Summary of the impact

This research within the Unit was in collaboration with TT Electronics plc. to develop a novel low-ohmic thin film resistor for precision current measurement in power management applications. TT Electronics plc. is an international company with 6,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over £500 million to multinational clients such as BMW, Daimler and BAE Systems. Since 2008 the benefits of this research to TT Electronics plc. include:

• a new product launched with a full scale new production line (4.8 million units per annum);
• confirmed new orders of £2 million over the next four years with 12 new international clients;
• 10% reduction in the production cost for existing thin film based resistor products;
• an increase of employees by two per cent at Welwyn Components Ltd (TT Electronics plc. plant in Bedlington, UK).

Summary of the impact

This case study describes impact from the Newcastle-led research project to construct the world's first dedicated single-crystal diffraction synchrotron beamline for chemistry and materials science at Daresbury Laboratory Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS). The result was an innovative and productive facility that has served as the model for the development of other facilities internationally, especially at Diamond Light Source (UK) and the Advanced Light Source (USA). The original Newcastle University research has helped produce scientists now employed by industry and public service sectors around the world. Major new and beneficial drugs and catalysts have been developed with the aid of the synchrotron beamlines and work conducted at these facilities has been critically important for the advancement of the global chemical and pharmaceutical industries and US Government energy development programmes.

Summary of the impact

The pioneering work of Steven Ley on polymer-supported reagents and continuous-flow reaction technology has helped change the way we achieve cleaner chemical processes. The concepts and techniques invented in Cambridge allow more sustainable processes to be developed, with concomitant reduction in purification steps, shorter reaction times and diminished solvent usage. The work has led to a spin-out company (Reaxa), seeded the creation of a number of other companies, and resulted in the development of several devices for continuous flow synthesis that are now commercially available via Mettler-Toledo (USA) and Cambridge Reactor Design (UK). This technology is having an impact in industry, with continuous flow processing increasingly being used for full-scale commercial production.

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Dr John Baker at the University's Institute for Name-Studies (INS) through the Leverhulme-funded Landscapes of Governance project has:

• actively engaged community groups and individuals in academic research as volunteers: fifty of the project's 350 early medieval assembly sites were recorded by volunteer groups and individuals, a number of whom were inspired to undertake further related research of their own;
• enhanced public awareness and understanding about assembly sites through public engagement events, media coverage, `popular' publications (with local and national audiences totalling over 2 million) and freely available web resources, particularly the Key to English Place-Names (accessed by 18,913 individuals between January 2012 and July 2013);
• informed practice at the BBC through the provision of expert advice on a range of onomastic matters.

Summary of the impact

Home's continuing research on planning and accommodation for Gypsies/Travellers originated as far back as 1980, and contributed key evidence to the Parliamentary Committee in 2004 leading to a statutory requirement on local authorities to undertake local Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs). The research-based methodology pioneered in the Cambridge sub-region GTAA has become best practice for GTAAs in the current REF period, and in 2011 media coverage of the high-profile Dale Farm evictions drew upon his research through media contributions by him (in TV, radio and newspapers).