left to right: Milan Darijevic, Nickianne Moody, Simone Krüger
It was back to the Aldham Robarts Library for our final Research Café of the 2014/2015 academic year where our three speakers entertained, enthralled and enlightened the audience with their chosen topics.
Our first speaker of the afternoon Milan Darijevic, PhD student from the School of Engineering Technology and Maritime Operations, came along to discuss the merits and possible applications of open-end winding drives. Explaining the need of large machines for high volumes of power Milan showed how these machines are typically powered and how open-end winding drives could simplify this process and offer additional benefits such as: simpler design, less components, more fault tolerant, more efficient power supply.
Milan explained that there are a number of reasons open-ended winding drives are not commonly implemented in industry but suggested electric cars as a suitable medium for their application. Milan also discussed the opportunity for their use in integrated inverters.
Nickianne Moody, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, was our next speaker. Nickianne gave a fascinating talk on how she has been utilising the Liddell Hart archive.
Sir Basil Liddell Hart was a prominent military critic during the interwar years, he was military correspondent for The Times and Principal Adviser on Defence from 1935-1939. In addition to this he was also a keen follower of women’s fashion, through his collection of ephemera in this area the Collection of Costume was born.
It comprises books, articles, newspaper cuttings and personal correspondence relating to the history, theory and psychology of dress, gathered over a period of fifty years by Liddell Hart and his wife.
Nickianne began using the Liddell Hart archive as a source of access to articles by female newspaper and magazine columnists. Her intent being to explore the influence of women writers, with particular interest in the difference between newspaper writers and magazine writers.
The collection is ordered, by key dates in fashion history, as determined by Liddell Hart. Much of the collection is not catalogued and it is Nickianne’s aim to remedy this.
For more information on the Liddell Hart and how to access it please see the library webpages: https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/lea/77343.htm
Our final speaker for the afternoon was Simone Krüger, lecturer in music and popular music studies. Simone introduced us to the concept of Paraguayidad which is the essence of Paraguayan identity and culture and aims to encapsulate what it means to be from Paraguay.
Simone discussed the influence of Barrios, (an early 20th Century guitarist and composer) on the work of Rolando Chaparro (a contemporary rock guitarist) and the wider role of rock music and guitar music in expressing Paraguayidad. Simone also discussed the use of indigenous elements such as Guaranί to represent nationalism.
A big thank you to all who have presented at the 2014/2015 Café series, your input has been invaluable. Research Cafés will continue in the new academic year, watch out for more details.
LJMU Library 