This collaboration will develop techniques to accelerate fracture mechanics simulations of both academic and industrial interest. Through research visits and the organisation of a workshop, the PI's expertise in numerical fracture and model order reduction methods will be combined with the Partner's leading research in phase-field methods to address the challenges involved. Fracture mechanics simulations play an important role in the development of materials and structural components across several industries, such as the aerospace, composites and automotive. However the use of such simulations is often limited due to the complexity of the phenomena involved, which include complex material behaviour and topological changes associated with the formation, propagation and coalescence of cracks. Recent developments in the field have resulted in new approaches, such as phase-field models, that can very effectively tackle all associated challenges, at the cost of producing very large, and therefore computationally expensive models. The project will leverage established numerical tools to develop novel methods to reduce the size of such models by exploiting i) the localised nature and ii) progressive evolution of fracture.

Functional coatings are highly engineered drug delivery systems whose structure and composition are critical to the controlled release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the human body. These products are at the high value end of the market and represent sophisticated solutions to difficult disease management. Manufacturing these products is challenging largely because pharmaceutical processing is complex that has traditionally been dominated by empirical understanding. The increase in manufacturing complexity coincides with the paradigm shift that the pharmaceutical industry is facing today where emphasis is now being placed on fostering a greater product and manufacturing understanding for building quality into the product and enable continuous manufacturing. Building on the recent successful demonstration of combined optical coherence tomography and terahertz real-time sensing for a coating process where an unprecedented level of in-process diagnostic information were obtained, we will now perform systematic coating process investigation to quantify and model the effects of the key process parameters. The developed data-driven models will in turn allow us to identify the optimal process conditions for validation against science-based process modelling, which can then be used to explain process observations. Ultimately, enhanced process understanding will enable the development of model-based predictive control for the full implementation of continuous manufacturing for producing next generation pharmaceutical products. This project will be supported by a world leading supplier of manufacturing equipment (Bosch, Germany), academic technology collaborators (University of Cambridge, UK and University of Liverpool, UK) and coating materials suppliers (BASF, UK and Colorcon, UK).

The RESIDE (Residential building energy demand reduction in India) project will help support the improvement of living conditions for millions of Indian citizens through establishing the knowledge base to develop a residential building code for high quality, low-energy housing across all five climatic zones in India. The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of architects, engineers, digital scientists, urban planners and behavioural researchers to assess all aspects of the residential energy use problem, including performance of the building fabric; in-home appliances including heating, ventilation and air conditioning; indoor environment and occupant behaviour. RESIDE will undertake surveys and monitoring of energy consumption in 2000 homes spread across the five different climatic zones in India in order to build up a new, open access database for policy and practitioner communities in India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 10% of these homes, we will also trial and evaluate a Smart Home Energy Management System, to be designed within the project, to enable householders greater control over their comfort and energy consumption. These activities will be used to develop low-cost monitoring and post-occupancy evaluation protocols suitable for the Indian situation. This will not only improve Best Practice, but allow a framework by which consistent data can be collected and added to the RESIDE database. Using novel techniques developed by the project team for assessing the potential up-scaling of individual household measures and actions to a neighbourhood level, RESIDE will explore and establish protocols for assessing the potential for, and likely benefits of, widespread take up of energy efficiency and rooftop solar technologies at a community scale. By engaging with a wide range of stakeholders involved in planning and construction throughout the project, and by undertaking an extensive review of policy experiences in similar countries, the RESIDE project will establish the key factors essential for consideration in the development of a new residential building code for India. Then, building on the extensive data collected through the project, and a set of co-design workshops, the project will develop a proposed framework for a new residential building code.