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Engineering Research (UoA12)
The School of Engineering remains committed to the vision of tackling global challenges using interdisciplinary research.
Introduction to the School
The School of Engineering at Newcastle University has a long history, founded in 1871 as Armstrong College.
We remain committed to the vision of using interdisciplinary research to tackle global challenges. Those challenges have evolved over the past 150 years and so have we.
In 2017, we created an integrated School of Engineering. We recognised that the challenges we face today are not the province of any single engineering discipline.
We work together alongside industry and other partners.
The four disciplines provide research excellence at every scale. This covers:
- nano
- micro and microbial
- urban, industrial and marine assets
- all sciences (physical, biological and social)
Our achievements
Since 2014 we generated over £110M in new research awards and £24M in consultancy from more than 800 different projects.
We published over 2500 papers in refereed journals, and with authors from 87 countries. We invested over £130M in infrastructure projects, and increased contracted researchers from 55 to 152. Our research also won more than 20 major awards, including fellowships and prestigious prizes.
In the last four years our proportion of female professors increased from 7.8 to 12.5%. In the same period, our proportion of BAME colleagues has increased from 11% to 22% of our total.
Postgraduate research students
An outstanding team of doctoral researchers is central to our research vision and culture.
We have graduated over 600 research students since 2014. We attract large numbers of students through Centres for Doctoral Training. This is also true for our international scholarships and industrial sponsorships.
The School holds an annual research conference organised and led by research students. It also provides a platform for students to learn about current research in the School.
They'll also gain experience in technical writing and presentation skills. The event attracts keynote speakers and financial sponsorship from industry.
With our enhanced mentoring and management of research students, graduations increased since 2014. This rise saw 77 per year in 2014-15 to 91 per year in 2019-20. This includes more than 60 funded students who completed during the REF period.
Since 2014, we have recruited to five major cohort-based PhD programmes. Some of which involve the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC):
- EPSRC Engineering Doctorate in Biopharmaceutical Process Development
- NERC Doctoral Training Partnership in Science of the Natural Environment (Iapetus)
- Stream, the Industrial Doctoral Centre for the Water Sector
- EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Diamond Science and Technology
- EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Additive Manufacture and 3D Printing
We also lead three ongoing cohort-based programmes:
- Sustainable Electric Propulsion (EPSRC-funded)
- Geospatial Systems (EPSRC-funded)
- One Planet (NERC-funded)
Infrastructure
To invest in growth areas, we are building a new flagship building for the School of Engineering.
This £65M project will provide new state of the art facilities to upscale and accelerate our research in:
- bioengineering
- digital manufacturing
- propulsion
Patents and consultancies
We have made 97 patent applications since 2014, leading to seven start-up companies in:
- electric motors
- aerogel insulation
- ultrasonic imaging
Other patents are progressing with industry too. 145 colleagues have had important industrial links or consultancies over the assessment period.
Collaborative research
Significant EPSRC activity in multi-partner collaborative research includes:
- 'Achilles' research on long life transport infrastructure assets
- Centre for Energy Systems integration
- SynFabFun on membrane materials
- Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Therapies Centre versus arthritis
Antibiotics have revolutionised the treatment of infectious diseases. However, gains have been compromised due to increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including multi-resistant “superbug” pathogens across global healthcare systems.
In 2014, we showed environmental exposures, including water pollution, may drive AMR spread in the emerging world.
We found superbug levels drastically increased in the Ganges, where urban pilgrims visited sites on the river. This work now underpins recommendations for mitigating AMR from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Our tiered sociotechnical cost-benefit approach supports three of the six WHO Action Areas to reduce AMR through improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices.
The £54m Customer-Led Network Revolution project is one of the largest multi-disciplinary smart grid projects ever undertaken. There are 13,000 customers involved in the trial of new products and technologies. This has resulted in one of the most sophisticated active network management systems in Europe.
The research has kick-started the deployment of low-carbon technologies. This was underpinned the business plans of every Distribution Network Operator in the UK (directing £17bn of investment over an 8-year period). It updated regulations covering the planning and design of the electricity network. The work has led to a successful court case against the regulator Ofgem – the first time an appeal against a pricing regime in the energy market has been successful.
We have a substantial background in researching novel control methods for electric motors. This case study concerns the impact that our work on sensorless control systems has had upon Dyson consumer products. It has reduced production costs and improved ergonomic design by eliminating bulky sensor components and separate control electronics from the motor.
The technology is used within Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer (the technology has been used in Dyson vacuum cleaners). This technology has a retail value of around £1.5Bn.
Newcastle’s revolutionary research to achieve sensorless motor position enabled a way to significantly reduce cost and improve the performance of position control by eliminating the mechanical sensor. The sensor-less designs will yield annual production cost savings of approximately £7-10 million. "
As a result of our research, infrastructure is today better prepared for climate change.
Our improved projections of future climate, and models describing infrastructure performance in a changing climate, are now embedded in:
- industry design guidance
- industry design practice
- statutory adaptation reporting
Our geospatial infrastructure database model has underpinned the development of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Strategy. It is a £895bn pipeline of infrastructure expenditure until 2050.
We also informed the development of new government guidance that ensures climate resilience is considered in government infrastructure expenditure (£27bn in 2020/21).
Initially proven in the UK, our research now informs global climate policy and international businesses, including engineering consultancies and insurance brokers.
Over 5.2 million homes and businesses in England are currently at risk from flooding, and more will become threatened in the future. This statistic is according to the Environment Agency (EA).
Newcastle's research into Natural Flood Management (NFM) and the use of Runoff Attenuation Features (RAFs) has directly led to changes in policy and practice. It also influenced at least £15 million investment on NFM projects that protect people/towns. RAFs are cost-effective ‘soft engineered' interventions, slowing and storing floodwaters in rural landscapes.
The innovative soft engineering designs mean that lives and businesses are now better protected from floods. Numerous projects both nationally and internationally now use the RAF approach.
Advances in non-physical measurements and data analytics for fuel, performance and energy management systems have led to a sustained and profitable relationship with Royston Diesel Power.
Our research outputs have been incorporated into the ‘state of the art’ modularised Fuel, Performance and Energy Management product, enginei.
The development of enginei has generated sales of £6m. This led to a reduction in fuel consumption of 3-10% over 12 months without affecting vessels operations. Embedding an innovative design capability within Royston Diesel Power has enabled a step-change in the business. This has meant moving the company capabilities’ from repair and maintenance to ‘intelligence selling’.
We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers in transport studies encompassing engineering and mathematical science. We have created software for:
predicting the future location of road traffic collision hotspots
evaluating site-based road safety interventions to reduced casualty numbers.
Corroborated health, commercial and economic impacts have occurred on a regional, national and global scale including:
- a significant contribution to reducing average annual traffic casualties by 514 to 436 in North Yorkshire, with £22.5M estimated accident prevention savings
- influencing traffic and road safety policy in over 60 countries through the International Transport Forum
- impacting the design of a low emission zone in Lisbon, Portugal
- developing a new component for a software application used by more than 10,000 users through the PTV Group, Germany
The research impacts address the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development targets 3.6 and 11.2. It is helping towards achieving the UN-supported global initiative of Vision Zero,
“The aim of achieving a highway system with zero accidents or fatalities involving road traffic”.
Newcastle University is pioneering research in underwater acoustic communication (UAC), a new generation of communication and positioning devices. These have been commercialised via licensing to 3 industrial partners.
Newcastle’s waveforms, algorithms and circuit designs have enabled a vast reduction in cost, energy consumption, sound emission and size. This enables the “Internet of Underwater Things”, including:
large scale, bio-friendly subsea networks deployed worldwide in diver safety
underwater navigation
marine monitoring and aquaculture
The most mature product, Seatrac, has generated >£3M sales for Blueprint Subsea since 2016.
Newcastle’s waveforms and algorithms are now incorporated in an emerging standard for interoperable UAC defined by UK DSTL/MoD.
A new reverse shoulder prosthesis has been developed from scientific research by Newcastle University.
We have developed subsequent clinical research in collaboration with a clinical research partner, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. This has led to the novel prosthesis being commercialised by JRI Orthopaedics. The first products were implanted in April 2010.
Between 2014 and 2020 over 17,000 prostheses have been sold worldwide. Prostheses have been implanted into patients in 7 countries to the benefit of the collaborating partners and the patients.
Newcastle University research has laid the foundation for the development of industrial-strength software “Workcraft”. The research explores the formal modeling and design of asynchronous circuits and concurrent systems.
Workcraft has been used by the microchip industry to develop power-management integrated circuits. These circuits are essential for saving electric energy and prolonging battery life in hundreds of millions of mobile devices around the world.
The design automation method that underpins Workcraft software improves the productivity of electronic engineers from months to hours. Workcraft has also been used in training industry engineers and educating electronic engineering students.