Services business for
Knowledge+innovation=Success.
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Introduction Welcome to the latest brochure from London South Bank University (LSBU) describing the range of services we provide for business. This brochure has been designed to highlight the ways in which companies can access the talented people, new ideas and extensive modern facilities available at one of London’s largest universities. LSBU has a proven track record in delivering cost-effective services and support to business. Our aim is to help your business grow successfully and deliver improved bottom-line results. This brochure tells you about what we do and gives specific examples of work we have done with small to medium-sized networks and corporate companies. We hope it conveys the sort of work that LSBU does to support businesses. If you wish to explore ways in which LSBU can help your business, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to discuss your requirements.
What services do we provide?
The range of services we offer is varied and covers: Contract research We can undertake research and development for your organisation to deliver new and improved products, processes and systems. Consultancy With more than 500 experts covering a range of disciplines, our staff can provide you with advice and ideas to address the problems and challenges facing your business. Training We offer training and continuing professional development for your company and staff in specialisms ranging from IT to construction, marketing to languages, finance to food and much more. Knowledge transfer LSBU is involved in and offers access to a number of grant-aided knowledge transfer schemes designed to allow universities and business to work together to solve business problems. The best known of these is Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), a Government-funded initiative where graduates tackle a business-related project with supervision from both company and university staff. Facilities As a major London university, LSBU has a wide range of top-class amenities available to businesses. Facilities span engineering workshops through to design and media studios. Student placements and projects Many of our students undertake work placements as part of their studies. Student placements offer businesses a cost-effective way of accessing bright ideas and enthusiastic people. In addition, we are always looking for real world challenges for our students to tackle as part of their coursework. This is one way businesses can gain new insights at little or no cost.
The key to our services
The services we provide to business are based on four key aspects – Talented People; Innovative Ideas; Creative Links and Modern Facilities. Throughout this brochure you will find examples of our work in each of these areas. Areas of expertise at LSBU include: Acoustics Building design and architecture Business processes Chemical processing Communications Computational fluid dynamics Computer programming Construction management Electronic and electrical engineering Energy efficiency Energy and transport Environmental health and safety Financial services Food technology Health and fitness Health care management Human resource management Industrial and manufacturing design Information technology Machining Management skills New materials Occupational health, safety and hygiene Operations management Regeneration and recycling Robotics Sales and marketing Solar power Teaching and learning
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Talented People With more than 17,000 students and 800 academic staff, LSBU is one of the largest universities in London. This makes for a highly creative environment. Whether you are seeking the advice of one of our academic experts or wish to take on a work placement student, you will be tapping into the extensive talent pool available at LSBU. Whatever your requirement, you can be assured of an enthusiastic and professional approach. Here are some examples of how our talented people have helped businesses improve their operations.
Talented People Emmanuel Ezugwu manufacturing engineer
Talented People Pamela Eakin occupational therapist
Productivity champion drives Rolls Royce forward
Expertise improves patients’ quality of life
Professor Ezugwu heads the Machining Research Centre at LSBU. His research focuses on helping companies reduce the time taken to produce engineering components while keeping manufacturing costs down, thereby improving firms’ productivity and profitability.
Professor Eakin is an occupational therapist based in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at LSBU. She has extensive experience of working with people with physical disabilities and has developed a Dependency Index – a standardised assessment that measures a person’s level of dependence in self-care activities.
For more than a decade Professor Ezugwu’s largest customer has been Rolls Royce. His most recent project has been a US-funded international defence collaboration, the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft (JSF). The JSF is a multi-role fighter designed to affordably meet the needs of all branches of the military. It has the necessary mobility for future joint operations and benefits from reduced life cycle costs. Rolls Royce has worked closely with Professor Ezugwu to produce engine parts for the JSF.
Professor Eakin provides advice to companies on a range of occupational therapy issues. Legal representatives have also tapped into her knowledge as she has taken on the role of expert witness in personal injury cases. Many of her clients are disabled adults with a range of conditions, which may have been sustained as a result of work-related incidents or road traffic accidents.
The research carried out by Professor Ezugwu and his team has enabled Rolls Royce to develop a capability that could lead to a 30-50 per cent reduction in manufacturing times and a five-fold improvement in consumable costs. “We pride ourselves on consulting extensively with our clients and stakeholders to seek meaningful solutions to current manufacturing problems,” Professor Ezugwu says. “That way our work has a tangible business impact.”
After assessing her client at their home, Professor Eakin compiles a report on the extent of the person’s disability and care needs. “I make recommendations on the provision of equipment, adaptations and services, and list rehabilitation costs,” she says. “The report is used by forensic accountants to help calculate the compensation claim. It’s great to know my professional opinion can make a difference to people’s long-term well being.”
Talented People Jill Davies nutritionist
Talented People Allen Long computer scientist
Healthy relationship with market leader
Knowledge is power for software specialist
Professor Davies is a nutritionist in LSBU’s Department of Applied Science. She has a long-standing research collaboration with Reckitt Benckiser, one of the United Kingdom’s top 100 companies recognised for its extensive range of household and health care products. Reckitt Benckiser has sponsored a number of PhD students working within Professor Davies’ Nutrition Research Group.
Professor Long has been involved in many Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) with small and medium-sized companies. He was the lead academic in a recent KTP project with media software and marketing website developers MediaTel. Having identified a mutual interest, MediaTel and LSBU’s Centre for Knowledge Transfer developed a KTP project to produce web-based software that promises to transform the way advertising campaigns are managed.
The thrust of the research completed by Professor Davies and her team has been to gain a better understanding of the science of health conditions such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and reflux disease. The work is relevant to a number of Reckitt Benckiser’s products. Reckitt Benckiser has benefited from this partnership in several ways. As well as achieving a greater understanding of these conditions, the company is recognised at international conferences when the research findings are presented while papers are also published in scientific journals. In addition, clinical trials, facilitated by strong links with the London Teaching Hospitals and undertaken by the LSBU group, have provided the company with valuable product performance data.
Under Professor Long’s stewardship, the Campaign Management System (CMS) project was put together by LSBU graduates Sean Foo and Julian Simpson. CMS centralises the systems that media agencies use through the stages of managing an advertising campaign into a single easy-to-use media management system. It has been successfully implemented at its first client agency and Sean has taken on a full-time role at MediaTel to enhance the system and train new users. For Professor Long, the KTP experience allowed him to acquire cutting-edge knowledge and first-hand experience in web-based media software development. “The project also helped us generate case study material to incorporate into a Masters degree module in Strategic Electronic Marketing,” he says. MediaTel’s operations director Nicola Mullett says she would recommend KTP to any business. “Our company gained a lot of benefits from it. The increase in knowledge from LSBU and the fact that we were able to develop valuable members of staff was key from a management perspective,” she explains.
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New Ideas If you are looking for new ideas to solve existing problems or open up new opportunities for your business, why not follow in the footsteps of numerous other companies which have benefited from working with LSBU? LSBU’s staff and students undertake a wide range of research and related activities. Most of these are geared towards providing practical solutions to real world problems and challenges. Whether your need is original research, a specialist graduate in your organisation for a specific project, or the advice of an expert in your field, we can supply you with people and ideas that can benefit your business. Here are some examples of the creative ideas that our people have turned into reality for a number of companies.
New Ideas London Underground and Graeme Maidment, energy engineer
New Ideas rdc Foley Cooke and Ebad Banissi, computer graphics and visualisation researcher
Keeping the Tube cool
Designed to increase productivity
Dr Maidment and his team from LSBU’s Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Research Group are working with London Underground to develop a revolutionary cooling system to reduce stifling temperatures on the Tube.
Putney-based rdc Foley Cooke is an interior design company which specialises in the retail sector. It provides complete interior design solutions for clients such as Goldsmiths jewellers, Harrods and Tesco.
The cooling system takes advantage of the Underground’s existing pumps, which prevent the capital’s rising water table from flooding the network. Water will be extracted from boreholes and pumped to heat exchangers located in rooms between platforms. Fans will blow hot air from the stations across water pipes and the water temperature will rise by a few degrees as it extracts heat from the air. The cooler air will then be blown back on to the platforms and the warmer water will be pumped into the River Thames.
The company is working with Dr Ebad Banissi from LSBU’s Software Development and Computer Networking group to develop an in-house 3D graphics design system. The new system will enable the firm to compete more effectively against competitors who offer an integrated retail design and 3D graphics service.
Dr Maidment, who helped devise the scheme, says the system is ideally suited to the Underground because groundwater is most readily available in the deepest parts of the network. “The water has to be pumped out of the system anyway and it might as well take some of the heat with it,” he says. “Potentially it could cut cases of people suffering heat exhaustion on overcrowded trains.” Tube engineers have struggled for decades to find a way of introducing air conditioning into the tunnels, many of which were built in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Traditional air conditioning poses problems since it produces heat, which must have an exit route, and there is little room for ventilation systems in the narrow tunnels. A prototype system is being tested at Victoria, one of the busiest Tube stations, and is expected to reduce summer rush-hour temperatures on Victoria Line platforms by up to six degrees celsius.
By eliminating the need to outsource its graphic design work, rdc Foley Cooke estimates its profit margins will be boosted significantly by, among other things, reducing the time needed to work on each project. “It gives the company better control of the whole design process,” design director Roger Cooke explains. Alongside the graphics software, Dr Banissi and his team have helped the company to implement a project management tool enabling them to better organise contracts, work schedules and invoices. “The new software is helping us to streamline both the design and financial management processes of the business, improving our overall business efficiency,” graphics director Gavin Ferguson says. Following the successful development and installation of the software, Dr Banissi and his co-workers are busy training company staff to use the new service.
New Ideas R&D Initiative and John Scriven, marketing scientist
New Ideas Locke Carey Consulting and Phil Nolan, chemical engineer
Bringing fresh ideas to old marketing
Safety first for fire sprinklers simulation
A marketing programme backed by companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble is investigating the effect that advertising, pricing and TV viewing have on consumer loyalty and brand segmentation.
Locke Carey Consulting is a leading provider of fire and life safety advice for architects, engineers and construction agencies in the United Kingdom. Embarking on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, Professor Phil Nolan’s LSBU Fire and Explosions Research Group and Locke Carey have developed a pioneering computer modelling system for fire sprinklers in buildings.
John Scriven and colleagues from LSBU’s Ehrenberg Centre for Research in Marketing are working on the R&D Initiative, funded by more than 40 companies. For a modest fee, participating companies gain access via a ‘members only’ web link to an accumulating knowledge base in the form of reports and concise marketing learnings that outline research results and implications. “Clients are increasingly demanding knowledge rather than data or information and this is where the R&D Initiative comes in,” Mr Scriven says. “We recognise the market is limited to providing information and aim to supply the all-important knowledge. There are profound implications for the way in which a company presents its brand to the market. The R&D Initiative discusses these implications with its members and shows them how to use their new-found knowledge to improve their marketing effectiveness.”
The system allows Locke Carey to build virtual models of buildings according to their clients’ construction designs. The company can use the models to simulate the likely spread of fire and smoke. In this way Locke Carey can assess the fire safety of their clients’ designs before the start of construction. Under the KTP arrangements, the Government provided a significant grant to allow the project to be carried out. The grant enabled a dedicated graduate, Ben Whittaker, to be employed by the University to work on the two-year project under Professor Nolan’s supervision. The KTP project has provided Locke Carey with advantages beyond generating new commercial interest in its products. “Once you publish the innovations you’ve developed it brings technical credibility to the company, and that’s very important to us,” Locke Carey technical director Glenn Horton says. Following the project’s completion, Ben was taken on as a full-time employee by Locke Carey. The firm is sponsoring him to study for a PhD so they can continue to transfer his academic work back into the business.
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CreativeLinks LSBU is located in the heart of the capital. It is well placed to actively engage with other business-focused organisations across London and beyond. Through its connections LSBU is involved in a range of activities designed to support and help businesses access innovation and talent. This section illustrates some examples of the creative links involving LSBU and its staff.
Creative Links oneLondon and London Food Centre
Creative Links BTexact/LSBU Communication Systems Research Centre
Right ingredients for success
Tomorrow’s telecommunications
The London Food Centre at LSBU has teamed up with the Greater London Enterprise partnership’s working arm oneLondon to support the capital’s black and minority ethnic (BME) food sector companies. Funded by the London Development Agency’s INSPIRE programme, the project helps BMEs harness the skills and expertise of public, education and private sectors.
BTexact, BT’s advanced research and technology business, and LSBU have launched a postgraduate research centre based at the University. The venture, known as the BT/LSBU Communication Systems Research Centre, undertakes research on a range of telecommunications topics relevant to BTexact’s interests, including computer communication networks, broadband communications and photo-sensitive materials for communication applications.
The initative is being promoted to 3,000 BME food businesses across London with the aim of attracting at least 250 to awareness-raising events. These will be followed by seminars and talks covering the needs and issues for business innovation and growth in the food sector. Throughout the programme, additional support is available from mentors and experts from the London Food Centre. It is hoped that a number of BME food sector companies will complete the project armed with firm plans for growth and investment. Additional partners in the INSPIRE programme include the Caribbean Food Emporium, African Caribbean Business Network, Southall Regeneration Partnership and Park Royal Partnership – all of which include BME companies among their members. LSBU hopes its involvement in the project will lead to further opportunities to work with the capital’s food industry.
Students who join the Centre have access to LSBU’s extensive science and engineering facilities. In addition, they are expected to spend a period of time working at BTexact. Ideas resulting from projects overseen by BTexact are available for BT to commercially exploit with LSBU sharing any revenue. “The Centre is a win-win opportunity for everyone involved,” Centre director Dr Jim Pervez says. “Students at LSBU will have increased exposure to industry, where most of them are hoping to work. In turn, BTexact will be able to take advantage of the wealth of innovative technology we anticipate will be produced by the students.”
Creative Links Construction Knowledge Exchange
Creative Links London Knowledge Innovation Centre
The strongest link
Nurturing new businesses
The Construction Knowledge Exchange (CKE) has been set up to link organisations and groups involved in and supporting the construction industry. These include universities, colleges, professional institutions, consumer groups, associated government bodies such as learning and skills councils and regional development agencies, and of course, businesses in the industry itself.
The London Knowledge Innovation Centre (LKIC) is playing a vital role in making sure business talent in the region is given the chance to thrive. A joint venture between LSBU and Southwark enterprise agency Business Extra, LKIC is helping entrepreneurs in the London South Central area get their fledgling companies off the ground. The Centre acts as an incubator, supporting start-up businesses by providing flexible service space and access to specialist business advisors.
There are many issues the construction industry is seeking to address around education, including the skills agenda where the various sectors within construction need to interact with each other. The CKE aims to encourage dialogue between academia and industry through company and university visits, knowledge transfer projects and continuing professional development. There are also clubs and forums, based around innovation, where professionals from different sections of the construction industry can meet. The CKE was established in partnership with six other higher education institutions led by the University of Salford. Backed by the Government’s Higher Education Innovation Fund, LSBU is running this project for the London and South East region.
Based at LSBU’s Technopark, LKIC aims to establish itself as a key contributor to the capital’s innovation and knowledge transfer ambitions. It supports firms from proof of concept to the critical early stages of growth. Companies benefit from onsite support, proximity to LSBU’s vibrant academic environment and shared reception services.
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ModernFacilities As a major London university you would rightly expect LSBU to have top-of-the-range facilities. The previous sections of this brochure have made reference to some of the amenities available to businesses at LSBU, such as the machining research centre and the London Food Centre’s food manufacturing facilities. Here are three further examples of some of our facilities and how they can be used by businesses.
Modern Facilities London Aspect
Modern Facilities Acoustics Group
IT training at your fingertips
Seen to be heard
London Aspect provides flexible training in more than 50 web-based and IT related topics. In addition to scheduled courses, London Aspect offers a wide range of delivery options – whether at LSBU or at a company’s own premises. On-site training allows a course to be focused and even modified to ensure that it meets the specific training needs of the course participants, as well as providing training in a familiar environment.
Consulting engineers, Capita Symonds, has hired the sophisticated sound chambers at LSBU to carry out independent tests of loud speaker equipment for clients such as concert halls, sports stadia and local authorities.
Happy customers include IPC Media, which needed sessions for more than 100 editorial staff to develop their Internet searching skills. Other IPC staff attended our scheduled courses in PowerPoint and Photoshop, run at London Aspect’s LSBU facilities. Central London-based travel agency Amathus Holidays required on-site training for staff in the use of Microsoft Access, while the Association of Accounting Technicians has run several series of Saturday courses in Excel and Sage Accounting as part of their Continuing Professional Development programme. We also offer these and other courses in our normal weekday calendar. Delegates have enthused about the good pace and style of instruction, the courses designed to fit various ability levels and the overall relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
During the past decade the company has used these facilities to test out technology destined for Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and Wembley Stadium, even conducting staff hearing tests in a sound booth here. The University’s Acoustics Group has a reverberation chamber and an anechoic room, where there is no reflective sound. “Hire costs are reasonable and the location is really convenient,” Capita Symonds director of acoustics Jim Griffiths says. “Staff are always on hand to help us achieve what we are trying to achieve, which helps when things aren’t quite going according to plan.”
Modern Facilities Keyworth Centre
Meeting business needs
A business-like environment
Some of our other customers include:
Opened in November 2003, the award-winning Keyworth Centre is the centrepiece of LSBU’s modern, business-friendly facilities. Located about a mile from the Houses of Parliament, the Centre can be easily reached by public transport and is a stone’s throw from London’s South Bank Centre.
A&M Hearing Anton Paar Associated Octel BP Solar British Energy British Nuclear Fuels Calor Gas Chiswick Foods European Bakeries Finsoft Guinness UDV Harmony medical group La Fornaia London Diamond Drilling Services London Remade Mango Maunsell Marks and Spencer Meggitt Avionics Microsulis Medical Noble House Leisure Portman Building Society Qinetiq Rail Link Engineering Service Works Global Stockwell Motor Accessories The Welding Institute Turtle Mat United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)
It has substantial conference and meeting space, complete with catering and breakout rooms, for public and private events as well as businesses. The conference centre on the top floor has views of Canary Wharf, St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Rooms are equipped with data projection and computer connections. The building is also home to the Digital Media Centre, a state-of-the-art computer laboratory for the creative media industries.
Contact information
For more information, or to receive a copy of this document in large print format (Microsoft Word version), please contact: Dr Ed Tinley Head of Research and Business Development Office London South Bank University 103 Borough Road London SE1 0AA Telephone: 020 7815 6917 Facsimile: 020 7815 6999 Email: tinleye@lsbu.ac.uk Website: www.lsbu.ac.uk/business
Credits
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London South bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA. Telephone 020 7815 6917 Facsimile 020 7815 6915 Email tinleye@lsbu.ac.uk Website www.lsbu.ac.uk/business