Submitting Institution: Durham (University of)

REF impact found 88 Case Studies

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A novel Geochemical Toolbox for the Petroleum and Mineral Industries

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry
Earth Sciences: Geochemistry, Geology

An X-ray tool for the prediction of catastrophic failure during semiconductor manufacture (Jordan Valley)

Summary of the impact

Semiconductor wafers are subject to damage from misaligned handling tools, leading to cracks. Most of these are benign, but a few propagate to cause silicon wafer breakage during high temperature processing, leading to losses in production time costing millions of dollars per year. Research in Durham showed that X-ray Diffraction Imaging can be used to identify which cracks will catastrophically fail. As a consequence, Jordan Valley UK Ltd has designed and already sold over £M [text removed for publication] worth of X-ray imaging tools to the semiconductor industry. The company identifies this product as being critical to its continuation, safeguarding more than 25 jobs, and growth over the past 2 years.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Materials Engineering

Building and Restoring Trust within Organisations

Summary of the impact

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).

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Characterising a unique pressure sensitive material for use in mobile phones: Peratech Ltd (Peratech)

Summary of the impact

Collaborative research between Durham Physics and Industry showed that a serendipitously discovered new material had unique, pressure sensitive conduction properties which were derived from quantum tunnelling. This research, published in 2005, is cited as one of the top 25 papers in that Journal for that year. Peratech was set up to commercialise this material for applications including switches and mobile phones as the pressure sensitivity gives a new dimension to scale the response. This company now employs 25 people, has an annual turnover of £3M and won the 2012 Queens award for Enterprise in the innovation category.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Engineering: Materials Engineering

Commercialisation of materials modelling software (Castep)

Summary of the impact

Durham researcher, Prof Stewart Clark, is one of the six original co-developers of the Castep software package which calculates the electronic, physical and chemical properties of materials from first principles. Castep was written to solve a variety of research problems from semiconductor devices and liquid crystal displays, to the behaviour of Earth minerals under very high pressure, molecular dynamics and biological systems. The software package was commercialised for use in industry under license by Accelrys Inc., where it is bought and used by ~1000 high-tech companies for development of new materials in chemical, pharmaceutical, auto and jet engine manufacturing industries. Total sales revenue for Accelerys from the Castep code is in excess of $30M.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
Engineering: Materials Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

History matching and uncertainty assessment in the oil and gas industry

Summary of the impact

ENABLE is a history matching and uncertainty assessment software system for the oil industry, whose inference engine was produced by the Durham Statistics group, based on their research on uncertainty quantification for complex physical systems modelled by computer simulators. The system optimizes asset management plans by careful uncertainty quantification and reduces development costs by accelerating the history matching process for oil reservoirs, resulting in more informed technical and economic decision-making. ENABLE was acquired by Roxar ASA in 2006 and current users include the multinational oil company Statoil. From January 2008 to September 2012 (the most recent set of figures) the turnover attributed to ENABLE was [text removed for publication].

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems

Improving policy, professional practice and services in relation to young people who have sexually abused.

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Criminology
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Industrial impact of Bayes linear analysis

Summary of the impact

This study demonstrates how Bayes linear methodologies developed at Durham University have impacted on industrial practice. Two examples are given. The approach has been applied by London Underground Ltd. to the management of bridges, stations and other civil engineering assets, enabling a whole-life strategic approach to maintenance and renewal to reduce costs and increase safety. The approach has won a major award for innovation in engineering and technology. The methodology has also been applied by Unilever and Fera to improve methods of assessing product safety and in particular the risk of chemical ingredients in products causing allergic skin reactions.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Statistics
Economics: Econometrics

Large semiconductor crystals for security and medical imaging (Kromek)

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

Mind-mindedness: Impact on parenting advice and professional practice

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on the construct of mind-mindedness: parents' or carers' ability to `tune in' to what their young children are thinking or feeling. Durham-based research highlighted how parental mind-mindedness is associated with a range of positive child and family outcomes, and has had impact via two main routes: (a) advice and support offered to parents (10,000 copies of the NSPCC's All Babies Count booklet and associated social media sites reaching 800,000 parents), and (b) interventions targeted to improve outcome in parents and families experiencing difficulties.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

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