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A novel pressure-relieving technology has been developed to enhance the quality of life of a range of people. This has enabled the development firstly of a novel compression therapy system for the prevention and treatment of venous leg ulcers especially for middle-aged and older communities as well as having the potential for huge savings to the NHS. Secondly, is a unique pressure-relieving cushion to reduce pressure sores with specific applications for wheelchair users. Baltex Ltd, UK are successfully producing both commercially. An exclusive agreement has been signed with a global medical device company, BSN Medical for marketing the single-layer bandage.
Mobile technologies and in particular mobile applications have become key drivers of the economy in many countries especially those that lack established communications infrastructures. Since 2003, the research team led by Professor Al-Begain has created both significant infrastructure and know-how that became the base for the creation of the £6.4million Centre of Excellence in Mobile Applications and Services (CEMAS) that is providing research and development to SMEs in Wales to increase their competitiveness. In the first three years since its inception 28 projects have been completed and 66 companies have received services.
The GRANIT system is a non-destructive technique for assessing the condition of rock bolts and ground anchors used to support structures such as tunnels. It applies a small impulse to the bolt and interprets the resulting vibration response to provide estimates of load and unbonded length. Initial development of the system was based on the findings of EPSRC projects in tunnels undertaken by the Universities of Aberdeen and Bradford from 1989-1997, resulting in an empirically based method. However, research undertaken at the University of Aberdeen since 1998 has provided the understanding of the process and developed the fundamental engineering science needed to underpin the development of a full commercial system. The GRANIT system is patented, and has been subject to worldwide licence to Halcrow who have undertaken testing and provided a method of ensuring the safety of mines, tunnels and similar structures. Halcrow received the NCE award for Technical Innovation Award for GRANIT in December 2010. The impact of the research has been in part economic, but largely on practitioners and professional services.
Water distribution systems (WDS) are highly complex, spatially distributed networks comprising thousands of different components which deliver drinking water to customers. The impact described here has been achieved in areas of energy management, pressure control and burst detection in WDS. Some developed solutions, such as the model reduction method, model of pump stations and pressure control algorithms, have been widely accepted by the water research community and then filter down to industrial applications or implemented in a widely available shareware. Direct economical and environmental impacts have been achieved by projects for the UK companies with measurable benefits in pounds through reducing water losses and energy consumption as described in Section 4. These include South Staffordshire Water, Aquavent and Scottish Water in the pressure control area and Affinity Water (former Veolia) in the energy management and burst detection areas.
University of Nottingham research into the use of natural lighting and ventilation in building design has resulted in the development, marketing and application of two new sister products (SunCatcher and Sola-Vent) by a leading supplier of low-carbon, low-energy solutions. Since 2008, 745 installations of Sola-Vent units have been carried out by Monodraught Ltd. Homes and commercial premises, both in the UK and overseas, have benefitted from the low energy demands of the system. As well as delivering economic benefits for the company, this work has had a positive impact on building owners and occupiers and the wider environment.
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.
Ground-breaking research in the field of Dynamic Insulation (DI) at Aberdeen University has contributed to international efforts to combat climate change through the reduction of the carbon emissions associated with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of buildings. Through the establishment of a spin-out company and the development of the world's first modular DI product, jobs have been created and developers have been able to use the first commercially available DI products and systems to meet strict new environmental targets. The success of such projects has led to greater public awareness of the issues around global warming.
UCL spinout company, Senceive Ltd, has established itself as an innovative provider of wireless enabled remote condition monitoring solutions. The company provides a robust, scalable, safe and highly cost-effective infrastructure monitoring capability for railway and construction industry applications, with customers including Amey, Costain, Network Rail and Tubelines. Recent deployments on projects such as Crossrail have been recognised by industry bodies as delivering significant product innovation and cost savings in excess of £1 million compared to use of a wired monitoring solution.
Research at the University of Bradford has enabled many major vehicle and brake manufacturers to improve the design of their brakes and braking systems to increase customer satisfaction and sales, and reduce costs. Methods have been developed to predict the thermo-mechanical and dynamic performance of brakes and provide design improvements. Durable solutions have been developed for noisy brakes, which have reduced warranty costs for approximately ten international collaborating companies including Bentley, where a squeal noise from the front brakes of a new vehicle had prevented it from being released for production. Our research has been embedded into short courses, which have trained over 250 engineers since 2008 and is incorporated into Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) professional training.
Research undertaken at the University of Cambridge Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) was the first to demonstrate that low-energy systems could be modelled in the laboratory and that the complex ventilation flows within buildings could be represented accurately by simple algorithms. These algorithms were implemented as a series of `low- energy' modules in the US Department of Energy whole-building simulation code EnergyPlus. EnergyPlus is used worldwide for building energy simulation and the user group currently has 3144 members. The use of this code has led to optimised design of a number of buildings, such as the New York Times HQ in Manhattan opened in 2009.