Pioneer edition 4 - Issued December 2009

PIONEER
Autumn 2009
www.epsrc.ac.uk
04
Going
Underground
UK research is making carbon
capture technology a reality
URBAN REGENERATION / FIGHTING DISEASE / CYBERSECURITY
EPSRC: funding the future
The Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) is the main
UK government agency for funding
research and training in engineering
and the physical sciences – from
mathematics to materials science
and from information technology to
structural engineering.
Working with UK universities, it invests
around £800m a year in world class
research and training to promote future
economic development and improved
quality of life.
Get involved:
EPSRC’s portfolio of research projects
includes more than 2,000 partnerships
with organisations from the industrial,
business and charitable sectors.
More than 35 per cent of our research
funding includes collaborative partners.
EPSRC’s knowledge transfer goals
include:
•
•
Ensuring postgraduate skills meet the
needs of business through increased
demand-led and collaborative training.
•
Strengthening partnerships with
business to improve knowledge
transfer – including the development
of strategic partnerships with
research-intensive companies.
PIONEER is EPSRC’s quarterly
magazine.
It highlights how EPSRC-funded
research and training is helping to
tackle global challenges and the major
issues facing individuals, business
and the UK economy.
Enhancing opportunities for
business/university research
collaborations to accelerate
knowledge transfer.
You can find out more about EPSRC and how you can work with us by visiting
our website www.epsrc.ac.uk
Contact us:
We have dedicated sector teams working to
understand the research and skills needs of
their sectors and to help connect businesses
with university expertise.
Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Contact: Simon Crook, Tel: 01793 444425
Creative Industries
Contact: Carol McAnally, Tel: 01793 444121
Electronics, Communications and IT
Contact: Matthew Ball, Tel: 01793 444351
Energy
Contact: Stephen Elsby, Tel: 01793 444458
Infrastructure and Environment
Contact: Caroline Batchelor, Tel: 01793 444237
Manufacturing
Contact: Pilar Sepulveda, Tel: 01793 444068
Medicines and Healthcare
Contact: Nicolas Guernion (Medicines)
Tel: 01793 444343
Contact: Claire Wagstaffe (Healthcare)
Tel: 01793 444586
Transport Systems and Vehicles
Contact: Richard Bailey, Tel: 01793 444423
If you can’t find a sector relevant to you,
please email: sectors@epsrc.ac.uk
EPSRC
Polaris House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1ET
E-mail: pioneer@epsrc.ac.uk
Switchboard: 01793 444000
Helpline: 01793 444100
Website: www.epsrc.ac.uk
The views and statements expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily
those of EPSRC unless explicitly stated. Some of the research highlighted may not yet have
been peer-reviewed.
© Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Reproduction permitted only if source
is acknowledged.
ISSN 1758-7727
PIONEER
Editor: Christopher Buratta
E-mail: christopher.buratta@epsrc.ac.uk
Tel: 01793 444305
Editorial Assistance: Rachel Blackford
E-mail: rachel.blackford@epsrc.ac.uk
Tel: 01793 444459
Mailing changes: pioneer@epsrc.ac.uk
Contributors
Barry Hague, Kate Ravilious
CONTENTS
12
22
PIONEER 04
Autumn 2009
FEATURES
12 Cover story
Carbon capture and storage must play a key
role in the global bid to tackle climate change.
UK energy research will ensure it does
16
16 Nano-champion
18
“We’re like herds of
wildebeest looking for
fertile pasture”
EPSRC strategic advisor Professor Peter
Dobson on harnessing the world-changing
potential of nanoscience
18 Urban regeneration
How science is helping make Britain’s largest
city centre redevelopment project its greenest
22 Saddle up
A computer scientist’s journey to cyberspace’s
security frontier
24 Fighting disease
in the street
Constructing a 21st century environment to
resist the spread of infection
26 Shock value
The theoretical research that transformed
Formula 1 suspension
REGULARS
4 Leader
5 Briefings
Marine energy milestone, land speed record
update, building sandcastles and cancer
drug development
11 Interview
EPSRC’s Claire Wagstaffe on creating
21st century healthcare
28 Viewpoint
AstraZeneca’s David Lathbury on how PhD
training is critical to prosperous UK industry
30 Profile
Professor of sports technology and innovation
Mike Caine talks running, rule makers and
Richard Branson
his December, delegations
from 192 countries will meet
in Copenhagen to establish
a new global treaty on climate
change. The summit hopes to
forge a global agreement on a post-Kyoto
protocol and new targets for reducing
carbon emissions.
What any agreement will look like
and how it will work across rich, poor,
industrialised and developing countries
is unclear.
But what is clear is that scientific
research and engineering breakthroughs
will continue to play a central role in any
plan to tackle climate change.
Work supported by the Research
Councils’ energy programme, led by
EPSRC, is developing the key technologies
and providing the skilled people to realise
global ambition.
One technology that is pivotal to cutting
emissions is carbon capture and storage
(CCS). Much hope rests with CCS as both
a potential long-term solution but, perhaps
more importantly, as a bridging technology
– providing a means to tackle emissions
during the transition to more renewable
forms of energy generation.
It is easy to see how important CCS
technology will be to meeting the UK’s
2050 emissions target.
T
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
Planning for
the future
But CCS still has difficult challenges
to overcome before it is deployed as a
viable technology on the scale required.
The Research Councils’ energy programme
is supporting the world-class research that
will deliver the required advances.
Developing CCS technology is not the
end of the process. The energy programme
is also supporting and training a new
generation of scientists and engineers to
deploy and further refine CCS technology.
This will have the dual benefits of
aiding the roll out of CCS and positioning
the UK at the forefront of the clean coal
industry – one that could support up to
60,000 UK jobs by 2030 according to a
recent independent report.
These timescales also reaffirm the need
for a long-term strategy. EPSRC is currently
refining its new Strategic Plan, due to be
published in the spring. It will be a highlevel statement of our long-term vision
and goals and will provide us with clear
direction in the years ahead.
It is being formed during a very
challenging time both in terms of global
issues such as climate change and the
current economic situation. But the plan
will be ambitious, building on past success,
and will help us address current and future
challenges facing both the UK and the
wider world.
The Strategic Plan has been informed
by both the academic and business
community and will be an important part
of our success. We don’t know, at this point
in time, what challenges lie ahead in the
coming decades but one certainty remains
– science and engineering will play an
integral part in maintaining a healthy,
sustainable and prosperous world.
Our strategy will help us sustain the
UK’s world-leading science base and
support the researchers capable of tackling
the known and the, as yet, unknown
challenges of the 21st century.
David Delpy EPSRC chief executive
05
briefings
ROCKET SCIENCE
ECO SANDCASTLES
FUTURE SCIENCE
TOWERING DEBATE
VIRTUAL LOUNGING
METALLIC DRUGS
EXPLORING IMPACT!
OYSTER POWER
Rocket-powered inspiration
BRITAIN’S bid to break the land speed
record and create a new generation of
scientists and engineers has ignited in
spectacular fashion.
The Bloodhound SSC team successfully
fired the full-scale Bloodhound Falcon
rocket – which will help power the car
through the 1,000mph barrier – for the
first time last month.
EPSRC is a founder sponsor of
Bloodhound and EPSRC-supported
research is playing a pivotal role in
developing the car. Bloodhound’s rocket
expert Daniel Jubb said: “Now that we
have completed the first firing we can
commence with a rigorous programme of
testing to refine the way the rocket burns.
This is ground-breaking science which will
have applications in all areas of rocketry.”
By 2011, the team hope to be the first
to break the 1,000mph barrier and in doing
so inspire a generation of British engineers
and scientists. So far more than 2,000
schools across the country are involved in
the project.
For more information log on to
www.bloodhoundssc.com
Follow EPSRC on Twitter: www.twitter.com/epsrc
briefings
Sandcastles hold key
to low-carbon building
THE SECRET of a successful
sandcastle could aid the revival of
an ancient eco-friendly building
technique.
Researchers, led by experts at Durham
University’s School of Engineering and
funded by EPSRC, have carried out a study
into the strength of rammed earth, which
is growing in popularity as a sustainable
building method.
Rammed earth is a manufactured
material made up of sand, gravel and clay
which is moistened and then compacted
between forms to build walls.
This kind of research
is very valuable as
the construction
industry analyses
environmentally
sound, traditional
ways of building.
Tom Morton
Just as a sandcastle needs a little water
to stand up, the Durham engineers found
that the strength of rammed earth was
heavily dependent on its water content.
Research project leader, Dr Charles
Augarde, said: “We know that rammed
earth can stand the test of time but the
source of its strength has not been
understood properly to date.
“By understanding more about this we
can begin to look at the implications for
using rammed earth as a green material
in the design of new buildings and in the
conservation of ancient buildings that
were constructed using the technique.”
The research, published in the journal
Geotechnique, showed that a major
component of the strength of rammed earth
was due to the small amount of water present.
Small cylindrical samples of rammed
earth underwent ‘triaxial testing’ – where
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
external pressures are applied to model
behaviour of the material in a wall.
The researchers found that the suction
created between soil particles at very low
water contents was a source of strength
in unstabilised rammed earth.
There is increasing interest in using the
technique as it may help reduce reliance
on cement in building materials. Rammed
earth materials can usually also be sourced
locally, thereby reducing transport needs.
Rammed earth was developed in ancient
China around 2,000BC. Parts of the Great
Wall of China and the Alhambra at
Granada in Spain were built using rammed
earth. In the UK the technique was used
to build experimental low cost housing in
Amesbury, Wiltshire, following the end of
the First World War, and it is a recognised
building method in parts of Australia and
the USA.
Tom Morton, secretary of Earth
Building UK, said: “This kind of research
is very valuable as the construction industry
analyses environmentally sound, traditional
ways of building and adapts them for
sustainable construction in the 21st century.
“Such low-carbon technologies are most
likely to succeed by marrying the expertise
of our research universities, such as Durham,
with the commercial understanding of the
wider industry and we are seeing a number
of very exciting developments in this area.”
Paul Jaquin, a researcher on the project,
is now working for an engineering
consultancy (Ramboll UK) on new earth
building projects around the world, using
this research to better engineer buildings.
Leading
research for
the future
EPSRC is to set out its ambition
for the future and how it will
deliver UK science and
engineering that leads the world.
Set to be published in spring 2010,
EPSRC’s new Strategic Plan will
outline the organisation’s high level
vision and goals for the next three to
five years.
EPSRC’s chief executive David
Delpy said the plan would provide
a clear strategy for EPSRC to ensure
science and engineering builds a
sustainable, healthy and prosperous
future for the UK.
“Our Strategic Plan is being drawn
up during a very challenging time,”
he said, “both in terms of global issues
such as climate change and in terms
of the current economic situation.
“It has never been more important
for the engineering and physical
sciences community to work together
to show how important we are for the
UK’s future and why continued
investment in our area is so crucial.”
The plan draws on input and
consultation from the academic
community, industry and business and
EPSRC’s Council and advisory panels.
It will also be informed by
government strategy and the wider
global landscape, including research
directions in other countries and the
current economic climate.
The Strategic Plan is a high level
statement of EPSRC’s long-term
vision and goals and will set out the
broad approaches to achieving them.
Adrian Paul, EPSRC’s head of
strategy and planning, said: “The new
plan will clearly define our position in
the context of UK and global research
and training and will set out and
respond to key factors that will include
economic climate and international
activity.”
Digital futures
07
LONDON’S BT Tower changed the city’s skyline forever
and is an icon of British communications technology...
making it the ideal location for a debate on transforming
the 21st century digital landscape.
The Research Councils’ digital economy programme
gathered leading researchers and key industry representatives
high above London to discuss Britain’s digital future.
Guests had a chance to explore some of the programme’s
early achievements and talk to the researchers at the forefront
of digital advances.
Exhibitions included the ‘digital hospital’, a project utilising
wireless broadband technology to create a new model of hospital
care built on integrated patient monitoring and management.
The evening also included a panel debate on the barriers
to getting the whole of the UK online, chaired by the BBC’s
Quentin Cooper.
The Digital Economy programme, led by EPSRC, aims
to realise the transformational impact of ICT for all aspects
of business, society and government.
Head of the programme John Hand said: “We want to ensure
the programme is driven by real needs and a real understanding
of the impacts these technologies can have.”
To find out more information log on to
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Metals forge new cancer drug
DRUGS made using unusual metals could form an
effective treatment against colon and ovarian cancer,
according to new research at the University of Warwick
and the University of Leeds.
The study, funded by EPSRC and published in the Journal
of Medicinal Chemistry, showed that a range of compounds
containing the two transition metals Ruthenium and Osmium,
which are found in the same part of the periodic table as precious
metals like platinum and gold, cause significant cell death in ovarian
and colon cancer cells.
The compounds were also effective against ovarian cancer
cells which are resistant to the drug Cisplatin, the most successful
transition metal drug, which contains the metal platinum.
Dr Patrick McGowan, one of the lead authors of the research
from the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, said:
“Ruthenium and Osmium compounds are showing very high levels
This is a
significant
step forward
in the field
of medicinal
chemistry.
of activity against ovarian cancer,
which is a significant step forward
in the field of medicinal chemistry.”
Cisplatin was discovered in the
1970s and is one of the most
effective cancer drugs on the
market, with a 95 per cent cure
rate against testicular cancer.
Since the success of Cisplatin,
chemists all over the world have
been trying to discover whether
other transition metal compounds
Dr Patrick McGowan
can be used to treat cancer.
In this type of anti cancer drug transition metal atoms bind to
DNA molecules which trigger apoptosis, or programmed cell death,
in the cancerous cells.
briefings
Plastic TV
Lounge science
There is nothing like kicking back, opening a beer and watching the
latest blockbuster or Champions League game.
And advancing technology has taken the art of lounging to a whole
new level. The flat screen means you now have room for that perfect
armchair, calling became texting and poking is now tweeting. Your TV
can order a pizza and your MP3 player knows the bands you need to
hear before you do.
But if all that sounds like yesterday’s news, take a look at how EPSRCsupported researchers are pushing the boundaries of entertainment.
P-LED TV – utilising flexible, high
contrast, razor thin, low energy
screens – is set to take your viewing
experience to an unimaginable level
in the near future.
And the possibilities are mind-blowing –
lightweight, portable TV displays you can
roll up, even screens printed on clothing,
packaging or your coffee cup.
The technology is based on EPSRCfunded research led by Professor
Richard Friend at the University of
Cambridge in the 1980s.
Cambridge Display Technologies was
spun-out of that original research to
develop large, full colour P-LED displays
and the company remains at the forefront
of the technology to this day, working
with world-leading electronics giants.
The 500,000GB iPod
Running out of space on your iPod – researchers at the
University of Glasgow have developed a new nano-switch
that could increase capacity by a staggering 150,000 times
allowing users to store millions of tracks.
The molecule-sized switch means data storage can be
dramatically increased without increasing the size of the device.
Professor Lee Cronin and Dr Malcolm Kadodwala’s work would
see 500,000 gigabytes squeezed onto one square inch –
compared to 3.3 gigabytes today.
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
09
Stay connected
The home has become the technological command
centre of your social life and you need your mobile
phone and PDA to sync seamlessly with your laptop
so your wireless audio system plays the right track,
right now.
But complex home networking technology is proving
a barrier to progress. One reason is technology protocols
developed in the commercial world of highly skilled
network administrators do not migrate well to domestic
settings and lay users.
Now researchers at the University of Nottingham,
supported by EPSRC, are developing entirely new
‘domestic network architectures’ to help you unleash the
next-generation of applications that could revolutionise
entertainment, communication and even healthcare.
Next generation gaming
From Pong to Grand Theft Auto, fuelled by science and
engineering, gaming technology has leapt forward at an
electrifying pace over the past 40 years and created a
global revolution.
Now the EPSRC-funded Centre for Digital Entertainment (CDE),
led by the universities of Bath and Bournemouth, is training the
next generation of leaders in computer animation, games and
digital effects.
The centre’s PhD students spend 75 per cent of their time at
world leading digital media companies bridging the gap between
research and development.
CDE is working with a host of leading companies including
Aardman Animation, Framestore, Codemasters and Sony.
Sofa safari
Imagine experiencing the sights, sounds and scent of
vast African plains or New York’s nightlife from your sofa.
The ‘Towards Real Virtuality’ project, funded by EPSRC,
is hoping to make that possible.
The ‘virtual cocoon’ – a headset incorporating specially
developed electronics and computing capabilities – is set to
be the first virtual reality device that will let you see, hear, smell,
taste and touch.
The research teams, from five UK universities, hope it will
create an experience so lifelike that the users will be unable
to distinguish it from reality.
Professor David Howard, of the University of York and lead
scientist on the project said: “We’re not aware of any other
research group anywhere else in the world doing what we
plan to do.”
briefings
Explore
a world
of impact
EPSRC has launched a new website to demonstrate the
impact of engineering and physical sciences research
on society, the economy, quality of life and culture.
IMPACT! world – part of EPSRC’s IMPACT! campaign –
highlights how engineering and science is helping to build a
better world and why it is important to our future.
The site features stories and films about some of the worldleading research funded by EPSRC, along with upcoming
IMPACT! events.
The campaign was launched at this year’s Cheltenham Science
Festival and EPSRC is working with a number of partners
including NESTA and the Royal College of Art to create novel
projects which will celebrate the many different ways research
has impact.
To sign up to the IMPACT! e-newsletter, featuring impact case
studies linked to topical issues, email impactnews@epsrc.ac.uk
Wave power
milestone in
Orkney
THE UK’s first nearshore wave energy converter
has moved another step closer to generating clean,
green energy.
Aquamarine Power has completed the crucial first phase in
deploying the Oyster device at the European Marine Energy
Centre (EMEC) at Billia Croo in Orkney.
In a carefully planned operation, the 194-tonne full scale device
was lowered onto its seabed subframe and bolted in place.
The Oyster originated from EPSRC-funded research at Queen’s
University Belfast. It is now being connected to sub-sea pipelines
which will deliver high pressure fresh water to an onshore turbine,
ahead of grid connection and sea trials.
Cooking with sound
To explore the IMPACT! world log on to www.impactworld.org.uk
A low-cost generator that could transform lives in the
world’s poorest communities is now being tested across
the UK and in Nepal.
The £2m Score project, led by The University of Nottingham
and supported by EPSRC, is developing a bio-mass burning
cooking stove which also converts heat into acoustic energy
and then into electricity, all in one unit.
By developing an affordable, versatile domestic appliance
Score aims to address the energy needs of rural communities
in Africa and Asia, where access to power is extremely limited.
Paul H Riley, Score project director said: “We have had
tremendous interest in the project from around the world and
the Score community – launched a few months ago – is working
extremely well. This includes entrepreneurs and volunteers that
adapt the stove for local use among its members.”
The team are also working with Dai-ichi, one of Malaysia’s
largest loudspeaker manufacturers, to bring down production
costs. Though the Score unit does not physically resemble the
average loudspeaker, it is compatible with the Dai-ichi
manufacturing process.
Score has been invited by Dai-ichi to exhibit at the ‘Better City
Better Life’ EXPO 2010 in Shanghai from May to October 2010
to 70 million expected visitors.
Oyster is designed to capture the energy found in nearshore
waves up to depths of ten to 12 metres. A commercial farm of just
20 devices (10MW) could provide clean renewable energy to a town
of 6,500 homes.
The benefit of Oyster is its simplicity. There are minimal
moving parts and all electrical components are onshore, making it
robust enough to withstand the rigours of Scotland’s harsh seas.
Martin McAdam, chief executive officer of Aquamarine Power,
said: “Getting Oyster into the water and connected to the seabed
was always going to be the most difficult step and its completion is
a real credit to everyone who has worked hard on planning and
executing this major engineering feat on schedule and without any
complications.”
Last month, the wave energy developer was honoured with the
‘Best Green Industry SME Award’ at the Scottish Green Awards.
For more information visit: www.score.uk.com
For more information visit: www.aquamarinepower.com
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
interview 11
Claire Wagstaffe
Senior Towards Next Generation
Healthcare Manager
Creating 21st century
healthcare
EPSRC’s towards next
generation healthcare
programme is investing
more than £36m in ensuring
brilliant science improves
quality of life for all.
e have an ageing
population, so
how do we keep
people healthier
for longer? We
have increasing pressure on NHS facilities
and services, how can we tackle that
through technology?”
These are some of the very immediate
issues facing the UK, says Dr Claire
Wagstaffe, senior towards next generation
healthcare manager.
That science and engineering can help
tackle them is not in question. But the
challenge for the TNGH programme is
to make sure it tackles them as soon as
possible – by accelerating the transition
from research through to new products
and practices.
The programme’s ethos is partnership
and collaboration. It is linking the UK’s
world-leading research groups with the
clinicians, charities and companies on
healthcare’s frontline, along with the
patients who will ultimately benefit
from advances.
Wagstaffe says: “EPSRC has a wide
portfolio of research, something like £400m
of grants relevant to healthcare. Everything
from mathematical modelling, chemistry in
drug development, the physics supporting
imaging devices, the engineering of new
knee joints or better hospital design, the list
goes on.
“But it won’t make the transition on
its own,” she adds. “Engineers and scientists
can produce bright ideas, but how do
“W
EPSRC’s towards next generation
healthcare programme supports
a multidisciplinary approach to
improve the health of UK citizens at
all stages of their lives. It recognises
the challenges and opportunities
arising from an ageing population
and the influence of genetics,
lifestyle and the environment
on disease and treatment. The
programme focuses on working
in partnership to accelerate the
transition from basic research to
clinical products and practices.
you get them into the healthcare arena?
Partnerships give us the linkage. Companies
and charities provide that pull through to
exploitation and deployment because their
objective is to get better quality of life
for people.”
Following successful partnerships with
two major healthcare organisations –
Cancer Research UK and Wellcome
Trust – the programme has now launched a
£8m scheme to fund collaborations between
research teams and smaller medical charities
and healthcare SMEs.
“Looking at the other end of the
spectrum, we now have to connect with
SMEs and smaller charities because there
is huge benefit in collaborating with them,”
says Wagstaffe. “These new partnerships
will help researchers address a wider range
of healthcare issues.
“We have put a pot of money on
the table and put the challenge on the
academics and the SMEs and smaller
charities to come to us with ideas.”
In June, EPSRC and Wellcome Trust
jointly funded four interdisciplinary research
teams – at Imperial College London, King’s
College London, University of Leeds and
Oxford University – who will receive a
combined total of £41m over the next
New partnerships
will help researchers
address a wider
range of healthcare
issues.
Dr Claire Wagstaffe
five years. The funding will help to develop
integrated teams of clinicians, biomedical
scientists and world-class engineers to
invent high-tech solutions to medical
challenges, potentially improving thousands
of patients’ lives.
Last year, Cancer Research UK and
EPSRC formed a £45m partnership to
fund four Cancer Imaging Centres to
develop and introduce imaging technologies
and establish the UK as a world leader in
cancer imaging research. The Medical
Research Council and the Department of
Health (England) further contributed to
this initiative.
“The partnerships with Cancer
Research UK and Wellcome Trust have
shown the benefits of working with others,”
says Wagstaffe. “Their main aim is not to
fund research but to make sure there is
better healthcare provision at the end of
the day.”
Through fostering innovative
partnerships with all areas of the healthcare
sector, TNGH is building stronger links
between research and healthcare
professionals and helping world-leading
science save lives.
To find out more visit:
www.epsrc.ac.uk/healthcare
the carbon
clean-up
Carbon capture and storage will play a pivotal
role in the global effort to tackle climate
change – and the Research Councils’ energy
programme is supporting the people who
will make it happen.
Words: Chris Buratta
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
arbon capture and storage (CCS). The term has
become so familiar and the technology so important
that, as the government’s former chief scientific
advisor Sir David King points out, it’s talked about
as if it is already established.
CCS is still at the pilot stage but as the lynchpin in both the
domestic and global bid to cut CO2 emissions it must become a
reality, and it must become a reality soon.
With an investment of £30m, the Research Councils’ energy
programme is supporting the research that will make this technology
viable, training a generation of skilled people to deploy it and
helping shape the policies that will accelerate it from small scale
demonstration to full scale deployment.
C
carbon capture 13
The figures are clear. The UK wants to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and coal-fired power plants
are a major emissions contributor.
But the UK currently generates 37 per cent of its electricity
from coal, in the US that figure is 50 per cent. In India and China
it is 70 and 80 per cent respectively.
Couple that with the International Energy Agency’s prediction
of a possible 70 per cent increase in the use of coal over the next
20 years and it is clear that CCS technology is fundamental to the
carbon clean up plan.
“CCS is the deal breaker at the moment,” says Stuart
Haszeldine, Professor of CCS and Geology at the University of
Edinburgh. “There is no plan B if we don’t have CCS and it is
about 20 per cent of the solution of carbon clean up according
to the International Energy Agency.”
On the bright side, Haszeldine says the UK is very well placed
to take CCS forward and may even be the first to demonstrate it
on a power station at full scale.
“Britain has planned it very well and in principle it is going well.
Investment has scaled up in CCS research very appropriately.
There is good alignment between the British research funders like
the Research Councils, Technology Strategy Board and the Energy
Technologies Institute.”
The main hurdle for CCS to clear is scale up, proving the
technology can work technically and economically, on a work-a-day
power plant. Research is making CCS technology more efficient
and more reliable – resulting in a cheaper ‘unit’ price for the
consumer and making it commercially viable for the power
companies.
In essence, CCS is about capturing CO2 at the emissions source,
such as a coal-fired power plant, to prevent it from being released
into the atmosphere, then transporting it to a geologically sound
storage site, usually an empty oil or gas field, before locking it
safely away.
But capturing carbon, transporting it hundreds of kilometres
and then injecting into the earth at a depth of at least 800m will
cost money – around £1bn to fit and operate CCS on a power
plant for 15 years.
Dr Trevor Drage is part of a team at Nottingham University
exploring ways to tackle costs at the capture and transport phases.
The research team are developing new materials – porous solids
There is no plan B if
we don’t have CCS.
Professor Stuart Haszeldine
that can selectively soak up CO2, known as ‘adsorbants’ – to
capture CO2 from power plants at the post-combustion phase
(after the coal has been burned).
One of the major cost issues with this type of technology is the
reuse, or regeneration, of the adsorbant. The CO2 must be removed
from the material ready for transport and that process puts an
energy strain on the power plant.
“You have to regenerate the materials, so you have to get the
CO2 out in an efficient way. Then you want those materials to last
thousands of cycles,” he says.
“You are using steam to regenerate the adsorbants so that takes
it away from the power plant. It is an extra cost to the power station
which is passed on to the cost of a unit of electricity.”
Drage is leading work on both adsorbant development and
improving the efficiency of the regeneration process that could
lead up to an estimated 30 to 50 per cent reduction in the ‘energy
penalty’ associated with CCS.
“Our main aim is to decrease that energy penalty associated
with CCS on a power plant.
“But,” he adds, “it’s useless if you can capture carbon and
you can store carbon but you can’t transport it safely.”
CO2 is already transported by long distance pipeline, like the
328km pipeline in North America, but these are chiefly routed
through sparsely populated areas. As Drage points out, taking a
pipeline from Leeds to the North Sea is a very different prospect.
Drage is also working on RCUK-supported research, led by
Professor Martin Downie at Newcastle University, that is looking
at the challenges of CO2 transportation, and how the chemical
behaves in different phases or states, in order to develop safe and
efficient pipelines.
“The behaviour of the CO2 in different phases influences the
corrosion of the pipe and stresses and fractures. It influences how
the pipeline will behave and so how you specify the materials.
You may need to have a recompression stage in the pipeline – but
the hope is you don’t.”
The work (which Drage says is built on the expertise of
Professors Martyn Poliakoff and Mike George at Nottingham)
is being carried out in close collaboration with industry and other
funding agencies to help accelerate the take up of technology and
Drage and his colleagues are working with power company E.on,
Rolls-Royce and the Technology Strategy Board on CO2
compression research.
“With our E.on and EPSRC funding we have an industrial
advisory group. We have separate industry meetings so they can see
the work we are doing and help guide us so that it keeps it relevant
to industry,” he adds.
The third major component of CCS technology is storage.
“How much storage is there and how can you monitor stored
CO2 cheaply and accurately and give the public assurance on
that,” these are the major questions according to Haszeldine.
The UK exploitation of North Sea gas and oil fields has given us
comprehensive geological knowledge of the area and Haszeldine is
confident there is storage capacity to see us out of the 21st century.
“At the low end estimate, we think Europe has storage capacity
for 70 years. At the upper range of the estimate it is 1,000 years,”
he says.
“So in terms of capacity, the UK has lots of storage off-shore
in the North Sea. It is also quite close to our power stations.
It’s 200 or 300km away, but in China or US terms that’s very close.”
Making sustainable technology
a sustainable UK industry
A new training centre – supported by the Research Councils’
energy programme – will produce the research leaders to
make carbon capture and storage work.
Training and skills in CCS technologies will be vital to both its
deployment and to CCS as an ongoing industry.
An independent report, published by AEA Group in June,
estimated that clean coal technology could be worth up to
£4bn to the UK economy and support 60,000 UK jobs by 2030.
“The training agenda in CCS has been highlighted by many as
a priority”, says Professor Colin Snape, who leads the energy
programme’s new industrial Doctoral Training Centre in carbon
capture technologies.
“The first thing is to provide skills for the development and
deployment of technology, which will occur over the next decade.
Once that technology has been demonstrated that is when the
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
At the low end
estimate, we think
Europe has storage
capacity for 70 years.
At the upper range
of the estimate
it is 1,000 years.
Professor Stuart Haszeldine
whole business or industry around CCS will start to grow.”
He adds: “This centre will produce the research leaders that can
tackle the national and international challenges in implementing
new power plants at near zero emissions.”
The centre will create a new breed of engineer, thoroughly versed
in cutting-edge research and development combined with all
the multidisciplinary skills required to implement CCS – technical
deployment, policy, skills to analyse the economic context and
the socio-technical implications.
Snape adds: “These will be well-rounded individuals who are
completely aware of the whole process.”
And the centre will not focus on CCS for coal power plant alone
– but natural gas and other industries.
“If you’re trying to get near an 80 per cent cut in CO2 by 2050
you have to look at all of that,” says Snape. “Iron, steel, cement
and brick-making accounts for around 15 per cent of global CO2
emissions, so we are looking at the complete spectrum of
industries we can potentially benefit.”
carbon capture 15
in numbers....
80%
UK Government target to cut
greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 (against a 1990 baseline)
37%
of UK electricity generated
from coal
80%
of China’s electricity generated
from coal
70%
predicted global increase in
coal use over the next 20 years
90%
CCS technology has the
potential to capture 90 per cent
of CO2 emitted by coal-fired
power stations
Source: Parliamentary Office of Science
and Technology
How CCS works
• Carbon capture and storage is the process of capturing
carbon dioxide emitted from significant pollution sources,
such as coal-fired power plants, and locking it securely
underground.
• Carbon can be captured at the pre-combustion stage –
extracting carbon from fuel before it is used; through oxyfuel
combustion – burning fuel in pure oxygen to make CO2
easier to capture; and at post-combustion – removing CO2
from flue gas using a chemical solvent.
• Due to the huge volume of CO2 that would need to be
locked away, natural storage facilities are the preferred
option, such as depleted gas and oil fields deep
underground.
• All new coal-fired power stations in the UK have to be
‘carbon capture ready’ and once the technology is proven
will have five years to retrofit CCS.
This is good news from a transportation perspective and
Haszeldine is confident the UK, through energy programme
investment, has the capability across the board to deliver the
whole system.
But delivering the research capability is only one half of the
journey. The deployment of CCS technology will be bound by
public policy and regulation.
In 2004, the energy programme established the UK Energy
Research Centre (UKERC) to provide independent, policy
relevant assessments and help inform public policy.
Haszeldine headed UKERC’s activity in CCS and in 2007
published the UK’s first CCS roadmap.
“The government recommendation is we fit CCS on all big
power plants by 2030. That’s the most ambitious programme in
the world,” he says. “UKERC is looking to find the blockages on
that road to deployment and looking for the places where we can
accelerate. UKERC needs to find those critical points, the points
where we should intervene to get where we want to be.”
In reality these strands, research, demonstration, deployment
and policy will have to happen concurrently says Haszeldine.
“It’s like the car. The Model T Ford did ten miles to the gallon.
Now you have cars that do 80 miles to the gallon but we didn’t
wait for that sort of ‘perfection’ before we drove cars. It is the
same with CCS.”
For more information on the Research Councils’ energy
programme contact: Jacqui Williams, jacqui.williams@epsrc.ac.uk
Research
Councils’
Energy
Programme
The Research Councils’
energy programme aims
to position the UK to
meet its energy and
environmental targets
and policy goals through
world-class research
and training.
It is investing more than
£530 million in research
and skills to pioneer a
low carbon future. This
builds on an investment
of £360 million over the
past 5 years.
Led by the Engineering
and Physical Sciences
Research Council
(EPSRC), the programme
brings together the work
of the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences
Research Council
(BBSRC), the Economic
and Social Research
Council (ESRC), the
Natural Environment
Research Council (NERC),
and the Science and
Technology Facilities
Council (STFC).
www.epsrc.ac.uk/
ResearchFunding/
Programmes/Energy/
big impact
small science
The Research Councils’ new strategic advisor
for nanotechnology will help research make the
transition to real-world application.
Words: Chris Buratta
anotechnology rose to public prominence in the 1990s
as science’s next big thing – but the Research Councils’
new ‘nano champion’, Professor Peter Dobson, says it
dates back much further and, far from a passing fashion,
its potential is truly world-changing.
Dobson was appointed strategic advisor to the £39m
Nanoscience – through engineering to application programme
in July. The programme’s aim is to harness the potential of UK
nanotechnology, ensuring the UK makes an international impact
in this rapidly developing field. With a CV stretching back more
than 40 years, including senior roles within academia, the private
sector alongside his own entrepreneurial ventures, Dobson has the
track record to help achieve it.
A physicist by trade, he is currently director of Oxford
University’s Begbroke Science Park, a pioneering development
co-habited by world-leading research teams and fledgling
technology companies. He remains a Senior Research Fellow at
The Queen’s College, Oxford and a Professor of Engineering
Science. He has founded several nano-based spin-out companies,
worked as a consultant for many more, and during the 1980s was
senior principal scientist at Philips Research Laboratories.
“I want to get some of the great science that’s been done and
turn it into real applications,” he says. “One of my jobs is to go
around laboratories, meeting people and trying to get them
enthusiastic about rolling out their work into application areas.”
He is under no illusions about the task ahead of him. He knows
the potential barriers to exploiting great science – and in most cases
has first hand experience of trying to tackle them. He knows not
every university researcher will be open to the idea of actively
seeking applications for their work. He is aware of the difficulty of
financing commercial ventures – a situation made more acute by the
current economic situation. And he knows that public perceptions
and regulatory frameworks will have a major influence on how
technologies are developed and adopted.
N
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
But he is also convinced by nanotechnology’s potential to help
tackle major issues such as healthcare, energy generation and
storage, and environmental remediation.
“Nanotechnology’s been going longer than you think. The term
has only been around for 17 years but the subject has been going
for around a century,” he says.
“The first real applications of nanotechnology to create new
businesses were back in the 1920s. General Electric Laboratories in
the US had a brilliant researcher called Langmuir working for them.
A chemist and physicist, he was responsible for several innovations
we would now call nanotech – changing everything from cathodes
for radio valves to incandescent filaments for light bulbs and doing
pioneering work with molecular layers.”
The field has moved on and its potential has grown, but Dobson
believes that some traditional systems within academia may also
need to move forward. He wants an academic reward system that
acknowledges commercial enterprise and encourages greater
commercialisation of work. “There is a gap between science and
technology and we need people to cross that gap because it’s the
biggest barrier to the exploitation of ideas,” he says.
Dobson traces this entrepreneurial spirit back to his childhood
in Cornwall where he exploited any opportunity to earn some
extra money. “I grew up in a fishing village and I used to help
rent out deck chairs and boats on the beach and would assist
fishermen to pull up crab pots in the morning and evening,
so that’s my background.”
Later, he would be influenced by the entrepreneurial spirit
within the Imperial College London’s Physics Department before
moving to Philips Research Laboratories in the 1980s to shape at
first hand the applications of his semi-conductor growth work.
An experience he describes as extremely rewarding.
By 1988, he was back in academia at Oxford. He helped to
establish a new materials engineering degree course and began to
see a large number of potential applications in small/medium sized
nano champion 17
I want to get
some of the
great science
that’s been
done and turn
it into real
applications.
Professor Peter Dobson
companies. Throughout the 1990s, Dobson was involved in several
successful spin-out companies including Oxonica plc, that specialises
in making nanoparticles for a wide range of applications, ranging
from sunscreens to fuel additive catalysts.
Since 2002, he has been director of Begbroke Science Park –
which has become the template for other similar developments
around the country. He adds: “This science park has removed
some of the barriers between academia and business.”
But he says other barriers remain in the bid to commercialise
fledgling technologies – not least of all finance. He says this has
made the Research Councils’ role, and their links with other funding
agencies, more important than ever.
When it comes to public reticence regarding certain applications
of nanotechnologies, Dobson says he has experienced it ‘at the
sharp end’ during his time at Begbroke. But he is hopeful that
‘sensible’ public debate on the issue will go a long way towards
earning people’s trust.
Dobson says he will be paying close attention to tackling all
the ‘exploitation pitfalls’ in his new role – but they don’t dampen
his enthusiasm for what can be achieved, or detract from what
could be lost.
His view on capturing nanotechnology’s potential is clear:
“We need to be solution providers, not technology pushers.
We need to talk to the consumer and find out what the problems
and needs are and then we can come in with a solution. That’s
where it will work.”
He adds: “If we don’t get nano right it will have an adverse
effect on our economy because other countries will. If nano has
the solution to issues like new forms of energy storage, and I
am convinced it has, we need to go for it as a national effort
remembering that it would create new business and industry
leading to improvements in our export potential.”
For more information about the Research Councils’ nanoscience
through engineering to application programme contact:
Chris Jones, chris.jones@epsrc.ac.uk or www.epsrc.ac.uk/nano
Breathing new life
into Birmingham
EPSRC-supported research is helping the
£10bn Birmingham Eastside project become
a beacon in sustainable urban regeneration.
Words: Kate Ravilious
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
sustainable engineering 19
Above: Eastside regeneration project (artist impression)
n 2007, for the first time in history, urban dwellers outnumbered
those in rural communities. By 2050, the United Nations
Environment Programme estimates that two thirds of the global
population (around six billion people) will live in cities. But what
kind of cities will these people inhabit, and what impact will
these cities have on the environment?
Sustainable development has become more important than ever
before. Healthy cities, with clean air, a variety of green spaces and
good utility services, are places where people flourish and
ecosystems thrive. Despite this, sustainability has yet to catch on.
With funding from EPSRC, researchers from the University of
Birmingham and Birmingham City University (BCU) have been
investigating the best ways of maximising sustainability in urban
redevelopment, using a regeneration project in Birmingham as
their case study.
Located to the east of the city centre, Birmingham Eastside is
revitalising a previously neglected region. Covering an area similar
in size to Regent’s Park in London, Eastside is the largest current
city centre redevelopment scheme in the UK. Formerly dominated
by light industry, Birmingham City Council intends Eastside to be
Birmingham’s new learning and technology quarter.
I
Covering an area
similar in size to
Regent’s Park in
London, Eastside
is the largest
current city centre
redevelopment
scheme in the UK.
“Much of the £10 billion Eastside regeneration programme was
in the early planning and conceptual phases when the project began
in 2003, providing researchers with a unique opportunity to
influence decision making and to test sustainability concepts in a
real-life urban regeneration programme,” explains Dr Rachel
Lombardi from the University of Birmingham, a research fellow
on the project.
The project was divided into four themed work packages:
utilities infrastructure; natural environment and biodiversity;
the socio-economic fabric; and built environment and open space.
Within each work package the researchers explored the ways in
which Eastside could maximise sustainability, and the processes
that hindered sustainable practices being adopted.
For utilities the team considered energy efficiency, conserving
resources and maintaining a pleasant landscape. They advised on
ways of supplying various utilities using trenchless technology (to
avoid unnecessary trenching in roads) and via multi-utility tunnels.
They also looked into the feasibility of recycling water and using
renewable energy.
They found that lack of information and guidance was a
significant barrier to these sustainable practices being adopted.
Furthermore, the timing of advice was key. “Design specifications
are determined iteratively throughout the development process: as
the design advances, more and more options are ‘locked in’ or
‘locked out’,” says Professor Chris Rogers, a civil engineer at the
University of Birmingham, and principal investigator on the project.
Birmingham City University’s New Technology Institute building
at Eastside demonstrates how early consultation can help. From the
outset the developers and designers consulted with Birmingham
City Council (BCC) to discuss their priorities. As a result BCC
requested a hook-up for combined heat and power (CHP) – a more
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
efficient form of energy generation – even though it wasn’t clear at
the time if CHP would be available. “A retrofit would have been
more expensive than installing the compatibility into the original
building,” says Lombardi. The, decision looks like it will have paid
off, with the first phase of Eastside CHP now under construction.
Early involvement was also important when it came to preserving
the biodiversity of the area. In 2003 members of Rogers’ team
carried out a biodiversity audit, revealing that the area was home to
a wealth of wildlife. “The most bio-diverse areas were brown-field
and semi-natural green spaces, such as canal side woodland,” says
Rogers. In 2005 the team published the Eastside Biodiversity
Strategy, to provide guidance on how to protect and increase
existing wildlife. As a result wildlife havens, such as green roofs on
certain buildings, have been incorporated into the redevelopment
plans. This was followed up by mapping habitat and developmental
change, to evaluate the success of this strategy.
And wildlife is not the only thing at risk when redevelopment
occurs. The Eastside land-use database revealed how the loss of
small firms and services can fracture important social and economic
networks. “The planning process often overlooks the critical role
that small businesses, such as food and drink establishments, play in
evolving local economies,” says Rogers. Furthermore, artists and
small start-up companies can often be displaced when
redevelopment occurs, with equally negative consequences.
As a result the city centre development team have been careful to
sustain Eastside’s unique socio-economic heritage, ensuring plenty of
opportunity for public participation initiatives, in order to find out
what is important to local people.
Finally Rogers and his team looked into the design and layout of
the buildings themselves, assessing the trade-offs between economic,
environmental and social sustainability. For example the choice of
sustainable engineering 21
Above: Eastside garden (artist impression)
Design specifications
are determined
iteratively throughout
the development
process.
Professor Chris Rogers
roof pitch impacts water conservation (rainwater harvesting is more
efficient with a pitched roof); conserving biodiversity (some species
require a flat rubble roof); preserving a sense of place (in keeping
with other roofs in the area); and cultural heritage (mimicking
historical roof shape).
Because of these complex interactions Rogers and his team
recommend that a sustainability advisor is employed to help make
these connections for the development team. “This person needs to
be someone who has access to the latest research, and knowledge
of the interrelationships between various design specifications and
sustainability requirements,” says Rogers.
The project came to a close in 2008, but Rogers and his team
are already applying the knowledge they gained from Eastside to
other projects elsewhere. They have attended workshops with the
planning department at Islington Borough Council in London and,
via a separate EPSRC initiative, they have provided input on the
redevelopment of Ebbsfleet Valley, part of the Thames Gateway
in the boroughs of Gravesham and Dartford.
For more information contact: Professor Chris Rogers,
c.d.f.rogers@bham.ac.uk or www.esr.bham.ac.uk
For more information about the Birmingham Eastside
regeneration project visit: www.birmingham.gov.uk/eastside
For more information about the EPSRC’s process, environment
and sustainability programme contact: Caroline Batchelor,
caroline.batchelor@epsrc.ac.uk
Riding with the white hats
For computer scientist Andy King an industry
secondment, funded by EPSRC, has opened
up a world of possibilities for his work,
reinvigorated his research and led to
applications he never imagined.
Words: Chris Buratta
n October 2007, computer scientist Dr Andy King left his
University of Kent office to find out what was happening on
the frontline in the battle for cyberspace security. When he got
there he joined the legions of ‘white hat’ hackers using their
skills to fight the threat, and discovered a rich seam of
research applications.
In recent years the growth in online technologies and our
increasing reliance on computer systems to deliver everything
from financial services to power infrastructure and water supply
has raised serious security questions.
I
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
This summer, the threat posed by cyber terrorism, criminal
hackers and rogue states, was recognised by a new government
initiative.
Launching the UK’s first strategy for cyber security, Gordon
Brown compared the 21st century need to ‘secure our position
in cyberspace’ to the need to secure our seas in the 1800s.
To put the issue in financial context, more than £50bn is
spent online in the UK every year and 90 per cent of high street
purchases involve electronic transactions. The average cost of
‘security incident’ to a small company is £20,000, for large
companies it can be in the region of £2m. The government
estimates that e-crime costs the UK economy many billions of
pounds each year.
One of the main issues for business, organisations and countries
is staying ahead of the attackers and ensuring that new systems are
not vulnerable targets – which is where the ‘white hats’ come in.
Derived from the iconography of Hollywood westerns, malicious
computer hackers are known as ‘black hats’, the ‘white hats’ are the
cyber rogues turned good. White hats use their skill, knowledge and
cyberspace security 23
In my world it’s about
automating things, so a
computer, not a human,
can find a bug.
Dr Andy King
experience to help security companies scrutinise new systems and
software, searching for any weakness that could be exploited.
Companies, banks, hospitals and governments contract these
security companies to test new systems.
“The idea is you get the tame white hats to find errors in the
software,” says King. “The reasoning is if they can’t find the errors
then no-one else can. But that’s very frail, it doesn’t mean those
errors are not there and cannot be found. So it makes sense to
automate the process. In my world it’s about automating things,
so a computer, not a human, can find a bug.”
In an unusual academic secondment, King has spent nine
months working with white hats at security firm Portcullis to help
link academic computer science research with the real threats and
vulnerabilities that lie in outer cyberspace.
King is now combining his new found knowledge and perspective
with more conventional computer science capability. The white hats
have helped expose the software ‘weakspots’ the hackers are looking
for, how they look for them and how they exploit them. Computer
science, says King, can then bring its knowledge to bear on these
issues, helping to design systems and programmes that will automate
and improve online security.
“Researchers can learn about problems from the white hats,”
he adds. “As researchers we are like herds of wildebeest looking
for fertile pasture. I am now aware there is a whole raft of problems
out there that very little work has been done on. It can be daunting
because sometimes you don’t know where to start.”
He adds: “We want to take the ad hoc procedures used by the
white hats and mechanise them so they can find the bugs that are in
there, the chinks in the armour known as attack vectors. We are now
building robots that walk over the armour probing for those chinks.”
King is an experienced academic and heads the university’s
Theoretical Computer Science group. But it was the sudden interest
of GCHQ in King’s work that turned him on to the vast impact it
could have commercially.
He was contacted by GCHQ while he was working on ‘buffer
overflow vulnerability’ – a coding error that hackers can exploit to
launch an attack – but admits his work was very academic in its
focus. “We showed them what we were doing and they were
impressed. I realised afterwards there was not only academic scope
but commercial scope for finding vulnerabilities in software.”
But it was a less official source that opened King’s eyes to the
world of black hats and white hats: “About that time I was
contacted by a prospective PhD student. He wanted to do a PhD
on a specific problem, he wanted to know how to get from one
part of a programme to another automatically.” The student later
revealed to King that he was a white hat, and would later move
into the security systems world.
It had opened King’s eyes to a world of new problems that
academic research had not yet covered. “I knew there were more
problems out there that academia was just not aware of,” he says.
And taking advantage of EPSRC funding he was able to explore
those problems at first hand.
Working in the world of the white hat did present some hurdles
for King and he admits it took a few months, and a few rounds of
drinks, before he had earned trust. But once he had been accepted,
he was able to immerse himself in their world and pick their brains
about cyber-cultures outside of the mainstream.
“I used some of my money to pay for lunches. That was a really,
really good use of money. That one hour lunch break was the most
valuable part of the day.”
A year on, King is convinced it was money well spent. He is
armed with a briefcase full of new ideas and new directions for his
research. He cites the secondment as being instrumental in helping
him secure a Royal Society industrial fellowship and he has even
found himself talking about his work at a pub ‘open mic’ night.
“My research has been fired up by this secondment and I am
passionate that every academic should get out every ten years and
do something different. It really invigorates you.”
For more information contact: Dr Andy King, A.M.King@kent.ac.uk
For more information about the EPSRC’s information and
communications technology programme contact: Matthew Ball,
matthew.ball@epsrc.ac.uk
A fortress
against disease
A new EPSRC-supported research centre aims to turn cities themselves into the next weapon in
tackling the spread of infectious diseases such as Swine Flu. Words: Kate Ravilious
n 11th June 2009 the H1N1 virus – swine flu – went
pandemic. The World Health Organisation raised
the threat level from five to six, its highest alert level.
It still isn’t clear how dangerous swine flu is going
to be, but in the worst case scenario a flu pandemic
could infect up to half the UK population, causing as many as
750,000 extra deaths within 15 weeks, according to the UK’s
Department of Health.
History has shown the devastating impact of pandemic flu: the
1918 Spanish flu pandemic (also an H1N1 virus) is estimated to
have killed between three and six per cent of the global population.
To prevent a repeat, governments are now making contingency
plans, developing vaccines and stockpiling flu drugs. But there is
more we could do. A new EPSRC-funded project is looking at
the relationship between infectious diseases and infrastructure.
Dr Ka-man Lai from University College London has been
awarded an EPSRC Challenging Engineering Award to set up
the UCL Healthy Infrastructure Research Centre (HIRC).
“Within the next ten years we aim to transform old infrastructure
and revolutionise the design, construction and functioning of
new infrastructure, to create a new environment which resists
21st century infections,” she says.
Viruses and bacteria are very good at taking advantage of
infrastructure. In 2003, drainage systems in the Amoy Garden
housing estate in Hong Kong helped to spread the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which infected 321 people
on the estate and caused 42 deaths. One of the culprits turned out
to be the U-shaped water traps, which were connected to bathroom
drains; designed to be filled with water to block sewer smells.
Unfortunately many of the water traps had dried out, due to
lack of water flow. The SARS virus, which is air-borne, was able
to travel quickly, from apartment to apartment, via the dry pipes.
“We now know that it is important to fill the water traps in order
to avoid this type of disease transmission,” says Lai.
O
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
We aim to revolutionise the
design, construction and
functioning of infrastructure, to
create a new environment which
resists 21st century infections.
Dr Ka-man Lai
Lai and her colleagues believe that outdated or misused
infrastructure, like the Amoy Garden drains, could play a key
role in disease transmission. “In London it is not uncommon to
encounter infrastructure that is over 100 years old. These pipes,
vents and drains were built for a specific application, with the
knowledge and needs we had at that time,” she says. Nowadays
much of this infrastructure has been modified or has become
redundant, providing a hidden route for bacteria and viruses to
move around town.
But infrastructure isn’t always a bad thing. Well designed
infrastructure can help to slow the transmission of infectious disease.
In most developed countries good water infrastructure has stamped
out cholera outbreaks. Cholera bacteria are transmitted by water or
food which has been contaminated by the faeces of people who
have the disease. Poor sanitation in British cities meant that cholera
epidemics were common during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Thanks to modern water treatment plants and Victorian
drains and sewers, we have little need to worry about cholera
outbreaks today.
healthcare 25
However, cholera is still a major killer in many developing
countries. “The technology exists but the problem is not solved.
It takes more than just technology to make a real change in the
world. One major aim of HIRC is to translate research into
practice,” says Lai.
Thanks to modern water treatment plants and Victorian
drains and sewers, we have little need to worry about cholera
outbreaks today.
However, cholera is still a major killer in many developing
countries. “The technology exists but the problem is not solved.
It takes more than just technology to make a real change in the
world. One major aim of HIRC is to translate research into
practice,” says Lai.
Currently Lai is collaborating with Sudy Anaraki, a consultant
from the North East & North Central London Health Protection
Unit to investigate the role that infrastructure plays in transmission
of tuberculosis. “When an incident occurs outside of the home, we
go to assess the risk to others. Through this new collaborative work
we will also assess the environment, measuring the temperature and
humidity, and looking at the ventilation systems and size and layout
of rooms for example,” says Anaraki.
By gathering this kind of data they hope to be able to spot what
kind of environment encourages the transmission of airborne
diseases, such as tuberculosis. “In terms of prevention the results
could have huge implications, perhaps changing the kind of
ventilation and air-conditioning systems that we install in places
like schools and hospitals,” says Anaraki.
Meanwhile, Lai has also been organising the UCL Urban
Pathogen Research Network. Currently they are focusing on the
swine flu outbreak, ensuring that UCL is well prepared. Although it
is too late to change the infrastructure, Lai and her colleagues are
making sure the current infrastructure minimises the spread of
swine flu. “Following the ‘Catch it, bin it and kill it’ campaign we
are carrying out experiments to find out what the perception of
hand-cleaning is at UCL and looking at appropriate strategies to
get the best hand-cleaning performance,” she explains.
Wealth is no barrier to a pandemic. Right now the swine flu
virus is spreading fastest around technological and advanced
countries, such as the US and UK. The complex infrastructure and
global connectedness of these countries is likely to be contributing
to this rapid spread.
The knowledge gathered by Lai and her colleagues at the
HIRC will provide us with another way to combat infectious
diseases. “Infrastructure may not stop disease transmission, but it
can reduce the risk and extent,” says Lai.
For more information contact: Dr Ka-man Lai, k.lai@ucl.ac.uk
or www-research.cege.ucl.ac.uk/KMGroup/kmgroup_a1.html
For more information about the EPSRC’s challenging engineering
awards contact: Susan Soulsby, susan.soulsby@epsrc.ac.uk
Getting a
grip on F1
Its development was shrouded in secrecy. But
now a new suspension component – born out of
fundamental EPSRC research – has astounded
the world of Formula 1 and could find
applications throughout the transport sector.
Words: Barry Hague
Above: The revolutionary inerter suspension-system
component is the size of a shock absorber
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
n international sport, small margins make a big difference.
In Formula 1, teams invest huge sums developing technology
that could trim fractions of a second from lap times – and maybe
deliver victory.
Where the quest for Grand Prix success is concerned, the issue
of ‘grip’ is never very far away. To optimise speed, tyres need to
stay in contact with the ground as much as possible – regardless of
bumps in the track and the forces of acceleration and deceleration
affecting the car. Quite simply, the better the traction, the faster the
car can travel.
The size of a shock absorber, the inerter is a revolutionary
suspension-system component that can help to control the
oscillations of the car. This in turn improves the mechanical grip.
In fact, the inerter is said to be capable of reducing lap times by up
to four-tenths of a second – a huge amount by Formula 1 standards.
Yet the idea did not arise in the R&D department of a leading
Formula 1 team. Amazingly, the inerter’s origins lie in EPSRCfunded fundamental research undertaken at Cambridge University
over a decade ago. Professor Malcolm Smith of the Department of
Engineering takes up the story.
“In the 1990s, there was a lot of discussion in Formula 1 about
active suspension systems. I set up a research programme to look
into these. But then Formula 1 banned active suspension, so it was
natural for me to extend my work to include passive systems as well.
This was primarily a theoretical study to look at fundamental
trade-offs. I didn’t dream that a new mechanical component would
emerge that would be deployed in actual Formula 1 cars.
I
I didn’t dream that
a new mechanical
component would
emerge and be
deployed in actual
Formula 1 cars.
F1 engineering 27
Professor Malcolm Smith
“The idea began with abstract circuit theory. In electrical
networks, three components are needed to build the most general
passive impedances: the resistor, inductor and capacitor. In passive
suspension systems only two components are used: the spring and
damper. I realised that more freedom could be gained if a third
component could be added such that the force is proportional to
the relative acceleration between two independently movable
attachment points (in contrast to the mass element which has only
one attachment point). At first I thought that it wouldn’t be possible
to make such a device, but then I realised it could be built, and in a
relatively simple manner.”
The idea seemed so obvious that Smith was convinced it could
not be original. A literature search, though, showed this was not the
case. Surprised and excited, he christened his invention the inerter
and contacted Cambridge Enterprise.
“Our role is to help commercialise inventions developed at
the university in a way that maximises their economic and social
benefits,” says Dr Malcolm Grimshaw, head of physical sciences
at Cambridge Enterprise. “We’re working closely with Professor
Smith to see this apparently simple yet brilliant invention realise
its potential.”
With a patent application filed, the next step was to decide who
to approach with the concept. In the early 1990s, Professor Smith
had undertaken consultancy work for the Williams Formula 1 team,
so it was natural for thoughts to turn in the direction of that sport.
“My Williams contact had moved to McLaren,” Smith recalls.
“So I approached them with my idea.”
The Woking-based team was impressed and lost no time signing
a licensing agreement. Securing McLaren exclusive rights to develop
and deploy the inerter for a fixed period, the agreement also
incorporated stringent confidentiality clauses. Design studies,
computer simulations, prototype development and track tests were
carried out in total secrecy. In May 2005, at the Spanish Grand
Prix, a McLaren-Mercedes equipped with inerters raced for the first
time. Driven by Finland’s Kimi Räikkönen, the car powered to
victory, finishing nearly half a minute clear of its nearest challenger.
Above: Kimi Räikkönen crossing the finish line to take victory for McLaren at the 2005
Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona driving the first car to race the inerter. Photo courtesy of
LAT Photographic.
“It wasn’t just down to the inerter,” Smith says. “But the
inerter certainly contributed to a fantastic result.”
For the next three years, McLaren spared no effort in
keeping their secret – even giving the inerter a misleading name
(the ‘J-damper’) to throw other teams off the scent. Not until
2008 was the invention finally ‘outed’ and the Cambridge link
revealed in a magazine article. The inerter is now licensed by
Cambridge University to Penske Racing Shocks for supply to
any Formula 1 team.
So what next for the inerter? Smith is already working with
McLaren’s sports car division to explore uses in other forms of
motor sport. But inerters won’t necessarily be restricted to such
specialised applications.
“There may be scope to incorporate them in ordinary cars,
leading to improved handling and passenger comfort,” says Smith.
“It might even be feasible to improve motorcycle safety by using
inerters to control steering oscillations. We’re also starting to look
at applications in train suspension systems, where the inerter could
aid stability at high speeds and minimise track damage during
cornering. In all these areas, it’s very early days but the potential
is exciting.”
The fury of a Grand Prix may seem a world away from
theoretical university research. But it seems that, where the inerter
is concerned, Smith really did find the formula for success.
For more information contact: Professor Malcolm Smith,
mcs@eng.cam.ac.uk
For more information about EPSRC’s materials, mechanical
and medical engineering programme contact: Simon Crook,
simon.crook@epsrc.ac.uk
viewpoint
Sudden impact?
We need to take the long-term view to appreciate
the true value of research and training, says
David Lathbury, head of process chemistry at
AstraZeneca.
alking to a variety of academics and listening to much of
what emerges from the Research Councils, it is clear the
UK government is interested in answering the question:
“what return does UK plc get for the money it puts into
academic research?”
I know most, if not all, academics will say that current funding
levels are not enough, and in some cases with good justification,
nevertheless, the government is committing a substantial sum and
as with any investment of this size, questions as to what return is
made are both understandable and justified.
So how can we answer this important question of ‘value for
money’? It’s actually very complex and the ‘return’ is difficult to
determine, but if we don’t do this correctly we may inadvertently
misrepresent and possibly damage what has been a large component
of wealth creation in the UK.
One focus for government seems to be how much money
universities can attract from the private sector. Again from our
politicians’ viewpoint this appears to be a good metric; it broadly
demonstrates how much the private sector values the type of
research currently going on at universities, or not. It could also
go some way to making universities self-financing, which I’m sure
hasn’t escaped the government’s notice. However, there is a much
more important source of wealth creation that has not yet been
captured.
I’ll use my own industry to illustrate this point. Over the last
40 years, the pharmaceutical industry has been one of the few
areas where the UK has punched above its weight. This sector has
produced numerous medicines and treatments that have enhanced
both the health and vitality of UK plc and its bank balance. The list
of ‘blockbusters’ discovered in the UK is impressive (see table).
T
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
PhD students produced
by our higher education
sector create far more
monetary wealth than
that associated with the
particular project funded
in their university
department.
David Lathbury
viewpoint 29
UK drug discoveries
Cimetidine
Ulcers
Ranitidine
Ulcers
Salmeterol
Asthma
Fluticasone
Asthma
Atenolol
Heart disease
Amlodipine
Heart disease
Bicalutamide
Cancer
Sildenafil
Erectile dysfunction
Anastrozole
Cancer
Augmentin (Clavulanic acid)
Infection
Doxazin
Heart disease
I estimate that at their peak, annual sales of these products, which
are all ‘small organic molecules’, were in excess of $20bn.
Some interesting insights into the critical, yet unappreciated role
of universities in this key area of wealth creation can be gleaned
from studying the academic histories of the inventors of these drugs.
The majority (more than 95 per cent) of inventors were or are
organic chemists, and more than 80 per cent have PhDs. If you
look at the types of research they carried out for their PhDs, most
projects were only generically related to the research they went on
to carry out in industry. The PhD experience gave these scientists a
detailed knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry and developed
the skills needed to pose and answer difficult questions. This
training did not, however, explicitly train these individuals
how to discover drugs.
If you look at their individual PhD-derived research outputs,
it’s hard to ascribe a particular (let alone high) monetary value to
these scientific results. Most of this effort added to the total volume
of organic chemistry knowledge. But look at the value that these
individuals, as a result of their training, created for UK plc once
they were in industry.
Virtually all of these PhD inventors were funded by EPSRC or
its predecessor organisations (SERC, SRC etc). Even if one assumes
that only a small percentage of the sales figure returns to UK plc
in taxes, this still means the return on the total investment in
university-based organic chemistry has been hugely positive over
the last 40 years.
Today I can look at the inventors of many of the ‘late phase’
small-molecule drug candidates across the industry, and the situation
hasn’t changed; organic chemistry still dominates.
These calculations are crude but the return is so positive that
its accuracy doesn’t actually matter. I haven’t even attempted to
capture the wealth created in the agrochemical, bulk or fine
chemical industries, all of which are heavily dependent on the
spectrum of the chemistry skill set. What matters is this success
shows that PhD students produced by our higher education sector
create far more monetary wealth than that associated with the
particular project funded in their university department. Certainly,
it is vital that we continue to improve our scientific understanding
of the world around us, and universities have a key role here. But it
is the scientific training and education that students gain during this
pursuit of knowledge that remains the most important output of the
higher education. This assertion must be true for many other areas
of science.
The lead time from university student to drug inventor can be
large. Nevertheless, once in industry, many of these individuals
continue to drive the wealth creation process for up to 30 years.
I suggest that this aspect of UK higher education output needs to
be captured and quantified in order that it can be put against some
of the current, shorter-term financial measures.
So my conclusion on the impact made by the money spent in
academic research, though hard to measure, is very large. I am
confident in this conclusion but I also recognise that while the
timing of this impact is unpredictable, it is also unlikely to be
sudden. A version of this article first appeared in Chemistry World
profile 30
Mike Caine
EPSRC Pioneer
Mike Caine is professor of sports
technology and innovation, and
director of the EPSRC-supported
Sports Technology Institute at
Loughborough University.
Home to the world’s largest universitybased sports technology research group, the
institute has worked with the biggest brands,
and the biggest names, in sport to develop
revolutionary new equipment, athletic
footwear and technical clothing, a market
worth £3bn in the UK alone.
Professor Caine has undertaken research
in collaboration with New Balance, Nike,
Reebok and Speedo and with international
sports teams including England Rugby.
He has founded two spin-out companies
and won several national and international
innovation awards. He is named as an
inventor on eight patents, several of which
have been commercialised – including a
fitness platform, the Deck, with Reebok.
He is a visiting professor at MIT, and
editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sports
Engineering and Technology, published by
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
He is currently working as part of a
new, multi-institutional EPSRC-funded
programme grant to develop pervasive
body sensor networks to help maximise
the potential of British athletes in the
run up to London 2012.
How did you get into sports
technology?
I studied Human Biology at Loughborough
as an undergraduate, but always had an
interest in sport both academically and
on a personal level. During my PhD in
sports and exercise science, at the
University of Birmingham, my work
centred on inspiratory muscle training.
But we needed to create a product to
train the muscles before we could study
the benefits. That’s when innovation,
product design and manufacturing first
came on to my horizon.
PIONEER 04 Autumn 2009
At Loughborough we’re
privileged to be working
with top level athletes
on a regular basis.
Professor Mike Caine
Is it still as exciting?
More so than ever. The more established
you become in a particular field the
more opportunities are open to you.
At Loughborough we’re privileged to be
working with global sporting goods brands
and top level athletes on a regular basis.
What can technology bring to sport?
Technology can make sport accessible to
all. A good example is the humble running
shoe. In the 1970s sporting goods brands
first started making specific footwear for
competitive runners – that was the catalyst
for mass participation jogging as we know
it. Jogging as a recreational activity just
didn’t exist until that point. Similarly the
development of protective equipment
such as bicycle helmets and ski-bindings
has allowed people to enjoy themselves
whilst reducing the risk of severe injury.
What do you consider your greatest
achievement?
I am very proud of a product called i.play –
a multi-media, solar powered, outdoor play
system developed in partnership with a
Cumbrian based company, Playdale
Playgrounds Ltd. It is play equipment for
the 21st century and, most importantly,
it is getting teenagers to be more active.
We believe i.play, and similar innovations
will help to address rising obesity levels in
children. i.play has been installed at more
than 50 locations across the UK so far
and is proving very popular.
What frustrates you?
The rule makers for sport can be frustrating.
There are many examples whereby
International Federations ignore the fact
that technology is impacting on a sport and
then suddenly make knee-jerk decisions to
ban products. Sports bodies need to work
with the manufacturers, participants and
sports technologists to make well informed,
timely decisions.
Who do you most admire?
I admire some of the more entrepreneurial
business people; individuals like Richard
Branson. What he has created by trying
something new and not being afraid to fail
is tremendous.
Who or what is your greatest
influence?
I’ve been very fortunate to start my
academic career at Loughborough.
The university is a great place to work;
particularly if you’re passionate about
sport. I’ve been inspired by several past
and present colleagues who have shown
what it’s possible to achieve with a vision
and lots of hard work.
What are your main interests
outside of sports technology?
I have a young family – twin daughters,
keeping them occupied is a full-time job!
However I do enjoy watching sport. Having
grown up in the Potteries, I’m delighted
that Stoke City are thriving currently. The
Loughborough Students Rugby Club have
also made a great start to the new season.
In another life what would you be?
I would love to be a top flight football
manager. The cut and thrust, the pressure
and the potential to triumph all appeal
to me.
www.impactworld.org.uk
Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council
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