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Historical research by UCLan staff has underpinned significant re-developments at the People's History Museum (PHM) and Co-operative College (CC), which have enhanced their out-reach across the region and beyond.
The 33km Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) was one of the most polluted waterways in Europe following the industrial revolution. Ecosystems were destroyed and odorous sediment rafts prevented the redevelopment and regeneration of the surrounding water front areas that had an estimated real estate value of £500m.
The research led by White established the cause and extent of water pollution in the upper MSC and Salford Quays. Critically this research allowed evidence based restoration programmes to be initiated that have rejuvenated the waterway and Salford Quays areas. This improvement in water quality was the essential first step in the long term development of Salford Quays that has seen approximately 2,000 homes being built and the arrival of 900 businesses that employ over 35,000 people.
Borden's research into the history and contemporary urban practice of skateboarding, and particularly its role within cities and public spaces, has enhanced understanding of this global urban activity, leading to significant changes in how the public and media understand skateboarding culture in the UK and abroad. His work has also contributed to the campaign to save a historic skateboarding site at the Southbank Centre in London, and to moves to protect similar sites elsewhere. Finally, research by Borden has informed the design and development of some of the most influential skateboarding venues in the country.
Gunn is a writer of fiction, with works published by commercial literary presses and substantial sales to a general readership. The research constitutes an experiment with artistic form, reworking modernist techniques and themes, such as bricolage, the imitation of musical form and the feminist revaluation of domestic experiences and objects. The underlying research question is: how can the technical resources and cultural preoccupations of modernist literary experiment be deployed to engage and inform a 21st-century reading public?
Gunn's research is communicated to the public through book sales, interviews, readings, and articles in the broadcast and print media, and through the Dundee Literary Festival. These activities enhance public understanding of the creative process for the wider community, providing cultural enrichment and economic benefit at the level of the local, national and international.
Expertise in mobile and location-aware web applications has underpinned the development of a revolutionary new security alarm system. Collaboration with an SME created, for the first time, a system to alert customers in real-time, via sensor-triggered cameras and phones. The impact of this collaboration has been to transform a UK company from a distributor of hardware to a leading innovator in security. More than £1 million of the company's £1.9 million turnover for 2012 was directly attributed to sales of the new system, now operating at more than 800 sites, providing improved security and cost savings — for example through preventing metal theft — for commercial, transport, ecclesiastical and construction sites across the UK.