Submitting Institution: Swansea University

REF impact found 54 Case Studies

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A benchmark tool for high performance computing

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the development, application and commercialisation of an open source tool, BSMBench that enables supercomputer vendors and computing centres to benchmark their system's performance. It comprehensively informs the design and testing of new computing architectures well beyond other benchmarking tools on the market, such as Linpack.

The significance of our code is that, unlike other benchmarking tools, it interpolates from a communication- to a computation-dominated regime simply by varying the (physics) parameters in the code, thus providing a perfect benchmark suite to test the response of modern multi-CPU systems along this axis. The impact of this work has great reach: a start-up company, BSMbench Ltd, has been founded to develop and commercialise the software; adopters have included IBM - one of the giants of the supercomputer world (where it uncovered errors in their compilers); it has been deployed by Fujitsu to validate its systems, by HPC Wales, a multi-site, commercially focussed national computer centre and by Transtec, an HPC company employing over 150 staff; and tutorial articles about BSMBench have appeared in magazines such as Linux Format.

This software tool spawned from our research into "Beyond the Standard Model" (BSM) physics which aims to understand the Higgs mechanism in particle physics at a fundamental level. This involved simulating quantum field theories using bespoke code on some of the fastest supercomputers on the planet.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Pure Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics

Advanced simulation technology to optimise the recovery of high value metals through heap leaching

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the creation and use of advanced simulation technology by international mining corporations to optimise high value metal recovery. The technology involved the development of advanced novel computational methods and software tools to model industrial scale heap leach processes for large scale industrial application at major mining operations. This focus on the development of optimised operational strategies has produced considerable economic benefits measured in the $multi-millions to industrial sponsors, including $58 million dollars in additional revenue for one multi-national corporation over one year following the adoption of engineered heaps based upon the advanced simulation tools from Swansea.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics
Engineering: Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy

Antimatter: From CERN to Hollywood

Summary of the impact

In public perception, antimatter used to be associated with science fiction, but the creation and trapping of antihydrogen at CERN by the ATHENA and ALPHA Collaborations has sparked world-wide media interest in the real science of antimatter. Building on this, we started a campaign of public dissemination and education to promote and explain our work through media interviews, popular articles, and public lectures including a Welsh language component. We developed software simulators that have been used by school pupils in Masterclasses to re- create virtually CERN's antihydrogen production. YouTube clips and webcasts with over 100,000 hits have been produced and we have hosted thousands of visitors per year in CERN. These activities resulted in improved understanding of antimatter among school students and the wider population, and a radical change in the public perception of antimatter, which is now associated with the experiments at CERN rather than with Star Trek.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, Other Physical Sciences

Applications of laser spectroscopy techniques to the nuclear, defence and aerospace industries

Summary of the impact

A range of techniques based on laser physics and developed since 1993 by the group of Prof Telle in our analytical laser spectroscopy unit (ALSU) has led to:

  • Founding a spin-off company, Applied Photonics which produces remote-sensing products employing laser spectroscopy to detect the chemical composition of unknown samples aimed at the military and nuclear energy industry. This technology has allowed multi-million pound savings on the operational costs of nuclear plants due to their functionality in normally inaccessible radioactive environments thus avoiding the need for a power station shutdown.
  • Establishing a laboratory in the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) dedicated to the stewardship of UK's nuclear weapons stockpile and chemical explosives by detecting isotopic abundances in uranium samples and analysing the composition of munitions deteriorating in desert environments;
  • Assisting the design and development of a new product line of Spectrum Technologies, a market-leading company which removes specialised enamel insulation from conductors used in the aerospace industry.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

Benefits to the business and medical sectors through application of geometric convexity-based methods to image and data processing

Summary of the impact

Researchers in the Department of Mathematics at Swansea University have developed novel geometric methods for image processing, feature extraction and shape interrogation. The research has delivered commercial and clinical impact in a variety of settings, ranging from new water marking techniques to improve piracy detection in the film industry, to medical research investigating the replacement of traditional CT scans with safer MR scans. The research has also delivered an automatic feature and gap detection tool that has been successfully applied to aircraft data files provided by BAE Systems. A consultancy company is exploiting the methods and a licence for the commercialisation of the technology is in process.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

Copperopolis: Regenerating and Transforming an Industrial Landscape in the Lower Swansea Valley

Summary of the impact

Research on the copper industry by Swansea historians has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of the former Hafod-Morfa copperworks site in the Lower Swansea Valley. Until recently the abandoned site was associated only with industrial dereliction, but historical research on entrepreneurship, innovation and global trade has galvanised a new public appreciation of its international significance. Since 2010, an extensive programme of public engagement activities has persuaded key partners in local government to adopt an ambitious plan to preserve and present its cultural heritage. The project received national acclaim in Research Council UK's 2011 report on `Big Ideas for the Future', which noted that `The example set by the research in Swansea could be used across the UK' (C1).

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Geochemistry
Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy

Developing and implementing national standards to improve the structure and content of patient records

Summary of the impact

Patient records underpin the delivery of healthcare. When the recorded data are aggregated, they provide information to support service delivery, audit and research. Research conducted at Swansea University from 2000 to 2011 showed that variations in the structure and content of records across the NHS limit their quality and utility. To address this, the University collaborated with the Royal College of Physicians to develop evidence-based national standards for the structure and content of patient records. First launched in 2008, the standards have been endorsed by numerous statutory bodies and professional organisations, including the Department of Health, NHS England, NHS Litigation Authority, Mid-Staffordshire Inquiry, Care Quality Commission, General Medical Council, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and Academy of Medical Sciences.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Economic and health benefits of novel light therapies for the treatment of skin conditions.

Summary of the impact

Research at Swansea University on light therapy has contributed to an extensive market in laser and intense pulsed light (IPL) products for the therapeutic and cosmetic treatment of skin conditions. Impacts include: globally registered intellectual property; local manufacturing of a wide range of laser and IPL products; their distribution to over 40 countries; and resulting benefits to health in treating acne, rejuvenating skin and removing hair. The research undertaken by Swansea University and its companies pioneered this market in partnership with Procter & Gamble and Unilever; and established a joint venture with Sony UK to manufacture these laser and IPL products in South Wales. The Welsh government views this collaboration as an exemplar for the resurgence of UK specialist manufacturing.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Technology: Medical Biotechnology
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Economics of pain and pain management: impact on policy, practice and patients

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on impacts that have arisen from research on the economics of pain and pain management established by Phillips on his arrival in Swansea in 1997. The impact of the research programme has been multifaceted, encompassing economic, public awareness, policy and practice dimensions and a reframing of priorities. It is exemplified by:

  • engagement with pharmaceutical companies to introduce new therapeutic agents for the management of patients with chronic pain;
  • re-focusing of patient management to embrace the impact of pain on whole persons and their communities;
  • enhancing the status of pain and its management in the development of health policy and practice; and
  • an increase in the awareness within the UK and EU political community of the range of consequences associated with pain.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences, Public Health and Health Services

Empowering rural digital communities in the developing world and the UK

Summary of the impact

Research in the area of mobile digital storytelling conducted at Swansea University has shown that hundreds of millions of people are disempowered by lack of appropriate digital devices, services and infrastructure. In a programme of research starting with real users in communities in rural India, Southern Africa and rural UK, we designed, developed and tested new systems, leading to the integration and delivery of new techniques and platforms by major service providers, including IBM. Open source software developed to simplify media creation and sharing is being used by communities around the world, and has been downloaded more than 14,000 times. The research has increased awareness of "digital divide" issues and has changed attitudes in technology companies and public audiences.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Technology: Communications Technologies

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