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18. Improving survivability of protective structures through novel design and modelling

Summary of the impact

The vulnerability of both military and civilian infrastructure to the threat of terrorist activity has highlighted the need to improve its survivability, and this poses a significant design challenge to engineers. Research work at Imperial has led to the development of novel constitutive relationships for polymeric materials coupled to novel analysis procedures; software algorithms for effective simulations of blast and impact events; and enhanced experimental testing methods allowing a fundamental understanding of the structures. According to Dstl, this body of research has `unquestionably improved the security and effectiveness of the UK armed forces operating in hostile environments abroad as well as the safety of citizens using metropolitan infrastructure within the UK'. The techniques have been applied to vehicles and UK infrastructure, including for high profile events, such as the 2012 Olympics.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Engineering

Transformational Cost-Risk Reductions and Significantly Increased Safety Through Interdisciplinary Model Based Systems Engineering in Extremely Complex Operational Environments

Summary of the impact

Loughborough University's (LU) interdisciplinary model based systems engineering (MBSE) research (2001-2010) has directly enabled life-saving operations by i) Developing synthetic vision systems to improve the safety of emergency services helicopter operations involving low level flight during day, night, all weather and conditions of zero visibility, and ii) Saving lives through a reduction in morbidity and mortality of babies born with congenital heart defects.

The impact translates directly into significant cost savings and safety risk reductions in expensive flight trials costing millions of pounds by BAE Systems [5.1], and in supporting clinical practice/surgical interventions by University Hospital of Rennes [5.2] with a reduction in the morbidity and mortality of babies born with congenital heart defects in Brittany, France.

Submitting Institution

Loughborough University

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Computer Software

High Performance Simulation techniques to reduce industrial production and logistics costs through better management

Summary of the impact

The research has enabled industrial simulation users to investigate and develop larger scale systems faster and cheaper and thus to explore a wider variety of cost-saving options with more precision, and industrial simulation providers to offer new high-performance simulation (HPS) products and services. As a direct result of this work: Ford has made £150,000 cost savings in consultancy and significant process improvements to engine manufacture globally; Saker Solutions (UK SME) has created the first ever HPS system for production and logistics; Sellafield PLC has used this system to make significant process improvements and savings in the management of nuclear waste reprocessing of around £200,000 per year; and Whole Systems Partnership (a UK SME) used a spin-off from this research to generate a £200,000 per year revenue stream from interoperable healthcare decision support systems. Globally, several other companies are adopting the standardisation efforts and other outcomes of the research as the foundation for future innovation.

Submitting Institution

Brunel University

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Computer Software, Information Systems

New Bottle Manufacturing Technology leads to Energy and Material Savings

Summary of the impact

Multinational companies [text removed for publication] have saved more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic and $10M in less than 4 years, using QUB technology to develop their innovative lightweight plastic bottles.

This has created both economic and environmental impact through the savings in material, transport and energy costs and a reduction in CO2 usage. For example the [text removed for publication] showed savings per year of €3M and 1800 tonnes of plastic and a reduction of CO2 of 800 tonnes/year.

A spin-out company, built on this technology, was created in 2012 and is actively selling process instrumentation (THERMOscan) to both USA and EU customers enabling them to make further reductions in material and energy usage. The product won a clean energy award in 2011.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry
Engineering: Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering

Unique simulation software tools for the global semiconductor industry

Summary of the impact

The development of unique computer simulation tools has profoundly influenced the design and manufacture of silicon chips fuelling the $300 billion per year semiconductor industry. A pioneer of statistical variability research, Professor Asen Asenov developed understanding and awareness of statistical variability in the nanoscale transistors which make up all silicon chips. Gold Standard Simulations (GSS) was created in 2010 and by 2012-13 had grown revenue from services and licensing to $1million. GSS tools are currently used in foundries providing 75% of all semiconductor production for fabless design companies globally. For example, working with GSS and their simulation tools has reduced the development time for IBM's next generation of CMOS technology by 1 year, representing significant savings in the 3-5 year technology development cycle.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Condensed Matter Physics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Engineering: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

12. Process Systems Enterprise Ltd

Summary of the impact

Research into new process modelling tools and numerical simulation and optimisation algorithms at Imperial's Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE) has resulted in a powerful new modelling technology. In 1997, a team from (CPSE) established a spin-out company, Process Systems Enterprise Ltd (PSE, www.psenterprise.com), to commercialise this process and energy systems modelling platform — gPROMSTM and to provide associated leading-edge model based services such as the design of new processes and the optimisation of existing processes.

Based on turnover (£400k at launch to £10m today), PSE is now recognised as a leading provider of process modelling technology and modelling platforms, with over 100 employees in high-end jobs. Its customers include most of the world's leading chemical, energy and automotive companies (e.g. Dow Chemical, BASF, BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Mitsubishi Chemicals) and it has a strong international presence with offices in the UK, US, Germany, Japan and Korea and agencies in China, India, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The overall benefit to industry over the REF period is estimated to be £400m. The software allows customers to model, understand and optimise their processes in an unprecedented manner, leading to improved designs and more efficient operations. The gPROMSTM software is used in over 200 universities for both teaching and research (primarily the latter), where it enables research into new chemical and energy processes to take place.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics, Information Systems

Establishing a Systems Biology approach to drug discovery and therapy design: Physiomics Plc

Summary of the impact

Steered by Professor David Fell of Oxford Brookes University, Physiomics plc, an Oxford-based biotechnology innovation company has, since 2008, firmly established itself as a leading light in systems biology approaches to drug discovery and latterly in therapy design, demonstrable through contracts with three major international pharmaceutical companies. Through its strong advocacy of this approach the sector has invested in and adopted new computational biology processes. As Physiomics has continued to grow, it has expanded its own specialist research team, in many cases recruiting scientists trained within Fell's Brookes-based research group.

Submitting Institution

Oxford Brookes University

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Biological Sciences: Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Genetics

1. Mathematics and Healthcare: Saving Lives and Reducing Costs

Summary of the impact

Research conducted at the School of Mathematics at Cardiff University has engineered lifesaving, improvements to UK healthcare systems. New mathematical models, accounting for the complexity and diversity of the health system, have been created and applied in a variety of contexts to markedly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of a wide range of healthcare services — at policy, commissioning and operational levels. The extensive benefits include:

  • Reducing the mortality of trauma patients across South London by 54% (equating to 0.7 additional survivors out of every 100 patients for the period 2010-2012, rising to 4.2 in 2013)
  • Reducing the mortality of stroke patients across South London by 60% through the creation of a new Stroke Unit, based on the research findings (the services were rated as the best in the country by the National Sentinel Audit 2010 organised by the Royal College of Physicians).
  • Realising net efficiency gains of £1.6m per year in the emergency department at University Hospital of Wales;
  • Provision of hospital capacity planning tools in use across the UK

This work has been disseminated nationally and internationally, in the media and at a range of events designed to engage the public with Mathematics. Therefore the impacts claimed in this case study are health, economic benefits and public engagement.

Submitting Institution

Cardiff University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics

Fracture modelling saves money, increases productivity and makes mining safer

Summary of the impact

From 1995 Professor Munjiza's research at QMUL has led to the development of a series of algorithms which can predict the movement and relationship between objects. These algorithms have been commercialised by a range of international engineering and software companies including Orica, the world's leading blasting systems provider (via their MBM software package), and the software modelling company, Dassault Systems (via their Abaqus software). Through these commercialisation routes Munjiza's work has generated significant economic impact which is global in nature. For example, his predictive algorithms have enabled safer, more productive blast mining for Orica's clients — in one mine alone, software based on Munjiza's modelling approach has meant a 10% increase in productivity, a 7% reduction in costs and an annual saving of $2.8 million. It has also been used in Dassault Systems' Abaqus modelling software, which is the world's leading generic simulation software used to solve a wide variety of industrial problems across the defence, automobile, construction, aerospace and chemicals sectors with associated economic impact.

Submitting Institution

Queen Mary, University of London

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Numerical and Computational Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics
Engineering: Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy

Improved shock physics modelling as an alternative to nuclear testing

Summary of the impact

Cranfield University's research in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), turbulence models, studies of instabilities and the development of multi-scale methods has reduced the computational uncertainty in the modelling and simulation used by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) to support the safety and performance of nuclear weapons.

Cranfield's research in compressible turbulent flow for Low Mach numbers is now employed to increase accuracy in CFD codes employed by the German Aerospace Agency DLR, Pennsylvania State University, and the French Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, which use this work to model flows ranging from turbulent mixing through inertial confinement fusion (ICF) to scramjets.

Submitting Institution

Cranfield University

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Other Earth Sciences
Engineering: Interdisciplinary Engineering

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