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Between 1992 and 2002, Loughborough University invented an award-winning approach to planning complex, highly interdependent development projects. Since 2008 the Analytical Design Planning Technique (ADePT) method has resulted in:
Design thinking has benefited the economic performance of business and particularly the creative industries, changed awareness of design in everyday life, and informed public policy. Users and consumers have benefited from wider understanding of the genesis of products and services and effects on their quality of life. Design thinking research has been instrumental in forming a new business sector that provides design thinking expertise as consultancy. It has changed the processes of designers and design practices, and fed into UK design education policy. Design thinking has crossed discipline boundaries; for example framing new methods and processes in software engineering.
The impact relates to improved productivity, operational efficiency, working practice and knowledge management within the European maritime industry through the use of a Virtual Integration Platform (VIP). The platform is a software package developed within the University of Strathclyde that has been used by eleven European ship design, engineering and project management consultancies, which specialise in the application of advanced computational design, analysis and physical modelling techniques within projects on an international scale. Specific company benefits of using the VIP include: 67% reduction in process time; guaranteed data consistency; additional productivity of 15 hours/day from automated over-night operation; capturing and reuse of expertise; cost effectiveness (lack of data consistency typically costs €100k per project); and ease of operation within complex design processes.
Research conducted since July 2008 by the University of East London in collaboration with Control Techniques Dynamics (CTD), a leading manufacturer of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs), has led to the development of a software tool called the PMSM analyser. This tool has helped CTD to improve its motor design methodology by incorporating electromagnetic, thermal and cost models, together with genetic algorithms. In turn, the design optimisation allowed CTD to enhance motor performance and reduce manufacturing time by 30-40%, leading to an increase of 20% in company sales between 2008 and 2013. During the same period the company was able to cut materials usage by 15%.
National and International design codes are the key vehicles for enabling structural engineering research to impact on practice. Recent years have seen substantial advancements in such codes for stainless steel structures, to which Imperial has made outstanding contributions [A-E]. Imperial research has led directly to improved structural design provisions, enabling more efficient structures, leading to cost savings [G], further promotion of the use of stainless steel in construction [A,H,I] and a reduction in the use of construction resources. The impact and reach of Imperial's research has not only been throughout the industry (producers [H], code writers [A] and practitioners [G,I]) but also global, with widespread influence on UK, European, North American and Asian practice [A].
Le Petit Bayle is a house in France that was designed by Jef Smith, a member of Kent School of Architecture's Centre for Architecture and Sustainable Environment, as co-designer with Victoria Thornton, completed in 2008, and which is Smith's output JS1. The range and significance of this impact is demonstrated through its dissemination to a broad and international audience of architects; architecture students in general; and architectural technicians / other building and design practitioners through a range of media. Wide coverage of the project already demonstrates impact on the primary dissemination media for architects. In addition, the house has been used as an exemplar project by L'Espace Info Énergie du Conseil d'Architecture d'Urbanisme et de l'Environnement de Midi-Pyrénées (EIE / CAUE) in France which has included study visits and public exhibitions, reaching a wide and international variety of readers and viewers from those with a general interest to specialists working in related fields. The continuing research project consists not only of the design of the house and its execution, but also of observation, post-occupancy assessment, and the formulation for new research and design principles.
Le Petit Bayle has been chosen as a case study by Dr Avi Friedman of the McGill School of Architecture to feature in his forthcoming book Sustainable Dwellings.
The i~design research programme, which has been running in the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng) since 2000, sought to understand population diversity in order to better inform design decisions for mainstream everyday products and services. Impact from this programme, since 2008, includes: skills embedded in companies through direct training of over 280 designers and design managers from industry; direct involvement in the improved design of more than 10 new products and services that have gone into production; educational resources for teaching Design and Technology trialled in nine secondary schools; over 800 wearable impairment simulators sold; and extensive web-based guidance, methods and tools for inclusive design accessed in over 170 countries.
CHAPMAN's research into emotionally durable design has radically shifted the values and practices of global businesses, helping them to cut waste and to enhance product, material and brand value. Through publications, exhibitions, master-classes and films, this research has transformed understanding of sustainable design in professional (Puma, Sony), policy (House of Lords, UN) and cultural (Design Museum, New Scientist) settings, propelling the field beyond its focus on energy and materials, towards deeper engagements that link psychosocial phenomena with ideas about consumption and waste. Furthermore, it has contributed to public debate and policy with the effect that the term `emotional durability' has now entered the international design lexicon, providing valuable shorthand for complex phenomena influencing product longevity.
Research was undertaken into practical methodologies for integrating disparate engineering design software packages, including techniques for managing data in different formats and package functionality available through varying programming models. There was an emphasis on usability for end users allowing a complex solution to be built without advanced programming experience or technical understanding of the underlying packages. The results were made available through a commercial software package marketed by an SME, successfully contributing to a significant increase in company profile, modified internal working procedures and an expanded portfolio of services available to customers. The final product has only recently appeared on the market, but to good review, promising early sales and projections of significant sales and increased turnover.
A number of trimaran ocean-going ships, based on original designs conceived by UCL researchers, are currently in use. RV Triton, the demonstrator trimaran, is presently employed as a patrol vessel to provide Australian Customs and Border Protection with increased capability and lower fuel consumption compared to a monohull. The Independence Class of littoral combat ships currently entering service in the US Navy offers improved military capability and one-third lower fuel consumption, with the ensuing benefit of creating almost 2,000 jobs at the shipbuilder, Austal. Similarly, trimaran ferries with their inherent stability have improved passenger comfort and their reduced fuel consumption has lowered operating costs.