The massive snowball
effect that followed was unprecedented.
The response was astounding. ‘I never
imagined that would happen. I thought
the page would appeal to students and
scholars, but all sorts of people took
interest. People even started sending
me messages saying the page inspired
them to start writing stories and reading poetry in Maltese again. I realised,
contrary to what I thought at first, that
people were setting their own language
aside, there is actually a great thirst for
knowledge and use of Maltese.’
The jab provided the answer. Rather than an actual dislike for Maltese,
Michael now believes the problem lies
with Maltese language disuse and unawareness. In fact, the discrepancy between the use of Maltese and English
didn’t stop with Facebook. ‘People
write emails, SMSs, wedding invitations... even cards in English. The most
popular newspapers in Malta ‒ they’re
all in English. People are even speaking
to their children only in English now’
(see Experiment Malta issue 04, pg. 35).
The Maltese language is disappearing
from the lives of Maltese people. This is
especially true for the younger generation, children, and adolescents. Films,
THINK Feature
Like Kelma Kelma
on Facebook
music, and everything else associated
with popular culture, everything that is
considered ‘cool’, in Malta is in English.
Maltese is reserved for either the badly
written and produced local television or
the high brow, intellectual fodder that
the vast majority do not engage with.
Kelma Kelma now seeks to take
the first step at breaking down those
boundaries. Via memes, Spagnol is
disseminating compact nuggets of linguistic knowledge, exhibiting how the
Maltese language can be moulded and
manipulated at will.
The focus is on ‘live Maltese language’, not the standard stale schoolbook grammar material. That is why
even words that are considered ‘unsavoury’ (kliem baxx) by some, such as
‘mazza’ (either a mallet [n.] or a physically attractive woman [n.]), ‘tiffrejpja’
(to frape — hack into a Facebook account to post a humorous or rude post
[v.]), ‘skappatura’, (a short-lived love
affair [n.]), and many others are not
censored as is the norm in more traditional media. Audiences did not push
back; instead they lapped it up liking
and commenting on these posts significantly more than others.
From then on, all kinds of questions
and requests came pouring in. The album count now reaches 27 and shows
no sign of slowing down. Surprisingly, Michael has even found interest in
grammar among the online community. ‘Although this wasn’t something I
had originally intended for Kelma Kelma, I found many people asking specifically for grammar points.’ The Internet’s two-way communication stream
is allowing the audience to shape the
page into what they need it to be: a
teaching tool.
Proof of Kelma Kelma’s popularity
came with the variety of copycat pages
that have sprung all over Facebook. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
The most infamous is Kelma b’Kelma.
Now, while Kelma Kelma seeks to
propagate helpful facts and tips in a humorous way, Kelma b’Kelma attempts
to poke fun and confuse, coming up
with their own theories, mostly false,
behind the origins of certain phrases
— all for a laugh.
Early on, because Kelma b’Kelma was
not clearly portrayed as a parody, people assumed the page to be a spin off
to the original. The influence of Kelma
Kelma in the public sphere, as a point
of reference of the general public, became particularly clear with the furore
surrounding one particular post that
announced the impending elimination
of the ‘ie’ and ‘għ’ from the Maltese alphabet.
Believing that this was a serious announcement by Kelma Kelma, people
reacted. The page’s inbox was flooded with questions over this supposed
change in Maltese grammar. According to Michael, parents even went to »
“People even
started sending me
messages saying
the page inspired
them to start
writing stories and
reading poetry in
Maltese again”
29
Feature
their children’s schools to clarify this
‘new development’. The media, including radio station 89.7 Bay, also got
caught up in it, posting the picture on
their Facebook page.
Now, the parody page has lost most
of its followers, dwindling down to just
over 1,000. The sense of belonging that
Kelma Kelma created backfired violently. By and large, the public now either
ignores posts from Kelma b’Kelma or
“Kelma Kelma
seems to be
providing people
not only with a
sense of pride
in their own
language, but […] a
sense of belonging”
admonishes them and their author. A
continuous stream of criticism follows
every upload, with people constantly
correcting deliberate ‘mistakes’.
From a page that started out as a
‘game’, there is a distinct seriousness
surrounding Kelma Kelma. According
to Michael, ‘it has been an eye opening
experience to see just how much people
have become attached’. In fact, should
he find himself away from his computer
for a day, for whatever reason, he can be
sure that the next day he logs in on the
page his inbox will be full of messages
from people asking when the page will
resume as normal. ‘Kelma Kelma seems
to be providing people not only with
a sense of pride in their own language,
but also something deeper, like a sense
of belonging.’
The impact the page has had is undeniable. It has shown people that language is much like a child: in order for it
to grow, it needs nourishment. Maltese
will only be ‘antiquated’ if people do
not use it. There needs to be a real effort
to modernise the language if it is ever to
move forward with the times. However,
Michael’s Ph.D.
Studying at the University of Konstanz in Germany, Michael’s Ph.D.
sought to investigate the morphology and lexical semantics of the
Maltese language: Malta’s history imbued the language’s Semitic
base, Arabic, with the Romance languages, Sicilian and Italian. This
gave Maltese two different word formation strategies.
Michael likens the Maltese language to ‘a checkerboard upon
which both chess and draughts can be played. For any given lexical item, a word or string of words, a Maltese-language speaker
must know whether it is a piece for chess or a piece for draughts,
and play the morphosyntactic game accordingly.’
The result of this investigation is the first exhaustive database
of roots and verbal patterns in Maltese. They will aid future students and researchers in their quest to understand and further
develop the language.
30
the work of Kelma Kelma is not nearly
finished. The page has now begun its
journey beyond Facebook. Kelma Kelma is now on YouTube.
With the aim of reaching a wider audience, Michael is currently looking for
collaborators to produce a fully-fledged
web series. They will function as a humorous Maltese tutorial. Thus, what
started as small memes on Facebook
will continue to develop into an even
more substantial teaching tool. ‘YouTube has become a resource for so many
young people. Many students turn to
YouTube before they even think about
opening a book. English language tutorials, among others, are everywhere. It’s
time to have a well-produced Maltese
tutorial.’
Not only that, but Kelma Kelma
might come full circle with the initial
idea of a collection of linguistic curiosities in book form currently in the
pipeline. Michael has been receiving
numerous requests from his followers
asking for a volume they can carry with
them, ‘however, it is still early days with
this one,’ he said.
While it may seem to some that
the page is changing, at its heart it
still holds the same value with which
it started. To have fun with language,
to bring Maltese to the present day,
to promote its use, to make it appreciated and admired for the wonderful
versatility it holds.
Word by word, kelma kelma, the
Maltese language will thrive among
the people again.
•
FURTHER READING
• Mifsud, Manwel. 1995. Loan Verbs
in Maltese. NY: Brill, pp. 272–295
• Spagnol, Michael. 2011. A Tale of
Two Morphologies. Verb structure
and argument alternations in
Maltese. Germany: University of
Konstanz dissertation
THINK Culture
Experiencing
Stories
E
arlier this year, the Valletta
2018 Foundation invited
three tutors from the University of California to Malta to teach an intensive twoweek course on screen-writing called
Story Works to aspiring writers and
producers. Two of the participants of
the course, Kenneth Scicluna and Marta
Vella fill us in on their experiences.
Marta Vella:
Attending Story Works was a golden
opportunity, I still have to pinch myself
to make sure it was real sometimes. To
think I was taught by an Emmy Award
winner and successful screenwriters is
incredible. This is such a crucial period
for our country, going through so many
changes and fast developments both
culturally and artistically. Such a course
really helps take Maltese writers to another level. Thanks to it, I now understand that one’s background or resources have nothing to do with one’s ability
to weave great stories.
The course not only equipped us with
the tools needed to write a great script,
but it also opened our eyes to a world
of possibilities. I had looked at our little
island as hindering opportunities but I
now realise that it’s a little gem of untapped potential.
Kenneth Scicluna:
Story Works helped re-align my sights
on my approach to film. It encouraged
me to see my work from a different
perspective. It also offered a sheltered
environment of mutual understanding,
trust, and cooperation amongst the attendees, which made it easier to give
and receive criticism. The mentoring
process steered clear of dogma, and
marked a few signposts to guide one’s
journey — the route to each point was,
and still is, up to each writer to take. If
anything, the course was also an exercise
in building enough confidence to eventually adjust the signposts themselves. My hope is that this initiative will be
repeated, not only to provide continuity
and help foster the seeds sown, but also
to provide a structure which younger
writers could look towards as a significant step in their development, channelling time and energy into the writing
and the creation of tangible outcomes.
Story Works offered 24 individuals an
opportunity to consult and learn from
some of the best screenwriters around,
namely David Howard, Mary Kate O
Flanagan, and Martin Daniel. The programme aims to develop ideas to a professional level and leave with a tangible
product in hand — a powerful story with
the potential to cross borders. This programme is founded on an approach to
screenwriting developed by Frank Daniel,
who pioneered ‘The Sequence Approach’.
•
V.18 ON CAMPUS
The V.18 Secretariat has been
opened at the University of Malta.
Located within the Projects
Support Office, it will be the
contact point for UoM projects
related to V.18. The Secretariat
will provide information to
interested individuals on campus
while networking with academics
interested in V.18.
glen.farrugia@um.edu.mt
(+356) 2340 3474
31
Indie
Games
How can a video game ask questions about life,
art, and frustration? Giuliana Barbaro-Sant
met up with Dr Pippin Barr to tell us about his
game adaptation of Marina Abramović’s artwork
The Artist is Present
32
Giuliana Barbaro-Sant
THINK Feature
I
n each creative act, a personal
price is paid.
When the project you have been
working on so hard falls to pieces
because of funding, it is hard to
accept its demise. The feeling of failure,
betrayal, and loneliness is an easy trap
to fall into. This is the independent
game maker’s industry: a bloodthirsty
world rife with competition, sucking
pockets dry from the very beginning of
the creative process.
Maltese game makers face a harsher
reality. Not all game makers are lucky
enough to make it to the finish line,
publish, and make good money. Rather, most of them rarely do. Yet, if and
when they get there, it is often thanks
to the passion and dedication they put
into their creation — together with the
continuous support of others.
Dr Pippin Barr always had a passion for making things, be it playing
with blocks or doodling. His time
lecturing at the Center for Computer
Game Research at the IT University
of Copenhagen, together with his recent team-up with the newly opened
Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta, only served to reincarnate another form of this passion:
Pippin makes games. At the Museum
of Modern Art in New York he exhibited his most well known work: the
game rendition of Marina Abramović’s The Artist is Present. He thought
of the idea while planning to deliver
lectures about how artists invoke emotions through laborious means in their
artworks. In The Artist is Present, artist
Marina Abramović sits still in front of
hundreds of thousands of people and
just stares into their eyes for as long as
participants desire.
There is more to this performance
than meets the eye. Beyond the simplistic façade, Barr saw real depth. Through
eye contact, the artist and audience
forge a unique connection. All barriers
drop, and human emotion flows with a
great rawness that games are so ‘awful’ at
embodying. Yet, paradoxically, there is a
militariness in the preparation behind
the performance that games embrace
only too well. Not only does the artist
have to physically programme herself to
withstand over 700 hours’ worth of performing, but the audience also prepares
for the experience in their own way, by
disciplining themselves as they patiently
wait for their turn.
‘Good research is, after all, creative,’
according to Pippin Barr. By combining
his academic background with his creative impulse, he made an art game — a
marriage between art and video games.
These are games about games, which test
their values and limits. Barr relishes the
very idea of questioning the way things
work. His self-reflexive games serve as a
platform for him to call into question
life’s so-called certainties, in a way that
is powerful enough to strike a chord
in both himself and the player. He is
looking to create a deep emotional resonance, which gives the player a chance
to ‘get’ the game through a unique personal experience. Sometimes, players
write about his games and capture what
Pippin Barr was thinking about, as he
put it, ‘better than I could myself ’, or
read deeper than his own thoughts.
As far as gameplay goes, The Artist is
Present is fairly easy to manoeuvre in. »
“It’s a pretty lonely
road and it can be
tough when you’re
just stuck with
yourself”
– Pippin Barr
33
Feature
The look is fully pixellated yet captures
the ambience at the Museum. The first
screen of the game places the player in
front of its doors and you are only allowed in if you are playing the game
during the actual exhibition’s opening
hours in America. Until then, there is
no option but to wait till around 4:30
pm our time (GMT+1). The frustration
continues increasing since after entering
you will still have to wait behind a long
queue of strangers to experience the performance work. This reflects real world
participants who had to wait to experience The Artist is Present. If they were
lucky, they sat in front of the artist and
gazed at her for as long as they wanted.
Interestingly, Marina Abramović also
played the game. She told Barr about
how she was kicked out of the queue
when she tried to catch a quick lunch in
the real world as she was queuing in the
digital one. Very unlucky, but the trick
is to keep the game tab open. Other
than that, good luck!
Despite that little hiccup, Abramović
did not give up on the concept of digitalising the experience of her art. After
The Artist is Present, Barr and Abramović set forth on a new quest: the making
of the Digital Marina Abramović Institute. Released last October, it has
proven to be a great challenge for those
who cannot help but switch windows
to check up on their Facebook notifications – not only are the instructions
in a scrolling marquee, but you have to
keep pressing the Shift button on your
34
“His self-reflexive
games serve as a
platform for him to
call into question
life’s so-called
certainties, in a way
that is powerful
enough to strike a
chord in both himself
and the player”
keyboard to prove you are awake and
aware of what is happening in the game.
It is the same kind of awareness that is
expected out of the physical experience
of the real-life Institute.
The quirkiness of Barr’s games reflects
their creator. Besides The Artist is Present, in Let’s Play: Ancient Greek Punishment, he adapted a Greek Sisyphus
myth to experiment with the frustration
of not being rewarded. In Mumble Indie
Bungle, he toyed with the cultural background of indie game bundles by creating ‘terrible’ versions with ‘misheard titles’ (and so, ‘misheard’ game concepts)
of renowned indie games. One of his
2013 projects involves the creation of
an iPhone game, called Snek, an adaptation of the good old Nokia 3310 Snake.
In his version, Pippin Barr turned the
effect of the smooth ‘naturally’ perfect
touch interface of the device upon its
head, by using the gyroscope feature.
Instead, the interaction with the Apple
device becomes thoroughly awkward, as
the player has to move around very unnaturally because of the requirements
of the game.
This dedicated passion for challenging boundaries ultimately drives creators and artists alike to step out of their
comfort zone and make things. These
things challenge the way society thinks
and its value systems. Game making is
no exception, especially for independent developers. An artist yearns for the
satisfaction that comes with following
a creative impulse and succeeding. In
Barr’s case, being ‘part of the movement
to expand game boundaries and show
players (and ourselves) that the possibilities for what might be “allowed” in
games is extremely broad.’
Accomplishing so much, against the
culture industry’s odds, is a great triumph for most indie developers. For
Pippin Barr, the real moment of success
is when the game is finished and is being
played. Then he knows that someone
sat with the game and actually had an
experience — maybe even ‘got it’.
•
Follow Pippin Barr on Twitter:
@pippinbarr or on: www.pippinbarr.
com
Giuliana Barbaro-Sant is part of the
Department of English Master of Arts
programme.
How to make an
Indie video game
THINK Feature
1
2
3
Figure out what you want
to do with your games.
Do you want to be safe
or take risks?
Be yourself
Research, feel inspired.
4
5
6
Doodle. It helps you
understand your game and
how it can be done.
Move to the computer.
Draw graphics. Use Pixen, a
drawing programme. Get a
sense of things in motion.
Start the coding. As
daunting as it may
sometimes get.
Prototypes. Lots of them.
Do not get attached to any
of them.
When you have something
that looks like the game
you were thinking of, you
know it is time to test it.
Ask other people to help
you out!
If you want your game
to be accessible, then
target testers who are not
typically gamers. If not,
just go with the flow.
7
8
9
10
Feel proud of
yourself.
35
Feature
36
Feature
TURE
THINK FEA
cybersexuality
Changing the Nature of Sex through Technology
Relationships have changed hand in hand with society.
More couples are living far apart from each other. Marc
Buhagiar speaks to Mary Ann Borg Cunen to
explore how technology can lend a hand. Illustrations
by Sonya Hallett
37
Feature
Marc Buhagiar
P
ush a button to receive
instant gratification,’ said
the technobot. Picture a
world that goes beyond
the conventional form
of sexual intercourse. In this world
natural sexual intercourse will pale in
comparison to a newer form of technological sex. It is not hard to imagine
companies pushing for these ‘improvements’ to make a profit through new
technologies. The porn industry is a
well known example where technology
and sexuality have merged to bump up
income.
Other industries have also benefited from this merge, as sex toy manufacturers have established their own
market. Recently, Durex has started
testing a new product called the Durex
‘Fundawear’. It has been advertised as
‘The Future of Foreplay’. The underwear has inbuilt sensors allowing users
(the couple), to ‘touch over the internet’
using an iPhone app which controls
sensor vibration. Their markets are couples in long distance relationships. They
must use a video call over the Internet to
see their partner’s pleasurable reaction.
In this way, the sexual act is artificialised. Sex is mediated through a screen
where all the senses except the sense of
sight are lost.
According to Mary Ann Borg Cunen,
a University of Malta academic and
counselling psychologist specialising in
38
sexuality and couples therapy, certain
senses are fundamental towards the sexual act. For example, the sense of smell
is very important in selecting a longterm partner for procreation of healthy
offspring.
The sense of touch is also crucial to
the sexual act, and technology, according to Borg Cunen, can only partly
compensate for this. Some technology
is even breaking through this barrier.
Teledildonics, sex toys that use a computer to transfer the sense of touch
achieving climax, can help couples
“in a long distance
relationship this
genuine love based
on true knowledge
cannot fully take
place”
separated by long distances keep the
intimacy alive even when proximity is
impossible. However, they have alternative uses. Such technology could be
used as an extension of pornography to
give a more realistic, reciprocated ‘feel’.
This technology could provide sexual
gratification when none is available in
the real world. It could even be used to
‘cheat’ on your partner to the relationship’s detriment.
Technology can never fully simulate
physical contact. It can only attempt
to keep the couple interested in each
other sexually while in a long distance
relationship. Borg Cunen identifies a
form of idealisation that develops at
the start of a relationship. This diminishes over time and contact to mature
into love shared by the couple. Borg
Cunen argues, ‘in a long distance relationship this genuine love based on true
knowledge cannot fully take place. We
can ‘be’ only the person who we think
the other will like’. With long distance
relationships there is a constant need to
always be your partner’s ideal mate and
vice versa. This means that the couple
will always be sexually interested in one
another and they can easily gain sexual
release because the relationship is built
on ideals.
Sexual technology is trying to satisfy
sexual appetite while withholding intimacy. Borg Cunen claims that people
appear fearful of intimacy. ‘We seem
to be seeking sexual pleasure devoid of
commitment and devoid of a relationship which you have to work at. In relationships you have to relate to the other person. This can also be seen in the
trend of “hooking up” with strangers in
clubs and bars whom you hardly (if at
all) know.’ There is a beneficial flipside
to sexual technology. It promises sexu-
THINK Feature
“Sex has
always
sold. And
people can
always be
persuaded
that their
‘neighbour’
is having
better sex”
al release without the risks accompanying sexual intercourse. With sexual
intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancy are ugly
spectres looming over the act. They
are only dampened by contraception
— though always needed. Sexual technology can give a sexual outlet without
risking any grave repercussions.
Another issue behind sexual technology is that it needs a computer that
can anonymise the user. This guise of
privacy and anonymity contributes to
the temptation to use it. Men are the
typical avid consumers of such products sating their desire for multiple
sexual partners. This desire could even
be driving the production of sexual
technologies, suggested Borg Cunen.
So how do companies sell sex? According to Borg Cunen, ‘Sex has always sold. And people can always be
persuaded that their “neighbour” is
having better sex. By promising better,
more exciting sex we are awakening the
innate envy that exists in each one of
us, and manipulating it!’ Companies
release products they swear will spice
up your love life by improving it and
making it more exciting. Regular intercourse seems rather boring when you
can develop it further with sex toys and
costumes, hence injecting some fantasy.
The Internet has changed how many
partners a person can have. There are
infinite possibilities to choose from
thanks to online dating sites and communities but repercussions exist. With
this dating pool full of possibilities, the
current partner may always seem inferior to an idealised digital image.
The Internet has made it easier to
buy sex toys. People can be ashamed
to buy the latest sex gadget and a computers’ sense of anonymity can provide
a great opportunity. The Internet has
blown open the doors for sexual experimentation that can help maintain the
sexual interest of countless couples — a
double-edged sword.
•
Marc Buhagiar is part of the
Department of English Master of Arts
programme.
39
Saving Malta’s
Music Memory
Maltese music is being lost. Along with it Malta loses its culture, way
of life, and memories. Dr Toni Sant is trying to change this trend
through the Malta Music Memory Project (M3P)
Dr Toni Sant
M
altese radio is dominated by American
and British popular
music from the last
60 years. What happened to music from the Maltese islands? Some local music is played but
mostly from recent releases. There does
not seem to be a sense of continuity between the music created now and that
created in previous years, even by the
same musicians.
Part of the reason for this is that
there is no cohesive multimedia database for Maltese music. I believe that
no such thing exists because there is a
lack of systematic organisation within
40
the local cultural sector. To fill this gap,
I have gathered together a small group
of Maltese music enthusiasts to create the Malta Music Memory Project
(M3P), which was launched in September 2010. Our main aim is to preserve
memories of Maltese music and associated arts for future generations.
The project is not limited to music.
It includes a more expansive cultural
sphere such as broadcasting, theatre,
“Malta’s cultural
memory can soon
fade into anecdotal
legend. There is a
lack of scholarly
research and an
absence of longterm preservation
strategies”
dance, visual arts, traditional rituals,
sports, and other forms of expression.
The project’s emphasis is music but it
also includes other aspects of everyday
life. Memory comes into the project
since we want to gather personal perspectives, not just hard facts. Those who
experience cultural phenomena generate memories that cannot be ignored in
this age of new media.
Malta’s cultural memory can soon
fade into anecdotal legend. There is
a lack of scholarly research and an absence of long-term preservation strategies. The problem is evident even without delving back into our distant past.
The liberalisation of broadcasting in
Malta in 1991 spawned a glut of uncollected documents and data. These have
increased dramatically with the recent
proliferation of digital technologies and
the Internet. Popular music production
has skyrocketed since about 30 years
ago, when I first started my professional
career as a broadcaster. Back then Malta
had only one radio station, one television channel, three or four record »
THINK Feature
41
Feature
The Post Grads
There are currently four postgraduate students working on
M3P-related project at the University of Hull, UK. Anthony
Micallef-Grimaud and Darren Stephens have picked research
topics that deal directly with the use of the MediaWiki software at the heart of the M3P, while Steve Borg and Neville
Borg are focusing on specific aspects of the database contents, still under development, and ways that M3P can aid in
the preservation and dissemination of knowledge about Maltese music and associated arts.
shops, and only a couple of multitrack
recording studios. The situation now is
noticeably different.
It is impossible to preserve everything
and countless unique memories might
have already vanished. M3P has already started to prevent further loss by
capturing detailed information about
live performances and recordings from
shows, studio sessions, public releases
on CD, and the Internet, along with
associated photos, posters, and similar
materials. The database is also collecting details of technology used to create
and document music; from recording
equipment and live performances to individual websites and social networking
tools. M3P is interested in both artists
42
and fans. By carefully collecting this
data, the plan is to systematically gather
the needed information in a short period of time over the coming years.
In 2009, I proposed M3P in a journal
paper. At that point, I expected collection contributions would come from
the same people and venues creating the
original artworks. As things turned out,
the initial contributions came from a
small team of individuals trying to create similar collections in specific genres.
They have become the initial collaborators on M3P. Their contributions
have become the main holdings in the
collection. Yet there is plenty of room
for more memories to be added to this
database.
An open collaborative
methodology
The Wikimedia Movement inspires
the ideology behind M3P. Like Wikimedia, founders of Wikipedia,
M3P depends on volunteer contributions. M3P’s content will remain
open and freely available. This can
only be achieved through the contribution of networked individuals
based around M3P’s wiki website
(www.m3p.com.mt). All submitted
data is analysed for content and connections between subjects. For example details about the musicians a particular singer has collaborated with
becomes more evident as information
about each of the collaborators enters
the database through separate sources.
This initial analysis often leads to the
acquisition of further related contributions and the eventual expansion of
THINK Feature
the database beyond obviously related
entries. We weed out unsolicited or
irrelevant material without any overarching authority, just through collaboration among the core contributors.
A small group of enthusiasts keep
M3P running. I am rather keen to see
this group grow over the coming years.
The M3P Foundation — a Malta-registered voluntary organisation — coordinates this team and the project.
Parallel to this, I also supervise four
postgraduate students working on
M3P research projects at the University of Hull’s Media and Memory Research Initiative (MaMRI), UK.
Studying Maltese music
Researchers working on M3P volunteer
tons of their time. This overwhelming
support provides a vibrant framework
within which research can develop.
“Malta’s national
broadcaster, the
Public Broadcasting
Services (PBS)
Ltd., has a long
history of archival
mismanagement”
One study helped to see what factors
influence collaboration. Another developed a framework to streamline interaction between memory repositories
like M3P and social media networks
like Facebook and Twitter. While such
projects are rather technical, any large
online project needs a solid backbone,
but our, other research has a broader
appeal.
Steve Borg is devising a workflow
model for recovering, preserving,
and disseminating Maltese folk music
through new media technology. He has
recovered 207 reel-to-reel tapes containing about 500 hours of recordings
of traditional għana from some of the
genre’s best twentieth-century performers. Leli Muscat made the recordings
(nicknamed il-Gexilli) over around
twenty years, starting in the early 1960s.
These unique recordings are one of our
best finds, now at Malta’s National Archive, a clear example of material that
needs preservation before being lost
forever, either through neglect or a lack
of professional preservation know-how.
Borg is doing more than just preserving these music memories. Through
the Internet-based M3P wiki, he is
looking into innovative ways to talk
about the people, venues and related aspects of these works. By sharing this »
43
Feature
knowledge openly others can be
brought in to keep adding new information related to these resources.
Toward a comprehensive
catalogue of Maltese music
Right now M3P is compiling a comprehensive catalogue of all Maltese music
“What is Maltese
about Maltese music
other than the use
of the Maltese
language?”
released on CD. The group working on
this niche catalogue comes from Malta,
the UK, and Australia. Nothing close
exists in Malta. It is beyond the scope of
the National Archives of Malta, who do
not have the resources to do the work
rapidly enough, while the National Library lacks the legal means to enforce
depositing non-paper-based works.
Malta’s national broadcaster, the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) Ltd.,
has a long history of archival mismanagement. Within this vacuum, private
holdings of Maltese music have potentially much more staying power than
any publicly funded institution.
In 2014 M3P’s Maltese CD catalogue will be available online. In spite
of this, the project will still need more
THINK Feature
Holding M3P Up
A number of funders and donors have helped establish and sustain the M3P to date, but current activities benefit greatly from
grants by the British Academy and the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector. Software for audio CD preservation is supported
by the JISC-funded Sustainable Preservation Using Community
Engagement (SPRUCE) project, University of Leeds.
contributions to continue filling in
the gaps and keep the catalogue up to
date. As this is launched, the core team
and public will move on to preserving
and cataloging unique tape recordings.
In this spirit, both the National Archives and PBS are looking to collaborate with M3P to provide a national infrastructure for audio-visual archiving
with plans for long-term preservation.
Once this material becomes readily
available, it is likely that we can explore
further academic research. I would very
much like to see us conducting an evaluation of the ways online social media
networks reinterpret national memory
— especially for contemporary Maltese
music. My big question is: what is Maltese about Maltese music other than the
use of the Maltese language? Or, how
do artists adopt and reconfigure motifs of national memory through music
from Malta?
With an eye on long-term preservation, we must actively engage in web
archiving. No national agency is cur-
rently equipped to do this. In the process we are losing countless culturally
significant materials. For all our good
intentions, we at M3P cannot do this
on our own. National institutions need
to get in on the game through active
long-lasting commitment. This intangible heritage is ours to preserve. If we
don’t do it, who will?
•
To contribute to
www.m3p.com.mt
M3P
visit
FURTHER READING
• Sant, T. (2009), ‘Addressing
the need for a collaborative
multimedia database of Maltese
music,’ Journal of Music,
Technology and Education 2: 2+3,
pp. 89–96.
• Sant, T. (2011), ‘Initial Work on
the Malta Music Memory Project
- and its connections with Oral
History,’ Journal of Maltese
History 2: 2, pp. 42–50.
From top: Ira Losco, Kurt Calleja (Photo by
Kris Micallef), Beangrowers, Launch of M3P
45
An
Intelligent
PILL
Ing. Carl Azzopardi
Prof. Ing. Kenneth Camilleri
Dr Yulia Hicks
46
Doctors regularly need to use
endoscopes to take a peek inside
patients and see what is wrong. Their
current tools are pretty uncomfortable.
Biomedical engineer Ing. Carl
Azzopardi writes about a new
technology that would involve just
swallowing a capsule
THINK Feature
made up of a flexible ‘tube’ with a camera at the tip. The tubes are flexible to let
them wind through our internal piping,
optical fibers shine light inside our bodies, and since the instrument is hollow it
allows forceps or other instruments to
work during the procedure. Two of the
more common types of flexible endoscopes used nowadays are called gastroscopes and colonoscopes. These are used
to examine your stomach and colon. As
expected, they are inserted through your
mouth or rectum.
Michael was not comforted by such
advancements. He was not enticed by »
Michael is a fictitious character
Being new to this, Michael had immediately gone home to look it up. The search
results did not thrill him.
The word ‘endoscope’ derives from the
Greek words ‘endo’, inside, and ‘scope’,
to view. Simply put, looking inside our
body using instruments called endoscopes. In 1804, Phillip Bozzini created
the first such device. The Lichtleiter, or
light conductor, used hollow tubes to
reflect light from a candle (or sunlight)
onto bodily openings — rudimentary.
Modern endoscopes are light years
ahead. Constructed out of sleek, black
polyurethane elastometers, they are
*
M
ichael* lay anxiously in
his bed, looking up at
his hospital room ceiling. ‘Any minute now’,
he thought, as he nervously awaited his parents and doctor to
return. Michael had been suffering from
abdominal pain and cramps for quite
some time. The doctors could not figure it out through simple examinations.
He could not take it any more. His parents had taken him to a gut specialist, a
gastroenterologist, who after asking a
few questions, had simply suggested an
‘endoscopy’ to examine what is wrong.
A modern colonoscope — used nowadays to inspect a patient’s rectum. Inset: the tip of the
colonoscope includes a camera, light, air outlet and water pipe. Photos by Edward Duca
47
Feature
the idea of having a flexible tube passed
through his mouth or colon. The door
suddenly opened. Michael jerked his
head towards the entrance to see his
smiling parents enter. Accompanying
them was his doctor holding a small capsule. As he handed it over to Michael, he
explained what he was about to give him.
Enter capsule endoscopy. Invented in
2000 by an Israeli company, the procedure is simple. The patient just needs to
swallow a small capsule. That is it. The
patient can go home, the capsule does all
the work automatically.
The capsule is equipped with a miniature camera, a battery, and some LEDs.
It starts to travel through the patient’s
gut. While on its journey it snaps around
four to thirty-five images every second.
Then it transmits these wirelessly to a
receiver strapped around the patient’s
waist. Eventually the patient passes out
the capsule and on his or her next visit to
the hospital, the doctor can download all
the images saved on the receiver.
The capsule sounds like simplicity itself. No black tubes going down patients’
internal organs, no anxiety. Unfortunately, the capsule is not perfect.
First of all, capsule endoscopy cannot
replace flexible endoscopes. The doctors
can only use the capsules to diagnose a
patient. They can see the pictures and
figure out what is wrong, but the capsule
has no forceps that allow samples to be
taken for analysis in a lab. Flexible endoscopes can also have cauterising probes
passed through their hollow channels,
which can use heat to burn off dangerous
growths. The capsule has no such means.
The above features make gastroscopies
and colonoscopies the ‘gold standard’
for examining the gut. One glaring limitation remains: flexible endoscopes can-
not reach the small intestine, which lies
squarely in the middle between the stomach and colon. Capsule endoscopy can
examine this part of the digestive tract.
A second issue with capsules is that
they cannot be driven around. Capsules
“The patient just
needs to swallow a
small capsule. That
is it. The patient can
go home, the capsule
does all the work
automatically”
The Lichtleiter by Philip Bozzini – the
‘grandfather’ of today’s modern endoscopes
48
have no motors. They tend to go along
for the ride with your own bodily movements. The capsule could be pointing in
the wrong direction and miss a cancerous growth. So, the next generation of
capsules are equipped with two cameras.
This minimises the problem but does
not solve it completely.
The physical size of the pill makes these
limitations hard to overcome. Engineers
are finding it tricky to include mechanisms for sampling, treatment, or motion
control. On the other hand, solutions to
a third problem do exist. This difficulty
relates to too much information. The
capsule captures around 432,000 images
over the 8 hours it snaps away. The doctor then needs to go through nearly all
of these images to spot the problematic
few. A daunting task that uses up a lot of
time, increasing costs, and makes it easier
to miss signs of disease.
A smart solution lies in looking at
image content. Not all images are useful. A large majority are snapshots of
the stomach uselessly churning away, or
else of the colon, far down from the site
of interest. Doctors usually use capsule
endoscopy to check out the small intestine. Medical imaging techniques come
in handy at this point to distinguish
between the different organs. Over
the last year, the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics (University of Malta)
has carried out collaborative research
with Cardiff University and Saint
James Hospital to develop software which gives doctors just
what they need.
Following some discussions between
these clinicians and engineers they
quickly realised that images of the stomach and large intestine were mostly useless for capsule endoscopes.
THINK Feature
The simple alternative — a tiny capsule, equipped with a camera, some LEDs, and a resolute determination to travel through your digestive tract.
Photo by Edward Duca
Inside the M2A™ Capsule
1.Optical dome
2.Lens holder
3.Lens
4.Illuminating LEDs (Light Emitting Diode)
5.CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)
imager
6.Battery
7.ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)
transmitter
8.Antenna
Identifying the boundaries of the small
intestines and extracting just these images
would simplify and speed up screening.
The doctor would just look at these images, discarding the rest.
Engineers Carl Azzopardi, Kenneth
Camilleri, and Yulia Hicks developed a
computer algorithm that could first and
foremost tell the difference between digestive organs. An algorithm is a bit of
code that performs a specific task, like
calculating employees’ paychecks. In this
case, the custom program developed uses
image-processing techniques to examine
certain features of each image, such as
colour and texture, and then uses these to
determine which organ the capsule is in.
Take colours for instance. The stomach has a largely pinkish hue, the small
intestine leans towards yellowish tones,
while the colon (unsurprisingly perhaps)
changes into a murky green. Such differences can be used to classify the different organs. Additionally, to quickly sort
through thousands of images, the images
need to be compacted. A specific histogram is used to amplify differences »
49
Feature
in colour and compress the information.
These procedures make it easier and
quicker for algorithm image processing.
Texture is another unique organ
quality. The small intestine is covered
with small finger-like projections called
villi. The projections increase the surface area of the organ, improving nutrient absorption into the blood stream.
These villi give a particular ‘velvet-like’
texture to the images, and this texture
can be singled out using a technique
called Local Binary Patterns. This works
by comparing each pixel’s intensity to
its neighbours’, to determine whether
these are larger or smaller in value than
its own. For each pixel, a final number is
then worked out which gauges whether
an edge is present or not (see image).
Classification is the last and most
important step in the whole process. At
this point the software needs to decide
if an image is part of the stomach, small
intestine, or large intestine. To help
automatically identify images, the program is trained to link the factors described above with the different organ
types by being shown a small subset of
images. This data is known as the training set. Once trained, the software can
then automatically classify new images
from different patients on its own. The
software developed by the biomedical
engineers was tested first by classification based just on colours or texture,
then testing both features together. Factoring both in gave the best results.
After the images have been labeled,
the algorithm can draw the boundaries between digestive organs. With the
boundaries in place, the specialist can
focus on the small intestine. At the press
of a button countless hours and cash are
saved.
The software is still at the research stage.
That research needs to eventually be
turned into a software package for a hospital’s day-to-day examinations. In the
future, the algorithm could possibly be
inserted directly onto the capsule. An
intelligent capsule would be born creating a recording process capable of adapting to the needs of the doctor. It would
show them just what they want to see.
“The software is
still at the research
stage. That
research needs to
be turned into a
software package
for a hospital’s
day-to-day
examinations”
Ideally the doctor would have it even
easier with the software highlighting diseased areas automatically. The researchers at the University of Malta want to
start automatically detecting abnormal
conditions and pathologies within the
digestive tract. For the specialist, it cannot get better than this.
The result? A shorter and more efficient
screening process that could turn capsule
endoscopy into an easily accessible and
routine examination. Shorter specialist
screening times would bring down costs
in the private sector and lessen the burden on public health systems. Michael
would not need to worry any longer;
he’d just pop a pill.
•
The author thanks Prof. Thomas Attard
and Joe Garzia. The research work is funded by the Strategic Educational Pathways
Scholarship (Malta). The scholarship is
part-financed by the European Union —
European Social Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II — Cohesion Policy
2007-2013, ‘Empowering People for More
Jobs and a Better Quality of Life’
The view within — capsule endoscopy takes a number of snapshots of the digestive tract, revealing
important anatomical details or illnesses
50
THINK Alumni
ALUMNI talk
Improve wind tech or fuse engineering and biology after a University degree
Netherlands: a land of
bikes, clogs, and research
MARTINA CUSCHIERI
MY JOURNEY STARTED
in 2006, when I started my bachelor in
Mechanical Engineering (University of
Malta). My passion lay in Materials Engineering, so I focused my undergraduate thesis in this area. I studied ways
of improving the corrosion resistance
properties of Nitinol, an alloy of Nickel
and Titanium. This material is used in
many biomedical applications. I built
an environment similar to the human
body to test the material’s corrosion
properties.
After graduating in 2010, I took an
M.Sc. in biomedical engineering and
specialised in biomaterials (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands).
Over this two-year programme as part
of my technical internship, I worked
at the Orthopaedics Research Department of the Erasmus Medical Centre
(Rotterdam). I worked with two other
Ph.D. students researching titanium
scaffolds for bone defects.
Following my internship, I moved
back to Delft and performed another
research project again on the alloy Ni-
tinol. We were using it to improve heart
stents, tubes used to prop open blood
vessels when they are clogged. I created
a layer of a ceramic, porous Titanium
dioxide, on the surface of Nitinol and
then filled the pores with a novel drug
that prevents the blockage of blood
vessels. Heart stents sometimes fail by
getting clogged, the slow release of the
drug, which we monitored, would help
prevent blockages hence heart attacks
at a later date.
But my time in Delft was not yet
over. I remained at TU Delft to take
up a two-year research position. This
time I am researching how natural
polymers can be used to make artifical
cartilage tissue for patients who need it
replaced — a challenging project since
I am learning how to set up a new lab
for a new subject.
•
Cuschieri was awarded a STEPS scholarship for her Masters studies, which is
part-financed by the EU’s European Social Fund under Operational Programme
II — Cohesion Policy 2007–2013.
51
Alumni
Power of the Wind
DANIEL BALDACCHINO
MY PASSION FOR renewable
energies was sparked off during my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Malta.
Thanks to ERASMUS, I studied at the
University of Strathclyde which had a
Renewable Energy course that, at the
time, was not offered in Malta.
I spent the last year of my bachelor
studies designing and testing part of a
wind tunnel to simulate atmospheric
wind conditions. This test setup allowed for more realistic wind turbine
experiments than previous efforts.
Although I wanted to further my
career in wind energy, I opted first to
broaden my knowledge in the field of
renewables by enrolling for the Masters
in Sustainable Energy Technology at
Delft University of Technology in the
Netherlands in August 2010.
Over the first year, I worked on several projects. They included designing
52
a smart grid which was presented at
the European Joint Research Centre
( JRC). I also helped develop an innovative thermal energy plant that exploits
temperature differences between the
ocean surface and deep-water (>1km
deep) in tropical waters to generate
electricity.
Over the second year, I again carried
out research in wind energy. At the
famed Wind Energy Research Institute
of Delft University called DUWIND, I
looked into the effect wind turbines can
have on each other. When wind turbine
blades cut through the wind they can
change its direction. This can reduce
the efficiency of nearby wind turbines
making them produce less energy. My
results showed that a turbine’s effect
on nearby systems diminishes when
the wind distortion it causes is limited
either by the wind’s inherent instability
or other by properties like its proximity
to the ground. By exploiting these wind
qualities, a wind farm’s efficiency can be
improved by up to 15%.
After my Masters I worked for a year
at Eindhoven as a flow and thermal analyst at Segula Technologies Consultancy. I developed new components for a
company’s cutting edge lithography machines and for fuel cell system development for BOSAL engineering. Now I
have managed to secure a Ph.D. scholarship in wind turbine blade aerodynamics, continuing the work I started in my
Masters at DUWIND. This time I am
looking into the influence of small flow
control devices on the performance of
large (10 MW) wind turbines.
•
Baldacchino was awarded a STEPS scholarship for his Masters studies, which is
part-financed by the EU’s European Social
Fund under Operational Programme II
— Cohesion Policy 2007–2013.
THINK Fun
TECH REVIEW
by Dr Kenneth Scerri
Time to buy a
JUST A FEW years back, mobile phones could make and receive a
call, store a few numbers, and that’s it.
That’s all they could do. Over the last
few years, phones have grown ‘smarter’;
they can surf the web, take photos, keep
up-to-date on Facebook and Twitter,
play games and music, read books and
much much more.
Many argue that our watches are next
in line for such a transformation. And
considering the excitement brought
about by the recent announcements of
the smartwatch from Samsung, the Galaxy Gear, few will argue against that.
Samsung is not the only player vying
for the big potential return of smartwatches. Another heavyweight in the
technology business, Sony, has been on
board for a few years and have just announced their SmartWatch2.
Many small start-ups have also joined
the furore delivering watches such as
the Pebble, the Martian Passport, the
Kreyos Meteor, the Wimm One, the
Strata Stealth and the rather unimaginatively named: I’m watch.
All these smartwatches provide basic
features such as instant notifications
of incoming calls, smses, facebook updates, and tweets through a bluetooth
connection with a paired phone. They
often also allow mail reading and music
control.
With so many players and no clear
winner, the technology still needs to
mature. Sony and Samsung use colour
LED-based displays. Their setbacks
are poor visibility in direct sunlight
and a weak one-day battery life. Oth-
ers use electronic ink, the same screen
as e-readers, with excellent visibly and
much improved battery life, sadly in
black and white or limited colour.
User interaction also varies. While
the Pebble and the Meteor favour a
button-based interface, all other players utilise touch and voice control.
The differences do not stop there.
Not all watches are waterproof – and
do you really want to be taking off
your watch every time you wash your
hands? Also, some watches, like the I’m
watch, provide a platform for app development, with new apps available for
download every day.
One big player is still missing. Rumours of Apple’s imminent entry into
the smartwatch business have been circling for a couple of years.
While guessing Apple’s watch name
is easy — the iWatch, the technology
has been kept under covers. As with
other Apple products, their watch will
not be first to market. Are they again
waiting for the technology to evolve
enough to bring out another game
changer like the iPod, the iPhone, and
more recently, the iPad? Only time will
tell.
My biggest problem with any smartwatch available is that none seem truly
‘smart’. Smartwatches seem like little
dumb accessories to their smart big
brothers — the phones. I am waiting
for a watch to become smart enough
to replace my phone before jumping on
the smartwatch bandwagon.
•
Gadget rating: • • • • •
Pebble Watches
Main picture: Galaxy Gear by Samsung
smart watch?
Sony SmartWatch2
Martian Passport
I’m Watch
53
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. 77
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7
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69 .
6 8. 67,
66
65, 64. 63. 6
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9
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.
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5. 84
81.
6. 8
80
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.7
87
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8
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100
6. 4
7. 4
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42.
9.
3.
.4
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9
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Fun
FUN
52
.2
28. 27. 26. 2 5
, .
4 . 23. 22. 2
.
56. 55. 54.
53.
2
BOOK REVIEW
by The Editor
20. 19. 1 8. 1 7
. 16
. 1 5. 14. 13
. 11. 10. 9.
12
Dreamland
8
. 7 . 6. 5. 4
100
WORD
0. 59. 58
.5
2. 1
7.
3.
ideas to
change
MALTA
Make light
talk to light
by DR ANDRÉ XUEREB
Technology has made the world
a very small place. Using light
has transformed communication systems and a web of optical
fibres span beneath our streets.
This technology is no panacea
since light cannot talk to another light beam: currently, ‘translators’ are needed. We want
to push forward research into
technologies that remove this
requirement, addressing both
commercial considerations and
the underlying mechanisms.
Our research is using exotic effects of quantum mechanics to
help cut out the middleman and
make light talk to light. This
would increase speed, make
security unbreakable, and improve energy efficiency. Malta’s communication technology
would be revolutionised.
•
54
David K. Randall
Quill rating:
DAVID K. RANDALL woke
up on his back, his leg bent at an awkward angle, in excruciating pain. To figure out why, he wrote a book about the
science of sleep. Clever. Clever doubles
as a nice summary of the book.
Another book summary: sleep rules
your life. Get a good night’s sleep or
else everything suffers: your creativity, memory, attitude, ability to think
straight, control your emotions, react
to emergencies, sex life, and work. Lack
of sleep has cost lives; to sleep is to live.
An extreme statement but Randall
holds a very good argument. Zlatko
Glusica, an Air India pilot, woke up
just before landing and tried to bring
a plane down safely with a sluggish
brain whose higher brain functions
were down. In this state we might talk
to lamps, Glusica instead killed himself
and 157 others. Lack of sleep and truck
drivers are another bad idea, while
battles have been lost because of sleep.
Sleep prevents disasters.
The book is well researched. Randall fires factoid after research study
at the reader in a pleasant easy to read
style. You’ll learn about the dangers of
the first sleeping pill that is now a 30
billion dollar industry, how one in five
sleepwalk, and how one in four middle
aged men have sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea happens when the airway
collapses in either obese people or those
with a narrowed throat. A minute can
pass before the sufferer briefly wakes up
and desperately gulps down some oxy-
gen. Most apnea patients are unaware
of their condition. It leads to disrupted sleep and less productivity, memory
loss, and heart attacks. Sufferers can use
a simple device that gently pushes air
into the lungs as an instant cure.
The book is filled with great advice
like the above. It’s simple, without hocus pocus, and doesn’t need overly expensive equipment. Relax. Don’t try to
sleep too hard. Your brain must disassociate itself from the rest of your body.
Don’t drink alcohol or coffee. Expose
yourself to light, but not late at night, at
night dim lights, avoid screens. Don’t
sleep too hot or too cold, the body is
meant to cool after 10 pm — let it. Exercise. Simple.
Randall covers an immense range of
research and topics. This is where the
book’s problems start. He did a lot of
research and wants us to know that. At
other times, he rambles. A stricter editor would have helped the book.
The author only glosses over hardcore scientific studies. He mentions
some science behind daily rhythms
in Chapter 9. The book only has 13
chapters. He hardly even mentions
the genes or molecular biology related
to sleep. The scientist inside me died
a little death. There are some amazing
stories he missed out on by focusing on
the lighter human studies.
Don’t take the above too harshly.
Dreamland is a great book to learn more
about sleep, just avoid late night tablet
reading. You have been warned.
•
Fun
THINK FUN
GAME REVIEW
by Costantino Oliva
Attack of
The Friday
Monsters:
A Tokyo Tale
NOT A 50 HOUR long blockbuster, not a 30 second casual game: Attack of The Friday Monsters is an experiment with a new, middle sized format.
The game presents a day in the life of
an 8 year old kid. The oneiric, nostalgic
storyline is a masterfully paced intense
adventure that feels just right.
Downloadable from the Nintendo
3DS eShop, the game is set in a ‘70s Japanese town, where our hero Sohta and
Production: LEVEL-5
Platform:
Game rating:
his family just moved in. Told from the
kid’s perspective, the events are open
to interpretation: apparently, Godzilla-like monsters attack every Friday. On
the same day, a TV show also packed
with monsters is produced and aired in
town. What is the secret behind these
attacks? And is there a connection between fact and fiction?
Don’t expect to engage in massive
monster fights in Attack of The Friday
FACT or FICTION?
Monsters. The game focuses on talking
with villagers, meeting new friends,
and strolling in a beautiful countryside
town. It really makes you feel like a kid
again encouraging a relaxed kind of
roleplay.
At €7.99, Attack of The Friday Monsters proves that digital downloads can
be a great way to introduce audiences to
new formats and concepts. It introduces
a poetical take on games.
•
Send your questions to think@um.edu.mt
and we’ll find out if it’s the truth or just a fib!
Will robots take over the world?
«»
Unlikely, for the next 100
years. Academics and sci-fi writers take three rough approaches.
We will become one with the bots
by integrating computers into
our body achieving the next stage
of evolution. Or, robots will become so powerful so quickly that
we’ll become their slaves, helpless
to stop them — think the Matrix.
Or, robots have certain technological hurdles that will take ages
to overcome.
Let’s analyse those hurdles.
Computing power: no problem.
Manufacturing expense: no problem. Artificial intelligence: could
take decades, but we are already
mapping and replicating the human brain through computers.
Energy: very difficult to power
such energy-hungry devices in a
mobile way; battery or portable
energy generation has a long way
to go. The desire to enslave humanity: would require Asmiov’s
trick or a mad computer scientist
to programme it into the bot’s
code. Conclusion: unlikely, sleep
easy tonight.
Is Time Travel
possible?
«»
Theory says yes; practicality says
no. Thanks to Einstein time travel is
possible. The easiest way is travelling
very close to the speed of light. Achieve
99.5% close to light speed means that
in 5 years you travel 50 years. Goodbye friends and family you left behind.
The harder way is creating a wormhole,
a device that can bend space and time,
looping it on itself to go into the future
or past. The energy required would rival
the energy of the stars. Sorry Sci-Fi fans.
55
Fun
FILM REVIEW
by Noel Tanti
Cockneys
vs Zombies
AT A SITE in East London, two
construction workers inadvertently
unearth the tomb belonging to the
late King Charles II. Upon entering
the crypt, they are assaulted, bitten
and unkilled by former plague victims.
Meanwhile, brothers Terry (Rasmus
Hardiker) and Andy (Harry Treadaway), with their cousin Katy (Michelle Ryan), are planning a bank heist.
The trio concoct this heinousness with
a noble intent: saving their grandad’s
(Alan Ford) retirement home from being demolished by heartless property
developers. But of course, everything
goes pear-shaped when the entire
neighbourhood is invaded by hordes
of the undead.
Cockneys and zombies: that’s what
the title promises and that’s exactly what
it delivers. Given the self-consciously schlocky title, you would expect a
crudely-made, amateurish production,
56
the likes of which litter the internet.
The truth is, thankfully, very different.
Cockneys has quite a high production
value. It’s not World War Z but footage
of London enfolded in chaos and mayhem is rendered in good quality CG, as
are the close-up shots of carnage.
Still, one problem with comedy
zombie flicks is that they will forever
be in the shadow of Edgar Wright’s
masterful Shaun of the Dead (2004).
Shaun was a perfect storm of comedy,
horror, excellent production, inspired
casting, and fortuitous timing. Just as
everybody was trying to get his/her
head around the seemingly dubious
merits and immense popularity of torture porn horror films (Saw and The
Passion of the Christ were both released
in 2004), in waltzed Messrs. Wright,
(Simon) Pegg and (Nick) Frost who
made everybody’s sides split with
laughter.
Film: Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
«««««
Director: Matthias Hoene
Certification: PG-13
Gore rating: SSSSS
Luckily, even though Cockneys vs
Zombies is nowhere near as brilliant as
Shaun, it still can hold its head high.
Director Matthias Hoene and writers
James Moran (Severance, 2005) and
Lucas Roche touch upon, but don’t
expand much, on the zombie-as-metaphor angle. They just want to play it for
laughs and get more hits than misses.
The scene in which poor old Hamish
(Richard Briers) is being chased by the
notoriously slow-moving zombies is
pure gold and West Ham United supporters can put their mind at rest that,
even after death, the feud with Millwall
still rages on. In an inspired scene, we
are at last shown that even infants are
not immune to a zombie infestation.
Cockneys is no (early) George A.
Romero and does not aspire to be. It
just wants you to relax, pop some corn,
sip on soda, and enjoy a zombie-tour
around the streets of East London.
•
THINK Research
The future is bright
The future is research
T
oday’s world is unforgiving;
we cannot slack. Be it students in academic pursuits,
or executives in professional ones, the need to create
new things and innovate is essential to
keep up with ever-changing times. The
RIDT believes that University and its
students are the cradle of all needed
change. Our aim is to continue promoting and stimulating research within our Campus community. We believe
that our students carry this important
message best.
For this reason, the RIDT has embarked on campaigns and initiatives
to gather more interest and feedback
from University students and alumni.
The RIDT participated in the annual KSU Freshers’ Week. Here we met
and greeted thousands of students just
starting out their degrees. At the same
time, we launched our Facebook page
to regularly update and engage with
students. We succeeded in attracting
nearly 1,000 followers in less than two
months from launch. We felt that this
was not enough, and in order to further engage our online audience, we
enticed them to become closer to University research. With this in mind, we
launched a fresh online competition,
the UoM Research Challenge, where
participants had to answer questions
about research happening at University. The competition was sponsored
by GO, who donated an iPad Mini
for the fastest person to complete the
challenge. We have plenty of fresh,
innovative concepts lined up for the
New Year.
Throughout December, the RIDT is
collaborating with KSU and l-Istrina
to promote research within the University and the local community. We
want to reach out to raise awareness
that research is a tool that can make
everyone’s lives better. Many people
throughout the world suffer from various socio-economic problems, ranging from deadly diseases and famine to
poverty and unemployment. Through
research we can truly make a difference
Mario Cachia
RIDT Campaign Officer
to all of these people and we want to
start here, from home. By fostering a
sense of awareness and belonging within our students and alumni, we can
look forward to a bright future. In this
future, we would be proud of a University making a difference in Malta and
the rest of the world.
•
RIDT is the University’s Research
Trust aimed towards fostering awareness and fundraising for high-calibre local research. For more information, visit
www.ridt.eu or find RIDT on Facebook
www.facebook.com/RIDTMalta
Christopher Curmi, winner of the UoM Research Challenge, awarded an iPad Mini by the RIDT CEO
Wilfred Kenely. Photo by Edward Duca
57
Research
MEME
MEME
THINK
culture genes
58
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