Impact case study database

RAIDS and its associated supporting models has influenced industrial practice and facilitated the shaping of a goal-setting regime, now increasingly used in maritime systems design and operation. Examples of industry adoption of the risk-based decision support tool follow:

1. The HSE has used the tool to improve offshore safety through a reduction in the number of collisions between offshore installations and vessels [ROs 3, 4; RPs 1, 2, 12]. The support tool currently benefits more than 184 offshore oil and gas installations on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). The research has directly led to the development of HSE guidance on avoiding offshore installation-ship collisions and improving the current capabilities of equipment able to warn of a potential collision - using Marine Radar (on Standby vessels or installations), Automatic Radar Plotting Aids, Radar Early Warning systems, Automatic Identification System (AIS) radio navigation and Vessel Traffic Monitoring Systems (VTS). The three relevant HSE guidelines produced by LJMU in collaboration with HSE are: 1) Effective collision risk management for offshore installations, HSE Book, 2019, 200 pages; 2) Ship/Platform collision incident database (2015), HSE Books, 2019; 3) Collision detection on the UKCS, HSE Books, 2019. 184 offshore oil and gas platforms on the UKCS and 1,327 worldwide have benefited from these guidelines since 2019 [Source 1]. Benefits to the offshore oil and gas platforms have included cost savings from the reduced risk of the demolition/removal of damaged installations after a collision, environmental clean-up and potential commercial costs associated with loss of contracts and business reputation. 14 ship operators including Swire Group, Tidewater, Fletcher Shipping and Subsea7 have benefited from the guidelines. Anchor-handling tug supply vessels, platform supply vessels, multipurpose supply vessels, emergency response/standby and rescue vessels, crew vessels and chase vessels run by these operators have used the guidelines to “ reduce the risk of a collision. In total, 500 offshore support vessels operated by these companies have used the guidelines in their enterprises” [Source 1]. The guidelines have provided the HSE with an indication of the effectiveness of the regulatory regime. They have been used to inform new HSE developments such as the ‘Walk to Work (W2W)’ and multi-agency incident response guidance. The guidelines have “ provided offshore stakeholders with an enhanced awareness of both incident occurrence and the regulatory oversight; and have assisted in the reduction of potential collisions and hence helped maintain the risk control options necessary to prevent the loss of life” [Source 1]. 10 other countries, including Ireland, have also benefited from this research, since they monitor ongoing activities on the UKCS and often duplicate the UK regulatory regime for their own use. Many large offshore operators such as BP and Shell are international operators with their own corporate standards which are then applied locally. They have used the research findings to benchmark themselves against the collision data and looked at ways of detecting potential collision risk as part of mitigation measures [Source 1].

2. The risk-based decision support tool has led to the development of a Risk-Based Verification (RBV) framework for offshore installations [RO 5; RPs 2, 4]. The RBV framework has “ helped duty holders effectively implement the verification process and guided Independent Competent Persons (ICPs) to evaluate the risk associated with safety critical elements” [Source 5.2]. Lloyd’s Register has adopted the tool to facilitate the RBV certification process for offshore oil and gas rigs, which is a mandatory process within the UKCS. Since the introduction of the EU Offshore Safety Directive in 2014, other countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Brunei and Nigeria have adopted this regime. 40 duty holders (owners) including BP, and 250 fixed offshore oil and gas installations have benefited from the work as it has identified the gaps in the verification process, as well as proposed solutions, such as a toolkit for duty holders/independent verification bodies and the introduction of a proactive verification process. Direct beneficiaries have been the offshore workforce, benefiting from a root cause analysis of the degraded Safety Environmental Critical Elements (SECEs). The RBV framework has been used to identify, and systematically analyse major accident hazards/SECEs, directly leading to a reduction in the cost of verification (10% estimated by Lloyds Register) [Source 2].

3. The risk-based decision support tool [RO 1; RPs 3, 6] has been used in Shell Global Lubricants’ planned maintenance system using lubricating oil condition monitoring techniques, benefiting 1,000 ships with tonnage ranging between 5,000 and 250,000 tons. Ship operators’ lubricating oil has been monitored in order to take appropriate action before the ship’s machinery system breaks down. Industry analysis has indicated that the Return on Investment for lubricating oil analysis, incorporating the safety-based support system, is approximately 14 times. The efficient marine planned maintenance system has been used for robust improvement and management, especially in situations where conventional planned maintenance techniques cannot be implemented with confidence due to data deficiency. The business benefit has been very significant in terms of: 1) the direct revenue from the LubeAnalyst service (over $10m each year since 2016); and 2) the additional lubricants business as a result of being able to offer innovative services (over $100m each year since 2016). It has also led to the development of new strategic partnerships in marine lubricants between Shell and a number of its clients [Source 3].

4. The research has been instrumental in the development of a new engineering safety training approach for high-risk industries, which includes the marine and offshore sectors (mainly in the Middle East region), initially through a two-year KTP project with Risktec Solutions Ltd [RO 6; RP 11]. Risktec Solutions Ltd is a global specialist in risk management consulting, software and risk management training, helping clients manage health, safety, security, environmental and business risk. This KTP project was assessed as “Outstanding” by the KTP Grading Panel in 2010, and selected as the best Knowledge Transfer Partnership in the North West in the KTP Regional Partnership Awards 2011. A novel training approach based on the risk-based decision support tool was used to develop a series of risk assessment courses [RPs 5, 9]. “ The Risktec training business has generated revenues of over £7.5 million since 2014. An approximate revenue per year is £1.2m. Based on 2019 revenue, the FTE for this new business is approximately an additional 5 FTEs.” Risktec has seen “positive internal staff development for junior staff. There is a general perception (but not one that is easily measurable) that offering training in addition to the core services has improved Risktec’s exposure to new customers and clients through an increased profile. This new training approach has enabled Risktec Solutions Ltd to operate their businesses with a much stronger capacity” [Source 4]. Risktec has part-funded an industrial lectureship (50%) in Risk Assessment at LOOM since 2014. An industrial MSc. course in risk assessment, managed by Risktec in cooperation with Liverpool John Moores University, has attracted an average cohort of 10 learners each year since 2014. The risk-based decision support tool has been used in more than 10 consulting projects worth £5m to Risktec since 2014 [Source 4].

5. The risk-based decision support tool has been used in the design of Alterations and Additions (A&As) for vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) since 2016 [RO 6; RP 6], specifically in upgrading and updating capability decision-making. The decision-making tool has been employed in 9 ships of the RFA flotilla and 4 ships (Tide Class tankers) in various stages of completion, trials and commissioning since 2016. The risk-based decision support tool has been incorporated in a novel way, through the application of formal decision-making techniques allied to A&A reasoning as an integral part of the ‘in-service’ Design Control Board (DCB) process for RFA ships. The DCB process is fundamental to the risk-based decisions made by the RFA for A&As, and has led to cost savings in A&As implementation as a result of a 14-26% saving in man hours. The fundamental principles (of A&A implementation) are applicable to surface ships undergoing design change throughout their service life within the Royal Navy [Source 5].

6. Operational policy and regulations for more than 200 large inland vessels have been shaped/modified through the use of the risk-based decision support tool [ROs 1, 4; RP 8] by the Three Gorges Navigation Authority and Changjiang Safety Agency, China since 2015. This has increased the annual ship capacity of the Three Gorges ship lock by between 5 and 8% since 2015. Over 45,000 vessels carrying more than 100m tons of cargo pass through the Three Gorges each year [Source 6]. Navigation pressure on the Three Gorges ship lock has eased significantly. The enhanced security warning capabilities incorporating the risk-based support tool have utilized fully the supervision and assistance of modern equipment such as VTS, GPS, and CCTV, rationalizing the working procedures and responsibilities of the navigable command, locks, anchorages, etc. The effective identification and real-time monitoring of the ship’s navigation are strengthened and implemented. As a result, the time taken for ships to pass through the gate has been shortened and the daily operating efficiency of the ship lock has been improved [Source 6].

7. The research into developing a risk assessment-based approach into the assessment of vessel traffic risks at pilotage and in congested waters [RO 2; RP 7], has been used by the Shanghai Pilot Station (SPS) at the Port of Shanghai to improve SPS pilotage safety since 2014. The technical model, with uncertainties in data and validation, of the proposed risk reduction measures has been developed within the risk-based decision support tool, in collaboration with those at SPS [Source 7]. The research has resulted in an annual reduction of pilotage-related vessel traffic incidents/accidents by 8-12% since 2014. The estimated savings from reducing pilotage-related vessel traffic incidents/accidents are £5m per year since 2014. SPS oversees about 5,000 large ships piloted through the Port of Shanghai each year [Source 7].

8. A detailed study of the relationship between pure risk and compliance and its impact on the risk assessment process has been conducted with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Limited since 2017 [RP 10]. “ Ascertaining what effect work-based substance misuse has on the safety and financial performance of business allows for better assessment methodologies and allows an understanding of the true cost and scale of substance abuse in a UK workforce. The control of substance misuse in the workplace has an effect on the company’s incident and accident rates”. The risk-based decision support tool has been used to produce an industrial guideline on drug and alcohol abuse through investigating if the control of substance misuse in the workplace has any effect on the company’s incident and accident rates. The guideline has been in use by Siemens, “ *already benefited a number of offshore wind farms and has been shared with the offshore wind energy industry body (The G+ Organisation)*”. The drug-related accident rate has fallen by 40% and the incident rate by 58% in 2019 when compared to the 2017 figures. Annual hours saved have increased by 56% when compared with the 2017 data [Source 8].

Evidence of the long-term industrial impact is demonstrated by three prestigious awards to LOOM members from three professional institutions. These include 1) the award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Marine Safety’ from the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in 2018; 2) the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) – Lloyd’s Register Maritime Safety award for improving the safety of life at sea and the protection of the maritime environment through novel and improved design, construction and operational procedures in 2018; and 3) “Award for Risk Reduction in Mechanical Engineering” for outstanding contribution in risk reduction of maritime/mechanical systems as the annual winner from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in 2018. All three awards are given to a member of the global marine community in recognition of a significant contribution to improving maritime safety in the sector annually.

The research of the Microelectronics Group (MG) is mainly funded by the EPSRC. EPSRC emphasizes the impact of research on industry and society. MG shares this value and has used industry relevance as a core criterion when selecting research topics. The projects were created by consulting industrial partners and all test samples used in the projects were supplied by partners. To increase the impact, MG chose to publish their results at industry-centric conferences, such as IEDM, where leading companies, such as Intel, announce their latest breakthroughs. The knowledge gained through this industry-centric research approach enables the MG to provide a service to the industry in terms of:

(W1) The predicative modelling

Early works from some research groups verified their device-ageing models by showing that the models can fit test data well. This, however, did not deliver the original mission of the modelling: to predict device and circuit performance where test data does not exist. MG determined to take up this challenge and qualified their model by its capability to predict device performance under real use conditions [R3]. This has attracted the attention of industry and the model has been used to:

(I) Qualify new processes and materials by using the model to predict device lifetime:

Ever since the invention of integrated circuits in 1958, the intensive competition has driven the industry to develop a new process every 1.5~2 years. Before one process can make its commercial debut, the industry standard requires a device lifetime of 10 years. This requires prediction, as it is impractical to test devices for that long. The MG’s predictive model has been used to qualify new processes [S1, S2 (Section 5)].

S1 is a partner of the EPSRC-funded projects and supplied some of the test samples used by the projects. The research results were disseminated directly to it through progress meetings. Two members of MG joined S1 to work on process qualification: Dr MB Zahid in 2008 and Dr B Tang in 2016.

S2 is an international chip foundry. After MG presented the AG model at the 2013 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), S2 invited members of MG to present the model to the company’s test engineers in 2014. After the presentation, the company decided to adopt the model. This involves changing test procedure and data analysis to improve the accuracy of device lifetime estimation. The company’s lawyers did not allow the company to provide a financial figure on the benefit of the model to the company.

In addition to S1 and S2, the model has received an increasingly wide attention and members of MG have been invited and funded to deliver tutorials to train test engineers on how to implement the model. Over 500 engineers have taken part in the training so far. The latest tutorial was delivered at the 26th IEEE International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis (IPFA) of Integrated Circuits, Qingdao, July 2019, with over 100 attendees [S3].

(II) Product Design Kit (PDK)

The modern microelectronic industry has some companies, such as ARM, specializing in design and others, such as TSMC, focusing on fabrication. The bridge between them is PDK. The ‘First Silicon Success’ relies on the accuracy of models used in PDK and the discrepancy between models and silicon performance is a major challenge to the industry. The research and models of MG have been used to develop reliability- and variability-aware PDKs [S4, S5]. These PDKs allow designers to take the reliability and time-dependent device-to-device variation into account when verifying their circuits, which in turn not only increases the ‘First Silicon Success’, but also optimizes the performance of designed circuits in term of power, speed, and cost.

Semiwise [S4] is a start-up, while S5 is a prime international supplier of Electron Design Automation (EDA) software. S5 is a partner in the EPSRC projects [G4, G6] and at the end of project G4, the post-doctoral researcher, Dr M Duan, joined S5 in 2018 to work on variability-aware PDK. The collaboration with S4 and S5 is further strengthened through the award of the joint EPSRC project (“Realistic fault modelling to enable optimization of low power IoT and Cognitive fault-tolerant computing systems”, EP/T026022/1, £487k) in 2020.

(W2) Embedding test techniques into commercial instruments

Based on commercial instruments, MG developed a number of advanced characterisation techniques that require technique-specific programs and hardware setups. MG realised that these programs and setups were not available to other users of the same instruments, as MG were invited by a project partner to implement the technique for their laboratory [S1].

After this experience, MG contacted the instrument supplier and explored embedding these techniques into their instruments as a module. The company then invited MG to visit their research and development centre in Ohio, USA, followed by the company visiting Liverpool John Moores University. The module has been jointly developed and embedded into the supplier’s most advanced semiconductor parameter analyser, KEITHLEY 4200, and shipped to the customers. MG worked together with the supplier to prepare the module’s user manual. In addition, MG was invited and funded to train test engineers at the workshops organized by the supplier [S6]. This collaboration started in 2012 and is on-going, as more techniques have been added to the module when they are developed by MG.

Since 2017, over 4,000 engineers have taken part in the training. The Company could not tell MG how many customers bought the instrument because of this test module. What they can say is that, at September 2019, 3145 copies of the module were shipped together with the instrument to world-wide customers [S6]. To continue the collaboration and add more techniques to the module, the Company offered a PhD studentship to MG [S7].

(W3) Contributing to development of new technologies

As transistors are downscaled to nano-meters, the cost of developing future technologies becomes so expensive that even the sector’s largest companies, such as Intel, cannot afford to do everything on their own. To share the cost, the industry has formed a consortium, based at IMEC, Belgium, whose members include Intel (US), ARM (UK), Micron (US), Samsung (Korea), Toshiba (Japan) and TSMC (Taiwan). Each company has its own assignees based at IMEC. Every six months, there is a partner technical week (PTW) to review the progress of the R&D work.

The cost of fabricating the industry-relevant nano-meter transistors is well beyond the reach of MG. To contribute to this world-wide effort to develop future generation technologies that impact the daily life of society, MG’s strategy has been to collaborate with this industrial consortium and to focus on the qualification of new processes, materials and devices sourced from the consortium.

To strengthen the link with the consortium, MG has one researcher based at IMEC, who takes part in the daily R&D activities of the consortium. This offers a direct bridge between MG and the consortium. The issues to be addressed and the test samples needed by MG are co-identified with the researchers at IMEC. The results are disseminated directly to the consortium through MG’s researcher at IMEC. The MG’s works have impacted the Consortium’s development work in terms of material selection, structure evaluation, and performance optimization [S8]. For example, one joint paper published at 2019 IEDM conference is entitled “Endurance improvement of more than five orders in GexSe1-x OTS selectors by using a novel refreshing program scheme” [R4].

The value of this collaboration has been recognized by IMEC and IMEC has supported the research at LJMU through a rolling contract of Euro100k p.a. for over 20 years [G7]. To the best of MG’s knowledge, LJMU is the only UK university that IMEC has supported continuously in this way for over two decades. LJMU is also the only UK university that has been regularly invited to give presentations to the Consortium at its ‘partner technical week’ meetings. It is a privilege for MG to work together with THE world leading consortium at the forefront of developing new technology. This has allowed MG to punch well above its weight. The collaboration goes from strength to strength, initially in the area of logic devices and now also in memory devices.

(W4) Defect-based True Random Number Generator and its commercialization

The three key issues identified for IoT are security, cost, and power consumption. Random Numbers are required in cryptography and authentication and their generator is an essential component of security systems. The algorithm-based software generators used in some security systems are not truly random and are vulnerable to attack. The True Random Number Generator (TRNG) harvests the randomness of natural phenomena in hardware without using an algorithm.

MG has gained an in-depth knowledge of defects in transistors, whose charging-discharging produces random telegraph noise. Although noise is unwanted for normal electronic circuits, MG innovatively harvested its randomness to design and build a TRNG, which is 10 times faster than the TRNG proposed by early works [R6]. The events comprising this impact are outlined in chronological order below:

• MG submitted a paper on its TRNG to the 2018 Symposium on VLSI technology. The conference organizer not only accepted the paper [R6], but also invited and funded MG to demonstrate the TRNG to the conference attendees, along with the demonstrations by Intel Corporation and Panasonic Corporation [S9].

• MG applied for, and was awarded a grant by Innovate UK to develop a proto-type product for its TRNG [G8].

• MG was invited to demonstrate its proto-type product at the 2018 International Security Expo in London. A number of companies expressed their interest in the product.

• This led to the award of USA patent (Attorney-Docket-Number: P34923US1).

• Crypta Labs and Secure Technologies Ltd are bidding for the IP for security application in their products [S10].

In summary, to maximize the significance of the impact of its research, MG has chosen to work together with world leaders by providing better models (W1), new test techniques (W2), material/structure optimization (W3), and new product design (W4). This collaboration also led to a wide reach of its impact. For example, by embedding the new technique into the instruments of a prime supplier, it reached the supplier’s world-wide customers. The sustainability of MG’s approach has been demonstrated by the continuous collaboration and by the partnership in the EPSRC projects with these leading organizations over the last two decades.

The system developed at LJMU has influenced industrial practice and benefited both industry and transport users. Evidence of impact is demonstrated below:

1. Adoption by the port industry to improve port operations ( e.g. [RPs 1, 3]). For example:

a. Vietnam’s leading logistics corporation VICONSHIP reported that the system is capable of eliminating container re-handles, which are the number of times containers have to be reshuffled unnecessarily in the yard (55% of all containers in the 600,000 TEUs/year case-study port). This is equivalent to a 23% reduction in the total cost of cargo handling and a 19% decrease in emissions from container handling vehicles [ Source 1]. In addition to cost saving, the reduction in emissions saves lives and improve quality of life. It is estimated that emissions from shipping alone cause 600 premature deaths annually in Vietnam, according to research from Nature Climate Change. [dates of impact: 2017]

b. The system reduced ship imbalance from 230 tonnes to 4.8 tonnes [ Source 1]. This work was conducted jointly with Vietnam National University Hanoi – LJMU contributed 50%. [dates of impact: 2017]

c. The system [RO 1] has helped the Port of Liverpool (Peel Ports) to better evaluate the performance of its lock system. The lock is the main entrance to the port’s second largest terminal, so understanding its performance is essential for maintaining a large throughput of 1.5m TEUs going through the lock [ Source 2]. [dates of impact: 2016]

1. Adoption by the port industry for port safety ( e.g. [RPs 2, 5]). For example, the system has provided safety self-assessment methods [RO 5], as well as a new risk analysis and alert software package. These have been incorporated into health and safety policy of several world-leading container ports such as the Port of Dalian, P. R. China. As a result, incidents occurring in the Port of Dalian (Dalian Container Terminal) in 2018- 2019 were reduced by approx. 8% (compared to the average over the past 5 years), while the annual safety cost saving has been estimated at £250k [ Source 3]. [dates of impact: 2018-19]

2. Usage by the shipping industry to improve transport resilience ( e.g. [RPs 2, 9]). For example, in 2018/19, by incorporating a new shipping resilience risk concept [RO 3] into COSCO’s global shipping network configuration, the system has reduced its incident-related logistics costs by an estimated 10% [ Source 4]. The new concept has led to a paradigm shift in COSCO shipping logistics practice, moving to a new mechanism that incorporates risk assessment from a global shipping network perspective. This new approach was proven successful when it was implemented as a case study on COSCO’s Asia-Africa logistics network. This success promoted the concept’s implementation by other COSCO logistics networks. [dates of impact: 2018-19]

3. Usage by the UK rail industry to improve its performance and passenger experience ( e.g. RPs 4, 7, 8, 10).

a. The system, which is powered by algorithms from publications such as [RO 6], has enabled the Merseyrail franchise to monitor real-time train journeys in four of their busiest stations (~24 million annual rail passenger usage). The system, currently installed in Liverpool South Parkway station, a major regional multimodal transport hub, is also providing passengers with rapid and detailed real-time information in response to network disruption. It served about 200,000 passengers within the first two months of operation, receiving a score of 10/10 from staff who used it and 8/10 from passengers [ Source 5]. [dates of impact: 2019-20]

b. The system was tested by Merseyrail to anticipate and mitigate reactionary delays, which is the major source of train delays in the UK. Experiments on ~500 real train journeys showed that the system improved delay prediction accuracy in all instances [ Source 6]. [dates of impact: 2018-19]

c. The system has given Merseyrail insights into reasons and possible mitigations of slippery rail’/low railhead adhesion that has an impact on the entire Merseyrail and wider industry network. This benefits the entire Merseyrail network [ Source 6]. [dates of impact: 2019-20]

1. The provision of cost-effective measures for road, rail and ports [RO 4] and recommendations for international bodies ( e.g., the UN) in global climate policymaking [RPs 1, 2, 9]. The identification of climate threat by major transport infrastructure via large international (30 countries) and UK national surveys [ Source 7] has helped transport stakeholders ( e.g., operators and authorities) to improve service climate resilience. It has directly shaped UN policy on “Climate Change Impact and Adaptation for International Transport Networks” ( i.e., Section 4.3.4 “Technical adaptation measures for seaports”). http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp5/publications/climate_change_2014.pdf. Specifically, our work has assisted UN policymakers to develop guidelines and approaches in climate adaptation planning in ports and transportation infrastructures by providing methods on how climate risks should be identified and how adaptation measures can be evaluated [ Source 7]. [Impact period: 2014]

2. Assisting active travel infrastructure development and promoting active travel ( e.g. [RP 6]).

a. Utilising novel sensors and artificial intelligence techniques across the six LCR local authorities, the system gathers and analyses real-time data to support decisions such as the prioritisation of cycling/walking infrastructure development (out of 31 strategic corridors). Using inputs from the system, 57.5km green cycle/walking routes are being developed/upgraded to reduce regional GHG emissions by an estimated 334 tonnes in the period 2019-21 [ Source 8]. This saves lives and improves quality of life, since the research of the British Lung Foundation in 2020 found that 1,040 deaths per year in the LCR can be directly linked to exposure to air pollution. [Impact period: 2019-20]

b. Supporting seven regional authorities to assess current levels of walking/cycling, the impact of pollution, traffic, and measures to improve active travel. For example, using sensors located in a busy area covering over 10 schools and education settings, plus a major hospital in Liverpool, the system has informed the authority the directions of vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists at peak time. This finding has fed into the development of a segregated lane for pedestrian/cyclists and thus benefited over 14,000 people and vehicles per day [ Source 9]. [Impact period: 2020]

1. Helping government, local authorities and transport operators to respond to COVID-19 [RP 6].

a. Helping government and local authorities with monitoring traffic trends during lockdown. At the request of authorities, the system has been used to monitor traffic (cars, cyclists, pedestrians etc.) as well as air quality and weather across the LCR during lockdown. The data has been shared with the Department for Transport at their request, and has also been shared with the six local authorities, the Combined Authority, and the cycling/walking commissioner [ Source 8]. The data has informed the authorities of quantitative correlations between the significant increase in cycling and walking in every area of the LCR during lockdown and an improvement in air quality. It has also quantified how the public’s travel behaviour changed over the lockdown period and the impact of weather on active travel. Importantly, the data from the system has provided evidence to support local authorities’ plans for 11 emergency popup routes across the LCR, enabling people to travel safely with social distancing, and connecting them to key locations like hospitals, workplaces, and transport stations. Using algorithms from outputs such as [RO2], the system has also provided a journey planning app (available on Google and Apple app stores) that allows local authorities to input the emergency popup routes as soon as they are installed, and also monitor traffic on these routes in real-time. So far 23km of routes have been added to the journey planner. This is the first app that allows citizens to plan journeys on popup cycling/walking routes [ Source 9]. [Impact period: 2020]

b. The system has been continuously providing rail passengers, especially key workers who had to travel to work during lockdown, with key real-time journey information using our intelligent information system at Liverpool South Parkway station. During the four months of lockdown, the system benefited over 56,000 passengers [ Source 6]. [Impact period: 2020]

c. The data from the system has helped the DfT and its partners to analyse how the COVID-19 national lockdown impacted local road and cycling networks. Partly thanks to this contribution, the aforementioned work by DfT has been awarded ‘Project of the Year 2020’ at the ITS (UK) Awards, and also ‘highly commended’ for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the COVID-19 Response’ at the British Construction Industry Awards 2020. The project team at LJMU have been issued with a certificate for this contribution [ Source 10]. [Impact period: 2020]

Some relevant events and public awards that have enhanced public awareness of the research:

• Newton Prize 2017 runner up and Highly Commended recognition (one of only 3 Highly Commended projects in 2017).

• Shortlisted for the Mersey Maritime innovation award 2018.

• Invited speech at the industry event “Data Sandbox: Improving Network Performance”, organized by the RSSB, with more than 200 industry representatives, 2018.

• Included as an example of UK research on the theme "Sea and Trade routes" in the German Ministry of Education and Research’s Science Year: 2016-2017.

• One of top 1% projects chosen by British Council to feature on their global website as Newton Fund success stories https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/science/newton/success-stories, https://www.britishcouncil.org/reducing-vietnams-port-emissions-using-new-technologies.

• Highlighted on the official social media site of the British Embassy in Vietnam as a successful example of collaboration between research organisations, government, NGOs and industries.

• Broadcast by Vietnam state television news (Haiphong TV) and recognised by regional newspapers.

Sustainable development for a smart future requires novel manufacturing technologies capable of producing continually evolving precision components, for improved product performance with lower energy consumption and higher productivity. Underpinning research that has been conducted since 2000 has brought significant impacts over the assessment period.

A. High Efficiency Deep Grinding (HEDG)

The HEDG offers a fivefold reduction in energy consumption and material removal rates up to 10 times higher than prevailing common practice. The maximum material removal rate achieved by the most advanced commercial grinding machine is 200 mm³/mm/s compared to 1000-2000 mm³/mm/s achieved by HEDG. It cuts down the grinding specific energy from over 120 J/mm³ (400 J/m³ for nickel alloy) to an average of just 7-10J/mm³ [ RO1, RG1,2].

Partner Landis-Lund, a branch of an industrial engineering group, Fives, has used the HEDG in its twin crankshaft grinders worldwide since 2013 [ SC1]. The results show the grinding cycle time was reduced by 50% thus doubling the production. Specific grinding energy has reduced from 43 J/mm³ to 7 J/mm³ with an associated specific grinding material removal rate of 2000 mm³/mm/s. With annual production of around 120 machines and a grinding capacity of some 1,000,000 parts per year, the impact on the bottom line has been significant. “… A mechanism for predicting an acceptable rough grinding regime has been built into the decision process for production engineering in our cylindrical component manufacturing. Landis-Lund have been able to add a reliable tool backed by solid research evidence that allows competitive tendering for work which would otherwise have been seen as beyond the capacity of present machine configuration” [ SC1].

Saint-Gobain Abrasives Ltd has also benefited from the HEDG. “In this particular case the research shows us a way to extend the area of application for grinding wheels into areas formally held by milling. This has helped Saint-Gobain move outside traditional areas of grinding with HEDG” [ SC2].

International engagement led to the development of novel Lithia-glass-ceramic bonded wheels that have very high wear resistance and 2-3 times longer life than their counterparts. “…The joint work with LJMU has helped us position the developed bond on the market and secure over $0.5m financial support from the Chinese government and other private equities to set up our own new factory of grinding wheel production in the High and New Technology Development Zone, in Jinan of Shandong Province, as ‘Jinan Kechuang Super Hard Material Products Co. Ltd’...” (Director X.F. Zhang) [ SC3].

B. Vibration Assisted High Efficiency Deep Grinding (Vibro-HEDG)

Innovation in low frequency vibration assisted HEDG, “Vibro-HEDG”, attracted six industrial collaborators from the grinding process supply chain - Jones & Shipman (machine tool manufacturer), Tyrolit (grinding wheel manufacturer), Fuchs (cutting fluid manufacturer), Bosch Rexroth (drives and controls manufacturer), Joloda International Ltd (heavy lifting gear manufacturer), and Winbro Group Technologies (aerospace parts manufacturer) [ RG8]. As a result of the collaboration, a theory was developed [ RO4] and an oscillatory motion was experimentally added to the process. Subsequently, Jones and Shipman designed and manufactured the world’s first commercial prototype of this machine in 2014. This concept has also been adopted by Blohm in Germany to develop a highly efficient (‘Prokos’) grinding technology, which is a direct industrial application of the Unit’s work in low frequency oscillation/vibration of the workpiece.

Technical Services Coordinator of Jones & Shipman stated “…As a grinding machine manufacturer with an international market presence … experience with … HEDG shows that there is a large market available, especially in the aerospace industry. Currently available machine tools have … reached their limit of machining speeds. A step change in speed and efficiency… Vibro-HEDG gives increased machining rates and at the same time reduces energy requirements by 30%. With the introduction of this new product, our market share has been growing in Europe and more significantly in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil….” [ SC4].

C. The Mass Finishing (MF) Abrasive Product

Fundamental research of MF with glass abrasives has led to a new abrasive tool based wholly on thermally treated recycled glass that was conceived and developed for the mass finishing industry [ RG4-6]. The tool has a proven capability and strong environmental credentials. The research initiated collaboration between LJMU and the UK HVM Catapult, which was the catalyst for the formation of regional Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) located at LJMU, the MTC@LJMU, rebranded (2019) as MTC@Liverpool to better reflect its wider regional remit.

The MF research has directly led to Potters-Vibraglaz building a new £2.5m factory in the UK (Barnsley) for high volume production of the abrasive product [ RO5] within a sector valued circa £1B/annum, immediately creating 8 new jobs. Sales revenue reached £1.2m in the first two years of production (2017 -2019) [ SC5]. The Technical Director (Potters-Ballotini/Vibraglaz), Mr S. Vaughan, stated: “…The cooperation over the past decade with Professor Morgan and his team has been invaluable in supporting and contributing to the development of this product. This has widened our product range in both the general purpose and niche markets for finishing products, and has added opportunity to extend our customer base and approach to sales and marketing. …” [ SC5].

The product uses only recycled/recyclable glass and offers a method of finishing that is more environmentally beneficial than any other process technology. It also offers a cost saving of 40% per tonne of media due to legislative compliance, waste management, and tool economies [ SC6]. The Principal Technologist of GTS, Mr. M. Marshall states: “... this has added to our baseline understanding ...and also aided our understanding of how thermal processing and physical forming in the laboratory needs to be developed when the technique comes to scale up and exploitation…the team at LJMU brought their experience and abilities to bear to make progress and deliver results” [ SC6].

D. Process Optimisation Methodology

The POSY system [ RO5] offers cost savings (2019) associated with pre-production evaluation of new components in the order £2000<Costs<£5000 per part, with new parts commonly arriving at weekly intervals [ SC7]. Technical Director of Fintek states: “…The finishing results were outstanding and demonstrated the benefit of this POSY approach. I commend Professor Morgan and his research team on the quality and usefulness of this research work. Working with LJMU has increased our industry standing and we are now regarded as Surface Finishing Specialists throughout many fields - particularly additive manufacturing” [ SC7].

The system delivers optimised processes for many other applications including pharmaceutical, food processing, agriculture and automotive. This system’s flexibility has directly led to its adoption by the MTC to support a number of high value projects, for example, the £14.3m DRAMA project over 3 years [ SC7]. “…The Process Optimisation system ……is unique and transformative as it now allows a process, which is dependent on the control of numerous parameters each having variable effect, to be designed to perform at an optimal set of conditions without extensive and expensive prior testing. A real benefit of the approach is the genericity and ease of application” [ SC7].

The world-leading research on 3-D discrete element modelling (DEM) for simulation of granular fluidised flows within MF processes [ RG4, RO5] provided a new capability for realistic low cost exploration of the processes responsible for surface evolution within MF processes. This simulator improves the understanding of process physics and impacts machine tool design through optimised process economics and performance. Through collaboration with LJMU, OTEC GmbH, Germany, the European leader in advanced mass finishing technologies, has exploited this advance in the design of their most advanced machines to assist with wear avoidance. “The effect of the increased knowledge has led to selling one additional finishing machine per year of approx. 80.000-100.000 €” for OTEC” [ SC8].

The work on grinding cycle optimisation strategies [ RO3] has been used by Ningbo Great Group Co. Ltd. in China, securing more than 30% improvement of productivity in the production line of bearings. From 2016 to 2020, the implementation of these strategies directly resulted in financial benefit averaging ¥7m (£790k) per year, giving the company a competitive edge in the roller bearing market, which was valued at $21.3 billion in 2018. “The application of your cycle optimisation strategies and grinding process parameter optimisation has positively impacted on our company performance in terms of the production time saving, the improvement of bearing grinding efficiency, and greatly improved our company's product quality. Sustained application of your technology secured an increasing improvement by more than 30% in the production efficiency of relevant products amounting to a total of ¥21m (£2.37m) gain from March 2016 to the end of 2019” [ SC9].

E. Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) Research

The research in this area categorically demonstrated that MF processes can be designed to deliver high-quality surface finishes on AM parts possessing a complex geometry [ RO5]. The research [ RG4] demonstrated the benefit of two-stage finishing systems, which has important implications for the design of the finishing cell and has resulted in the development of a new finishing capability within the MTC [ SC7].

A further key outcome from the partnership with Croft was the enhancement to the POSY (a single objective system) that elevated it to a multi-response optimisation system [ RO5]. The advanced POSY system was successfully applied to their AM production of bespoke and advanced filter and filtration assembly components. The Technical Director of Croft AM, Dr L. Geekie states: “This challenging project has delivered an in-process control for the production of AM components to target surface finish requirements and has proven the benefit of high energy mass finishing processes for high specification external finishing…” [ SC10].