Pioneer 4

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: •

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Ensuring postgraduate skills meet the needs of business through increased demand-led and collaborative training.

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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

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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

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16 Nano-champion

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“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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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 ÂŁ10bn 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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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

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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.

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