Resource Efficient Research and Innovation

Ian Reaney, Professor of Functional Ceramics at The University of Sheffield describes how we can use piezoelectric, and thermoelectric materials to harvest energy from everyday activities. These is increasingly important, due to the scarcity of traditional sources of energy, such as fossil fuels, as well as geopolitical uncertainty in regions which typically have these reserves.

Peter Styring, Professor of Chemical Engineering, describes novel research which allows carbon dioxide emissions to be transformed into value added chemicals. This process uses electricity from renewable sources, and converts energy from electricity, which is hard to store, into liquid chemical energy, which is easier to store. This way, energy can be stored and used when required, matching demand.

Dr Victor Guang Shi, from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at The University of Sheffield, describes a novel use of gamification to help understand the benefits of servitization. Servitization is the delivery of extra services when manufacturers sell a product. An example of this may be a manufacturer who supplies roller doors to warehouses could also provide design, consultation, servicing and decommissioning of the original product.

Dr Nick Taylor Buck from the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield describes the fascinating design principles of biomimicry, and how they can be transferred to urban planning. Biomimicry takes design principles from nature, and uses them to solve human problems.

Emanga Alobwede discusses her PhD research into algae biotechnology. Emanga's research is concerned with the important global problem of food security, and describes fascinating research which will help to not only reduce the amount of algae in water, but also condition soil.

Lenny Koh, a professor of Operations Management at Sheffield University Management School discusses how SCEnAT (Supply Chain Environmental Analysis Tool) software can help organisations make their supply chains more efficient, and identify areas for improvement.