Category / General Engineering

SDRC PGRs’ Social Media Engagement

PG research

PGRs within BU Sustainable Design Research Centre have recently launched facebook page, for showcasing their research and professional practice engagement and activities.

The activities of SDRC include four areas 1; “Tribology”, 2; Renewable Technology & Sustainable Design 3; Structural Integrity and 4; Design Education. The Centre has extensive experimental and analytical resources to assess wear mechanisms of rolling and sliding contacts, corrosion simulation, renewable technology and surface analyses. These include rotary tribometer, micro-friction machine, corrosion simulation chamber, solar-thermal heat transfer & thermal expansion bench testing, 2D and 3D surface analysis techniques.

SDRC has formed strong partnerships with national and multinational companies such as SK&F (Netherlands), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Future Energy Source Ltd, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) Ministry of Defence, Schaeffler, Energetix, The Tank Museum, Poole Tidal Energy Partnership, Balmain Trust and has secured funding for conducting collaborative research.

Collaborative work is also being carried out with other universities such as Oviedo University in Spain, County Carlow Institute of Technology in Ireland, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee USA, PES Institute of Technology Bangalore India and National Institute of Technology Srinagar India.

Current SDRC Research Projects

A Condition Based Approach to the Tribology of RNLI Marine Systems

A Market Driven Standard for a High Quality Graduate

Defect Tolerance Assessment of Silicon Nitride in Rolling Contact

Electroplated composite coatings with incorporated nano particles for tribological systems with the focus on water lubrication

Element, Use and Meaning: Between the Vernacular and Current Interiors in Saudi Arabia, Eastern Region.

Experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of dynamic equilibrium of novel thermo fluids for renewable technology applications

In-situ corrosion health monitoring and prediction in military vehicles

Optimisation of Braking Systems and Sustainable Design in Traction Drive Passenger and Goods Lifts

Practice Based Design Research: Development of research models, methodologies and evaluation criteria appropriate to its intellectual culture.

Research and development in novel alternative renewable energy technology

Sustainable Methodology of Conserving Historic Vehicles

Tribological Properties and Performance of Bio-fuels on Internal Combustion Engines: an application to the Life Cycle Analysis of Refined Palm Oil (RPO) Bio-diesel

 

For research, enterprise or professional practice inquiries within SDRC themes please contact

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director SDRC

zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Fusion Funding: Linking level I & H through Design and Engineering Research

BU research, Fusion

Background:

Through the BSc Design Engineering Level I Design Projects (DP) unit we aim to enhance student understanding of key theory through practical implementation. For their Level H Advanced Technology and Innovation (ATI) unit the students are expected to examine a technical area of engineering, develop their understanding and produce a research paper. This Fusion co-creation project aims to link these activities by implementing Level I DP solutions to solve Level H ATI research problems.

Context:

Level I BSc Design Engineering students were each asked to design a Fatigue Testing machine and, in order to this, they had to develop basic understanding of fatigue and fracture mechanics. These student solutions represent a wide range of designs but can essentially be condensed to two underlying technologies: Pneumatic actuation & Electric motor drive.


By providing the basic building blocks and adaptable elements students can create simple fatigue testing machines to support their ATI research through experience of research lab work yielding research output and practical understanding.

Progress:

The basic design of outline systems and a reference platform have been finalised and part orders generated. This represents specifying 135 component items including structural framework, mechanical drive systems, pneumatics, programmable logic controller (PLC), data acquisition (DAQ), load cell and amplifier, motor controller and motor gearbox unit etc. Hopefully these elements will begin arriving shortly and custom components can be produced in Tolpuddle House before the end of September.

Next step:

The next stage is to build up reference platforms in both Pneumatic and Mechanical configurations. Oh, and learn how to programme a PLC, DAQ software and a SCADA package, doh!

About us:

Dr Nigel Garland is the senior lecturer is Sustainable Design within the School of Design Engineering and Computing.

Dr Zulfiqar Khan is the Director of the Sustainable Design Research Centre.

Find out more about the Technology and Design research theme

Research themes, Uncategorized

Renewable Technology cross-School events were held during last academic year (January 2013 and Feb 2013), these were well attended. Presentations were led by academics and Local Government Representatives including from Poole Borough Council. Additional meetings took place in the area of medical engineering in collaboration with local Health Trusts with excellent attendance cross school and the medical professions. Internal cross school meetings were also organised in the area of creative design and design business. During BU’s Festival of Learning a number of public engagement events were held in June 2013. These events provided a networking opportunity for public engagement, local/regional businesses, government, community and local council representatives, academics and researchers. This included a “question time” activity, one day course in sustainable design and “let’s take pride in design and engineering”  In addition the theme exhibited with cross-school academics at the GovToday Carbon Reduction 2012 event in November 2012 at London and delivered a master class. Attendees included representatives from relevant government departments, agencies and other public sector organisations.

Future plans include international networking and extending our public engagement activities at the next BU Festival in 2014. In addition we will develop initiatives around the computing/engineering interface. This will include autonomous systems, robotics and intelligent manufacturing. 

 

Sign up to the Technology and Design BU Research Themes here:

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    Inventions and Intellectual Property Law comes alive at the Festival of Design and Innovation 2013

    Featured, Featured academics, Fusion, Uncategorized

    The annual Festival of Design and Innovation (FoDI) opened on Thursday 20 June 2013.  It was an opportunity for students from the School of Design, Engineering and Computing (DEC) to exhibit their innovations and creations. “A cake icing pen, a computer game controlled by brain power and a glamping pod were just some of the ground-breaking ideas and inventions on display at this year’s FoDI.”

    During the academic year, final year students from DEC are paired off with final year students from the Law Department studying Intellectual Property (IP) Law.  The law students are tasked with advising their DEC clients on the protection and exploitation of their innovative creations.  The DEC clients then incorporate the advice which they have received from the ‘lawyers’ into their final year projects.

    The IP-DEC Project brings Intellectual Property law to life.  It gives an opportunity for law students to apply IP Law to real-life inventions and in turn it helps the DEC client to understand the importance of strong IP protection when preparing to protect, market and exploit their various creations.

    The IP-DEC Project culminates with Awards for the Best DEC Student; Best IP Student and Best IP-DEC Group sponsored by Paul Turner, a retired Patent Attorney.

    The Paul Turner Prize for the best IP-DEC Group was awarded at the opening night of the Festival.  The prize was awarded to Law Students Danielle Foster and Luke Trim and DEC Students Benjamen Armstrong, George Burge, Joseph Carter, Markko Reinberg, Nicholas Cron, Thomas Clements and Thomas Reynolds.

    Paul Turner with two of the winning DEC students and law students Luke Trim and Danielle Foster.

    The Paul Turner Individual Prize for the Best IP Student went to Gemma Jefferies whilst the Paul Turner Prize for the Best DEC Student was awarded to Coco Canessa.  The Individual Prize winners will officially receive their awards at the Graduation Ceremony in November 2013.

    The opportunity to apply Intellectual Property Law to real-life scenarios and to real-life innovations together with helping the DEC clients to grasp the importance of IP law, makes this project truly unique.

    The IP-DEC Project is co-ordinated by Dr. Dinusha Mendis (Law); Dr. Tania Humphries (DEC); and Dr. Reza Sahandi (DEC).

     

    BU Research Blog Exclusive: Design & Look of eBU leaked

    BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news, Research themes

    The first screenshot of the eBU interface has been exclusively leaked to the BU Research Blog, and is expected to go viral across the BU community over the next week.

    eBU will provide both an internal and external forum for the development of research papers by undergraduate to Professor around the eight BU research themes:

    –          Creative & Digital Economies

    –          Culture & Society

    –          Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth

    –          Environmental Change & Biodiversity

    –          Green Economy & Sustainability  

    –          Health, Wellbeing & Ageing 

    –          Leisure & Recreation

    –          Technology & Design

    Submissions will be open to immediate publication (in a safe internal environment) and open peer review by 2 appropriate BU academics. Authors will be encouraged to act upon these reviews by either reworking papers for submission to an external journal or by opting for publication on the external eBU site.

    For BU academics this is a great opportunity to get critical appraisal on your research papers or ideas from colleagues. For academics it also an opportunity to encourage the submission of high quality student output, and possibly to facilitate the co-creation and co-production of publishable material to an external journal or to publish externally with eBU. For students, this is a fantastic opportunity to turn high quality essays or dissertations into scholarly outputs, which will be attractive to employers across many sectors and industries.

    If you have any questions or would like to become involved in this exciting venture, please get in touch with me via email aharding@bournemouth.ac.uk or by telephone 01202 963025.

    Success of FIF application within SMN strand

    Fusion

    Developing an International Face of Fusion

    Following the success of  FIF SMN application two mutual visits were made. Professor Ramesh visited BU during Nov-Dec 2012 for 5 weeks. This was followed by a week visit by Dr Zulfiqar Khan during Feb 2013 to PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India. This activity resulted in significant achievements over all areas of FUSION in research, education and professional practice. Both Prof. C S Ramesh and Dr Zulfiqar Khan participated in teaching activities at BU and PES IT Bangalore respectively.

    Education

    Participation in education has resulted in enhanced students’ experience at level C and H. Level H students have produced journal publications, a major achievement of this activity and has provided example of engaging UG students in research activities through research informed education. Students’ engagement with research has enhanced their experience at BU, awareness of the international activities and advancement in nano-technology and nano materials. Publications by UG students will play a very significant role in the promotion of BU and raising its academic profile at international stage as leader in FUSION.

    Research/Professional Practice

    This programme provided opportunity of developing research proposals and bidding for external funding in collaboration with external academic and industrial partners.

    One research proposals was developed in collaboration with academic partners as PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India, Visvesvaraya Technological University and industrial partners National Aerospace Laboratories India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd India, Gas Turbine Research Establishment India and Ingersoll Rand India to target EPSRC-DST initiative. Through the development and submission of research proposal for the EPSRC-DST (BU/PESIT India) application significant industrial links have been initiated and will be further strengthened in near future, through the formation of an International Consortium in Renewable Energy & Renewable Technology (RERT).

    A second research proposal was developed with PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India to target World Bank initiative  in Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP).

    A joint research proposal to Erasmus Mundus JASMINE Techno III has been submitted as part of the fusion activity and has provided opportunity to increase and further strengthen collaborative links with cross-channel (France), EU & Indian partners.

    In addition the proposed programme within FIF SMN resulted in publications of three journal papers of which two were published with the final year Design Engineering students. Four conference papers were submitted/ published of which 1 conference paper was submitted with UG final year Design Engineering student and PGR.

    Further Plans

    It is aimed to form an international consortium and strengthen exiting partnerships around the world including key academic partners such as PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India, Visvesvaraya Technological University, India, GIK Institute of Technology, Pakistan and Wisconsin-University Milwaukee, US.

    This partnership will pave way for exploring future opportunities of tapping into external funds e.g. National Science Foundation (NSF), The World Bank, EPSRC-DST (Department of Science and Technology India), developing and submitting joint research proposals, developing case studies for UG and PGT taught provisions and staff/students exchanges.

    Fusion in Action Conference

    During the Fusion in Action Conference on Thursday April 18, 2013 the highlights of the programme in terms of activities in research, education and professional practice and successes to date were presented, which has been uploaded Fusion in Action 180413.

    Finally I would like to thank BU for providing such a fantastic opportunity within FIF and the School for their continued support during the programme.

    Dr Zulfiqar Khan

    Director Sustainable Design Research Centre

    DEC

    Fusion Investment Fund – UAS Partnership

    Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion

    A new Fusion fund travel grant has been awarded to Dr. Ben Thomas, lecturer in the School of Design, Engineering and Computing (DEC) in order to help develop an important strategic relationship with the University of Applied Sciences (UAS) in Wurzburg, Germany. The hope is that through collaboration and the sharing of important engineering resources both institutions will be able to deliver an improved experience to their students.

    UAS was founded in 1971 as an Institute of Technology with departments in Würzburg and Schweinfurt, its focus is on business, design and engineering education, with a well-developed reputation for knowledge transfer and professional industrial research partnerships. With nearly 8,000 students UAS is the third largest of the 17 state run universities of applied sciences in Bavaria. UAS is notable for having excellent laboratory resources with over 20 dedicated research labs in the Faculty of Industrial Design alone, covering research topics from microwave engineering to dedicated polymer testing, with an emphasis on materials testing.

    The facilities and expertise at UAS are very important to BU as these will support current DEC activities, particularly with the adoption of the new MEng course and the laboratory resources for the experimental final year projects this will require. The business and enterprise expertise at UAS will also directly benefit the existing BA course in Design Business Management.

    It is hoped that this relationship will include research collaboration with the activities of the Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC), with initial discussions including existing BU research looking at RNLI marine engine oil condition monitoring, and two newly awarded match funded studentships entitled ‘Recyclable Materials Applied to Small Marine Leisure Craft’ and ‘An Optimised Tidal Energy Design for Poole Harbour’. These will benefit greatly from the extensive materials testing facilities available at UAS allowing greater research detail to be developed.

    It is intended that UAS students and academics will visit BU regularly under the banner of the SDRC for research projects, seminar presentations and to discuss further research and academic collaboration.

    Sustainable Design Research Centre Research Seminar # 2

    BU research, Research themes

    Date: 10/12/2012

    Time: 15:30 (usually 40 minutes presentation followed by 20 informal discussions)

    Venue: Coyne Lecture Theatre

     Topic: Water and Sediment Flow Simulations through Reservoirs and Tunnels

    Abstract:

    Tarbela dam is one of the largest earth filled dams in the world. It is used for water storage and electric power generation. It comprises of six tunnels, three of which are used for power generation and three for irrigation purposes. Sediments inflow in Tarbela reservoir has resulted in reduction in water storage capacity and damage to the tunnels and plant equipment. It is also the backbone of Pakistan (water, food and energy). In this presentation, results of numerical simulations carried out for the very first time to study sediment and cavitation erosion rate through reservoir and tunnels for different seasons (summer, winter and average), for different outflow combinations and sediment delta movement in the reservoir. In addition, studies regarding velocity and pressure profiles vary with and without sediments. Sediment and cavitation erosion with one way and two way coupling at all heads, for different turbulence models (K-ε and RSM) and injection techniques with two way coupling are carried out. More results will be in the presentation.

    The above seminar will be delivered by Professor M. Abid who is visiting the School of Design, Engineering & Computing at BU on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th December. His visit to BU is externally funded by the British Council Knowledge Exchange Grants for International Strategic Partnerships in Research and Education. Prof. M. Abid received his PhD degree from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and presently working as Dean Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, GIK Institute, Pakistan. His research interests are in the areas of Renewable Energy Systems, Structural Mechanics, Welding Mechanics and Computational Fluid Dynamics. During his two day visit he will be meeting several staff to identify opportunities of research collaborations and exchanges, staff/students mobility in education related activities and will be participating in teaching activities within the Design & Engineering Framework at Level C, I and H.

    SDRC Seminar Series # 1 – ‘Tribological Aspects and Applications of Metal Matrix Composites’

    BU research

    Please consider attending the second research seminar of the Sustainable Design Research Centre Seminar Series entitled ‘Tribological Aspects and Applications of Metal Matrix Composites’ and delivered by Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh from the PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, to be held  today at 4pm in P335. Attendance is free and all are very welcome to attend!

     

    Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh

    Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh received his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and also holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working as a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore. His main interests are in the processing and characterization of metal matrix composites, nanotechnology and their tribological applications, and the finite element analysis of bio-implants.

    Professor Ramesh has also successfully completed several Govt. agencies funded projects, published over 50 journal and 75 conference papers, and has successfully supervised several PhDs projects. He is on the review panel of many leading International Journals  and is a recipient of the prestigious Prof. Satish Dhawan Award for the outstanding Contributions in Engineering Sciences, Awarded by the Govt. of Karnataka. He is also the recipient of Sudharshan Bhat Award from IIT Madras for the best PhD thesis.

     

    Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC)

    The Sustainable Design Research Centre coordinates research into sustainability related subjects within the school of Design, Engineering and Computing and this seminar series is intended to highlight some of this ongoing research at Bournemouth University and to showcase the related research of guest speakers and visiting lecturers.

    EPSRC Sandpit: More with Less: Engineering Solutions for Resource Efficiency

    Funding opportunities

    The EPSRC has announced a call for Expressions of Interest for attendance at their Sandpit for ‘More with Less: Engineering Solutions for Resource Efficiency’.

    The UK is a small nation with limited resources that has a high material dependency. With the ever growing concern of material and resource scarcity we look to the ingenuity of the research base to find long-term sustainable solutions.

    The Engineering theme will lead a sandpit in response to the challenges raised by the research community in the Resource Efficiency Scoping Workshop in April 2012 and in line with EPSRC strategy. The primary aim is to invest in ambitious, engineering-led, cross-disciplinary research with the potential for long-term transformation across many and diverse sectors, especially among those that have yet to embrace these concepts.

    EPSRC are looking for enthusiastic participants from a wide range of disciplines who will bring their expertise to explore the challenges of:

    • Dematerialisation (eg lightweighting, novel materials functionality, novel materials from waste products, materials security and efficiency);
    • Designing for resource sustainability (eg energy, water and materials efficiency, considerations for engineering processes, whole systems and resource flow modelling);
    • Reuseability at any scale (closed and open loop recycling, remanufacturing, extended product life).

    Closing Date: 13.00 on 11 June 2012

    Documents to Download:

    Resource efficiency sandpit call document

    Resource efficiency workshop challenge outcomes

    Ideas Factory Sandpit expression of interest form: Return form to sandpit@epsrc.ac.uk

    Equal Opportunities Form

    A Sandpit for Ideas: The concept of the IDEAS Factory is to organise interactive workshops (sandpits) on particular topics, involving 20-25 participants. The focus for this sandpit is MORE WITH LESS: Engineering solutions for resource efficiency. Anyone eligible to apply for funding from Research Councils UK can apply.

    The Sandpit Event: The sandpit will run over five days starting mid-morning on day one and finishing mid-afternoon on day five.

    As the sandpit progresses, participants will build up thoughts on how the identified ‘challenges’ may be addressed and develop their innovative ideas and activities into research projects. Projects will contain genuinely novel and speculative investigations that address new approaches to resource efficiency. The sandpit will include inputs from a variety of sources.

    Location and Date

    The date for this sandpit is 23rd – 27th July 2012. Location to be confirmed.

    DEC Post Graduate Researcher Poster Competition

    BU research, PG research, Research news

    The School of Design, Engineering and Computing is holding its 5th Annual Post Graduate Research Student Poster Competition Conference on Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in the Thomas Hardy Suite.  This event showcases the School’s current PhD research.  Judging will take place in the morning and then the display will be open to all at 14:00 hours. Bournemouth University Board Member, Dr Peter Barnwell MBE will officially open the conference at 14:30 p.m. and will be awarding the prizes for the best posters at approximately 15:00 pm. Students will be there to discuss their research until 16:00 hours.  All staff are welcome.

    The impact of sustainable tribology

    BU research

    I authored a paper with colleagues from the General Engineering (Unit of Assessment 15), including Prof. M. Hadfield, Dr. B. Thomas, S. Martinez Noya, and our research sponsors Mr. I. Hensaw (Energetix Group PLC) and Mr. S. Austen (RNLI). The publication is titled “Future Perspectives on Sustainable Tribology” and was submitted to Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Journal. It has recently been accepted (22 Feb 2012) for publication. The article is the result of a two-month support for impact (REF) exercise which took place last summer (June-July 2011) and was sponsored by the Research Development Unit (R&KEO) of Bournemouth University.

    The interesting fact about the article is that the particular journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews has an impact factor of 5.367 (last five years) and is 9th out of 2009 Engineering Journals Worldwide (according to 2011 impact factor rankings) while its overall Ranking Worldwide among any Journal Indexed on Scopus is 268 out of 18854 Journals.

    I would like to post this success on the Research Blog in order to show that support for impact at least in my case was worthwhile as it triggered my interest to write this “impact” paper with colleagues from Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC). The paper highlights the future perspectives of Sustainable Tribology by examining the economic, environmental and social impact of three tribological case studies worldwide. Each case study highlights one aspect of a number of ongoing interlinking research strands developed by the SDRC at Bournemouth University. The importance of Environmental Engineering through Sustainable Tribology solutions in our epoch is emphasized, showing that sustainability can be achieved to a significant extent through effective sustainable and environmental friendly engineering solutions, stimulating sustainable development and providing stability to our world embracing an anthropocentric and viable growth to our societies through effective sustainable solutions (figure 1).

    To conclude, I would like to thank all the co-authors for their valuable help and contribution to the specific article while I would also like to express my regards to Prof. Mark Hadfield for the position he offered to me as a research assistant for REF support during that period and for his valuable guidance. I strongly believe it was a really beneficial project for myself as well as for Bournemouth University.