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Free and open access (OA) to publicly funded research offers significant benefits, but it also requires complex new systems to underpin it. University of Southampton research has resulted in software products enabling large numbers of research institutions to implement their own digital research repositories. Studies on the viability and impact of OA have steered institutions towards a more cost-effective and impactful model for disseminating research, and UK public policy has been directly influenced by the Southampton team's advocacy work. The research also led to economic benefits through two spin-outs and the development of digital archiving techniques, which have been widely used by broadcast and film institutions.
Wilkinson has developed, evaluated and applied techniques, standards and datasets for facial depiction and identification of the dead. The impacts include:
Our impact on the theory and practice of biometrics (identification of individuals through measurement/analysis of their physiological/behavioural characteristics) embraces contributions to technological development, to general systems-level principles and to public policy and professionalisation issues. Our research and consequent engagement across the stakeholder community has impacted on the technological development of practical biometrics through take-up by industry (e.g. InMezzo, one of the UK's leading secure information specialists, has enhanced identity authentication procedures), company spinout (the EFIT-V facial recognition suite from VisionMetric Ltd fundamentally changed the means by which facial composites are created and is now used by more than 85% of Britain's Police Forces), leadership of the development of standards for the expanding commercial marketplace (e.g. establishment of standards for image acquisition for e-passports and other access control applications) and policy-level input to Government and International Professional Bodies, providing long-term support for practical deployment and end- user engagement (the Biometrics Assurance Group with Fairhurst as an independent member reported the security risk and problems identifying fingerprints within the UK government's £5.6bn ID card scheme proposal).
Agent-based computing is a new paradigm for building complex socio-technical systems composed of many interacting intelligent and autonomous components. New co-ordination and negotiation algorithms developed at the University of Southampton, have provided new methods for managing such interactions in a flexible manner. This study focuses on their applications in two new start-up companies (Aerogility and Aroxo) in the defence, aerospace and civil contingency sectors (e.g. BAE Systems, Ministry of Defence and Hampshire County Council) in helping the GB Sailing Team to success at the 2012 Olympics, and in monitoring the environment for effects of climate change.
Femtocells provide short-range (e.g. 10m) wireless coverage which enables a conventional cellular communication system to be accessed indoors. Their widespread and growing use has been aided by the work in UoA11 by the University of Bedfordshire (UoB).
In 2008, while the femtocell concept was still in its infancy, researchers at UoB with expertise in wireless networks recognised that coverage prediction and interference reduction techniques would be essential if the benefits of that concept were to be realised.
Collaboration with two industrial partners (an international organisation and a regional SME) resulted in tools that enable operators to simulate typical femtocell deployment scenarios, such as urban, dense apartments, terraced house and small offices, before femtocells can be reliably deployed by users without affecting the rest of the network (a benefit of the technology). These tools have been deployed by those partners to support their businesses. A widely-cited textbook, written for network engineers, researchers and final year students, has brought knowledge of femtocell operation to a wider audience.
Based on innovative technology invented and developed through research at the University of Southampton, sustainable pest control products by spinout company Exosect are being employed around the world to preserve the global food supply. Since 2008 its bio-control products have been newly adopted in diverse situations: by Sainsbury's in response to consumer pressure to reduce chemicals in food; by Bayer CropScience, who bought rights, in a multimillion pound deal, to a product for the protection of bee populations; by English Heritage to preserve the UK's cultural heritage. The technology has inspired a US$1m Gates Foundation grant for poverty reduction efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and raised awareness among conventional pesticide manufacturers of the environmental and economic benefits of bio-control solutions.
Platinum Group Elements (PGE) are critical strategic metals because of their unrivalled applications in catalysts, fuel cells and electronics and cancer therapies. Research and analytical methods developed at Cardiff have impacted on exploration for new PGE deposits, and more efficient processing of PGE ores by international mining companies. A key milestone between 2009 and 2012 was the discovery of a 3 billion year old giant impact crater in West Greenland. This discovery is of major economic significance because all craters previously found in this size class are associated with multi-billion dollar mineral and/or hydrocarbon resources. It led to an intellectual property transaction worth CDN$ 2.1 million and discovery of nickel and PGE deposits in Greenland by North American Nickel Incorporated.
Human rights lawyers, NGOs, journalists, the public and Scottish legislators have been informed and equipped by research on rendition and torture practices. The research has been used by human rights NGOs in their investigation and advocacy work. The research has enabled journalists to make claims that could not otherwise be supported about the extent of rendition and torture, particularly the role played by the UK. Wide international media coverage of the research led to a debate on the use of Scottish airports for rendition in the Scottish parliament. The Scottish Lord Advocate then instructed a police inquiry which is underway.
3D scanning technology has enabled multiple opportunities for innovation in diverse areas such as manufacturing, design, and the arts. However, full utilisation of this technology requires not just the scanning hardware, but accompanying software that can build meaningful, editable models. This development has been pioneered by research conducted in the School of Computer Science and Informatics, at Cardiff University. Innovative algorithms for reverse engineering and digital shape reconstruction were devised that enabled the reconstruction of complex computer aided design (CAD) models from data captured by 3D scanners. The algorithms have been endorsed by Geomagic Inc, a market leading American software corporation (recently acquired by 3D Systems), that has subsidiaries in Europe and Asia and global distributors, and incorporated into their software product suite. This is accessed by nearly 10,000 licensed users worldwide, who have applied the product for industrial applications including aerospace and automotive engineering, product design, cultural heritage preservation, and healthcare. Accordingly, the impacts claimed are twofold: a) economic gain manifesting in the benefits to Geomagic and a plethora of end users who have utilised the software, b) impact on practitioners and professional services in diverse domains.
Resistivity anomalies resulting from hydrocarbon reservoirs can be located and measured using controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) techniques. The University of Southampton played a pivotal role in the first full-scale marine CSEM survey over a hydrocarbon target in late 2000. This survey and subsequent work spawned one of the greatest technological advances in the field of oil exploration since the development of 3D seismic techniques. By the end of 2012 over 650 commercial CSEM surveys had been completed worldwide, with annual survey revenues in excess of US$200 million. The University continues to develop impact through consultancy and industry-funded research projects.