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Brassica production contributed £245.7m to the UK economy in 2012 and is growing year on year.i Research described below has led to the development of simple to use hand-held devices which enable brassica growers to identify the presence of a specific plant disease in the air or soil. With this knowledge, the grower can make an informed decision about when to plant a new crop or to spray an existing crop. This benefits the grower economically through a decrease in losses to disease and lower pesticide costs. Beyond the benefits for the grower, the reduction in pesticide use is consistent with UK and European policy on the environment.
Geoforensics in the School of Geography, Archaeology & Palaeoecology (GAP) has developed three principal avenues of inquiry for improving the application of Earth Science research in criminal investigations: (a) development of strategies for the search and recovery of buried/submerged items; (b) advancing the use of spatial sampling systems at crime scenes; and (c) furthering the non-destructive testing of trace evidence. The impact of our research is advising law enforcement organisations worldwide on improved procedures for collecting evidence at crime scenes and directly working with such bodies in gathering, analysing and testing evidence during criminal investigations. Evidence has been presented as expert witnesses in court cases for defence and prosecution (e.g. environment agencies, police forces, law firms), and training has been provided to professional forensic scientists employed by various law enforcement bodies including the UK and Irish police, Colombian Forensic Laboratory, Australian Federal Police and US Army/FBI.
Analytical methods and nanotechnology developed and patented since 1994 by the University of Sunderland, for healthcare, forensic and environmental monitoring applications have been exploited for their commercial and healthcare benefits. The patents were out-licensed to a University spin-out company for the production of a `sniffer' device to detect raw material air contamination in a manufacturing environment. The proof of concept project resulted in significant commercial benefits, such as inward investment, new industry, specialist training, and >20 new jobs for a range of skilled workers, both in the UK and overseas, development of health and welfare protection, exploitation of technology to meet new industry regulations, and improved efficiency in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients and products for household goods.
Working closely with scientists at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the University of Southampton has developed new methods for space-time modelling that have trebled the accuracy of air pollution forecasts. The USEPA has adopted the research as its official forecasting method to protect the American public and agriculture. More than 19 million children and 16 million adult Americans suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma now benefit by being able to adjust their outdoor activities based on the forecasts, and improved data has fed into policy debates on carbon emission regulations. Success in the USA has led the EPSRC to fund a similar project in the UK and Australia's national science agency is using Southampton-developed software for its air pollution forecasts.
Impact type: Public Policy
Significance: The research provided evidence for formulation of government policies to ameliorate poor air quality, to which fine particulate matter (PM2.5), O3 and NO2 are the most important contributors; PM2.5 alone reduces average life expectancy in the UK by 6 months and costs £9bn-£20bn a year. The research has been incorporated into UK national guidance and policy-evidence documents for Defra, the Health Protection Agency, and the Environment Agencies.
Beneficiaries are the public and the environment.
Research; date; attribution: EaStCHEM research (1995-2011) (a) established reliable techniques to measure NO2 for a national protocol, and (b) quantified the impact of pollutant emissions on PM2.5 and O3 concentrations, and on hospital admissions and deaths. Heal (EaStCHEM) led the research and wrote, collaboratively in some cases, the reports and the work cited.
Reach: UK wide.
Clench's research on Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation - Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI-MSI) technologies has impacted directly on pharmaceutical industry practice regarding studies of drug distribution studies in biological tissues, providing increased information, more rapidly. Companies have benefitted from long-term relationships with Clench's Bioanalysis Research Group and seek its expertise for consultancy purposes. Former members of Clench's group hold key positions in industry, implementing and further developing these technologies. Francese has had significant success in applying MALDI-MSI to analysis of latent fingermarks for forensic applications benefiting Home Office scientists and crime scene investigation units. Research advances in MALDI-MSI by Clench and Francese are patented and exploited via licensing.
University of Leicester research has developed, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund, a business support offer, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Space Technology Exchange Partnership (G-STEP) — which has led to a number of impacts:
Economic impacts via direct support of 40 East Midlands companies, including the creation of 3 new businesses, with a £950K GVA (Gross Value Added) to the companies and £2.9M in investment in the East Midlands. It has led to the employment of 20 Leicester graduates. Policy impacts via the Local Economic Partnership which has identified space as one of three emerging sectors for focussed development. Nationally, the emerging Satellite Applications Catapult has reviewed the G-Step delivery model to inform its own operation. Internationally, G-STEP led the NEREUS (Network of Regions in Europe Using Space) Earth Observation/GMES working group and produced the "The Growing Use of Space Across Europe", launched at the European Parliament in 2012.
Environmental benefits via the development of products which are having a positive impact on the environment including satellite enabled traffic management tools and high value crop management.
Queen's University Belfast has developed a number of biocatalytic processes for the production of pharmaceutical intermediates which have been applied commercially. The most significant involved Vernakalant, a new drug for treatment of the most common form of irregular heartbeat, now available in the EU, and currently awaiting approval in the USA and Canada. In addition, QUB has sold £300,000 worth of bioproducts and through the collaborations with Almac Sciences facilitated the initiation of their biocatalysis business which currently is a multi-million revenue earner for Almac Sciences and employs 30 staff, including 15 PhD graduates from the Queen's group.
The key impact is to have improved the economic performance of both multinational companies and SMEs through the introduction and performance enhancement of new electronic products.
Lancaster's research on reliability modelling technologies for use in the characterisation and optimisation of the reliability of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) products such as accelerometers and gyroscopes has been used by ST Microelectronics to achieve mass market penetration of its MEMS. Specifically, the market share of ST (a French-Italian multinational electronics and semiconductor manufacturer) has doubled to $900M since 2008, with its MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes now being found in, inter alia, Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod.
Lancaster's test engineering research has also delivered a novel self-test technology that can be activated during normal operation of a MEMS based system. This capability has been integrated into an inertial device commercialised by QinetiQ for classified applications. Additionally, through assisting BCF-Designs (a UK SME specialising in electronic test systems for the military and civil aerospace sectors) in the development of its R&D portfolio and associated intellectual property in the area of on-line (in situ) testing, research conducted at Lancaster directly supported the tripling of BCF's turnover to £9M and more than doubling of its sale value to £12.5M (to ULTRA Electronics, 2008).
University research and expertise in materials and photonics relevant to data storage has influenced strategic investment decision-making within Seagate Technology resulting in the creation of 85 new R&D positions in the UK announced in 2010. These new jobs were part of an £60M investment that saw a re-allocation of corporate budget from the USA and resulted in significant expansion of Seagate Technology's UK based R&D capacity. The investment was made to support their medium-term technology roadmap plans. Seagate Technology is the world-leading manufacturer and supplier of data storage technology in the form of disk drives, employing 53,000 people worldwide.