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Innovative geochemical research led by Selby at Durham has permitted savings of up to $70M in global mineral and petroleum exploration programmes (e.g., Andes of S. America; West of Shetlands oilfields). Selby's research has developed a unique geochemical toolbox using rhenium, osmium, platinum and palladium that constrain more accurate geological models leading to better reserve predictions. The toolbox provides previously unavailable geological time constraints and source identification of resources (e.g., copper, gold, crude oil) that gives mineral and/or petroleum companies an enhanced economic advantage by improving reserve estimates and/or reducing exploration budgets and/or minimising the environmental impacts of exploration.
Durham University Business School (DUBS) research concerning the nature of trust within organizations, along with research on the methods managers can use to build trust and to repair it after major failures, has led to significant impacts across a wide reach of organizations. Through a series of professional training projects, practitioner-oriented reports and media articles the research has led to: (i) investments in training — benefiting both the organizations involved and the individual staff members who have undergone the training; (ii) improved effectiveness of workplace practices in organizations; and (iii) the use of research findings by professional bodies to define best practice. Organizations involved include UBS, Sunderland City Council; Richmond Housing Partnership; Lloyds Banking Group; Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC); the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Northumbria University's research on the eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and on the literary significance of the Delaval family has had benefits for two arts and cultural organisations in the North East and Yorkshire. The research has secured new audiences and increased business activity and footfall for the Laurence Sterne Trust (LST), changed the emphasis of heritage interpretation at Seaton Delaval Hall (SDH) and expanded the range of activities offered by both organisations. We have developed long-term and sustainable relationships with both of our partners and are now co-designing collaborative projects with them.
Approximately 70% of the continental margins contain significant volcanic flows, created when continents broke apart. Because large quantities of hydrocarbons may be trapped in sediments beneath the lava flows the ability to image through the basalt layers is of tremendous commercial value. However, these lava flows impede conventional seismic imaging by scattering energy, thus blocking the view of what lies beneath. Professor White and his team developed a technique, based on work in the 1990's, for imaging through the lava flows which differs radically from the conventional commercial approach. Professor White's technique has been widely adopted by the oil industry and has had a dramatic global impact, particularly for companies expanding exploration into deeper waters, including the north-west margin of Europe, the South American coast, particularly off Brazil and the continental margins of India. This approach has now become the norm having been adopted by oil companies globally.
The anærobic production of gas from waste — or biogas — is an important renewable energy source and means to prevent the release of methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. Exploitation of biogas is hampered by traces of siloxanes and H2S, which damage engines through the formation of SiO2, SO2 and H2SO4 during combustion. Research at Sussex in collaboration with PpTek Ltd (engineers of purification technology) has expanded the scope of current purification technology, meaning that biogas systems can be installed in a range of new sites. This has led to a strong increase in the commercial activity of the company, with turnover increasing from £910,000 in 2008 to £1.95m in 2012-13 and half year figures suggest turnover of at least £3m 2013-14 with £4.3m predicted for 2014-15.
Between 25% and 33% of all perpetrators of sexual abuse in the UK are children or young people. Policy and practice in relation to this group has been under-developed. The research detailed in this case study constitutes a body of work that has identified gaps in service delivery and has significantly advanced policy, training, treatment services, and assessment and intervention practices for this group of children and their families. The research findings have led to a shift across key service providers, including Barnardo's and NSPCC, away from adult sex offender approaches towards more child-centred and holistic interventions.
Research on vapour growth of semiconductor compounds led to a key breakthrough in growing large crystals which form the basis for sensitive X-and gamma-ray detectors. The process was commercialised by a Durham University spin-out company, Kromek Ltd., which floated on AIM at £55M and has over 100 employees in the UK and USA. The X-ray detectors are in use in Kromek's security systems for screening liquids at airports, significantly reducing restrictions on duty free goods. This application won the $400,000 international prize in the 2009 Global Security Challenge. The company also markets gamma-ray detectors for nuclear isotope identification. These have won contracts totalling $7.5M from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency and are in use at Fukushima.
The North East Economic Model (NEEM) was designed and developed at Durham University Business School (DUBS) from 2003. Customized to the regional economy, the aim of the research was for NEEM to model intra- and extra-regional economic relationships to provide quantitative estimates/projections of the impact of both long-term economic trends and shorter-term economic `shocks'. Its application has had significant impacts on policy practitioners in the region by: (1) facilitating more robust evidence-based policy analysis; (2) giving rise to knowledge transfer to policy-makers regarding the structure and workings of the regional economy; and (3) acting as a catalyst for an extended regional policy-modeling capacity. By influencing professional practice, it has had demonstrable impacts on regional economic policy, regional economic restructuring and local planning.
Research in Durham Physics Department on optical waveguides was used to build a novel interferometer which can measure real time changes in dimension and density of a thin film adsorbed on a sensor chip. This has multiple applications in surface science and biophysics, e.g. in measuring conformal and other structural changes in proteins as they interact with drug candidate molecules. The device was developed as a commercial product by a spin-out company, Farfield Sensors, which sold the interferometers to research institutes and industry. The Farfield Group was bought in 2010 by Biolin Scientific for £2.5M.
Interdisciplinary research on a new class of organo-metallic light emitting polymers showed that they could produce white light very efficiently. A consortium of the University and Industry (predominantly Thorn Lighting, the largest lighting manufacturing employer in the North East) developed and patented these into a viable alternative to mercury vapour fluorescent lights with a £4.3M grant from the DTI with matched funding from industry. The companies are investing in scaling this up to a full commercial supply chain, supported by a £4M grant from the Technology Strategy Board. The success of the project helped BIS secure £20.5M to support Plastic Electronics in the UK, creating 26 jobs, and was cited as a factor in the Thorn decision not to close down its North East site, safeguarding 600 jobs.