Summary of the impact

A unified design methodology for tuning gas turbine engine controllers, developed by researchers in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE), is being used by Rolls- Royce across its latest fleet of Civil Aero Trent engines. Trent engines are used to power, for example, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 aircraft that have been adopted by the world's leading airlines.

This new methodology has made economic impact through the introduction of a new process for tuning gas turbine engine controllers leading to the adoption of a significantly changed technology. Indicators of impact are:

i) a new control law and design practice, resulting in a unified approach for different projects;

ii) reduced development effort by shortening and simplifying the design exercise and rendering it suitable for modular insertion; and

iii) streamlined verification requirements.

Summary of the impact

The research team at Bucks New University has provided the groundwork for a number of applications to use cardiac power output as a novel functional measurement in the clinical evaluation of patients with heart failure and other related diseases. It involved validating the measure, assessing its reliability and applying it to a group of patients with end-stage heart failure. The success of this procedure is now evidenced by the number of national and international clinical centres adopting cardiac power output as a key functional measurement.

Summary of the impact

This case study outlines the impact of Professor McNiff's career-long research programme aimed at supporting practitioners' action enquiries for social transformation, and finding ways collaboratively to:

• Improve the quality of practitioner research so as to influence new forms of thinking, practice and policy formation;
• Demonstrate quality and validity through methodologically robust accounts of practice;
• Articulate the significance of this research programme for dialogical cultures of educational enquiry.

The research has been undertaken internationally across multiple settings and sectors, and supported through the production of associated resources. The collective accounts constitute a global knowledge base that links impact and validity through critical self-enquiry.

Summary of the impact

The ESRC Innogen Centre brought together a multiplicity of disciplines for a large 12-year research programme (2002-14) on the impact of regulation on innovation dynamics in the life sciences. Research design promoted interactions between stakeholders to achieve policy impact. Innogen developed a range of tooIs to disseminate research findings and influence policy in Europe, the African Union (AU), Kenya, Qatar and at the OECD. We used secondments and temporary placements to achieve impact, as well as more traditional activities and outputs, resulting in major policy impacts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Summary of the impact

Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is a very well known, international specification for secure mobile radio and `walkie-talkie' communication, that is extensively used and relied upon by emergency and public safety services such as police, ambulance and fire services, as well as governmental and private bodies. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) began standardising TETRA in the 1990s and it is now widely used throughout the world. Foundations of its success include resilience and reliability, but security is a major feature, being underpinned by expert cryptographic design. In particular the authentication and key generation mechanisms in TETRA rely on a block cipher (HURDLE) which was designed by a team of cryptographers at Royal Holloway.

The work carried out at Royal Holloway underpins the integrity and security of TETRA safety- critical networks throughout the world to the present day. A secure design for emergency service communications minimises both the amount of disruption criminals can cause to service operations, and the amount of operational information such criminals can glean from eavesdropping, contributing to the safety and security of society as a whole as well as the economic benefits to manufacturers of TETRA-based equipment.

Summary of the impact

Our work on children's agency in research has had three impacts:

• the Children's Research Centre (CRC) created new opportunities for children and young people to engage in their own research and publish their reports online
• their findings have impacted on policy and practice, for example on support for children with Graves' disease
• participating in the research process has positively changed the way children and young people view themselves.

This approach has been replicated in Australia, Turkey, New Zealand, Norway and Qatar. The CRC website hosts 150 successful projects by children and young people, and through the Diana Award more than 1500 children were supported in their research on cyberbullying.

Summary of the impact

The Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) is recognised internationally for its research in developing advanced computational numerical models for simulating the energy and environmental performance of the built environment. These models have been used by leading design practices in the design of major buildings and urban developments. This impact case study presents three models from this research activity that have been widely taken up by industry worldwide, namely, the `building energy' model HTB2, the urban scale `energy and environment prediction' framework EEP and the `building environment' model ECOTECT.

• HTB2 has been used by leading international practices in the design of over 100 exemplary low energy buildings, including Dubai's award-winning Lighthouse tower, and EMPA, the first zero energy office building in Switzerland.
• EEP modelling framework for urban simulation has been used to assess the energy performance of existing large estates, for example, for use in housing retrofit programmes, and, to plan low-carbon developments, such as the Gateway City in Ras al Khaimer. It is now accessible through Google SketchUp, a common design tool used by architects.
• Ecotect underwent significant development at the WSA before its sale to Autodesk in 2008, and by 2010 had over 2000 licenced users globally.

Application of the models, often linked (e.g. HTB2 is the numerical engine for EEP and is accessible within the ECOTECT framework), has resulted in extensive environmental benefits, through reductions in global CO₂ emissions. Additionally, there has been a marked impact on practitioners and professional practices, through new guidelines for major international developments (e.g. Pearl Island Qatar and the Chongqing Ba'nan Low Carbon Development).

Summary of the impact

The case study outlined here is concerned with how human behaviour and social practices can be shaped and guided by applying education for sustainability. Outreach for this work influences both policy and practice through advisory roles with international curriculum reforms (Australia-ACARA), national training and development consultancy in high-impact organisations (World Bank, Liverpool FC and Burnley FC, Mott MacDonald, Business In The Community), and practical applications including setting up for the DfE the first School of Sustainability / high school as an academy in Burnley, Lancashire and establishing other sites in urban and rural settings in various locations of the Pop-Up-Foundation project across the world.

Summary of the impact

Research led by two members of the University of Warwick's School of Engineering strongly influenced the planning, drafting and technical content of nearly all of Eurocode 4, one of ten European civil engineering standards. Eurocode 4 covers composite structures made of steel and concrete. Since 2010 this standard has been in force in all countries of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). The Eurocodes are the only set of design rules for publicly-funded structures on land that satisfy national building regulations throughout the EU and EFTA. Their impact on structural engineering is wide-ranging and growing, the principles and methodology contained within these Eurocode 4 will be the basis of engineering design teaching for Chartered Engineers throughout the EU.

Summary of the impact

Despite the great public appetite for knowledge about life in Tudor England, until Steve Gunn undertook a huge study of coroners' records, we knew very little about how people lived — and died. Some of his findings shine new light on famous figures, such as the family of William Shakespeare. Others show how ordinary people lived — at work, at home, travelling or relaxing. They reveal the similarities and contrasts between dangers faced by our ancestors and those in modern life. The research has inspired enormous public interest, and it has also provided a historical perspective for organisations concerned with the implementation of health and safety policy.