Creative thinking, discovery and innovation define the quality of our research at Sussex, and our latest work is regularly featured in the media.
The impact of our research, the expertise of our researchers and the knowledge we exchange with business, government and community organisations are all shared widely with our contacts and other organisations through our publications, workshops, lectures and debates.
Featured research:
Aviation firm funds $1.6m Sussex projects to improve aircraft engines
One of the world’s largest aviation technology companies is funding research at Sussex worth $1.6 million (just over £1 million) to make aircraft engines safer and more efficient.
GE Aviation, based in Ohio, USA, will work with engineering experts in Sussex’s Thermo-Fluid Mechanics Research Centre (TFMRC) on two projects to help commercial airlines use less fuel, reduce engine emissions and save on the costs of development.
The projects, starting this month, are expected to last for two years.
They will make use of the TFMRC’s state-of-the-art facilities, including its Rolls-Royce DART air compressor, which can achieve conditions that are representative of those in an aircraft engine during flight. It is the most powerful facility of its kind in any UK university.
The research requires the substantial modification of two existing test rigs.
One of these will be used to investigate the heat transfer processes that occur inside the high-pressure compressor of an aircraft engine. This is of particular importance because the heat transfer affects thermal expansion and this affects the clearance between the tips of the compressor blades and the casing; too much clearance is inefficient, too little results in wear and failure.
The other test rig will be used to examine a destructive phenomenon known as ‘ingress’, which occurs when hot mainstream gas enters the cavity between a rotating turbine disc and a stationary casing. The hot gas can cause materials to fail with catastrophic consequences. Ingress can be prevented by supplying a flow of sealing or purge air to this cavity. The aim of this research is to determine how much purge air is required at various conditions.
Lead researcher Dr Christopher Long, Director of TFMRC, and his colleague Dr Vasudevan Kanjirakkad marked the start of this research project with a visit by engineers from GE Aviation at the beginning of March. The occasion marked a return to familiar surroundings for GE Aviation’s Chief Consulting Engineer Bob Proctor; he was a DPhil student alongside Dr Long in TFMRC in the early 1980s.
The TFMRC was established in 1977 with funding from what was then the Science Research Council. In the following 35 years, the research carried out there has almost exclusively focused on both experimentation and modelling of the so-called internal air system of gas turbine engines.
.
Sussex research in the news
See below for press releases highlighting some of our recent successful research projects and outputs which could be of particular interest to business, government, and other organisations, or could be of relevance to sectors developing new products or technologies:
-
Albion united: university technology links fans by phone for promotion battle at the Amex (13 May 2013)
Brighton and Hove Albion FC volunteers using a phone app called digitalStadium are helping scientists at Sussex test new software that connects fans and clubs via digital technology without the need for infra-structure wifi. -
Branded for life? Researchers examine impact of consumer culture on UK’s children (3 May 2013)
Researchers at the University of Sussex have worked with 1,500 children on a three year project to investigate how materialistic and appearance-focused values develop in childhood, and to study the impact of consumer culture and advertising messages about what is “cool” and beautiful on children’s well-being. -
Sussex scientist unlocks hidden potential of cutting-edge cancer drugs (1 May 2013)
Researchers at the University of Sussex and a team from the Institute of Cancer Research believe they can unlock the true potential of some cancer drugs by changing the way they are used.
-
Geneticist gets €1.7m for five-year DNA project (3 December 2012)
A geneticist has been awarded €1.7m to analyse the process of DNA repair responsible for the passing of genes from parents to children. The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Dr Matt Neale, a Research Fellow in the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, a Starting Grant to enable him to better understand a method of DNA repair called homologous recombination, or HR.
-
Sussex to share in £39m funding for energy efficiency research (13 November 2012)
Energy researchers at the University of Sussex have been awarded a share of £39m in funding for research into cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The funding, announced in November by the Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, represents one of the biggest investments to date by the UK’s research councils into energy efficiency.
The Sussex Innovation Centre
The award winning Sussex Innovation Centre (SInC) was established in 1996 and offers modern business accommodation which is designed to encourage innovation. Tenant companies and businesses have access to professional support and facilities to provide them with an environment in which they can succeed.