Impact case study database

CMRG has been developing DfR modelling techniques since early 2000’s. Our research has been widely disseminated, with over 400 academic publications on the topic. However, our primary means to transition the knowledge developed through to direct industrial impact is through our partnerships with many international major electronics companies. Industrial partners adopting our DfR technologies can develop electronics systems with improved reliability and reduced in-service failures. Product failures have costs, both fiscal and reputational. For example, the costs of each reliability test (which can run over a period of 6 months) is in-excess of £100,000 and the cost of a product failure in the field can run into £M’s.

Implementation of UoG research at Leonardo has led to financial impacts. Leonardo Spa, based in Edinburgh, employs 2,000 people and specialises in the provision of multi surveillance radars and countermeasures systems. It produces world-leading technology, including Captor Radar for the Typhoon aircraft. The ability to develop and manufacture this equipment on-shore is of strategic importance to the UK, allowing the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to operate without other nation-states' intervention and maintain an operational advantage over potential adversaries.

The transfer of knowledge between the CMRG and Leonardo occurred through direct consultancy in 2004-2005 and 2018-2019, and through collaboration on US Government funded projects throughout 2011-2018. As per the contracts, CMRG provided quarterly reports to the funder and Leonardo, and meetings took place at the company premises to discuss the results from the models. CMRG model predictions for different components [ 3.2 & 3.4] were successfully implemented into radar signal processors, where each processor has a value of the order of £600,000 and the Radar itself has a value of the order of £3,000,000. From 2014 – 31^st July, 2020, the results from the models developed by CMRG has informed Leonardo’s design protocols and manufacturing standards, and this has removed greater than £30,000,000 of design and qualification risks by ensuring the right materials and assembly processes are used, hence significantly reducing the number of reliability tests . The distinct and material contributions made by CMRG to the impacts listed above are confirmed by the University & Emerging Technologies Manager at Leonardo, who states “ *the results and knowledge generated from your research has been extremely successful in informing Leonardo’s design protocols and manufacturing standards, providing significant benefits to us, our suppliers, and customers globally including our major contracts with Governments in the UK, Italy, Spain, and Germany,*” [ 5.1].

Research by UoG academics helped Micross and Leonardo gain greater insight into refinishing process and secure significant annual growth in this service. Micross Semiconductors is a US company whose refinishing process is used by the high-reliability electronics sector (including Leonardo). From 2011-2014, CMRG worked closely with Micross and Leonardo on a US Government funded project to develop models of the hot-solder dip refinishing process [ 3.3]. Knowledge transfer between CMRG and these companies took place through quarterly reports and meetings at the Crew, UK, Micross facility. The results from the models of 23 electronic component types supported Micross and its customer Leonardo in gaining a greater insight into the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the components when subjected to this refinishing process, providing more guidance than found in the current GEIA-STD-005-2 standard. The results helped Micross secure significant growth in this service throughout the period 2014 - July 31^st, 2020. For example, the University & Emerging Technologies Manager at Leonardo states “ computational models developed by your team for the Hot Solder Dipping process – a service provided by Micross Semiconductors – helped Leonardo successfully assess the behaviour of our electronic components when subjected to this refinishing process” [ 5.1] and the Product Line Manager at Micross states “ the modelling work undertaken at Greenwich has helped us gain a clear insight into to the refinishing process supporting us to deliver product of the highest standard to our worldwide customer base,“ [ 5.2].

UoG research fed into Microsemi’s assessment of 3D-Printing for electronics packaging resulting in reductions in material wastage and cost saving benefits. Microsemi (now Microchip) is a US company with facilities worldwide, including its Advanced Electronic Packaging facility in Caldicot, Wales, UK, which offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and electronic systems solutions for communications, defence and security, aerospace, and industrial markets. During the period 2013-2017, CMRG collaborated with MicroSemi on the EU-Funded project NextFactory. The models developed by CMRG for the 3D-Printing process during this project provided significant insights into the feasibility of MicroSemi adopting this process and addressing the key technical barrier of residual stresses in the fabricated parts. Based on the results from the NextFactory project (including the modelling undertaken by CMRG [ 3.5]), in 2019, Microsemi purchased a 3D printer to support its strategy in driving the next generation of 3D electronics systems miniaturization. During the period to 31^st July, 2020, this led to a 2-3% reduction in material wastage compared to traditional reflow-based board assembly processes and a decrease in time to market and cost savings of 10%. The ability to design genuinely 3D print printed electronic products has also opened-up new product lines for the company [ 5.3]. Technical staff engineer at Microchip states, “ the results from your models have supported our assessment of this manufacturing process and in Summer 2019 the company purchased a 3D printer to supplement our existing stencil printers. This printer is now used with our design and manufacturing departments for prototype evaluation and tooling for several high-value export products to North America and Europe”.

UoG’s work into modelling and simulation made significant contributions to IEEE Standards and Roadmapping. The IEEE is the world’s largest professional body with over 420,000 members globally. Most of the world’s major electronics companies are members of IEEE. As part of its relationship with IEEE and the high-quality work in modelling and simulation produced over the years, CMRG was invited to participate in the development of the Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap (HIR) in 2016 [ 5.4]. The HIR roadmap provides state-of-the-art / best practice in Electronics Packaging and its drive to produce the next generation of 3D heterogeneous electronic systems. It contains the chapter Modelling & Simulation, which is led by CMRG. This involved Professor Bailey chairing the Technical Working Group for this chapter bringing together experts in modelling and simulation worldwide to contribute to the chapter’s contents, which contains material from CMRG – particularly our research into multi-physics modelling and design for reliability. From 2019-July 31^st, 2020, the HIR roadmap has been downloaded 24,197 times by engineers at electronics companies and research organisations globally. This is confirmed by the IEEE [ 5.5] and the roadmap’s manager and the Chief Scientific Advisor of ASE group, the world’s largest semiconductor assembly & test company states: “ The modelling & simulation research undertaken by the Greenwich team provided significant contributions to the Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap. This roadmap is now guiding the worldwide electronics industry to progress beyond 56-years of ‘Moore’s Law’ (transistor and economics scaling) through innovations in advanced electronics packaging and heterogeneous integration”. [ 5.4].

From 2012-2017, Professor Bailey also contributed to the IEEE Standard P1856 (Standard Framework for Prognostics and Health Management of Electronic Systems) as part of its development working group. This standard provides the electronics industry with best practice guidance on the use of techniques (including modelling and simulation) for prognostics in electronic systems. The standard and the roadmap are both conduits to transition the group’s DfR expertise into improvements in the reliability of products of a great many companies globally. The manager of the standard confirms: “ The research undertaken by the Greenwich team contributed to this important standard for the electronics industry to address the latest techniques in Prognostics and Health Management for electronics systems across the electronics ecosystem from consumer electronics to renewable energy to medical devices to aerospace” [ 5.6].

(1) Economic Impact. (i) During this REF period, UoG generated over £879,000 from over 200 license sales of EXODUS software to organisations in over 30 countries [5.1]. (ii) Licensees included engineering consultancies e.g., Babcock, regulatory authorities e.g., the US Dept of Transportation, and national laboratories e.g., the National Research Council Canada. They use the software in cutting-edge design to explore and improve the evacuation safety of complex structures, generating considerable consultancy income. Projects that have used the EXODUS software include the Airbus A330-X, A340 and A380 [5.2]. FSEG and the airEXODUS software were used in the preliminary design of the multi-billion-euro A380, and to de-risk the A380 full-scale evacuation certification trial. The software, and the research underpinning it, contributed to the A380’s safety [3b, 5.2] and potentially saved the manufacturer millions of euros by identifying possible problems that might occur during the trial, which could have caused cost overruns, resulting in a higher unit cost. Through the REF period, the A380 world fleet safely carried 150 million passengers over 3.3 million flight hours. Since 2013, Airbus has delivered 131 A380s, with 228 in service (May 2020). FSEG research assisted these sales by contributing to product safety, and keeping the price down, critical considerations for airline customers. [5.2]. (iii) The EXODUS software tools give fire engineering firms a competitive edge when bidding for projects, enabling them to win important contracts and generate significant income. Examples during the REF period include global engineering firms Arcadis and Thornton Tomasetti, which used buildingEXODUS, under license, to undertake early design assessments of the life safety and emergency management systems for major projects such as the Opera Metro Station in Antwerp Belgium, Citmark Building (Lloyds Banking Group), Edinburgh [5.3], a large Data Center in the USA, and a car rental facility at a major US airport [5.4]. (iv) FSEG research, which led to the development of the ADSS concept [3f] has created a new market in emergency signage technology. The ADSS concept improves signage detectability 100%, enabling the sign to adapt to the changing hazard environment [3.4, 3.8], thus bringing the humble emergency sign into the 21st century. Globally, signage manufacturers have adopted and adapted the concept. Two companies, EVACLITE and CLEVERTRONICS, focus on the FSEG ADSS concept. EVACLITE was established in the UK to manufacture and sell ADSS [5.5]. CLEVERTRONICS, Australia’s leading emergency lighting company, has adopted the ADSS concept and started a new business to develop and manufacture the product [5.6]. These two businesses are founded on the FSEG concept, with many other companies around the world adapting similar concepts, all based on FSEG fundamental research.

(2) Impact on Public Policy. (i) While the AASK database was developed primarily to assist the design of aircraft evacuation models, it has also been used to inform international legislation on aircraft safety and airline staffing of cabin crew. For example, in 2011 the FSEG research [3.1] was cited in Australian Parliament debates/reports in support of maintaining the number of required cabin crew on Australian registered aircraft [5.7-5.9]. The proposed cuts were defeated, and through the current REF period, the number of crew required on Australian passenger aircraft was maintained, helping the Australian aviation industry retain its reputation as the safest in the world. (ii) FSEG remains the only research team to collect human factors data defining how quickly passengers respond to evacuation alarms on ships at sea during semi-unannounced drills [3.11]. This work demonstrated that the data used in the International Guidelines on Ship Evacuation Analysis in IMO MSC Circ 1033 was incorrect, thus leading to an inappropriate assessment of evacuation capabilities. The data and analysis were accepted by IMO at the 2007 Fire Protection subcommittee meeting (FP51) and included in the revised International Guidelines document, IMO MSC Circ 1238, and the more recent revision (June 2016), IMO MSC Circ 1533 [5.10]. During the REF period, the MSC Circ 1533 methodology has continued to be used by maritime engineers around the world as part of the safety certification process for large passenger ships (cruise ships and large ferries), which makes use of modelling data generated by FSEG . (iii) Security bollards have become a common feature protecting public spaces, part of the UK’s Hostile Vehicle Mitigation strategy. The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) is the government organisation reporting to the Home Office that advises on security issues related to national infrastructure. CPNI had produced guidance on the positioning of bollard arrays, but the advice did not include their impact on evacuation flow. This is an important issue because the initial evacuation safety analysis used in the design and certification of these structures did not take into consideration that a ring of security bollards would be placed outside the exits. FSEG research, sponsored by CPNI and DfT [3g], investigated the impact that security bollards have on evacuation flows using a series of full-scale experiments, which identified and quantified, for the first time, not only how bollards impact evacuation flow, but also how they could be positioned to minimise their impact [3.6]. The research resulted in a new set of DfT guidelines (written by Prof Galea), which are used internationally to optimally position security bollards around critical infrastructure [5.11]. (iv) Prof Galea, one of six experts to the Grenfell Fire Inquiry, provided a report to the Inquiry containing 42 evidence-based [3.3-3.5, 3.7] interim recommendations to improve evacuation of residential high-rise buildings [5.14]. Of these, 22 were partially/fully adopted in the Chairman’s Phase 1 report. For example, recommendation 2.9 on luminous floor numbering was adopted as recommendation 15 (para 33.27); recommendation 2.11 on PEEPs was adopted as recommendation 12e (para 33.22), and recommendations 3.1–3.3 and 3.6-3.8 on full building evacuation were adopted as recommendation 12a (para 33.22) [5.15]. The recommendations aim to improve public safety through regulatory/policy change in the UK.

(3) Impacts on Practitioners and Professional Services. (i) FSEG data incorporated in MSC Circ 1533 are used globally in ship evacuation analysis to demonstrate that passenger ships can be evacuated safely [5.10, 5.12]. (ii) The new guidelines [5.11] for optimal positioning of bollard arrays impacts professional practice through the modification of the previous design practice. (iii) A restricted version of EXODUS has been developed for use by UK government security services to assist in planning mitigation strategies for marauding armed terrorists in crowded places [3.9, 3h]. Using this approach has had a significant impact on how security professionals plan for and develop counter measures [5.13]. (iv) Over the REF period, the EXODUS software has been used by over 200 licensees in 30 countries (see 1i). It has become one of the standard engineering design tools for safety analysis, used by fire safety engineers around the world. The software therefore has an impact on engineering professional practice globally [5.3, 5.4].

(4) Impacts on Social Welfare. (i) The main impact of FSEG research on society is public safety: safer aircraft, buildings and passenger ships through more effective safety standards and policy, and safer designs. For example, data on human performance and behaviour collected and analysed by FSEG makes our passenger ships and aircraft safer by improving standards, such as IMO guidelines for passenger ship evacuation (see 2ii), and maintaining cabin crew numbers on aircraft (see 2i); through the introduction of novel concepts in emergency signage, making emergency signs more effective, and buildings safer (see 1iv); by ensuring that security bollards around our infrastructure have minimum impact during emergency evacuation (see 2iii) and through recommendations to improve the safety of residential high-rise buildings (see 2iv). (ii) Members of the public make an important contribution to their personal safety, the safety of their families and of society at large. Engagement to improve public understanding of safety and how to minimise risks associated with fire and evacuation is therefore critical, and a further societal impact of FSEG. This extends to promoting public understanding of science via the media, helping to build resilience to science scepticism, which the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted as a growing societal issue. This is achieved through media coverage of FSEG research and interviews with Prof Galea on evacuation and pedestrian dynamics. The engagement also informed future industrial partners and policy makers. Examples: FSEG research on pedestrian interaction with autonomous vehicles: BBC Radio 4 ‘All in the Mind’, 08/05/18 ( https://bbc.in/2yBjxxZ). Explaining the importance of standing on escalators during rush hours in the London Underground: BBC Radio 4 Today, 10/03/16 (audience 1.2m); BBC Radio 5 Breakfast Programme, 07:25, 18/01/16 (audience 444k); BBC World Service Weekend Programme 07:50,16/04/16. FSEG EU Horizon 2020 project AUGGMED, developing VR training environments for security services: BBC CLICK 28/04/17 ( https://bbc.in/3qdBuLW). Prof Galea interviews on the Grenfell Tower Fire: BBC Radio 4 Inside Science 15/06/17 ( https://bbc.in/3uVOmdg); NYTimes 19/06/17 (831k print subscribers, 4.7m digital news subscriptions). ‘U.K. Officials Said Material on Tower Was Banned. It Wasn’t’, ( https://nyti.ms/2yzyDnO); NY Times, 24/06/17 ‘Why Grenfell Tower Burned: Regulators Put Cost Before Safety’, ( https://nyti.ms/3qiPeFh): The Economist, (24/07/17) (1.7m global print and digital circulation) ‘Tall buildings are becoming more common. They need not be dangerous. With proper enforcement, fire regulations can keep tower-dwellers safe’, ( https://econ.st/2yFZXR9).

The ACT process **[**e.g., R2] developed by Hills and team underpinned the spin-out company Carbon8 Systems (C8S) in 2006 [I1a], and its operating arm, Carbon8 Aggregates (C8A) in 2010 [I1b]. In 2012, following the first ‘End of Waste’ agreement of its kind for C8A’s aggregate by the Environment Agency (the aggregate obtained the status as a product, or secondary raw material), C8A established the first fixed ACT manufacturing facility in Brandon, Suffolk, using pure, bottled CO₂ gas. In doing so, a ‘CO₂-utilisating/sequestering’, management solution for municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) air pollution control residues (APCr) was offered to the UK for the first time. The carbonated aggregates entered the UK aggregate market, competing with virgin stone and offtake is subject to commercial supply agreements.

The research innovated UK Waste management, as the APCr-based aggregate enabled the first ever ‘carbon-negative’ building block.*

The C8A’s APCr-based aggregate was used to make carbon-negative blocks by a block manufacturing company, Lignacite Ltd. The high-performance masonry product developed promted the aggregate to be declared as the UK’s ‘Best Recycled Product’. Key to this recognition was that the ‘low-carbon’ aggregates **[**e.g., R1, R2] captured and sequestered more CO₂ than was emitted during their manufacture, and reduced environmental harm.

Since REF 2014, the UoG’s CO₂ mineralisation research has enabled the spin-out company to increase supplies of high-quality carbon-negative, cost-effective and sustainable light-weight aggregates (compliant with, e.g., BSEN 13055; 13242 and ISO 9001), to the construction industry. This has enabled >100 kt/pa of APCr (currently 25% of UK’s APCr production) [I2] to be diverted from landfill via its incorporation in carbonated APCr-based aggregates.

Process scaling-up by C8A (subsequently re-named OCO Technology Ltd.) increased the UK supply of the low-carbon APCr-based aggregate.

Since REF 2014, C8As UK fixed plants have increased from 1 to 3, and currently c.a. 350 kt/pa aggregates enter the UK market for use in construction blocks (e.g., CEMEX, Lignacite, Hairds, Forterra and Thomas Armstrong).

The continued research and its commercial implementation (2014-2020) have contributed to social, economic and environmental impacts, and environment policy as evidenced below:

1. social impacts are realised in terms of (i) reduced environmental harms (diversion of c.a. 550 kt of APCr from landfill, so using waste as a resource and reducing the leaching into the environment), and (ii) employment opportunities (C8A/OCO and C8S have >110 staff) **[**e.g., I5],

2. environmental impacts include (i) reduced risks from waste (as above), (ii) CO₂ sequestration/utilisation (unpublished data shows the direct mineralisation of CO₂ to be c.a. 130 kt), and (iii) low-carbon aggregate products (1.3 Mt of manufactured aggregates contained ca. 0.13 Mt of mineralised CO₂ and replaced ca. 1.8 Mt of virgin/quarried stone (1 t of carbonated aggregate replaces 1.4 t of natural aggregates, as the aggregate is a light-weight product), (iv) reduced carbon footprint of carbonated aggregates/blocks (carbonated aggregate is carbon negative) provides additional benefits to the businesses to achieve circular economy and lower emissions [I2], and

3. economic impacts include: (i) value to waste, as landfill avoidance saves £94/t in tax currently (typically 120€/t in the EU) excluding gate fees, and aggregates sales are at £10/t (€20/t in EU), (ii) employment generation (as indicated above), (iii) savings on landfill costs, with unpublished data showing ca. 550kt APCr to date was transformed into 1.3 Mt of aggregates, saving £60 M in landfill tax fees, whilst preserving >1.8 Mt of virgin stone, and generating £13 M worth of aggregate sales. Therefore, the economic and environmental advantages of the carbonated aggregates are substantial, as the process involves very little energy, since it is reliant on the CO₂ reactivity of the waste material [R1, R2, I2].

ACT is recognised as an exemplar of CCUS technology by, e.g., CO2Value Europe (>70 members including Solvay, Mitsubishi and Total), GCI, and CO2Chem KTN (a network of >1000 members). The importance of CO₂ utilisation to Europe’s future economy is illustrated by recent policy recommendations (CO2Value Europe, 2020-2024) [I3a, I3b], with mineralisation considered for inclusion in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) [I3c].

From 2016, Hills and team’s research **[**e.g., R1, R2] underpinned the construction of two new ACT plants by C8A to enhance capacity in manufacture of the APCr-based aggregate (Avonmouth, 2016; Leeds, 2017) [I1b]. The APCr management capability of the company has increased 3-fold. As such the aggregate has a carbon footprint of -44 kg/t, meaning that it is truly carbon negative. As a result of supply not yet meeting construction block industry demand, 10-30% w/w (total aggregate weight) aggregate is typically used as a substitute for virgin stone. The substitutions will still lower the carbon footprints of the blocks, which they comprise.

C8A rebranded as OCO Technology Ltd. in 2019 [I1b] and has grown significantly with a current annual turnover of £13 million (2019), >90 staff, and a supply 350Kt/pa of carbonated manufactured aggregate, being equivalent to 0.5Mt of virgin stone/pa. Production is projected to rise to 700 kt/pa over the next 3 years [I2] as OCO continues to increase its client base, including Thomas Armstrong and Tilbury MSWI [I1b, I5]. Further, an exclusive development agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (to cut their GHG emissions to net zero by 2050) has been signed [I1b].

New innovation has enabled a mobile carbonation plant to directly extract CO₂ from flue gas and treat other (non-APCr) wastes.

A new development is a containerised mobile plant (‘CO₂ntainer’) that extends the technological solution, away from large remote fixed plants that use bottled gas. The innovative ‘CO₂ntainer’, is ‘plug-and-play’ ready and directly uses flue gas as the source of CO₂ for the carbonation process. With InnovateUK support, C8S trialled the ‘CO₂ntainer’ in Canada with CRH (>€27.6 Bn; 80,000 employees) in Ontario (2018-19) and Hanson (part of CRH) in the UK (2019-20) [I1].

The success of these trials and Innovate UK funding [I3c] led to the first commercial deployment of ACT by Vicat, the French national cement company, in 2020 [I4, I5].Vicat’s testimonial [T1] states: “ It is Vicat's intention to deploy the CO₂ntainer at our other cement plants in France as part of our commitment to become CO₂ neutral by 2050. We are convinced that ACT is a key technology to reach this target”. Vicat (>€2.74 Bn; >9000 employees) have installed the ‘CO ₂ntainer’ for treating cement by-pass dusts at their cement plant in Lyon. The 24 kt/pa of carbonated aggregates produced are being used internally. The commercial benefits for Vicat are savings of ca. €2.5 M/pa at the cement plant from avoidance of landfill and reduction in virgin stone requirement. The global licence signed with Vicat is worth £8 M. Recent investment in C8S has totalled £2 M.

Following, AVR started an advanced demonstration of the ‘CO₂ntainer’ at its MSWI in Duvien (September 2020). AVR are the Netherlands largest Energy from Waste company and are using ACT to “ultimately target zero waste” by combining their APCr and pre-captured CO₂ (400 kt/pa) into products. This significant advance enables technology integration at complex industrial facilities and the valorisation of solid and gaseous wastes at source, e.g., Arcellor Mittal steel plants. Arcellor’s testimonial [T2] states:….” the latest commercial innovation concerning a mobile plant that can be employed at the sites of smaller emitters….combining solid and gaseous emissions is a game changer”.

Technology leadership has been widely acknowledged **[**CO2Value Europe, GCI, UNEP and CO2Chem KTN; e.g., I6, I7, I8a].  In November 2016, BBC Radio 4 (audience typically 10M/week) exclusively featured ACT in its 30-minute ‘Costing the Earth’ programme and emphasised its potential contribution towards addressing CO₂ emissions [I9]. The overseas export potential was recognised by the Queen’s Award for ‘Enterprise: Innovation’ in September 2017 [I8b]. The award citation stated “world leader in permanent capture of carbon dioxide using industrial wastes to form new products”.

The research was subsequently featured on BBC SE News in 2017 (ca. 0.5M viewers), discussing the realised benefits of ACT for waste management, including a laboratory-demonstration of the technology and the C8A Avonmouth plant [I10]. Invited articles and presentations evidence the emerging importance of ACT/mineralisation at UK and European levels.  The technology was recognised in the UNEP Pan-European Assessment GEO6 report (2016) as “a demonstrable contribution to the developing European circular economy” [I7] UNEP/UNECE 2016. The report highlights environmental state/ science-policy trends underpinning decision-making in the Pan-European region [I7]. A key emphasis is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals.  Recognition of ACT as an exemplar came from the 3 sponsor organisations: the UNEP, European Environment Agency and Economic Commission for Europe [I7]. More recently (2020), Hills was invited to contribute a Faraday Discussion (for wider dissemination of mineralisation technology). These recognitions have associated impact, e.g., informing the client-base, public and stakeholders of the academic/research, commercial and environmental benefits of Greenwich’s low-carbon technology.

The innovation(s) have informed teaching and research at the University of Greenwich.

The development of curricula in Engineering since 2014 has included specific themes related to low-carbon technology, and sustainable construction materials. Bespoke lectures on ACT at UG and PG-level courses (e.g., Environmental Engineering), research opportunities and training at Master’s and PhD (incl. ERASMUS) are offered. Hills delivers sessions at the CO2Chem Summer/Winter Schools (2017–2020) bringing the benefits and limitations of ACT to >80 PhD students/pa from across the country, as part of their training. Furthermore, C8S represents the ‘Utilisation’ cohort within the Carbon Capture and Storage and Association (CCSA) -the trade association (>60 members incl. Shell, BP and OCO) promoting the commercial deployment of CCUS and the Zero Emissions Platform.

The impacts of the research outputs were mainly achieved through collaborating with companies during and after the research and innovation projects, i.e., research and its impact have been intertwined continuously. During each project, monthly project meetings were held, and in many cases, the meetings were held within the collaborating companies, engaging more engineers and managers. In this way, outputs were transferred to industry effectively and timely. The research group also coordinated a ‘Manufacturing Industry Focus Group in Southeast England’ and organised regular industrial workshops (normally twice a year). Companies in this region were updated with the most recent research achievements, and often further knowledge transfer activities were arranged afterwards. For example, after a workshop in 2012, Cummins Inc. requested a special seminar with the research team to further discuss OS3 and then sponsored a three-year research project.

Transforming knowledge sharing, improving design and production efficiency, reducing failures, and saving costs at BAE Systems plc

BAES is a global defence, aerospace and security company and is among the top 5 UK ministry of defence contractors. They employ over 85,800 people worldwide. BAES Rochester operates as a manufacturing hub for avionic and maritime defence products. The company was interested in the EPSRC project (IMRC 51) presented by Gao at his inaugural lecture at UoG, and as a result, co-funded an EPSRC Industrial Case Grant which ran from 2008 until 2012. This project aimed to further develop the knowledge framework ( OS1) to address social and cultural aspects in product lifecycle activities. During the project, unstructured tacit knowledge ( OS3) in project meetings, and knowledge of retired/departed employees were captured, properly managed and reused to improve business operations in the company. Since then, the work was so successful that BAES co-funded two other ESPRC Industrial Case Grants with Gao as PI, expanding all outputs strands from the UoG research in a collaboration that ran for over 10 years.

During all three projects, UoG research team worked closely with the company to capture their requirements, knowledge and feedback, and regularly demonstrated the outputs ( OS1, OS2 & OS3) with their case studies to a stakeholders’ group consisting of managers and engineers from design engineering, testing, manufacturing, quality, IT and procurement departments. Through this the research was transferred to all members of the respective departments. BAES (Rochester) reports that changes directly impacted by the research in the eligible period were (5.1): Increased employee acceptance of new work-sharing platforms as standard ways of working; Knowledge management culture has significantly improved through an increase in the use of knowledge repositories including risk reduction knowledge; Transfer of knowledge plans put in place for retiring experts; Local and cross-organisation communities of practice was established with respect to the knowledge framework which improved knowledge sharing; The knowledge framework was used as a reference model by the IT department to improve company-wide product lifecycle management system, which increased knowledge search efficiency and accuracy; Design and production efficiency were increased, part failures & re-works reduced, time to market and cost reduced.

The research outputs were also shared across the whole enterprise of BAES and its external partners globally through their internal research and innovation conferences and dissemination channels. The majority of which have been captured in over 37 collaborative academic papers. Prof Gao was nominated by BAES for the Chairman’s Award (Nomination title: Making the most of our Research, ID: 40719, 2019). The award is given by the chairman to recognise an individual’s contributions to BAES and the positive impact they have made to the business. Although not eventually elected, his persistent collaboration over a decade with the company was recognised and highly appreciated.

Transforming knowledge sharing, improving design and testing efficiency, saving costs, and impriving employee satisfaction at Cummins Inc.

Cummins is a global power leader that designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel and alternative fuel engines, with 55,400 direct employees worldwide. Its Power Generation Business (Ramsgate site, UK) participated in the regular industrial workshops headed by Gao and this eventually led to them co-funding a three-year research project in 2015 to further develop and implement the knowledge framework for improving their testing processes in global product development ( OS1). During the project, storytelling and video sharing functionalities were embedded into a corporate social media site which was capable of facilitating the capture and sharing of employee knowledge, including employee feedback ( OS3) in global product development processes. The knowledge framework developed by UoG researchers was directly driven by the knowledge users, providing both knowledge direction and content. The company’s IT manager and engineers also further developed and applied the knowledge framework ( OS1) to manage standardised and modular product models with structured engineering knowledge ( OS2) for integrated design, manufacturing and resources across the global supply chain. The results were validated in the Ramsgate (UK) site and its global R&D centre in the USA and applied across its global operations.

During the eligible period, significant changes have been achieved which were directly impacted by the research outputs, as evidenced by Cummins Ramsgate (UK) (5.2): Employees in testing and design functions better understood the importance of sharing their knowledge and were more willing to share with others; Testing and design engineers are more willing to use social media platforms and enterprise-wide frameworks to share knowledge; The knowledge framework was used as a reference model by the corporate IT department to improve company-wide product lifecycle management system, which increased knowledge search efficiency (15%) and accuracy (10%); Design and testing efficiency were increased (15%), Time to market reduced (15%), costs in design and testing saved (10%); Employees were more satisfied, motivated and inspired by learning from others and their knowledge used by others to generate business benefits.

Transforming knowledge sharing, improving design and production efficiency and accuracy, and saving costs at Edwards Ltd

Edwards is a brand of the Vacuum Technique subdivision of Atlas Copco, with over 4,200 employees globally. Edwards has global customers and is a prominent supplier to the semiconductor industry. It manufactures mainly in South Korea, China and Eastern Europe, and its core technologies, global processes and governance are based in the UK. Edwards was the main industrial partner of the research project that first proposed and developed the knowledge framework ( OS1) in 2006. When Gao moved to UoG, the team captured manufacturing capability and maintenance/service knowledge in the company and implemented them based on the product model using standardised features ( OS2). The framework made use of the best practices in machining and inspection knowledge in the company to support its global new product development process. A new product-service system was also implemented which supports maintenance planning and also provides specific service-related requirements/constraints to designers. The company’s engineers and technologists continued to implement and apply the research outputs after the project ended in 2008. After enough time had passed for the benefits to be fully understood and appreciated, the company once again co-funded a new research project (Edwards/HEFCE, 1/9/2019–31/8/2022) to further develop and implement the framework ( OS1) to support designers to select optimised tolerances using real manufacturing capability (inspection data) ( OS2).

Since August 2013, Edward’s Burgess Hill (UK) site reported the following changes directly impacted by the research outputs (5.3): Formation and influence of an Advanced Manufacturing Technology Group; Employees in design, manufacturing and maintenance functions understood the importance of sharing their knowledge and were willing to share with others; The knowledge framework was used as a reference model to improve company-wide product lifecycle management which increased knowledge retrieval efficiency and accuracy; Maintenance/service data and knowledge fed back to designers for improving product quality and reliability; Optimal tolerance selection reduced manufacturing costs; New product development efficiency was increased, project time reduced, and costs saved. The research outputs were also shared across the company’s global operations through their corporate R&D dissemination channels and repositories. The standardised design, manufacturing and service information and knowledge ( OS2) is also shared across their entire corporate operations through the product lifecycle data/knowledge management framework ( OS1).

The research outputs have been developed into a number of “delivery vehicles” which have been adopted and embedded widely by industry:

• In-depth insight into the key issues with powder quality and flow on a large number of industrial plants that have been studied (approx. 30 during the research and 200 more since), which have been built into the dissemination routes described below. These include such issues as where to look for causes of problems in a plant; how to obtain meaningful samples from the plant and characterise them in ways that synthesise the behaviour seen on-plant; how to redesign equipment to avoid problems; and how to use the techniques to ensure right-first-time designs.

• A series of innovative instruments and facilities used by industry (the Brookfield Powder Flowability Tester; QPM Segregation and Degradation Testers, Caking Test Suite, Mechanical Surface Energy tester) for measuring behaviour of powders, specifically their flow properties and their tendencies to segregate, degrade and cake in handling, processing and storage.

• A series of techniques for using the results from the above-mentioned instruments – mainly analytical and numerical models, several of which are incorporated into the Virtual Formulation Laboratory software suite – to predict the behaviour of the powders in industrial processes (e.g. storage, transport, feeding/dispensing, heating/cooling, conveying) for use in plant design, powder formulation and process trouble-shooting.

• A much augmented series of paid educational courses for engineers in industry, to allow them to use this knowledge practically in their companies, attended by over 250 delegates annually.

• A consultancy service by The Wolfson Centre used extensively by industry (+50 projects worth around £550k annually) for design of new plants, development of new powder formulations and troubleshooting of existing ones, e.g. eliminating problems with poor flow, caking, degradation or segregation of particulates, fugitive dust etc. that are commonly costly in powder processing.

Since August 2013, more than 60 companies around the globe (from SMEs to multinationals) have funded over £3,000,000 worth of programmes of consultancy or applied research at Wolfson, to embed the outputs from the QPM and consequent projects. They either embedded the instruments and techniques directly in their own material characterisation and product design roadmaps, or funded studies at Wolfson to research the behaviour and formulation of their own materials further using the QPM, PFT and VFL techniques, and using the outputs of these projects in their plants.

Example 1: Decarbonising 5% of the UK’s electricity: The world’s largest biomass power project involved the conversion of 4 of the 6 units of the 3960MW Drax coal fired power station to biomass. Wolfson was engaged from the outset to deploy QPM techniques to optimise design of the new £240,000,000 fuel handling, storage and feeding facility [5.1]. (The gravity of solids handling to this conversion can be judged from the fact that the new fuel handling system cost £240M whereas changes to combustion systems cost only £70M). This involved predicting and minimising the physical degradation of the wood pellet fuel in handling (dust and fires compromise safety, performance and efficiency) and ensuring reliable flow. The research was applied in design of large and small storage silos for flow, structural stability, humidity and fire control; feeders and chutes for minimum fuel degradation and equipment wear; conveying systems for reliable fuel transfer; dust control; and fire and explosion protection. A close relationship has continued, Drax funding 12 further research and consultancy projects [5.2] to enable success in further improving their handling system, dealing with changes in the fuel, and eliminating snags. Benefits lie in helping preserve this £4Bn p.a. business and 5% of UK electricity supply, that would have closed without this conversion, and eliminating 12M tonnes p.a. of CO₂ from UK electricity production.

Similar design and support was provided to conversion of other large power stations: Lynemouth (2014-present); Tilbury (2010-2016), Eemshaven (NL) (2016 – present) and others. Since 2015, support has been provided to the burgeoning generation of smaller new-build biomass stations (e.g. Blackburn Meadows, Wilton, Irving etc.) [5.8].

At the small end of the scale (domestic heat), a close relationship has been formed with UK Pellet Council. Wolfson prepares and delivers mandatory training courses for those involved with domestic pellet manufacture and delivery, embodying the research outputs.

Similar studies have also been made at the other end of the fuel supply chain via Enviva Corporation (major US manufacturers of biomass fuel for power stations worldwide), who have extensively paid for access to this body of research and techniques, to improve the quality of the fuel they deliver, reducing problems of self-heating, fire, dust explosions, handling problems etc.

Along the supply chain, ports e.g. Tyne, Immingham, Liverpool have accessed and used the research to reduce fires, environmental pollution, occupational dust exposure and cargo damage.

Example 2: The Brookfield PFT Powder Flow Testers (brookfieldengineering.com) arising from QPM via the following DEFRA AFM 206 research. Manufactured in the US by multinational Ametek-Brookfield and sold globally, around 500 machines (value ~£6,000,000) in 30+ countries since 2013 [5.3, 5.9]. Now the most widely used shear tester worldwide for measuring behaviour of powders, in industries as diverse as food, pharmaceuticals, energy, chemicals and any others that use powders. The use of these instruments helps safeguard quality of powder products worth many billions across these many companies and sectors. In addition to instruments in use in industry, since 2014, a further 60+ companies have embedded through over 100 funded projects of consultancy or applied research at Wolfson, based on use of the instrument and its underpinning research on powder flow, to research and improve their feedstocks, processes and products.

The research led to over 200 embedment projects funded by 150 companies since 2014. Powder processors including pharma, food, minerals, powder metallurgy and chemicals overseas and in the UK, including blue-chips such as GlaxoSmithKline (protecting £Bn’s of production annually), Masterfoods, Norgine [5.4], Unilever, Roche Pharma [5.5] and many others. The impacts are improvements to the design of new or existing plants which process many billions of pounds of product annually, an enduring impact of on-going benefits to process efficiency and/or product quality in products ranging from cosmetics, drugs and snack foods to cement, automotive parts and power generation. The outputs are also disseminated through educational courses for engineers in industry ( www.bulksolids.com), attended by nearly 700 paying delegates from over 200 companies since 2014, including delivery at 30+ companies in the UK, EU and overseas including India and China; demand is accelerating. Since early 2020, all these have been delivered on-line at a distance and numbers have increased to over 250 engineers per year.

Many companies in the UK solids handling equipment supply industry (+£1Bn p.a., 45% exported) used the techniques to improve their design practices, often experiencing large growth as a result of their improved service, e.g. SME Fairport Engineering [5.6] growing from £5M to £17M p.a. The large value of this impact across many companies is corroborated by the Solids Handling and Processing Association [5.6], Materials Handling Engineers Association [5.7], and IMechE [5.9].

Nature of the creation of business value mostly centres around recognising, understanding and accommodating the unique behaviour of every individual powder, including:

• Characterisation instruments: Previously, few companies had means to measure flow behaviour of powders. Suppliers and users of powder processing equipment had only guesswork or experience to inform equipment designs, leading to frequent under-performance, financial loss, warranty claims, litigation and bankruptcies. The Brookfield PFT allows them to design or select equipment or powders correctly, reducing losses.

• Equipment design: Models from the research are used to predict and optimise the performance of proposed equipment designs ahead of building, greatly reducing problems.

• Powder formulation: previously, formulators of powders e.g. pharmaceutical oral solid dose preparations, snack flavourings etc. could not predict whether a new formulation would present manufacturing problems. Making and trialling a production-sized batch frequently led to major losses (~£200,000 for a failed batch of a pharmaceutical) and lost time to market. Using these research outputs, they can now predict approximately how their formulations will process even before first making them, making an accurate assessment from a few grammes, avoiding these costs and time setbacks by correcting formulation or equipment choice at the earliest stage of product development and production planning.

• Educational courses raise awareness of the difficulties in developing powders and plants for production of powder-containing products, convincing delegates of the need to characterise powders and use the models to realise business value. Frequently they feed back that they have, due to this awareness, recognised and avoided costly mistakes.

• Forensic engineering of failed processes, structural collapse of plants, badly-performing products etc. allow lessons to be learned and avoided in the future, preventing losses.

• Safety of operators and plant benefits by identifying and eliminating potential dangers; dust emission leading to inhalation and explosion, self-heating leading to fire, silo blockages that have to be dug out by hand, manual intervention to obtain flow of toxic materials etc.

• Fast, affordable expert services through Wolfson consultancy, on all the above and practical expertise to use them. Engineers, managers and formulators in industry can access these without having to become experts themselves. Many do evolve into company experts, and many such companies become sponsors and collaborators in research.

The integration of research, consultancy and education creates a virtuous circle; Increasing numbers of companies and individuals who access and use the techniques to improve profitability, creates a “good news” message stimulating further engagement and growth of powder processing research, not just at Wolfson but in academe world-wide through our many international links.