Submitting Institution: Heriot-Watt University

REF impact found 57 Case Studies

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13 - Advanced Wavemaker Designs

Summary of the impact

Edinburgh Designs Ltd., (EDL) was spun-out to exploit ERPE research from the original Wave Power Group. With six staff and an annual turnover approaching £2M EDL has supplied the equipment and control systems for wave tanks in 19 countries including the world's largest computer-controlled wave test facility, the US Navy Manoeuvring and Station Keeping Tank. They are currently completing the world's first circular tank, combining waves with currents in any relative direction, which is operated by the 6 person company, "FloWave" EDL, still run by the founding staff, it is the world-leading supplier of wave-making technology for scientific and recreational facilities.

Submitting Institutions

Heriot-Watt University,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Maritime Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

08 - Assuring Hydrocarbon Flow with Improved Hydrate Management

Summary of the impact

ERPE research led to the following impacts in the REF2014 period:

  • Extending the life of the NUGGETS field (operated by Total) by three years with an increase in cumulative production of 2% (2.8 Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent, value $150M).
  • Saving $3-7M in costs associated with methanol removal from liquid hydrocarbon phase by demonstrating methanol could be removed from Natural Gas Liquids directly by molecular sieve, which played a major role in Total's decision in eliminating a de-propaniser from "methanol removal facilities", saving around £50M.
  • Hydrafact: a start-up company with a turnover of £1M in 2012 and employing 8 full-time and 15 part-time staff.

Submitting Institutions

Heriot-Watt University,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Engineering: Chemical Engineering, Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy

The Economic Impact of High Gravity Brewing Studies on the Brewing and Distilling Industries

Summary of the impact

In High Gravity (HG) brewing the substrate (the wort§) fermented by the yeast is concentrated from a traditional value of about 12% solids to concentrations of upwards of 20%. Research (1993-2008) by Graham's Stewart's team at Heriot-Watt, into the process of brewing beer and distilling spirits in a more cost effective and quality enhanced manner led to substantial improvements in the HG brewing process, now used worldwide. This allows up to 50% more beer to be made at the same plant and reduces distillation costs. In both industries HG-wort production has allowed very substantial savings (>£555 million) in capital expansion costs.

§The substrate produced by the mashing of malt and grains — primarily consisting of fermentable sugars.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Genetics, Microbiology
Engineering: Chemical Engineering

Decarbonisation of freight transport

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by the LRC on `low carbon logistics' has informed UK government policy on the environmental impact of freight transport, altered the official method used in the UK to carbon audit road freight transport operations, provided guidance to industry on the measurement and management of freight-related CO2 emissions and resulted in the establishment of the first industry and government-endorsed target for cutting the carbon intensity of road freight transport.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics

Developing technical textiles products and processes

Summary of the impact

Heriot-Watt University (HWU) led the development of a supportive infrastructure for the sustainable advancement of Technical Textiles (the fastest growing textiles sector in an industry worth $25bn globally and £3bn per year to the UK economy). 452 companies have had their products or processes created or improved. (e.g. patents awarded, new companies established and research and development sustained). The research transformed how Technical Textiles were understood as marketable products in their own right; from purely functional entities to materials that operate at the interface of design and technology. This enabled the development of new technologies that enhance wellbeing and quality of life, e.g. in the health and defence sectors.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
Engineering: Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering

05 - Effective Design and Operation of Concrete Infrastructure

Summary of the impact

ERPE research has made major impacts on the design and operation of concrete infrastructure through design, corrosion investigation/residual life prediction and non-destructive testing (NDT). New interpretations of ground penetrating radar (GPR) data have impacted international practice through: the American Concrete Institute (ACI) document on NDT of Concrete, ACI 228.2r2013; fib Model Code 2010, ISBN:978-3-433-03061-5; a corrosion monitoring device; and "GprMax", the world's most widely used and acclaimed GPR freeware.

The financial impact of the underpinning ERPE research is estimated at £100M p.a. on infrastructure maintenance savings worldwide.

Submitting Institutions

Heriot-Watt University,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Civil Engineering

17 - Efficient, High Quality, Silicon Microdisplays

Summary of the impact

Micropix were formed in 1997 as a result of ERPE research (1993-08) into liquid crystal microdisplays. Following a major investment in 2004 the company was re-branded as Forth Dimension Displays (ForthDD).

Due to its unique microdisplay technology, based on the ERPE underpinning research, the ForthDD commercial activity has, since 2008, increased its annual revenue by more than 25% to around $5M and, over the same period, has increased its global workforce from 25 to 35 with exports to 15 countries.

Kopin Corporation, the world's largest producer of microdisplays, acquired ForthDD in 2011 for $11M.

Submitting Institutions

Heriot-Watt University,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Optical Physics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Engineering: Materials Engineering

Stars ‘r’ Us! Engaging the Public with Astrochemical Research

Summary of the impact

Stars `r' Us! (SRU) is a touring exhibition conceived in 2004 by Professor Martin McCoustra to engage the public with astrochemistry. SRU has been updated frequently, most recently in 2010 to include on-going work at Heriot-Watt University (HWU). SRU has contributed regularly to major science festivals, with independently corroborated strong impact on public attitudes. Over its lifetime, active researchers have interacted directly with an estimated 11,000 visitors, most of whom were teenagers. SRU has further indirect reach through a widely distributed teacher's pack. It is also a valuable element of the public engagement programme at HWU which has seen demonstrably improved recruitment to chemistry programmes over recent years. SRU has engaged with the EU Commission through an ESF co-sponsored event: laboratory astrochemistry has recently achieved preferred status in a Horizon 2020 foresighting exercise.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Chemistry

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Astronomical and Space Sciences
Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

Enabling international financial institutions to better evaluate the business environment in developing countries

Summary of the impact

Research at HWU in collaboration with economists at UCL, Toulouse and international financial institutions led to the development of a framework for analysing the relationship between company performance and the business environment in developing countries. The framework has been and is being used by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to analyse survey data on tens of thousands of firms. In the words of the Office of the Chief Economist of EBRD, the framework has enabled them to "identify interventions that policy makers should prioritize to improve the public infrastructure with which firms operate."

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Enabling the econometric analysis of policy interventions

Summary of the impact

The research created programs for the Stata statistical software environment that are used by thousands of researchers in economics and other fields around the world in academia, the private sector, government and quasi-governmental organisations, with approximately 400,000 downloads in the REF 2014 period. The core programs enable researchers to rigorously analyse the causal impact of a policy in settings where an experiment is infeasible and for experiments where take-up of treatment is incomplete, i.e. for the settings in which the vast majority of empirical work is done. The programmes are used to analyse complex data to establish causal links across a broad range of policy areas.

Submitting Institution

Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics, Econometrics

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