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The impact is in the ERPE design of protocols which are subsequently used for evaluation and comparison of the performance of tidal energy converter designs. Researchers within the UK Centre for Marine Energy Research (UKCMER) at ERPE have led much of the fundamental and applied research that has supported the commercialisation of tidal energy technologies through the establishment of new international test standards and protocols.
ERPE researchers have regularly provided evidence which has influenced policy change in marine energy development in the UK and internationally with many ERPE graduating PhD's, subsequently employed in the marine energy sector.
Examples are provided of significant impact by the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Flow Analysis (CMMFA) upon the Marine Renewables and Offshore Wind communities. In particular, CMMFA informed the design of a novel wave energy converter being commercialised for connection to the national grid. CMMFA has also contributed to a study of the design parameters for an offshore wind power station as part of a larger interdisciplinary collaborative research effort. This work responds to and informs the RCUK Energy Programme via underpinning research, capacity building and provision of trained personnel thus enacting UK Government Energy Policy.
Research at the University of Southampton, into the engineering of complex socio-technical systems, has underpinned new technologies in the area of intelligent energy management, and made Professors Nick Jennings and Alex Rogers trusted sources of advice for energy policymakers, key stakeholders and industrial researchers. The work has had an economic, environmental and societal impact: it has shaped R&D strategies of leading British companies like BAE Systems and Secure Meters; the launch of iPhone apps and websites have supplied private and industrial users with personalised data regarding their energy use, resulting in cost savings and reductions in carbon emissions; it has enabled charities to provide energy-saving advice to households directly; and has won an international technology showcase competition leading to a spinout and commercialisation of research.
Professor Peter Giblin (Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Liverpool), together with collaborators, used methods from singularity theory to develop an approach for recovering 3-d information from 2-d images, such as photos. In the past decade, these have been implemented and built upon by software engineers, leading to significant cultural, economic and societal impacts. These include the creation of an innovative 25m high sculpture of the human body in the Netherlands by the sculptor Antony Gormley and the virtual modelling of clothing on online clothing websites such as Tesco's (Virtual Changing Room by Tesco/F&F). These have reached thousands of consumers worldwide and represent a significant commercial success for the company which developed the software.
A team of Portsmouth researchers has developed a transparent polymer coating that prevents colonising bacteria from adhering to the surfaces of teeth. In addition to protecting from decay, the polymer coating has the added benefits of reducing dental erosion, alleviating root hypersensitivity, and inhibiting the staining of teeth. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has adopted this technology and the polymer has been successfully developed into a component of "next-generation" oral healthcare products.
The University of Southampton's pioneering research into energy harvesting has produced proven economic impacts together with impacts on public policy and international standards. Perpetuum, a spin-out from Southampton employing 10 people locally, has attracted £9.6 million in venture capital and developed the world's leading vibration energy harvester. Perpetuum's harvesters are enabling the deployment of zero maintenance, battery-free wireless systems in the rail industry where the technology has revolutionised bearing monitoring. This has enabled, for the first time, real-time monitoring of rolling stock, leading to cost savings, improved reliability, efficiency and safety. Their systems have been deployed on 200 trains across the UK (Southeastern) and Sweden (SJ AB). Southampton's research has driven wider industrial uptake of the technology and Perpetuum's is also the only energy harvester approved for use with the worlds leading suppliers of wireless condition monitoring equipment (GE Bentley Nevada, National Instruments and Emerson). Promotion of the technology has led to a £1.25 million TSB competition on energy harvesting and Southampton researchers are assisting in the development of international standards and increasing public awareness of the technology.
The US National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST) "Digital Library of Mathematical Functions" (DLMF) available at http://dlmf.nist.gov/ is an online resource which informs the general public by making detailed properties of elementary and higher functions freely available to all. The DLMF together with its print companion, the new NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions, published by Cambridge University Press (CUP, 2010), replaces and updates the National Bureau of Standards Handbook of Mathematical Functions (Abramowitz & Stegun), a classic source which is one of the best-selling mathematics texts of all time. The fact that the 10-year DLMF project has been led and funded by NIST, part of the US Department of Commerce, is a measure of the economic importance of making this information publically available, so that science and engineering practitioners can use it freely. In addition, CUP has already received considerable benefit through the strong sales of the NIST Handbook since its publication, and prestige from the praise that the DLMF has already received from the US government and industrial societies.
A chapter of the new Handbook has been contributed by a member of the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, and is based on research carried out at Kent. The provision of this information in an interactive format raises awareness and understanding, and enhances the work of practitioners such as industrial scientists and teachers in disciplines outside mathematics, by allowing them easy and immediate access to the most relevant and up to date research results in this area.