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KCL researchers, led by Professor Mark Harman, developed algorithms and contributed code to the Microsoft Pex automatic software testing tool, which is now part of the Fakes integral component on Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/2013 development environment used by tens of thousands of professional software developers. Harman's work on Search Based Software Testing (SBST) has been pioneering in the development of automatic test case generation. The Pex/Fakes tool supports software engineers in automatic test-case generation, and is in very wide use in the commercial and industrial software development environment (tens of thousands of software developers have downloaded the Pex plug-in or acquired it as the Microsoft Visual Studio Fakes component). Further impact of the SBST work carried out by the KCL research team can be seen in the adoption of SBST techniques by Google software developers and in work on the Vada software testing system carried out with DaimlerChrysler.
Fluid modelling approaches devised by the Materials and Engineering Research Institute's (MERI's) materials and fluid flow modelling group have impacted on industrial partners, research professionals and outreach recipients. This case study focuses on economic impacts arising from improved understanding which this modelling work has given of commercial products and processes. These include: metal particulate decontamination methods developed by the UK small company Fluid Maintenance Solutions; liquid crystal devices (LCDs) manufactured by the UK SME ZBD Displays; and an ink-droplet dispenser module originally invented at the multinational Kodak. Additionally, the modelling group's computer simulation algorithms have been adopted by industrial research professionals and made available via STFC Daresbury's internationally distributed software package DL_MESO. Finally, the group has developed, presented and disseminated simulation-based materials and visualisations at major public understanding of science (PUS) events.