Results and submissions : REF 2021

Cavendish Kinetics: University of Cambridge spin out improves the energy efficiency ...

Submitting institution: University of Cambridge
Unit of assessment: 9 - Physics
Summary impact type: Technological
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: Yes

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1. Summary of the impact

Cavendish Kinetics is a University of Cambridge spin out based on the research of Professor Charles G. Smith and his team in developing digital variable capacitor products for mobile phones. These capacitors, used in 35 million phones worldwide, increase the speed at which data can be sent and received; reduce the power required to send and receive signals, increasing efficiency by 100% versus broadband antennas; and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions by an estimated 2 million Kg of CO₂ emissions per year. The economic impact of Cavendish Kinetics can be summarised as follows:

Total turnover (from March 2014 to March 2019) of USD17.149 million
A workforce of 52 (an increase of 19 within the period)
In October 2019, Qorvo Inc fully acquired Cavendish Kinetics for over USD300 million (USD300,768,000)

2. Underpinning research

Research led by Professor Charles G. Smith in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge has resulted in the development of micro-electromechanical (MEMS) switches for mobile phones which overcome the performance, production and cost challenges presented by the existing technology.

Problem

Around 2011, 4G was introduced for smart phones allowing faster data transmission because data could be split between more than one frequency band, both during upload and download. However, this brought with it new challenges. The frequency bands used by 4G are specific according to the region of the globe so one phone may need to work at over 50 different frequencies (something that will increase with 5G where new bands will be added). As there is no room in the phone to house more than one antenna, phone manufacturers use variable capacitors connected to the antenna to tune them to work at different frequencies. In the past this was achieved with gallium arsenide switches (GaAs) connected to fixed capacitors. This combination is expensive, firstly because the switches need to operate up to several gigahertz without distorting the signal or damping the resonance; and secondly, because they must also be extremely linear to avoid producing harmonic signals which swamp the receiver. Cavendish Kinetics, which Smith spun out from the university in 1994, and for whom he continued to work until its acquisition in 2019, had initially focussed on developing MEMS switches for non-volatile memory applications. By 2014, Cavendish Kinetics had changed its product from a memory device to a digital variable capacitor device. The goal was to replace the expensive GaAs switches used as variable capacitors in mobile phones with low cost micro-electromechanical (MEMS) alternatives. This goal was made possible by the detailed long-range research on understanding the properties of cantilever MEMS switches performed jointly from 2000 by the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge and Cavendish Kinetics.

Key Findings of the Research

Research in the Department of Physics has pushed for the development of the smallest possible MEMS devices which allow switches to operate at low-voltages and high-speeds and have a large ratio (greater than five orders of magnitude) between the on and off resistance. This ensures very low leakage of power when the switch is off and no unwanted dissipation of power when the switch is on [R1]. Amongst the key findings of this research are technological developments relating to control of contact roughness, cantilever switching, cantilever design and the use of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) deposition techniques. Smith’s research has explained how contact roughness alters with the contact adhesion force in nano-switches and how this relates to contact resistance changes. This is an important design parameter because the roughness of the contact is related to the contact area [R1, R2, R3]. If this becomes too large the switches stick on, while if it is too small the resistance is too high. At high powers the voltage drop across the contact results in an increased force and this can also change the contact area leading to unwanted changes in the device properties including non-linearities that can lead to harmonic generation in radio frequency (RF) devices which can swamp the receiver. Understanding how to control this contact area and roughness ensures highly linear switches can be made.

For MEMS switches to compete with semiconductor alternatives they must actuate at low voltages and switch many times before failure. Smith’s research demonstrated how controlling the contact area allowed cantilevers to switch over one billion times: about the number of times switches need to be operated to tune a mobile phone during its lifetime [R4]. His research also identified an important design technique for MEMS by demonstrating how controlling the cantilever shape using the sacrificial layer enables bump size to be controlled as well as enabling enhanced cantilever strength with minimal addition of mass (important for switching speed) [R5]. Getting the switching speed down was required so that tuning in phones could be achieved fast enough not to be noticeable to the user. Joint research [R1] also showed that the MEMS devices could be encapsulated using CMOS deposition techniques within the foundry where the sacrificial etch and cavity seal are performed in the same tool. Production on silicon in a standard CMOS facility greatly reduces the final cost of the product compared to the GaA and Silicon on Insulator switch competition. Up until then, MEMS switches were bonded into expensive hermetically sealed packages often costing between two and five times the chip cost. Being able to etch out the sacrificial layer and seal the cavity in the same tool without bringing it up to air also ensures a very clean contact to the switch.

Smith’s research therefore allowed the development of fast, low cost MEMS switches with excellent RF switching characteristics that could be switched billions of times before failure. This opened up a large market for the tuning of RF signals in mobile devices as these switches had better RF characteristics than the existing technology and the ability to be manufactured at a lower cost.

3. References to the research

.

All research outputs marked with * have been through a rigorous peer-review process. Reference R1 was a peer reviewed conference paper.

R1 Smith, C.G., van Kampen, R., Popp, J., Lacy, D., Pinchetti, D., Renault, M., Joshi, V., Beunder, M. A. (2007). Nanomechanical cantilever arrays for low-power and low-voltage embedded non-volatile memory applications. MEMS/MOEMS Components and Their Applications IV 6464, 646406 (2007). doi.org/10.1117/12.698964

**R2 Teh, W. H., & Smith, C. G. (2003). Reversible electrostatic control of micromechanical structure tunneling characteristics. J APPL PHYS, 94(7), 4614-4618. doi:10.1063/1.1606854

R3* Teh, W. H., Luo, J. K., Graham, M. A., Pavlov, A., & Smith, C. G. (2003). Near-zero curvature fabrication of miniaturized micromechanical Ni switches using electron beam cross-linked PMMA. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 13(5), 591-598. doi:10.1088/0960-1317/13/5/309

**R4 Teh, W. H., Luo, J. K., Graham, M. R., Pavlov, A., & Smith, C. G. (2003). Switching characteristics of electrostatically actuated miniaturized micromechanical metallic cantilevers. J VAC SCI TECHNOL B, 21(6), 2360-2367. doi:10.1116/1.1620515

**R5 Teh, W. H., Liang, C. T., Graham, M., & Smith, C. G. (2003). Cross-linked PMMA as a low-dimensional dielectric sacrificial layer. J MICROELECTROMECH S, 12(5), 641-648. doi:10.1109/JMEMS.2003.817891

Grants

Micro-mechanics applied to CMOS devices. Funded by Cavendish Kinetics Ltd. 01 November 1999 to 01 November 2002: GBP67,040

Semiconductor Quantum Nanoelectronics: Physics and Applications. Funded by EPSRC GR/R54224/01. 01 October 2001 to 30 September 2005: GBP3,837,487

Principal Investigator: Pepper, Professor Sir M. Co Investigators: Ford, Professor CJB. Smith, Professor CG. Linfield, Professor EH. Davies, Professor AG. Jones, Dr G. Thomas, Dr K. Ritchie, Professor DA. Barnes, Professor C.

4. Details of the impact

Smith’s research in the Department of Physics provided the foundation for the development of the Cavendish Kinetics digital variable capacitor. These capacitors improve mobile phone performance, reduce energy consumption, and therefore significantly reduce mobile device CO₂ emissions. Combined with the low cost of production, these benefits have resulted in the rapid growth of Cavendish Kinetics into a prize winning multi-million-dollar company.

Growth of Cavendish Kinetics into prize winning multi-million-dollar company

In 2013, Cavendish Kinetics started to work with TowerJazz, a partner CMOS manufacturer which ported the MEMS process Cavendish Kinetics had developed to their Tower Jazz fabrication facility in California [E1]. Tower Jazz uses the Cavendish Kinetics MEMS process to make devices which Cavendish Kinetics then sells to its customers. In June 2014, Cavendish Kinetics Ltd demonstrated MEMS devices could be cycled 50 billion times without failure [E2] leading to a USD7 million venture capital round in November 2014 [E3A]. In August 2015, the company completed a USD36 million investment round to grow their customer base and develop a wider range of MEMS products [E3B;E3C]. By February 2017, TowerJazz and Cavendish Kinetics announced they had obtained 40 smartphone handset design wins, including the 2016 Samsung Galaxy A8 [E4]. In 2017 Cavendish Kinetics won the Linley Group Choice Award which recognized the top semiconductor products of 2016. Cavendish Kinetics won for best Mobile Chip. The other award winners included big industry names such as Intel and Qualcomm [E5].

Economic Impact

The success of Cavendish Kinetics technology led to QORVO Inc. (formerly Triquint Inc.) investing in Cavendish Kinetics and agreeing an option to acquire the company outright with an offer of USD300 million minus actual net debt, plus a value based on revenue if the company achieved release of an agreed specified product [E6]. In this REF period Cavendish Kinetics greatly increased its sales, growing its customer base and increasing its turnover from USD310,235 in the year to end of March 2015 to USD7.307 million in the year to March 2019 [E7A]. Over that period from March 2014 to March 2019, the total turnover at Cavendish Kinetics was USD17.149 million [E7A]. The total workforce in 2019 was 52 people (an increase of 19 since 2014) [E7B]. Estimates show “the company has shipped over 35 million units and today counts as its clients ZTE, Oppo, Gionee, Coolpad, Xiaomi, and Samsung.” [E8]. In October 2019, Qorvo Inc fully acquired Cavendish Kinetics for for over USD300 million (USD300,768,000) [E7C].

Improving Performance: reducing phone energy consumption and increasing data transfer rates

Cavendish Kinetics digital variable capacitors are used in 35 million phones worldwide [E8]. Revenue from sales increased 53% between March 2018 and March 2019 [E7D], and this rapid growth was driven by the low cost and high technical specifications of the product.

The Cavendish Kinetics digital variable capacitors offer two major performance advantages in terms of switching and tuning which result in increased data transfer rates and reduced energy consumption. An important technique used for increasing the data transfer rates in a phone involves sending signals out at one frequency while receiving signals at a different frequency (called multiple in multiple out or MIMO). If signals are being sent out at high power (one Watt) and being received at another frequency at one micro Watt, any non-linearity on the switch causes the output power which is a million times larger than the receiver signal to generate signals at harmonics that may overlap with the input frequency swamping the input amplifier. The Cavendish Kinetics switch product solves this problem by removing the unwanted non-linearities.

An additional problem in mobile phones comes from the proximity of your hand or your head to the antenna causing a change in the resonant frequency of the circuit by locally changing the capacitance seen by the antenna. With a Cavendish Kinetics digital variable capacitor this change can be tuned out allowing far better matching of the antenna signal with the amplifier.

Both these advantages reduce the power required to send and receive signals. For example, the Cavendish Kinetics’ SmarTune Antenna Tuner (which can be used in mobile phones, tablets and wearable devices, and which fits in a 2mm² Wafer-level-Chip-ScalePackage) achieves a 100% increase in efficiency at 700 MHz versus broadband antennas [E9]. It also allows the use of bands that are closer together so that more data can be sent and received more quickly. Cavendish Kinetics tuning allows frequency tuning from 600MHz to 900MHz with a quality factor (Q) greater than 200 allowing multiple bands to be tuned in and out over this bandwidth, thereby increasing data transfer speeds [E9]. A comparable product such as the ST Parascan tunable integrated capacitor, for example, has a Q of just 55 at 700MHz [E10].

Environmental Impact: reducing CO₂ emissions

In addition to mobile phone performance improvements, the reduction in power required as a result of using the Cavendish Kinetics switch could also potentially save significant CO₂ emissions for the 35 million phones using Cavendish Kinetics digital variable capacitors [E9].

Sandrine Pfister, Impact and Financial Manager at Quadia investment suggests that: “Cavendish Kinetics’ products improve battery life by 40% with more efficient antenna function, thus reducing energy use, diminishing CO₂ emission and creating higher quality phone calls. There are more than 1.5 billion smartphones sold each year, with 5 billion people having a mobile device worldwide. Addressing the entire smartphone market, CK’s products could save up to 280 million kWh/year” [E8].

Based on the figures in the government’s methodology paper for emission factors (which estimates that UK electricity produces 0.31 KgC0₂/kWh) [E11], this suggests that Cavendish Kinetics technology is currently saving 6.5 million kWh/year for the 35 million phones which use it, resulting in a reduction of approximately 2 million Kg of CO₂ emissions per year.

Collider: interactive exhibition promotes public understanding of particle physics ...

Submitting institution: University of Cambridge
Unit of assessment: 9 - Physics
Summary impact type: Societal
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: No

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1. Summary of the impact

Collider was an exhibition about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) based on University of Cambridge research, and developed by the University’s Department of Physics, the Science Museum and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Harry Cliff, a University of Cambridge LHCb researcher, acted as Lead Curator and Head of Content for the exhibition, which was co-sponsored by STFC (the Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Winton Capital Management, had a budget of GBP2 million and filled 800m². It ran for six months at the Science Museum, London from November 2013 to May 2014, before touring internationally to France, Singapore and Australia, attracting over 650,000 visitors and widespread critical praise. The sustained impacts of the exhibition include ( i) enhancing the public’s understanding of particle physics, ( ii) pioneering new approaches to communicating science in museums and (iii) promoting the role of blue skies research amongst decision makers. For his work as Lead Curator and Head of Content, Harry Cliff was awarded the Institute of Physics HEPP Science in Society Prize (2015).

2. Underpinning research

The Significance of the Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is the world's most powerful particle collider, designed to investigate the structure of matter and the laws of nature. The four LHC experiments – ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb – record high-energy proton collisions and use them to test the predictions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, our current best theory of fundamental particles and their interactions. Experiments at the LHC search for signs of physics beyond the SM, which is required to address some of the most important questions in science: the nature of dark matter, the origin of matter, and the relative weakness of gravity compared to other fundamental forces.

Cambridge Research and the LHC

The aim of the Collider exhibition was to engage the public with the science and engineering of the LHC. The content was based directly on the research of the Department’s High Energy Physics (HEP) group, in particular the development of detector technologies for ATLAS (Professor Andy Parker) and LHCb (Professor Valerie Gibson and Dr Harry Cliff), and the search for new physics, including discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 .

Key research carried out by the HEP group and featured in the exhibition:

The Cambridge group has played a leading role in the ATLAS experiment [R1] since 1986. Prof. Andy Parker was a founder of ATLAS and project leader for the ATLAS Inner Detector for six years. The Cambridge group developed, produced and quality controlled the silicon microstrip sensors, modules and readout electronics of the ATLAS semiconductor tracker (SCT), essential for tracking particles as they emerge from the collision region. It also played a leading role in the development of data acquisition and monitoring for the online commissioning, calibration, readout and offline software of the SCT. This was essential for the discovery of the Higgs boson [R2], verifying the SM of particle physics and the mechanism by which fundamental particles acquire mass. The discovery of the Higgs boson led to the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics.
The Cambridge group led the search for supersymmetry [R3], an extension of the SM that resolves many major unanswered questions in fundamental physics, including the nature of dark matter, the origin of matter, and the mass of the Higgs boson. It was instrumental in developing new techniques to search for supersymmetric particles. These measurements ruled out many of the most popular versions of supersymmetry, forcing theoretical physicists to rethink many of their ideas and profoundly affecting our understanding of fundamental physics. The group also made major contributions to the search for microscopic black holes, predicted by several theories featuring extra dimensions of space which attempt to reconcile the weakness of gravity with the strengths of other fundamental forces. These measurements disproved many versions of these theories, providing essential information for theorists.
The Cambridge-LHCb group under Prof. Val Gibson makes a leading contribution to the LHCb experiment, developing read-out electronics and control systems for RICH (ring-imaging Cherenkov) detectors essential for identifying different types of particles [R4], which are key to almost all measurements at LHCb. Prof. Val Gibson and Dr. Harry Cliff have led studies of charge-parity symmetry violation in the decay of beauty quarks [R5, R6], attempting to understand why matter and not antimatter dominates the universe, and to search for deviations from the predictions of the SM that could indicate the existence of new particles. These measurements demonstrated that the SM has insufficient charge-parity symmetry violation to account for the preponderance of matter, profoundly impacting our understanding of high energy physics and cosmology. Prof. Gibson is a leading member of LHCb, having acted as UK Spokesperson and Chair of the Collaboration Board, representing 78 institutes worldwide.

Drawing on this body of research, and other work carried out at the LHC, University of Cambridge LHCb researcher Dr Harry Cliff – acting as Lead Curator and Head of Content for Collider - developed the content of the exhibition in collaboration with the University’s Department of Physics, the Science Museum and CERN.

4. Details of the impact

Introduction

University of Cambridge LHCb researcher Dr Harry Cliff led the Collider exhibition team as Lead Curator and Head of Content. The exhibition, co-sponsored by STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Winton Capital Management, had a budget of GBP2 million and filled 800m². It ran for six months at the Science Museum, London from November 2013, before touring Manchester, Paris, Singapore, Sydney and Brisbane between May 2014 and May 2017, attracting over 650,000 people [E1]. The sustained impacts of the exhibition include ( i) enhancing the public’s understanding of particle physics, ( ii) pioneering new approaches to communicating science in museums and (iii) promoting the role of blue skies research amongst decision makers. Harry Cliff was awarded the Institute of Physics HEPP Science in Society Prize (2015) ‘for his work as Curator and Head of Content for the successful Collider exhibition and other outreach work with the Science Museum, CERN and the Cavendish Laboratory’ [E2A].

Enhancing the Public’s Understanding of Particle Physics

The Collider exhibition promoted public understanding of the LHC and LHC research. National and international press reviews emphasised the exhibition’s ability to communicate the complexity of particle physics. David Blackburn from The Spectator [E3A] wrote: ‘ I have a new party piece. I can explain, with a degree of clarity and precision, how the Hadron Collider at CERN works and what it is looking for. I can’t claim credit for this feat of exposition … I owe everything to Collider… This is the best show in town for world weary parents to share in their children’s awe’. Steve Connor from the Independent described Collider as ‘a pocket version of the real thing, something that you can absorb and digest without getting a headache at the end of it all. It is a superb introduction to the esoteric world of experimental particle physics’ [E3B]. The Economist praised it as: ‘A smashing show…admirably the curators do not shy away from the notoriously complicated science the LHC was designed to shed light on’ [E3C]. 92% of visitors reported being either satisfied or very satisfied with the exhibition, and 93% agreed that the ‘ LHC is the largest, most sophisticated and most powerful scientific device ever made’ [E4].

The Collider exhibition succeeded in attracting near-equal proportions of male (56%) and female (44%) visitors [E4]. Given the gender imbalance in physics (roughly 3:1 male to female at A-level in the UK [E5]) this was a substantial achievement and helped engage a previously under-served female audience. Increased visibility of women in science and engineering improves female recruitment and retention in STEM [E6]. The presence of senior female scientists and engineers in the exhibition showcased the leading positions taken by women, providing role-models for female enrolment.

The exhibition was able to influence a wide audience beyond those who visited through a package of online resources accessible via links on the Collider website, including Dr Harry Cliff’s Royal Institution (RI) lecture on his research at LHCb in October 2017, which has been viewed 2.3 million times, the fourth most viewed RI lecture of all time. As with the exhibition, viewers commented on how particle physics was made accessible: ‘Harry Cliff does such an amazing job of explaining incredibly difficult physics’…‘ Totally clear and engaging throughout’ …‘ This was a spectacular presentation – the best I’ve seen about particle physics’ …‘ *superbly well explained (for a layman like me)*’ [E7].

Transforming the way museums communicate science

The Collider exhibition broke new ground in science communication. The exhibition team led by Harry Cliff included an Olivier Award-winning playwright, an Olivier Award-winning video artist, theatre set designers, graphic designers and sound artists who created an immersive exhibition that recreated the environment at CERN and allowed visitors to ‘meet’ scientists and engineers through the use of video projection and sound [E8]. Genuine scientific apparatus, including components of the accelerator and detectors were set in the context in which they are used, aiding understanding and engagement. Phillip Ball from Prospect Magazine described it as [E3D] ‘ a cultural shift...the transformation of an important scientific result (Higgs discovery) into an extraordinary cultural event isn’t a triumph of style over substance. It marks a shift in science communication’.

For its ground-breaking design, Collider won the The Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits, with the citation praising it as a ‘fine example of collaboration between scientists, historians and museum professionals’ [E2B]. A day after the exhibition opened, The Independent ran a front page news story ‘Intelligent Design’ describing the exhibition as ‘one of the most ambitious shows in the Science Museum’s 150 year history… art and science collide with spectacular results’ [E3E;E3F]. Testimonials from visitors also support the success of the approach: ‘ exceptional in its conceptual design and portrayal. Pictures/videos of how the God particle was detected are superb…It is a must see’ [E9]. As well as being extremely engaging, the use of visual models helped visitor understanding of complex scientific concepts: ‘ It was one of my highlights…the 3D model, how it works, being in the beam. I understood after this the way the beams collide’ [E4].

Promoting the role of blue skies research amongst decision makers

Leading figures in government, science and the cultural sector attended the Collider launch event, including the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne), the Minister of State for Universities and Science (David Willetts), the Chief Executive of STFC, the Director General of CERN, the Head of the Cavendish Laboratory, Professor Peter Higgs, Professor Stephen Hawking, novelist Ian McEwan and numerous members of the international particle physics community [E10].

Professor John Womersley, CEO of STFC at the time, noted the positive impact of Collider on government ministers:

‘an important bonus was the ability to use the launch event to target both David Willetts and George Osborne...it definitely helped form a positive impression of basic research... We can’t make a causal connection, but a number of positive spending decisions followed. New money was made available for the Square Kilometre Array [a multibillion-pound radio telescope] and later for DUNE [a major international neutrino experiment which subsequently attracted GBP119 million in UK government investment]’ [E11A;E11B].

Geomerics: Cambridge University spin out revolutionises lighting in video gaming

Submitting institution: University of Cambridge
Unit of assessment: 9 - Physics
Summary impact type: Technological
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: Yes

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1. Summary of the impact

Cambridge University spin-out Geomerics is based on research by Professors Michael Hobson, Anthony Lasenby, Joan Lasenby and Dr Chris Doran in geometric algebra. In December 2013, Arm acquired Geomerics for GBP13.4 million . Geomerics’ prize winning and revolutionary lighting technology:

Is integrated into Unreal, Frostbite and Unity game engines as “the most advanced lighting system the games industry knows”, reaching >1.5 million games creators with >2 billion end-users globally.
Was used by major games publishers to (a) remake the iconic 90s game Final Fantasy VII, delivering stunning graphics at unrivalled quality per man-hour (b) upgrade some of the biggest blockbuster franchises in gaming history (including FIFA, which alone has 45 million players generating revenue of >USD 1.2 billion annually).
Underpinned the production of the ground-breaking, BAFTA-award-winning game Hellblade:Senua’s Sacrifice. Developed by a Cambridge-based Independent Games maker in collaboration with clinicians/patients, the game has profoundly changed players’ lives.

2. Underpinning research

Geometric Algebra (GA) is a mathematical framework which incorporates several independent mathematical frameworks such as linear algebra, vector calculus and differential geometry. It provides a unified mathematical language for the neat description of physical systems. GA research carried out by the Astrophysics Group (Physics) and the Signal Processing Group (Engineering) at Cambridge between 2000 and 2005 (with a secondary contribution from researchers based in Arizona State University) led to the formation of the spin-out company Geomerics. The main focus of the research was fundamental theoretical physics but the methods developed proved more widely applicable. The groundwork for this widening of application was laid in a five year EPSRC Advanced Fellowship awarded to Chris Doran in 1999. The Fellowship was awarded to investigate ways that GA could be exploited in the fields of computer graphics and computer vision. This research was conducted in collaboration with Anthony Lasenby and Joan Lasenby, and during this period the research was broadened to include applications to rigid body dynamics and electromagnetism [R1]. The outcomes of this research were a series of results demonstrating how algorithms based on GA could solve problems in graphics and vision faster and more robustly than traditional techniques.

The research that led to the breakthrough product ‘Enlighten’ in 2007 was carried out jointly by staff at Cambridge University - Anthony Lasenby, Joan Lasenby and Mike Hobson - and Geomerics’ internal team led by Chris Doran. ‘Enlighten’ computes photo-realistic lighting in real-time on games consoles. This was viewed as a difficult problem because in the real world light bounces many times on its journey from source to eye and those interactions need to be captured for a complete physical model. Modelling on a games console increases the difficulty further for two reasons (1) computational resources are limited and (2) updates need to be extremely fast so there is no noticeable time lag in a game. GA proved an optimal mathematical framework for this physics problem giving accurate models which could be computed at speed. One significant challenge encountered was surface mapping (unwrapping a curved surface to a 2D planar map). Anthony Lasenby used his research on conformal geometric algebra to guide the development of new algorithms for unwrapping geometry that minimised distortion [R2,R3]. A second major challenge was de-noising. Mike Hobson had developed image reconstruction techniques based on wavelets for the analysis of astronomical images [R4,R5]. He applied similar techniques to compress images and speed up calculations. Joan Lasenby and her team then used foundational work on conformal geometric algebra [R2] to produce the first real-time lighting model. These strands of research provided the technical advances which allowed the development of Geomerics’ prize winning Enlighten software.

4. Details of the impact

Cambridge Research leads to award-winning spin-out Geomerics

Geomerics was spun out in 2005 from research carried out by University of Cambridge Professors Michael Hobson, Anthony Lasenby, Joan Lasenby and Dr Chris Doran (first full-time CEO). Chip-design giant Arm, acquired Geomerics in Dec 2013 for GBP13.4 million [E1b], and said of Geomerics *“The innovative technologies being developed by Geomerics are already revolutionizing the console gaming experience and are set to rapidly accelerate the transition to photo-realistic graphics in mobile…The acquisition expands Arm's position at the forefront of the visual computing and graphics industries” [E1a]. The Financial Times reported a surge in Arm Holding’s share price of 5.45% on acquisition of Geomerics [E1c]. In November 2013, Geomerics won a tools and technology award from The Independent Game Developers’ Association (TIGA) for its product Enlighten [E2]. TIGA awards are some of the most prestigious in the computer games industry. In May 2017, Japanese company Silicon Studio acquired licensed rights from Arm/Geomerics to license, develop, and provide worldwide technical support for Enlighten [E3a].

Geomerics’ Unrivalled Technology widely adopted by the Video Games Industry

Geomerics’ Enlighten software simulates indirect light in a virtual environment in real time . It represented a pivotal technical advance for the games industry as a whole. Highlighted in The Guardian, Enlighten *“subtly, almost imperceptibly, creates a coherent, plausible environment. Without it, you get a sort of scenic equivalent of the Uncanny Valley - everything seems flat and unreal” [E4a]. In 2015, Enlighten was integrated into the unity game engine as a default lighting solution. It was specifically highlighted by Unity as one of two key innovations in Unity’s fifth major release of its games engine “ the biggest thing of Unity 5.0 is our new physically-based unified shading system and the new Geomerics’ Enlighten real-time global illumination engine. If you haven’t heard of Enlighten yet, it’s the most advanced lighting system the games industry knows and is used for some of the most beautiful games today, across many art styles” [E5a]. Over 50% of all mobile, PC and console games globally are made on Unity for end users by third party creators. Unity has 1.5 million monthly active creators working in 190 different countries/territories. As of June 2020, Unity has 2 billion monthly active end users. Unity has also expanded beyond gaming, facilitating activities as diverse as movie production and collaborative building design in architecture [E5b]. Enlighten is also integrated into two other major games engines: Unreal (2011) and Frostbite (2010). It is used both by four of the largest video games publishers on the planet: Electronic Arts (EA), Activision Blizzard, Square Enix and Take 2 Interactive in major games franchises, and also by highly-successful Independent Games Makers as shown below.

Remake of an Iconic Video Game

Enlighten was selected by Square Enix for the remake of Iconic 90s video game Final Fantasy VII. Remake producer Kitase Yoshinori said * *“After investigation, our teams selected Enlighten as the most advanced third-party global illumination technology available and made the decision to utilize the technology for the remake. Its quality per man-hour is unrivaled and will enable us to deliver the highest fidelity version of Midgard [game setting] to our fans” [E6a] . Amanda Yeo – journalist with the technology news website Mashable - commented on the upgrade: *“Final Fantasy VII Remake’s most obvious update is the graphics. The newly resurrected game's photorealistic art and detailed world are generally stunning” [E7]. Launched in April 2020, 3.5 million copies of the remake were sold worldwide within three days yielding revenue of USD 210 million [E8].

Underpinning technology for ground-breaking game Hellblade which has had a profound effect on players’ lives

Enlighten enabled the production of Hellblade:Senua’s Sacrifice by Cambridge-Based Independent games maker, Ninja Theory. This mainstream, action-adventure game was widely praised for its ground-breaking portrayal of mental illness. Wellcome-Trust funded, the game was developed in collaboration with Cambridgeshire patients/clinicians to include scenes depicting patient-recalled visual/auditory hallucinations. Enlighten played a key role in allowing scenes to be lit in dramatically different ways to reflect the changing state of mind of the central character [E3b]. Of its five BAFTA games awards, one was for artistic achievement [E4b]. Advisory clinician Paul Fletcher said of the game “one of the most powerful and eye-opening experiences of working on Hellblade was just what a phenomenal role a game experience can play in representing mental distress and allowing it to be communicated to others” [E6b]**. Messages of thanks were received by the production team for making the game including “Thank you, @NinjaTheory, for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. It saved my son’s life. After playing it through, he asked to go to the hospital for help. He couldn’t take everything he’d been dealing with & had a plan to kill himself. The game changed his plan.” [E6b].

Upgrading Major Video-Games Franchises

Enlighten is now employed in major gaming franchises: FIFA; Battlefield; Need for Speed; Overwatch; Star Wars Battlefront; Final Fantasy; XCOM; Streetfighter and Plants versus Zombies. In October 2013, Electronic Arts released Battlefield 4, one of the first big titles developed using Geomerics’ software. It sold 7.3 million copies and was widely praised for its graphics, with games reviewers referring to *its ‘jaw dropping lighting effects… The lighting is arguably the best we’ve ever seen in a video game… and this is all possible thanks to Geomerics’ Enlighten engine’ [E9]**. The FIFA games Franchise began using Enlighten in FIFA 17. A Business Insider article titled **“ The graphics in 'FIFA 17’ are the closest thing we've seen to a real game on TV” directly compared it to FIFA 16 noting “The lighting in general is more photo-realistic and more dynamic” [E10a]. In the first 3 months of release, FIFA17 recorded 17% more sales volume than FIFA 16 [E10b]. Games using Enlighten from the FIFA video-games franchise alone generated revenue of over USD 3 billion for Electronic Arts (2017-2019) [E10c] and engaged over 45 million players [E10d].

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

E1. Arm acquisition of Geomerics coverage: (a) Arm Press Release after Geomerics Acquisition (pages 1-4 of PDF) together with (b) Arm Annual Report 2013 (pages 5-128 of PDF. See specifically note 19 on page 107 for acquisition figure) (c) Financial Times (page 129 of PDF) (d) Cambridge Network (page 130 of PDF) (e) ElectronicsWeekly.com (pages 131-132 of PDF) (f) Electronics Europe (page 133 of PDF) (g) invezz.com coverage of Arm Acquisition of Geomerics and surge in share price of Arm of more than five percent following the acquisition ((pages 134-135 of PDF).

E2. TIGA Awards (2013) See bottom of final page

E3. Silicon Studio Materials: (a) Press release covering the acquisition of licencing rights for ‘Enlighten’ by Silicon Studio from Geomerics (2017) See page 1 of PDF. (b) Silicon Studio presentation detailing the role of Enlighten in the making of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. See pages 7-12 of PDF.

E4. The Guardian Articles: (a) “Becoming Enlightened”, by Keith Stuart, The Guardian, 5 February 2008 (b) “Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice dominates at video game Bafta awards”, 13 April 2018

E5. Unity Software Materials: (a) Unity blog entry highlighting Enlighten as one of two key new features in major release of the games engine Unity 5.0, 18 March 2014. See page 2 of PDF (b) Unity IPO statement file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 24 August 2020. See pages 8, 9, 17 and 19 of PDF.

E6. GamesBeat Articles: (a) “Square Enix, Geomerics make Enlighten lighting-tech pact after bright results in FFVII Remake”.** Detailing deal struck between Square Enix and Geomerics for Final Fantasy VII remake including quotes from the remake director, 6 July 2016 (b) “How Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice changed lives with its thoughtful portrayal of mental illness” which is based on a keynote presentation by Advisory Clinician Paul Fletcher at the International Game Summit on Mental Health, 26 October 2019

E7. Mashable review Article by journalist Amanda Yeo about the Final Fantasy VII remake, 6 April 2020

E8. Square Enix Article with sales figures for Final Fantasy VII, 21 April 2020

E9. GamingBolt Review of Battlefield 4 by Yadu Kiran, March 2013

E10. FIFA Franchise Materials: (a) Business Insider article comparing FIFA 16 and FIFA 17 games, FIFA 17 employed Geomerics’ Enlighten software, Sept 2016. See pages 1 and 2 of PDF (b) Sales figures for both games from article on trefis.com. See page 7 of PDF (c) FIFA Franchise Sales Figures (2017-2019) from SuperData annual reviews of Digital Games and Interactive Media. SuperData is a provider of market intelligence on free-to-play and digital games and part of Nielsen Holdings plc a large information, data and measurement firm. See pages 9,10 and 11 of PDF (d) Electronic Arts, Financial Results Report 2019 giving player numbers for FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 games. See page 12 of PDF.

Sustainable energy - without the hot air

Submitting institution: University of Cambridge
Unit of assessment: 9 - Physics
Summary impact type: Environmental
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: No

Download case study PDF

1. Summary of the impact

Professor David MacKay’s research in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge applied his background in information theory and statistical inference to the issues of climate change and sustainability. His book Sustainable energy – without the hot air (2008) has sold over 75,000 hardcopies, been downloaded over 557,300 times, and translated into 22 languages. The sustained impacts of MacKay’s research include:

Providing the blueprint for the 2050 Calculator tool which has been used by the UK Government to formulate energy policy, and internationally to determine realistic climate-change mitigation targets for the Paris Climate Agreement (2016) and new energy policies (India 2017)
Increasing public understanding of and support for clean energy. In 2014, MacKay was the first winner of the Science Communication Medal of the Göttinger Literaturherbst (with Max Planck Institute) “for his outstanding achievements to communicate environmental science… to the broad public as well as to politicians”.

2. Underpinning research

David MacKay (1967–2016) was a true polymath. Whilst in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, he made pioneering contributions to information theory, inference, and learning algorithms. His rigorous approach to inference, comprehensively described in his landmark book Information theory, inference, and learning algorithms [R1], informed his many research areas which included Bayesian probability theory, error-correcting codes, machine learning, human-computer interface and the public understanding of science, especially sustainable energy. He used this background in information theory to move beyond what he saw as the limitations of the sustainable energy debate:

‘when people talk about life after fossil fuels and climate change action, I think there's a lot of fluff, a lot of greenwash, a lot of misleading advertising, and I feel a duty as a physicist to try to guide people around the claptrap and help people understand the actions that really make a difference.’ (TED talk ‘A Reality check on Renewables’, 2012).

Figure 1.

His response to this challenge was his highly influential book Sustainable Energy - without the Hot Air [R2, 2008], as well as his subsequent publications in which he analysed the possibility of powering energy-intensive industries by carbon-free electricity [R3, 2013] and the role that solar energy can play in meeting energy demand [R4, 2013]. The origins of the research content of his book can be traced to his deep interest in the teaching of physics – he had strong reservations about the traditional mode of teaching which did not promote deep understanding and physical insight into physics. This was illustrated by his research into the success of students in solving physical insight problems. In tackling nine such problems, students in the first, second, third and fourth years averaged less than 50% success and their performance did not improve from the first to the fourth year, a sobering conclusion [R5, 2000].

In his book, MacKay adopted and developed the ‘physical insight’ approach, making the issues involved in the sustainability agenda understandable by those without the necessary technical background in the vast array of different types of science which had to be understood and mastered. MacKay’s research for the book involved understanding the details of energy generation, consumption and loss involved in essentially all aspects of everyday life and then reducing them to models which were compared with the hard data. This involved a huge amount of original analysis and research. For example, in his analysis of tidal energy, he showed that the published approach underestimated the amount of available energy by a factor of ten, calculations he presented in the book (see further details in [R6], 2007).

The book splits into two parts. The first 250 pages read like a popular exposition and can be easily understood by the non-expert. In the final technical chapters, he derives energy budgets for all sorts of contributions to the global environment: cars, wind, planes, solar energy, heating, waves, tide and ‘stuff’. This section illustrates how to convert extremely complex non-linear problems into a form which can be used to make realistic estimates of their impact on global sustainability. The compelling type of analysis in the book is illustrated in Figure 1, the pink (left) stack showing the energy requirement and the green (right) stack the maximum energy which could be derived from renewable resources. Every element of the stacks were the subject of detailed research. The analysis shows the magnitude of the challenge facing the UK.

MacKay made Sustainable energy – without the hot air available to the public with a free downloadable version. Prof Martin Hoffert, NYU physicist who has researched climate models over decades, reviewed the book for Science magazine. He said of MacKay in reference to the book: “His calculations are always thought-provoking even when his assumptions had me banging the table in disagreement. My objections often faded as his analysis unfolded. The author dug out a lot of hard-to-find data” , testifying to the depth of MacKay’s research.

The analytical framework which MacKay developed in Sustainable energy – without the hot air has subsequently become the blueprint for the 2050 Calculator tool, used in the UK and worldwide to influence and formulate government policy (see section 4).

3. References to the research

R1. ‘Information theory, inference, and learning algorithms’ (2003). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google scholar citations >11,000

R2. ‘Sustainable energy - without the hot air’, David J C MacKay, Cambridge: UIT Publications, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9544529-3-3, Google scholar citations: 2,044. Available free at http://www.inference.org.uk/sustainable/book/tex/sewtha.pdf Prof Martin Hoffert’s review can be found here Can Civilization (at Least the U.K.) Run Sustainably? | Science (sciencemag.org)

R3. MacKay DJC. ‘Solar energy in the context of energy use, energy transportation and energy storage’ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A371 Article number ARTN 20110431 13 Aug 2013 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2011.0431 Google scholar citations 51

R4. MacKay DJC. ‘Could energy-intensive industries be powered by carbon-free electricity?’ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A371 Article number ARTN 20110560 13 Mar 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2011.0560 Google scholar citations 20

R5. Physics Teaching Survey, March 2000. S. Mahajan and D. MacKay. http://www.inference.org.uk/teaching/survey/

R6. MacKay, D. J. C. (2007). Under-estimation of the UK tidal resource. http:// www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/mackay/abstracts/TideEstimate.html.

This case study is unusual in that it involves a huge amount of detailed research and data analysis, but much of this on its own would not be suitable for publication in research or pedagogical journals. R1 was rigorously peer reviewed and has over 11,000 Google scholar citations. R2 has over 2,000 Google scholar citations, is recommended reading for 48 different university courses at 44 universities in 16 countries, and has been cited by the House of Commons and in the UN World Economic survey 2013. The high quality of the research involved is also supported by expert reviews (see evidence file E10). R3 and R4 update the research described in the book. R5 illustrates MacKay’s focus on teaching and his desire to improve students’ ability to solve physics problems using ‘physical insight’, which underpinned the development of R2. R6 develops MacKay’s analysis of the models used to estimate the UK’s tidal resource.

4. Details of the impact

A consequence of the success and impact of Sustainable energy – without the hot air was that MacKay became well known in policy making circles, and in 2009 was appointed as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), a post he held for the next five years [E1a]. This was followed by his appointment as a Knight Bachelor in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List ‘for services to Scientific Advice in Government and Science Outreach’ [E1b].

Global impact on government energy policies

As Chief Scientific Advisor to DECC, MacKay was awarded an unusually high level of resourcing - a budget of tens of millions of pounds and a team of around 50 people – as well as a level of seniority (Director General level) which meant that he sat on the department board (extremely rare for Chief Scientific Advisors). As a result, he was ‘a voice in the room at every important decision that DECC made between 2010 and 2014’ [E2a], and was instrumental in convincing the UK government to publish a carbon plan in December 2011 that drew extensively on his quantitative approach to energy and climate change. The UK became the first country in the world to set a legally binding target for carbon emissions.

A major impact while he was at DECC was the development of a computational tool known as the 2050 Calculator. The team that developed the calculator was created as a result of MacKay’s book and the desire of senior staff at DECC to be able to analyse energy options using a similar framework [E2a]. Every member of the team studied the book in preparation for the task [E2a]. The programme manager of the 2050 Calculator at the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) describes it as:

‘an interactive version of what David did in ‘sustainable energy without the hot air’. In it he set out all the possible sources of low carbon energy in the UK on one side, and all the demand we have for energy on the other and looked at how much we could decrease our demand and increase our supply and saw whether or not these actually lined up, so was it possible to meet our target and have a sustainable energy system’ [E2b].

Users of the calculator quickly gain the perspective of policy-makers by modelling the effect of different policy decisions on the reduction of UK emissions. Research published in Nature Energy (2017) shows that calculator engagement increases users’ preparedness to reduce energy use and pushes energy preferences away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources [E3]. As an interactive version of the book, the calculator carried the same high standards of clarity. The open-source calculator work was praised in the Macpherson report (2013) into government analytical modeling as setting a ‘new standard for transparency’ [E4]. The Guardian described it as ‘probably one of the most open and transparent pieces of policy-making ever undertaken by the British government’ [E4].

The calculator became a tool for consensus-based decision making within the UK government. The head of a UK Government Programme on International Climate Finance said in 2020: ‘It was the calculator that drove the cross-government climate strategy, and from that we identified the key sectors that we needed to decarbonise’ [E2b]. The shared thinking which emerged from use of the calculator: ‘led to the restructuring of the electricity market in July 2011, which in turn paved the way for mass renewable energy auctions and a huge increase in UK renewable energy capacity’ [E2a,b]. In 2019, the UK National grid announced ‘a clean energy milestone as zero carbon electricity outstrips fossil fuels in 2019’ [E5]. Over the last decade, the UK energy sector has had the ‘“fastest rate of decarbonisation in the world’ [E6]. BEIS is planning a new UK calculator for 2020 (The MacKay Calculator) in order to maintain the UK’s leadership on climate action.

During the impact period, DECC, and its successor BEIS, have supported governments in countries including China and India to develop their own calculators based on the original DECC version, which is now used in over 30 countries. A global version of the calculator was launched in 2015. By the end of March 2016, it had been accessed more than 22,000 times [E7a]. Four countries (India, Vietnam, Colombia and Nigeria) used their calculators to formulate mitigation targets (Nationally Determined Contributions - NDCs) for the Paris Climate Agreement (2016) [E7b]. India further used their calculator to develop a new National Energy Policy (2017) in accordance with their NDCs [E8].

Increasing public understanding of and support for clean energy

MacKay’s TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talk, ‘A Reality Check on Renewables’ (2012), has been viewed over 1.45 million times [E9]. His book, Sustainable energy – without the hot air (2008), has sold over 75,000 hardcopies, been downloaded over 557,300 times, and translated into more than 22 languages. It is recommended reading for 48 different courses at 44 universities in 16 countries [E10a] and is used as training material for the Yale National Teachers initiative [E10b], a nationwide initiative to support high-need public schools in the US.

The book has been cited by the House of Commons [E10c] and in the UN World Economic survey 2013 [E10c], and has won accolades from all sides of the climate change debate as a clear and unbiased reference work. Reviews in the opening pages of the book include those from the Former Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, the former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, Environment Ministers and Secretaries of State for the Environment, Chief Scientific Advisers, the Director of Sustainable Development at EDF Energy, and Professors of climate science [E10e]. Duncan McLaren, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the book ‘provides a solid foundation to help us make well-informed choices, as individuals and more importantly as societies’ [E10e].

Bill Gates, who in 2016 invested USD1 billion in a clean energy fund [E11a], blogged about the book’s impact on him: ‘If someone is going to read just one book [on energy] I would recommend this one’ [E11b]. ‘The book ‘really shaped my thinking…To this day, if you want to understand the opportunities for clean energy, nothing else comes close. I still go back and re-read parts of it myself’ [E11c]. In 2010, Gates bought 2000 copies of the book to give to the audience at his TED talk on renewable energy [E11c].

In 2014, MacKay was the first winner of the Science Communication Medal of the Göttinger Literaturherbst (with Max Planck Institute) honored: ‘for his outstanding achievements to communicate environmental science with clear texts, facts and figures, backed up by empirical data and explanations of limitations – to the broad public as well as to politicians’ [E1c]. In 2016, MacKay won a Breakthrough Paradigm Award from the Breakthrough Institute ‘In recognition of his path-breaking scholarship and public service on clean energy, energy systems, and innovation’ [E1d].

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

David MacKay Awards, Appointments and Honours: (a) Appointment as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Climate Change (2009) – page 2 of PDF (b) Knighthood (2016) - page 6 of PDF (c) Science Communication Medal of the Göttinger Literaturherbst/Max Planck Institute (2014) – page 12 of PDF (d) Breakthrough Paradigm Award (2016) – page 14 of PDF
Evidence of David MacKay’s contribution to the 2050 calculator and of the link between the calculator and the electricity market reform which enabled rapid decarbonisation of the UK energy sector: (a) Email Correspondence from Former Deputy Director in charge of the DECC's 2050 team (b) Article “The calculator that Could Save the World”, Engineering Matters (Reby Media/Mott MacDonald Consultancy), Jun 2020. See pages 2, 3 and 4 of PDF.
**Research Article: **“Effects of exemplar scenarios on public preferences for energy futures using the my2050 scenario-building tool”, Demski et al. , NATURE ENERGY 2, 17027 (2017). See pages 4 and 5 of PDF.
MacPherson Report into Government Analytical Modelling (2013). See page 17 of PDF (page 13/47 of publication).
National Grid Press Release “Britain hits historic clean energy milestone as zero carbon electricity outstrips fossil fuels in 2019” (2019)
Drax Electric Insights Quarterly Report (Oct - Dec 2019) See page 4 of PDF.
Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Reports: (a) Report on 2050 Calculator Work, March 2016. See page 7 of PDF (page 6/12 of publication). (b) Summary of the case to renew support for the 2050 Calculator Work. See Pages 19 and 30 of PDF (pages 5/59 and 16/59 of publication).
Draft National Energy Plan, Government of India (2017). See pages 1, 12 and 20 of PDF.
David MacKay’s TED talk viewed over 1.45 million times. 560,000 times on TED https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mackay_a_reality_check_on_renewables and over 907,000 times on YouTube MacKay Youtube TED
Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air (SEWTHA) References and Reviews: (a) List of university courses with SEWTHA as a recommended/reference reading (b) Article outlining the Yale Teacher Training initiative (see pages 2 and 5 of PDF). (c) UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Members Report Tue 14 July 2009 & UN World Economic Survey 2013 (see pages 9, 10, 11, 14, 59, 94 of PDF) (d) Review of SEWTHA for science magazine by Prof Martin Hoffert, NYU physicist who worked on climate models. See page 108 of PDF (e) Reviews of SEWTHA included in the preface – see pages 110 and 111 of PDF.
Bill Gates Blog Entries: Bill Gates Blog entries (a) announcing $1 billion investment fund to support clean energy technologies (2016). (b ) 2010 and (c) 2016 commenting on the impact of “Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air” (c)

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