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We have optimised aerospace structural designs and assessment methods through development and application of hybrid residual stress characterisation techniques. Our research results on bonded crack retarders have redirected industry development programmes on hybrid metal laminate material systems and been used to evaluate reinforced structural concepts for US Air Force wing and fuselage applications. Methods to assess and mitigate maintenance-induced damage have been developed and implemented based on our research. Our contour measurement technology has been transferred to the US Air Force, which now has the capability to perform measurements in-house and support work with both NASA and the US Navy.
This case study assesses the impact of a series of knowledge exchange and public engagement projects undertaken in London and Northern Ireland between 2009 and 2013. These projects have made innovative applied use of a substantial body of research into modern British and Irish religious history conducted in the Unit.
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This case study demonstrates the impact of an inter-related body of research, undertaken by The Open University's (OU) Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies, upon the ways in which older people experience everyday ageism, housing and design, and end-of-life care. The research has provided evidence for charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) seeking to shape government legislation, initiate action on age-friendly environments, and to change care practice. As a result it has helped inform the UK's Equality Act 2010, new guidance on toilets in public spaces, user-friendly extra-care housing and an exemplary training programme on end-of-life care in care homes.
Dr Rosa Hoekstra engages in research on the biological, cultural and cognitive aspects of autism, and in communicating the findings of these studies to a wider audience. Her involvement in developing a rapid quantitative instrument of autistic traits has aided diagnostic practice. Through The Open University's OpenLearn website and open educational resources associated with the Health Education And Training (HEAT) programme, Hoekstra contributes to raising autism awareness both in the UK and abroad.
Research on the history, repertoires and performance cultures of brass instruments has reconfigured the international music community's understanding of how brass instruments have been played in the past and has unveiled new repertoires. The results are new understandings of performance techniques and instrumentation that continue to influence creative practice among leading professional performers. The findings from the research are recognised as major points of reference for professional and amateur performers, and have also contributed to work in the heritage industry and to that of print and broadcast media professionals. The research has also been translated for wider consumption in pivotal publications such as Grove Music Online, which features new entries on bands and individual brass instruments. The research also inspired Music in Words, the seminal textbook for teachers and students of music performance outside the higher education sector.
Vincent Gauci and The Open University (OU) Ecosystems Research Group have demonstrated human influences over exchanges of carbon within vulnerable, temperate and tropical wetland ecosystems, which are the largest source of the powerful greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere. The group's work showing that acid rain pollution suppresses methane emissions from wetlands has influenced policy in the UK, particularly peatland restoration, where the group has had direct interaction with users. The group's work on carbon balance resulting from deforestation, drainage and fires in the carbon-rich Bornean peat swamp has also informed IPCC methodologies for carbon balance calculations in its 2013 Wetlands Supplement.
Through the production of policy and practice reports, public engagement events, provision of continuing professional development (CPD) and training for practitioners, and dialogue with key stakeholders in government, the research team on sexuality and intimacy in the OU has had a direct impact on policy and practice concerning intimate lives in the UK. In particular, they have effected change in policy and public understandings of both bisexuality and intimate relationships. Underpinning this work is a motivation to shape contemporary debates about our intimate lives to further social justice and improve quality of life.
Research by geographers at The Open University (OU) in the three research clusters, Space and Power, Culture and Practice and Environment and Politics, has led to changes in how global issues, including environmental change, are portrayed in the media, particularly by the BBC. Building on the notion of `interdependence', the research generated fresh thinking at a strategic level, leading to changes in the tone of broadcasts and the commissioning of new programmes, as well as introducing discussion of `interdependence' into wider public debate. These impacts have been rooted in geographical thinking about spatial relationships in producing places and publics, and media representations of these interrelations.
The longevity of volcano impact monitoring projects is a strong argument for the involvement of citizen scientists and volunteers. Professor Rymer and colleagues have run several long-term volcano projects in collaboration with the charity Earthwatch. Over 500 citizen scientists have collected geophysical and environmental data since 2000. The work has impacted on the lives of the volunteers, who are engaged and enthused by scientific research, park wardens in Nicaragua who continue to monitor long-term SO2 release, and authorities in Costa Rica, Iceland, Italy and Nicaragua who use the citizen science data to mitigate the environmental effects of persistent volcanism.
The ESRC Innogen Centre brought together a multiplicity of disciplines for a large 12-year research programme (2002-14) on the impact of regulation on innovation dynamics in the life sciences. Research design promoted interactions between stakeholders to achieve policy impact. Innogen developed a range of tooIs to disseminate research findings and influence policy in Europe, the African Union (AU), Kenya, Qatar and at the OECD. We used secondments and temporary placements to achieve impact, as well as more traditional activities and outputs, resulting in major policy impacts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.