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Research at Kingston University into methods for tracking pedestrians and monitoring crowds using computer vision techniques has been translated into commercial products by Ipsotek Ltd and BAe Systems, resulting in economic benefits to these companies from sales of these products.
These products have been sold to high-profile customers including the London Eye, the O2 Arena and the Australian Government, providing significant commercial benefits, employment and growth for both companies, as well as providing an economic impact for these customers.
This case study describes the impact of the EnCore microprocessor, and the associated ArcSim simulation software, created in 2009 by the Processor Automated Synthesis by iTerative Analysis (PASTA) research group under Professor Nigel Topham at the University of Edinburgh. Licensing to Synopsys Inc. in 2012 brought the EnCore and ArcSim technologies to the market. Synopsys Inc. is a world-leading Silicon Valley company. It is the largest Electronic Design Automation (EDA) company in the world, and the second largest supplier of semiconductor IP. EnCore is achieving a global impact through this worldwide channel. The commercial derivatives of the EnCore technology provide manufacturers of consumer electronics devices with an innovative low-power, high-performance microprocessor that they can customize to their specific application requirements, enabling the next generation of electronic devices.
Research in Multi-spectral Imaging (MSI) of manuscripts by researchers in the University of Oxford's Faculty of Classics has led to advances in imaging technology. A series of initiatives by Dr Dirk Obbink that captured images through MSI technology have led to the decipherment of new texts that have made a substantial mark in the public sector. Equity spinout of this technology has resulted in the entry in the market of the first portable multispectral scanning unit in flat-bed desktop format. The scanner, which uses innovative patented LED technology at different levels of the light spectrum, was developed under funding from ISIS, Oxford University's technology transfer division.
Research at the Interface Analysis Centre (IAC) has made innovative analysis products available in a wide range of industries and research fields.
Many utility services are distributed using buried infrastructure beneath roads; inaccurate location leads to wasteful excavations and additional costs for service providers, businesses and the public. The Mapping the Underworld (MTU) project developed a proof-of-concept device to locate buried assets which can overcome problems of inaccurate mapping. This programme has acted as a crucial catalyst for the sector, leading to a series of significant actions by the industry informed by the MTU project. For instance, JK Guest, a major private sector contractor, invested £2m to establish the first vocational training centre for underground utility mapping in the UK to a specification developed by the Birmingham researchers; this centre opened in 2012 and more than 600 people had been trained there by July 2013. MTU and the industry promoted the development of an industry-standard for underground utility surveying, leading to the agreement of the British Standards Institute to develop a new standard which is being developed with sponsorship by the Institute of Civil Engineers. These, and the other impacts described in the case study, demonstrate the impact made to date on practitioners and professionals in the sector; these are the building blocks for the realisation of extensive economic impact from reduced disruption and the pro-active condition management of buried utilities.
Strong collaboration and associated technology transfer from ERPE have enabled SeeByte to stay at the forefront of technology, securing strategic partnerships including Subsea7, BAE SYSTEMS and the US Navy in the offshore and military markets. This has enabled sustained employment in the science and engineering sector growing to 50 staff and financial growth, 15 technology licenses from ERPE have directly or indirectly generated £11 million in revenues for SeeByte in the REF impact period. In October 2013 SeeByte was acquired by Bluefin Robotics Inc, a spin out of MIT owned by the Battelle group [text removed for publication].
Led by Professor Andrews, a computational method for real time mission planning, based on Binary Decision Diagrams (BDD), was developed in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Loughborough University (LU) from 1993-2003. This is fast and accurate and can be used to support decision-making on system utilisation in real-time operation, which has led to the ability to diagnose in flight faults for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications.
The research has changed the understanding and awareness of the advantages of BDD, resulting in integration into major industrial trials and proprietary software products, including at BAE Systems, one of the world's largest companies in an area of vital importance to UK security and economic development. The methodology has attracted significant research funding in collaborative programmes with industry.
The body of research relating to perception and interpretation of medical images has generated a range of impacts on the practice and training of radiologists and reporting radiographers, with resultant benefits for patients. Engagement with the research findings has raised awareness in clinical practitioners of the implicit strategies they use during medical image interpretation and in particular the type and frequency of errors, including the prevalence of decision-making mistakes over issues of pathology perception. Practitioners have benefited through considering their individual strategies, leading to enhanced decision making processes and reducing error rates in interpretation of 2D and 3D images.
The impact has been achieved through engagement with the sector through relevant professional bodies, practitioner orientated publications and direct involvement of the research team in training and development activities for practitioners.
The impact of the research on practitioner diagnostic strategies is applicable across all areas of radiology and diagnostic radiography, but is also being explicitly pursued to determine training methods and assessment when radiologists view 3D Computed Tomography Colonography data for bowel cancer.
The explosive growth in the number of CCTV cameras has meant that analysing the volume of data produced has become almost unmanageable. Dublin based start-up Kinesense Ltd was incorporated in 2009 by Dr Mark Sugrue, who had carried out his PhD in Video Analytics at Royal Holloway. New methods to detect motion, track objects and classify behaviour in CCTV now enable the efficient scanning of video for important events. Kinesense Ltd has developed a range of forensic video analysis tools, which reduce the time required to search and analyse video footage by up to 95%. It has attracted investment funding of over €820,000, employs 7 full time staff and has made sales to police forces and security agencies in over 17 countries. Kinesense products benefit law enforcement professionals and organisations by providing more efficient surveillance and detection of criminal activity, allowing better use of investigator time, reducing the length of criminal investigations and increasing their success rate. The general public worldwide benefits from increased crime detection and the consequent prevention and reduction of criminal activity.
A team at the University of Sunderland has undertaken research into equipment maintenance for over 20 years. This has been undertaken within a series of funded UK and EU projects. The work of the team has resulted in a new model for maintenance strategy, and the development of novel artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor the condition of key factory assets. A series of software tools have been developed in collaboration with industrial partners. These tools and the strategic model have been tested in industrial settings and have had impact in the UK, across the EU, and internationally.