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Research in the School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Research in the School of Engineering and Sustainable Development is organised around two research institutes: the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD) and the Institute of Engineering Sciences (IoES).

IESD’s research applies systems thinking and integrative methods to capture the complex interrelationships between all aspects of sustainability and its team of social scientists, engineers and building physicists has delivered ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world leading’ research in REF201 and it continues generating socio-economic and environmental impacts around the world to support sustainable development. IESD’s research is organised under three thematic areas:

1) Low-carbon energy systems and infrastructure focuses on smart grid and demand response, low-impact building and industrial energy efficiency, low carbon transport and renewable energy integration;

2) Sustainable Communities and Sustainable Living focuses on smart cities and smart villages, resource use behaviour, socio-technical and environmental resilience and governance and sustainability education;

3) Solutions for the base of the pyramid population focuses on energy access and energy poverty and mobility solutions.

IoES is a broad-based research and enterprise Institute comprising four centres delivering ‘internationally excellent’ research in REF 2014. The Four centres are:

  • Signal Processing and Communications Systems is focusing on video communication, image processing, and control systems with particular interest in 5G infrastructure, ranging from channel models, error control, and propagation studies to applied electromagnetics
  • EMTERC (Emerging Technologies Research Centre) focusses on electronic materials, devices, the nano-bio interface and digital printing applications
  • Solid Mechanics and Materials brings together academics from mechanics and engineering materials working on surface engineering, deformation behaviour of materials, fracture mechanics, energy storage materials, structural analysis of mechanical systems, powder-based manufacturing processes, and biomaterials and biomechanics.
  • Non-linear Flight Dynamics is mostly focused on aerodynamics modelling and flight dynamics in extended flight envelope for prediction of the Loss-of-Control In flight (LOC-I), design of active flight envelope protection systems and also pilot training for upset prevention and recovery using modern flight simulators.