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The A350-XWB is the first Airbus airliner to have composite wings, thereby reducing structural weight compared with the current generation of metallic wings. With over 700 orders for the aircraft, the company has placed great emphasis on the need to maximise performance benefits whilst mitigating risk associated with manufacture of the all-new wing. The Bath Composites Research Unit has supplied underpinning research to:
(1) Develop an algorithm that has been used to design the composite wing skins for optimised performance;
(2) Analyse the laminate consolidation process for the wing spars.
The impact of (1) is a direct saving of 1.0 tonne of fuel per typical flight compared with current metallic skins. This represents a total fuel saving of around 40,000 tonnes, over the design life of each aircraft. The impact of (2) is the achievement of satisfactory part quality for current production rates of spars valued at £1M each when equipped.
This case study examines the long-term and ongoing relationship between an industrial collaborator (Chas A Blatchford & Sons Ltd) and researchers at the University of Roehampton. This systematic programme of biomechanical research on how prostheses perform in activities other than walking has had two significant outcomes. Firstly, this work has significantly improved prosthetic design, with four new prosthetic designs marketed worldwide. Secondly, it has increased awareness of — and importantly increased engagement with - exercise therapy for amputees among healthcare professionals (prosthetists and physiotherapists) and amputees themselves. This research has reached a wider audience including amputee charities and healthcare professionals, with whom we focus on mobility and movement rather than the prostheses.
Biocatalysts provide unique activities that facilitate chemical transformations that are simply not possible using abiotic methods. Northumbria University researchers with expertise in enzymes and biocatalysis have provided biocatalysis services to the pharmaceutical, fine chemical, food and biofuels industries through our business facing innovation unit Nzomics. This has generated significant contract research, collaboration and licence agreements to companies, including the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and the services-led company Almac. Biocatalysts produced as a result of Northumbria University research and technology transfer are sold worldwide and benefit business through their use in research and development activities, such as the production of intermediates in drug synthesis.
Over the past two decades, researchers at the Institute for the Environment (hereafter, the Institute) at Brunel University have generated substantive evidence supporting the case for regulation of discharges of pharmaceuticals into rivers and estuaries throughout Europe and for improved sewage treatment, with significant implications for water quality, aquatic life and public confidence. Their research has led to improved sewage treatment in some countries and to changes in the European Water Framework Directive (WFD; the primary legislation for protecting and conserving European water bodies), such that regulatory limits for environmental concentrations of the contraceptive pill hormones, ethinylestradiol and oestradiol, are now included in River Basin Management Plans for 2015. In 2011, a Queen's Anniversary Trust Prize was awarded to Brunel University in recognition of the Institute's considerable success in translating this research into European policy, also influencing countries outside Europe.
Research undertaken at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) studied habitat enrichment in captive coyotes (with the National Wildlife Research Center in Utah), and herd composition of donkeys, horses and mules (with the Donkey Sanctuary). These studies observed social and environmental interactions, addressing important welfare indicators in gregarious species. The work identified welfare issues in both sites and provided the necessary evidence to allow improvements to be made.
Specifically, this research has:
1) led to changes in the husbandry practice and policy in both partner institutions that have improved animal welfare;
2) improved how the Donkey Sanctuary trains international partners and undertakes welfare education.
This case study details the impact of a body of research exploring the effects of tourism on wild primates. Our findings have been communicated to a range of conservation organisations, government bodies, tourism associations and other parties, and used by them to promote wider public appreciation of tourism-related conservation issues, and to inform development of guidelines relating to primate tourism. In addition, we have engaged the public with this work through a range of traditional and online media. Through local, national and international consultation and collaboration, our research is having a significant impact on the wider approach to primate tourism.
Writtle College's Postharvest Technology Unit and the Mauritian Agriculture Research and Extension Unit (AREU) studied the use of returnable plastic crates (RPC's) to reduce food losses for subsistence farmers in Mauritius. This study demonstrated that the RPC's reduced damage caused by pressure, abrasion and lower temperatures. This study had a positive impact, mainly economic, on the postharvest losses of the "pomme d'amour" cooking tomatoes in Mauritius due to rot, damage and dehydration. As a result these stakeholders have increased their income through having a more marketable-quality crop to sell.
Internationally, immersion is a leading cause of accidental death and the leading cause of death of sportspeople (221 of the 635 UK immersion deaths in 2012 were sports-related). The Extreme Environmental Medicine & Science Research Group (EEMSRG) publishes widely, from scientific papers to specific reports for a wide range of international end-users, including various emergency services. Our research has had global impact on (i) The protection, rescue and treatment of immersion casualties, (ii) International standards, guidelines, policies, campaigns and training manuals of those responsible for the protection, rescue and resuscitation of casualties, (iii) Raised public awareness of immersion issues.
Veterinarians have long recognised health problems associated with in-breeding and extreme conformation in various pedigree dogs. However, the `Pedigree Dogs Exposed' documentary in 2008, which particularly featured the plight of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS), and resultant independent inquiry reports, to which RVC contributed, brought the extent and severity of the issue into the public eye. RVC's ongoing programme of research linked to interaction with stakeholders has contributed to the changes in breed standards instituted by the Kennel Club (KC); understanding of underlying principles governing the relationship between structure and function and affecting desired traits; developing tools to address conformation-related health problems; and driving changes in breeding practice leading to healthier dogs.
Listing an endangered DPS under US law (governed by the Endangered Species Act, ESA, of 1973) requires the use of genetic markers to assess the extent of reproductive isolation, direction and pattern of gene flow, and effective size of the DPS under assessment. Professor Hoelzel's group provided these essential data from work in multiple peer-review publications, and in a commissioned report in 2004 in support of a successful petition by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect the killer whale population residing in the inland waters of Washington State, USA, after it was shown to have declined by 20% in 10 years (Krahn et al. 2004; see volume 79, No.222 of the Federal Register for DPS listing). This formed the foundation for on-going impact on policy and regulation between 2008 and the present, including support in response to petitions filed in 2012 and 2013 (see testimonial from the Branch Chief, NOAA Fisheries). Killer whale sustainability in this region reflects general ecosystem health and supports an economically important whale-watch industry.