Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards took place last night and the winner’s of the two research awards were:
Collaborative research / enterprise project of the year: Dr Richard Shipway from the School of Tourism
Research / enterprise project of the year: Design Simulation Research Centre led by Professor Siamak Noroozi from the School of Design, Engineering & Computing
Congratulations to all staff involved! 😀
We will be featuring both of the award winners in future blog posts!
Dave Parham and Paola Palma (School of Applied Sciences) have been researching the Swash Channel Wreck which lies in approximately 7m of water in the Swash Channel in the approaches to Poole Harbour. The site was discovered as a side-scan sonar anomaly as a result of a geophysical survey conducted by Wessex Archaeology on behalf of Poole Harbour Commissioners and Poole Borough Council. The site has since been designated as a Historic Wreck.
The ship is the subject of a major excavation by BU, supported by English Heritage. It has been dated to around 1630 and includes the earliest ship carvings ever found in the UK, including a mysterious wooden merman, and much of the evidence found on the wreck suggest that it would have been a relatively high status ship for its period.
The wreck has been featured on the One Show (6 April 2011) where presenter Dan Snow took part in a dive on the wreck in the mouth of Poole Bay alongside a team of BU Marine Archaeologists, led by Dave.
Dave will also feature in the fourth episode of Britain’s Secret Seas, The Bustling South, on 29 May at 8pm on BBC2.
After conservation, finds from the Wreck and all the information from the excavation will be passed on to Poole Museum Service to be displayed to the community.
Post Graduate Researcher Poster Events
At School level we will shortly be holding a Post Graduate Poster event on the 18th May. This was an initiative that started five years ago following a suggestion from a PGR student representative. Various poster events are organised specifically for PGR only participation, at national level such as the young engineer of the year competition at the Houses of Parliament, at university level organised by the Graduate School and at academic group level such as the new Psychology event. It is worth thinking about these activities and the value to the academic community at various levels.
Our PGR poster event is organised with the help of a small number of staff but the main decision making regarding the format of the event is driven by the PGR community itself. The posters compete for a small cash prize within year groups and are judged externally by invited high-profile industrialists and academics. Participation level has been high during the four events to date and the event ownership for the participating PGR’s has been maintained. External participation to judge the posters has been appreciated by the PGR’s as the economic and practical benefits of research are seen as valued. In addition, the enthusiasm for the research projects from the external competition panel act as a real motivation to students and supervisors. Our key values that keep the poster conference successful are retaining the PRG ownership concerning format and external engagement via the competition judgment of the posters.
Prof Mark Hadfield
Deputy Dean – Research and Enterprise
School of Design, Engineering and Computing
Dr Janet Dickinson, based in the School of Tourism, has been awarded £127k from the EPSRC for leading a BU work package as part of the larger collaborative research project 6th Sense Transport (6ST), led by Dr Tom Cherrett (University of Southampton).
6ST aims to revolutionise the process of decision making in travel behaviour (whether it be for the movement of people or things) by using social networking principles to create ‘visibility’ of potential transport options in time and space. If we are better able to visualise the activity of people and things (cars, buses, lorries, even items within a lorry) relative to their immediate and future time schedules, and crucially, the conditions under which people and other ‘things’ might be willing to liaise and adapt, we might be able to realise more opportunistic and collaborative uses for transport resources, leading to a reduction in overall transport related carbon emissions. 
6ST will provide a deep understanding of how the increasingly multiple forms of temporality and spatiality influence travel mode choices and the ways in which people and ‘things’ might be willing to share certain personal travel information. This will be achieved through the novel use of smart phone and tagging technology to provide data feeds on activity and availability, monitored through a Platform that will anticipate opportunities for connections that are then made visible to users in the social network. The contribution from Bournemouth University focuses on reducing car dependence at UK tourism destinations. A series of experiments at campsites will explore to what extent the tagging of vehicles linked to dynamic data repositories of tourists daily experiences, needs and desires can break down social barriers and facilitate more cooperation. This enhanced temporal and spatial visibility could lead to better use of public transport, lift sharing to and from attractions, and the co-ordinated movement of ‘things’ (in terms of provisions) required by the collective members of the campsite.
6ST seeks to reduce energy consumption and emissions from the transport sector through an increase in adoption of sustainable travel modes and lower carbon travel choices.
User-groups associated with three experimental areas (urban logistics; primary education and tourism) will immediately benefit. In tourism the main beneficiaries are tourists (the end users), but also local transport providers, visitor attractions, local tourism associations and ultimately local residents. The key benefit will be the ability to positively alter transport behaviours (reducing CO2, enhancing quality of life and reducing travel costs). Beyond the timescale of the project (2.5 years), as a growing mass of users participate, there is potential to expand the scale of the impact into other domains (e.g. work, retail travel).
The project is due to start in August 2011 and has a total award value of £730k.
Dr Janet Dickinson will be leading the research at BU together with four partners (University of Southampton, University of Lancaster, Edinburgh College of Art and the University of Salford). Janet’s research is currently focused on the role of time in the consumption of tourist travel and the ‘slow travel’ concept.
BU is hosting a two-day REF event on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 May 2011. All staff are invited to attend.
The event is of interest to BU academic staff and anyone who will be involved in the BU submission to the REF.
There will be three separate sessions:
Session 1
Thursday 19 May 9am-2pm
This session will be open to BU staff and external delegates.
There will be presentations from the REF team at HEFCE, REF impact pilot panel members, and a REF impact pilot institution (University of Plymouth).
Session 2
Thursday 19 May 2pm-5pm
This session is only open to BU staff.
This session will provide BU staff with the opportunity for internal networking, followed by a demonstration of BU’s new publications management system and a presentation on preparing a publication profile for the REF.
Session 3
Friday 20 May 9:45am-4:30pm
This session is only open to BU staff.
The focus of this session is the development of the BU impact case studies. There will be presentations of the impact case studies being developed at the moment.
All sessions will take place in Kimmeridge House and Poole House, Talbot Campus.
You must register separately for each session you will be attending.
See our previous REF Event blog post for further details. The provisional programmes are available on the registration forms (see links above).
It’s early the day after Easter Monday and I am sitting in the office looking out at the view as the haze clears and another fresh spring day dawns. Yes all very poetic! I have in fact spent much of the weekend looking at the view while spending the mornings working hard on a conference paper for later this week – I am a keynote speaker at a primatology conference this week. I also have a big project meeting attached to the conference since I am now one year into my current NERC project and it’s about time that we started to have something to show for it! I have been running this really cool computer code in MATLAB to generate some new data which was written by some colleagues in Liverpool. It takes an individual footprint – in this case some from Namibia – and translates, transforms and superimposes it on others to create a mean footprint. So for example if you have a trail of ten prints then instead of trying to interpret all ten individually you can focus on the mean. It is a great way forward since intra-trail variability is a key problem in making inferences from ancient footprint trails. Took me a while to master MATLAB – well master is a bit of an overstatement, at least get it to work! But once I got it working I could set the code running to process data in batches, time consuming but the results are great. This whole process has set me thinking about the fact that doing research is really about life long learning – learning new stuff whether it be concepts, software or skills – and that is what is fantastic about being an academic and makes the profession one that I feel privileged to be part. Sharing this with students and giving them the skills and enthusiasms for a life time of learning is also one which is cool. A week Wednesday is the BU Education Enhancement Conference; I am down to talk about research informed education something which I feel very strongly about. I have to write the talk yet, but for me the key is the fundamental idea of ‘learning from someone who is learning themselves’. I really like this concept and when people ask what research has to do with a good student experience I think the answer is summed up by this phrase and in the simple idea of passing on ones own wonder at new knowledge and learning!
BU will be holding a two day Research Excellence Framework (REF) event on 19 and 20 May to which all staff are invited to attend.
Day 1 (open to BU staff and external delegates)
9am-2pm – this will be an external event supported by HEFCE to which all HEIs in the South of England will be invited. The focus will be on developing and assessing impact for the REF. There 
will be speakers from HEFCE, an academic from one of the impact pilot institutions (University of Plymouth), and some of the impact pilot panel members. The event is aimed primarily at academics likely to be submitted to the REF and UOA Leaders. It will provide a forum for networking and discussion around preparations for the impact element of the REF.
Day 1 (open to BU staff only)
2pm-5pm – There will be an opportunity for internal networking, a demonstration of the publications management system BU will soon be implementing, and a talk by Prof Matthew Bennett on building a publication profile for the REF.
Day 2 (open to BU staff only)
9am-4:30pm – the focus of Day 2 is the development of the BU impact case studies. The day will open with a presentation by Prof Matthew Bennett on what impact actually is, followed by presentations of the impact case studies being developed at the moment (3 per Unit of Assessment). These will run in 9 concurrent sessions with 4 presentations taking place in parallel during each session. The main aims of Day 2 are to get academics thinking about the impact case studies in a structured way, to identify resource requirements to maximise potential impacts, and the engage staff from M&C with the case studies being developed. In addition this is a great opportunity to showcase the excellent research that is undertaken at BU, to meet colleagues from other Schools, and to stimulate ideas for future research collaborations.
The event is free to attend but booking is essential. Booking will open next week – further details to follow!
When I applied for my new job as PVC (Research, Enterprise, Internationalisation) I set out my stall around the need for there to be a strong Academic Champion for Research within BU. Someone who would fight the corner of ordinary academics engaged in research and enterprise. As an active researcher I understand many of the challenges and barriers that exist within the system, but to stay an effective champion I need to stay in touch with the rank and file. I need to know what concerns you, what the obstacles and challenges are. I have spent a lot of time in the first few months listening to individuals around BU, visiting our Research Centres and talking to anybody who wants to talk about research. This is an enlightening process not least because of the wonderful work which is taking place and the committed, energetic staff around the organisation that make it such a great place to work; a place that I am fiercely proud off. There is nothing better than hearing about someone’s research first hand and it makes this job worth doing. So please keep letting me have your news, ideas and information on the challenges you face to getting things done. I want to know what concerns you, what needs to be fixed, how we can improve our collective research performance as I begin to think about a new research and enterprise strategy for BU over the next few months. Just stop me on campus, drop me an e-mail, add a comment to this post, or book an appointment to talk research!
Tea in the Namibian Desert
Matthew Bennett
PS I thought this post needed a picture since I like pictures; so here is one from December of tea in the Namibian Desert!
BU has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards in the category of ‘Outstanding Research Management Team’.
The submission focused on the set up and implementation of the CRE Operations team by FCS during 2009-10 and the benefits that a centralised service has provided.
BU has also been shortlisted in the category ‘Outstanding Finance Team’ (for the second year running).
The awards will take place on 16 June at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.
This is a fabulous achievement for Financial and Commercial Services! 😀 Whoop!
For the list of finalists see the THELMAs website.
I’m pleased to confirm four significant changes to the Research Development Unit (RDU) that will take place over the coming months.
First, our name has changed from the Research Unit to the Research Development Unit (RDU)Â to more accurately reflect what it is we do and the services we offer.
The second group of changes are to the existing RDU team:
My job description has been tweaked slightly and my job title remains the same – University Research Development Manager. I will continue to lead the RDU and work closely with the PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation), and be responsible for the operationalisation of BU research strategy, research policy, external research assessment returns, research management information, and R&E systems (such as RED).
Corrina Dickson’s job description has been updated and her job title changed to Senior Research Development Officer (EU). Once all of the changes have been made, Corrina will no longer be undertaking the management of the internal peer review scheme (RPRS) and all of her time will be dedicated to supporting EU funding, i.e. identifying and promoting EU funding opportunities, working with academic staff to strengthen proposals, and brokering relationships with EU bodies. This is the first time BU has had a dedicated EU support post so is an exciting time for both BU and Corrina.
Anita Somner’s job description has also been updated and her job title has been changed to Research Development Officer (REF). These changes reflect Anita’s continuing and valued role in supporting the University’s preparations for the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF).
I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Corrina and Anita, and wishing them well in their roles!
The third change to the RDU is that in addition to the job description and job title changes for the existing team members, there will also be two further posts which we will seek to recruit to over the next few months:
Research Development Officer (Funding & Processes) – having been vacant since November 2009 due to a staff secondment this post will be advertised internally later this week. The post-holder will be responsible for ensuring our internal R&E systems (such as RED & iCOST) and pre- and post-award processes are efficient and streamlined. Other duties will include administering external R&E systems (such as Je-S, Research Professional, etc), collating R&E management information, sourcing funding opportunities and serving as Secretary for the University Research Ethics Committee.
Senior R&E Officer (Peer Review) – This is a new part-time post that will be dedicated to managing the internal peer review scheme (RPRS). The post-holder will initially be based in the Research Development Unit, mentored by Corrina, with the aim of transferring to the CRE Operations team later in calendar year. Having this post based in CRE Operations will ensure that internal peer review is embedded in the pre-award research process resulting in a much more streamlined process for academics submitting bids. This post will be advertised in May.
These are both excellent opportunities – if you would like to discuss either of them, please contact me (ext: 61208) and I will happily provide further details.
The fourth and final change is our line management and direction which will now come from two senior posts at BU – the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation) (Prof Matthew Bennett) and the Head of Financial and Commercial Services (Susanne Clarke). This will ensure that there is an academic voice shaping research support and development, whilst also ensuring that research remains integrated with FCS for elements such as audit, external reporting, and R&E systems and processes.
These are really exciting changes for the Research Development Unit and we look forward to continuing to provide excellent service, support and advice for all research matters across BU.
😀 We always welcome feedback and suggestions as to how to improve our service, particulary at times such as this when there are lots of opportunities for change. If you do have any feedback or suggestions, please leave a comment to this post or email us.
Julie Northam
University Research Development Manager
Following the current refresh of Vision & Values led by the Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney the intention is to look again at the research and enterprise strategy for BU.
There are likely to be two big elements of change: one is a shift to talking about research as an all embracing term for not only the creation of knowledge but also its dissemination through enterprise and professional practice, and the other is a move towards a more outward facing approach led by the large societal themes both of the day and of the future. This will position BU to respond more effectively to the big research questions; those associated with the funding and societal impact. As the first step towards this we are trying to identify a series of broad themes or communities of interest around which we can focus and foster a more collegial and collaborative research mission.Â
Identifying these themes or communities is something we wish to engage all staff in. In the short term these themes and communities will be used to promote our research via the web through a shift to a more narrative based approach rather than one based on our internal structures as at present.Â
To start this process off we looked first at the key funding themes for the research councils and other large funders and then ‘road-tested’ them via the BU Professoriate to come up with a long list of possible research themes or communities of interest. I am now seeking your input via a survey; what themes speak to you? What themes would your research fit under? What are we are missing? The survey takes less than two minutes to complete. Your participation is very much appreciated and will help directly shape not only the way in which we promote our research via the BU website but also our future research strategy.
 The survey is open until Monday 2 May.
Â
Matthew Bennett
PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)
The Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) awarded by HEFCE to English HEIs as an annual block grant to support the development of a pervasive enterpreneurial environment through sustained engagement in enterprise activities. Prof Steve Ersser and Dr Ann Hemingway (HSC) were internally awarded HEIF-4 funding to collaborate with academics across BU to develop a consultancy package to promote wellbeing and humanisation in the workplace, building on the success of the cross-School Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life (CeWQoL). We caught up with Project Manager Dr Ann Hemingway to find out how the project is going…
The funding is to enable BU to develop a multi-dimensional consultancy package to help businesses improve the wellbeing of their employees.
“Organisations are more dependent than ever before on well-trained, highly qualified and motivated staff,” said Dr Ann Hemingway. “60% of adult waking hours are spent at work, yet 175 million working days are lost to illness, so organisations need to tackle head-on issues around absenteeism but also sickness presenteeism – employees still turning up for work despite ill health and complaints that can so often result in future sickness absence.”
Dr Hemingway continued: “Our research on workforce health and wellbeing has enabled us to achieve a new understanding of health at work which encompasses physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing and the social determinants of health.”
CeWQol has received £250,000 from the University’s HEIF) grant to support commercial and public sector firms and charity organisations in their quest to be recognised as healthy workplaces – and achieve formal accreditation through external agencies such as Investors in People and the Royal Society for Public Health.
The package focuses on wellbeing and humanisation – a term being championed by the University (building on the work of Prof Kate Galvin and Prof Les Todres)Â around the importance of people-centred processes that support wellbeing and the concern with helping employees feel valued.
Organisations will have the unique opportunity to draw on the University’s wide-ranging research expertise from across all the schools in the university. This includes human resources management (recruitment and retention), occupational health and safety, healthier communities (nutrition, exercise and sport), and the design of working environments and stress alleviation.
As such the project involves five academic schools – Health and Social Care; Business School; Design, Engineering and Computing; Media School; and Applied Sciences – and the BU Wellbeing Enterprise Network in collaboration with the Centre for Practice Development and the Centre for Qualitative Research.
As part of the grant BU has developed a Collaborative Research Space at the Lansdowne campus in which staff can engage in collaborative activity and deliver consultancy training for external organisations.
“What we are offering organisations is our multi-disciplinary expertise to help them organise their work, their environment, and the communication and social opportunities for their staff.”
Anyone interested in finding out more about the wellbeing and humanisation in the workplace consultancy package should contact Dr Ann Hemingway at BU’s Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life on 01202 962796 or aheming@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Bournemouth University staff involved in the project are: Professor Steven Ersser; Dr Ann Hemingway; Dr Paul Stevens; Dr Fiona Cowdell; Professor Les Todres; Professor Kate Galvin; Mr Clive Andrewes; Professor Yannis Georgellis; Professor Thomas Lange; Dr Eloise Carr; Professor John Edwards; Mr Joe Flintham; Dr John Hallam; Associate Professor Heather Hartwell; Dr Sarah Hean; Dr Ian Jones; Dr Elizabeth Norton; Ms Julie Robson; and Colin Hewitt Bell.Â
For further information please see project page on the CeWQoL website.
Back in 2008 BU introduced the designation of Associate Professor and there are currently fifteen Associate Professors across the organisation. During the last couple of months I have met with them all to discuss ways in which the institution can better support their Professorial journey. I thought it might be worth sharing a few of the highlights of these conversations. Probably the most positive element was the fact that most Associate Professors were very appreciative of the designation and the door and opportunities it had opened. For most there was clear added value in the scheme and it was generally believed to be a good thing and a key part of their own development journey. In this respect I also draw attention to at least three successful promotions from Associate Professor to Professor in the last two years. In terms of future development support we have agreed to put in place a package of measures to help Associate Professors navigate their own Professorial journeys. These measures include a programme of personal mentoring and coaching, irregular cohort meetings, action learning and support in balancing their work loads more effectively. We are also committed to developing BU’s Professoriate more generally and strengthening its voice within the organisation. I met recently to discuss this with the Professoriate as a whole and hope to continue these conversations in the coming months.
Matthew Bennett
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)
Internal peer review is credited with producing higher quality research proposals and increased success rates. BU’s internal peer review process – the Research Proposal Review Service (RPRS) – is available to all staff so why not try it out?
You can submit your proposal in any format at any time; simply send it to CRE Operations (who will cost the proposal) along with the names of 2 reviewers from our database. The CRE Research Unit will then gather feedback from your reviewers and produce additional feedback on potential funding sources, the novel value of the proposal etc. Within 4 weeks you will have a complete set of feedback you can then use to help prepare the final draft of your proposal prior to submission. For further information on the RPRS see the BU RPRS webpage.
The Centre for Social Work and Social Policy is proud to announce that Professor Colin Pritchard has been elected as an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), one of only two in the history of BU, both of whom are in the Centre (the other being Professor Jonathan Parker).
Colin was nominated for this by two Academicians and academics Professor Lord Raymond Plant (King’s College London) and Professor Peter Coleman (University of Southampton).
The AcSSÂ is the prestigious learned society for the social sciences, the president being Sir Howard Newby. The AcSSÂ are currently campaigning within both Houses for social science and demonstrating its importance to society and the economy.
This achievement acknowledges a lifetime’s high profile achievement within academic social work.
Congratulations Colin!
Since taking up my new post as PVC in January I have been sending out messages of congratulations and good luck each week to all those either awarded or submitting a Research & Enterprise bid. I intend to continue this practice but also to make use of the blog in order to do this.  It is important in my view to celebrate the submission of new Research & Enterprise bids and wish our colleagues good luck!
I am a week behind so here with a double dose. For the week ending the 18 March  I would like to wish Elizabeth Rosser, Janet Scammell, Ian Donaldson, Sara White and Mel Hughes of HSC good luck with their Nuffield Foundation bid and I am pleased to acknowledge the success of Karen Rees and Keith Brown in being awarded various recent bids from regional County Councils and NHS Trusts. Ross Hill in ApSci has been successful with a bid to UK Space Agency and Holger Schutkowski, Browen Russell and Richard Stillman have also all put in recent bids. Richard’s bid for work on the Severn Barrage is particularly significant. Finally I would like to draw particular attention to Janet Dickinson’s success with an EPSRC grant and Clive Allen and Barry Surman are to be congratulated with respect to two KTP Schemes awarded this week.
For the week ending the 25 March I would like to acknowledge a large clutch of bids from HSC. Good luck are due to: Catherine Angell, Sara Crabtree, Fiona Cowdell, Carol Bond and Clive Andrews. The latter contract to the NHS South West is particularly noteworthy.   The following people in HSC had bids awarded this week: Joanne Holmes, Jaqui Hewitt-Taylor, Keith Brown, Clive Andrews, and Peter Thomas which is all great news! Richard Gordon put in a bid for a provision of a short course in SoT and Fabian Homberg (BS) submitted a small grant to the British Academy.
Matthew
Professor Matthew Bennett
PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)
Dr Ben Thomas and Prof Mark Hadfield (DEC) have been undertaking some marvellous research with the RNLI. The research was shortlisted for the 2010 Times Higher Education (THE) Award for Outstanding Contribution to Innovation & Technology, and you can read all about what they’ve achieved here on the blog!
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charitable organisation that provides marine search and rescue cover along the entire coast range of the UK and Ireland. Lifeboat slipway stations are an essential part of the RNLI’s coastal protection; they allow lifeboat stations to be located in areas where there is no natural harbour and for lifeboats to be launched in almost any weather conditions. However, as the size and mass of lifeboats have increased over the years the traditional wood or steel lined slipways have been shown to be insufficient, with problems of friction and wear affecting the reliability of slipway launches. New composite slipway panels have reduced these issues but high friction and wear problems remain, with replacement costs for the expensive composite panels placing strain on the RNLI’s scarce resources.
Traditionally friction is reduced by manually applying grease to the slipway, but this practice has safety implications for the crew and has raised environmental concerns regarding the repeated release of grease into the sea at the base of the slipway.
Analysing the contact conditions between the 15cm wide keel of a 35 tonne lifeboat and the slipway lining presented considerable technical challenges, particularly as the lifeboat approaches speeds of 45kph during launch, and this required the development of a new multi-disciplinary approach using aspects of tribology, finite element analysis, life cycle analysis and real world data collection, with experimental results combined with real slipway experience and computer simulations to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of the friction and wear problems on the slipway.
The data collected indicated that the reliability of lifeboat slipways could be greatly increased by ensuring the slipway panels were well aligned along the length of the slipway, it also showed that a small change to the panel geometry to incorporate a chamfer significantly reduced wear development and the adverse effects of panel misalignments on launch and recovery friction.
The project showed that it was feasible to substitute the currently used marine grease lubrication with biodegradeable greases, reducing the effects of grease bioaccumulation at the base of the slipway. The research also proposed the use of a novel water lubrication system instead of grease directly applied to the slipway, with the potential to greatly reduce both the operational costs and the environmental impact of slipway launches. These water lubricated systems have subsequently begun to be adopted across the RNLI slipway network.
The research recommendations will be used by the RNLI to improve the lifeboat slipways in the UK and Ireland. This will increase the reliability of slipway launches and recoveries and reduce the risk exposure of the volunteer lifeboat crew. The improvements will also reduce the operating costs of the RNLI.
The changes recommended by the research are already underway, the new slipway lining material has been fitted to the newer slipway stations (e.g. Tenby, Padstow etc.) already and the water lubrication systems are also in place. The recommended slipway lining material and water lubrication systems are being phased in across the remaining UK slipway station network over the next few years, coinciding with the simultaneous rollout of the new Tamar lifeboat to the slipway stations.
The combined effects of Prof Hadfield and Dr Thomas’s research recommendations will allow the RNLI to save up to £200,000 per year in operational costs once these are adopted across the slipway station network. The changes will also increase the reliability of lifeboat slipway launches and recoveries, reducing the risk exposure of the volunteer lifeboat crew who crew each slipway station, and allowing the continued safe operation of the RNLI’s crucial role in preserving life along the coast of the UK and Ireland. The final benefit is showing that the previous lubrication system involving the manual application of grease to the slipway by lifeboat crewmen can be replaced by an automatic water based system, thus reducing the cost and environmental impact of lifeboat slipway launches as well as the risks lifeboat crew members are exposed to on the slipway.
Dr Ben Thomas undertook the research, supervised by Prof Hadfield, as part of a CASE award studentship funded by the EPSRC and the RNLI. In addition, the RNLI commissioned Prof Hadfield and Dr. Thomas to undertake additional research into alternative slipway materials in 2009.
Further details:
RNLIÂ webpage: Lifeboat project ready for awards splash
BBC Cornwall news story: RNLI slipway research
AlphaGailieo webpage: RNLI lifeboat launch benefits from BU research
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