Research Projects

To Your Home Ltd is a family run business based in West Yorkshire who supply products at the lowest possible prices by sourcing directly from manufacturers mostly in China. The company are one of the market leaders in the UK for home and bathroom goods. The recent drop in the value of sterling has enabled the business to explore the option of manufacturing their products in the UK and they have lined up a few manufacturing businesses who are able to take on their orders at a short notice.  The company would like to design an innovative sensor bin as well as the cast moulding so that the they can slowly move the production of their products from the design all the way to manufacturing to the UK.

Project team (members)
Academic leads: Dr Ertu Unver, Robert Silkstone, Paul Russell
Industrial partners: Ed Dillingham and Karly Thornton, To Your Home Limited
Student researchers: Leonardo Kesan, Chloe Humphrey, Emma Hartshorne

Healthy Step has been designing, developing and manufacturing insoles/orthotics & footbeds for the foot health care market for over 10 years utilizing years of academic study and real world experience. There is a perceived opportunity to develop a new brand of devices based upon the existing range. The CVF project aims to produce a number of design solutions to improve the current product range and evaluated whether 3D printing could be implemented to the company for low to medium size orthotic components production.

Healthy Step has a successful foot orthotics and rehabilitation range. There is a growing area of business in the private market and internet (direct to the patient) sales. The vectorthotic enables the heel, ball and midsection of the foot to be supported, allowing height increment to be applied for comfort with soft overlay, the polymer base, heel tilt and front tilt additive. Healthy Step required modifications to the snap fit elements of the Vectorthotic. The existing hard polymer base was to be kept the same to keep manufacturing tooling cost to a minimum, however the heel tilt ad the forefoot tilt pieces had to be redesigned to improve the product. An existing three part product for fixing to the Vectorthotic insole was modified for improvement. The previous method of securing the forefront part to the base was to glue it down, a click fit system would need to be designed.
 
The project showed that, if there was a possibility to change the base tooling, a completely new clip feature could be designed with potential to improve performance as outlined above. Heel, ball and arch orthotic components of the existing vectorthotic were improved during the course of this project. Completion was a great live experience for the team although some issue with 3D modelling and printing tolerances as it had an impact on the first phase of iterations. This inaccuracy had a bearing on the printing of the snap fit parts of the orthotic but with product testing and feedback from the client these were overcome. Budget restrictions had an impact on the type of printing available for iterations, which partly compromised the outcome with regards to fit. Company recently invested in a new mid range 3D printing machine to be used for mass customised product development and employed a Product Design placement student to further develop service they offer.

Project team (members)
Academic leads: Dr Ertu Unver, Caterina Benincasa-Sherman
Research team: Robert Silkstone, Peter Norris, Glynn Stockton, Paul Russell
Student designers: Luke Van Bentum, Rory Markham, Zixan Li

Partners/Funders
CVF funding: University of Huddersfield
Industrial partners: Tim Hall and Nev Parker, Healthy Step (Sensograph) Limited

This proposed mobility grant project aims to deliver structured support and training in performance measurement of the application of the Malaysian industrialised building system (IBS), using the UK construction industry as an example, with a clear rationale to drive innovation in Malaysian construction projects.

The Malaysian government has been promoting the active use of IBS as a technique to reduce time and cost, and to improve the overall quality of its construction projects. Despite repeated government drive, uptake has been slow which has been perhaps perpetuated by a lack of clear demonstrable benefits generally. This project fosters collaboration between the 2 applicants to partake in a series exchanges that includes, amongst facilitating research time, developing links with key individuals/ organisations in the field, engagement with each respective research centre and construction site visits. The resultant collaboration will explore the adoption of a standardised performance measurement approach, with which future funding, joint research publication output will be realised.

Project team (members)
Professor Angela Lee

Partners/Funders
Universiti Utara Malaysia
Academy of Sciences

This project creates an exciting opportunity for a qualified graduate to develop Digital Capture and BIM integration expertise within Waldeck Associates Ltd., a business highly innovative in digital technology. The project will develop practical solutions to capture progressive on-site data to enable the comparison during construction of an asset as-built position against the retrospective 3D BIM design model using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and ground based 3D scanning facilities.

About Waldeck Associates Ltd
Waldeck are a specialist technical and risk management consultancy who support global corporations to succeed with heavy infrastructure, industrial and major building projects. Waldeck provide professional support to create, design and manage high performance results for clients undertaking capital investment, acquisition, planning, design, development, construction and refurbishment projects.

About KTP
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a three-way partnership between a graduate, a commercial organisation and a University. Graduates are recruited to deliver strategic projects within the business partner, whilst being supported by experts from the University partner.

Project team (members)
Prof Song Wu
Prof Patricia Tzortzopoulos

Studies have shown that healing built environmental (HBE) factors (thermal, visual, acoustic, air quality etc.) affect the patients’ comfort, health and wellbeing. Environmental regulations exist to make sure individual environmental factors are within the acceptable range in healthcare buildings. However, these factors have notable combined effects on occupants’ comfort. ASHRAE Guideline 10 (published in 2011) describes the need to conduct further studies to understand such interactions and their impact on patients. Only when such interaction is fully understood, will it be possible to improve the physical environment, not only to meet all required environmental standards, but also to achieve positive impact on patients’ comfort and health outcomes. This research is as an attempt to pursue the discussion in this direction.

The relationship between space, sense and response becomes the essential argument to discuss the importance of investigating the HBE from a holistic perspective. This is achieved through the development of a conceptual holistic framework based on three design principles, namely: comfortable environment; well-functioning healing space; and relaxing atmosphere. These will be tested in healthcare settings through experiments and interviews.  

The primary objectives of this research are to:

• study the HBE characteristics of patient rooms including their macro and microclimate, environment and architectural features
• undertake a holistic analysis of the indoor environment (thermal, visual and acoustic and air quality) of the patient rooms under the current environmental regulation and standards;
• examine the patients’ perception of the HBE of the investigated rooms. Special attention will be paid to whether there is a wider (/narrower) comfort tolerance range for the participating patients in a patient room with a high (/poor) HBE quality.
• examine the impact of the combination of the main HBE factors on the patients’ health outcomes.

The study will review and expand the evidence base and the outputs of this research will be of interest to the multiple stakeholders engaged in healthcare building design.

Research Team
Professor Patricia Tzortzopoulos Fazenda
Professor Mike Kagioglou
Dr. Yufan Zhang

Benefits of Continuous Improvement (CI) Cells is one of the research projects funded by Highways England (HE) as part of its research alliance with University of Huddersfield and a number of other academic institutions.  Highways England is the main public organisation responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of England’s strategic highways network.

The project aims to understand and document the hard (quantitative) and soft (qualitative) benefits induced by the deployment of CI Cells in the highways supply chain. The CI cell is a small-group work improvement mechanism that is often used to put the kaizen (continuous improvement) principle in effect.

The research will be conducted through in-depth interviews, participant observation in the CI cell meetings, the CI cells’ performance record analysis in the highways supply chain and a comparative study against the CI cell practices in another large public organisation. Alongside documenting the benefits, the project will also present a set of suggestions to improve the current CI cells in Highway England.
 
Research Team
Professor Lauri Koskela
Professor Patricia Tzortzopoulos Fazenda
Dr Algan Tezel

From Construction to Production is one of the research projects funded by Highways England (HE) as part of its research alliance with University of Huddersfield and a number of other academic institutions.

The project focuses on understanding the opportunities for “productionisation” of highways construction with a focus on off-site and modular construction, emerging technologies (i.e. BIM, IoT) and modern supply chain management practices. The “productionisation” of the highways supply chain is expected to contribute to better operational performance in terms of efficiency, quality and safety and Highways England’s strategic targets.

A comprehensive scoping study of best “productionisation” efforts across different construction sectors and industries will be conducted. Additionally, the requirements and possible application areas for “productionisation” in the highways supply chain specifically will be investigated through in-depth interviews and focus group studies. The research will present a “productionisation” way-forward for the highways supply chain. University of Cardiff is also taking part in this project.

Research Team
Professor Lauri Koskela
Dr Algan Tezel

None in Three is a new project launched in celebration of International Women's Day 2016 and run by team of Caribbean and UK experts. The project - which is run in partnership with the Sweet Water Foundation, Grenada and has been awarded funding by the European Union - aims to prevent domestic violence in the Caribbean.

None in Three, a title derived from the statistic that one in three women and girls will experience violence in their lifetime, reflects the project's aim to counteract this. The project will be implemented in Barbados and Grenada as a 'pilot' for the region and has been designed to complement existing domestic violence programmes in these countries.

For further information on the project, visit: http://www.noneinthree.org/index.html

The aim of this KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) is to develop a third-generation scalp cooling cap.  It involves designing of a new innovative cap and identifying suitable alternative new manufacturing methods, 3D printing technology and further improvements in productivity. 

The KTP scheme enables a company to become more innovative, effective and efficient. It aims to boost profits and commercial value, with the input of an academic expert. It covers all disciplines, technical and non-technical, spanning both science and technology through to the arts.
An academic team from the School of Art, Design and Architecture's Design4 research group involving Dr Ertu Unver and Prof Michail Kagioglou in conjunction with Paxman Coolers has successfully attained £161,484 from the Innovate UK c/o of Knowledge Transfer Partnership award to conceive, design and develop a 3rd generation scalp cooling cap system supported by 3D printed tooling technologies to facilitate its mass manufacture. This three-year innovation project will enable the academic team together with a KTP associate to support Paxman's ambition is to become the leading global manufacturer and supplier of scalp cooling equipment and to establish scalp cooling universal, treatment practice for all cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy worldwide. This will not only reduce any risk of contamination but will also help Paxman establish itself as the market leader in the US and the Far East, including Japan.
 
Initial work carried out with the funding of Technology Strategy Board which enabled the team to conduct extensive research into UK head sizes, and 3D scanning technology to produce a prototype model, and tool / mould of the cooling cap, using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing technology which resulted a three-year A KTP project. Recently granted 4 patents and 4 awards.

Awards

• Winner of Yorkshire and Humber Healthcare Partnership with Academia Award, (24th Feb 2016), Royal Armouries Hall, Leeds, UK,  PAXMAN's Scalp cooling cap designed by the Product Design team at the University of Huddersfield and manufactured by Primasil Silicone chosen the best product design and developed and won healthcare Yorkshire and Humber Medilink Partnership with Academia Award 2016
• Winner of West Midland Medilink Innovation Award (14 Jan 2016):  Scalp cooling device manufactured by Primasil Silicone and designed by the Product Design team at the University of Huddersfield for Paxman ltd wins West Midland Medilink Innovation Award in Birmingham, on 14 Jan 2016,
• Winner of Medtec Ireland Exhibitor Innovations Accolade Award (4-5 Oct 2015) . The academic team worked closely with "Primasil Silicones ltd" in the creation of a silicone rubber formulation that gave the cooling cap greater flexibility and enabled the coolant running through the cap to be in close contact with the scalp. The cap currently being clinically tested in various countries by Paxman ltd.
• Insider's 2016 Made in Yorkshire Awards  (4/Mar/2016) , Paxman Scalp cooling system is presented for Healthcare Manufacturer Award

Patents
Unver, E., Paxman, G. and Paxman, N.(2016) Heat exchanger : Scalp Cooling cap, Worldwide Patent WO 2016/046535 A1. WO 2016046534 A1.
Unver, E., Paxman, G. and Paxman, N.(2016) Heat exchanger : Scalp Cooling Cap, WorlWide patent, WO2016/046534 A1 ? 2016-03-31. WO2016/046534.
Unver, E., Paxman, G. and Paxman, N.(2016) Heat exchanger : Scalp Cooling Cap, UK patent, GB2530496 (A) ? 2016-03-30. GB2530496 (A).
Unver, E., Paxman, G. and Paxman, N.(2016) Heat exchanger cap : Granted Patent GB2528512 ID No: 1416757.1. 1416757.1.

Project team (members)
Dr Ertu Unver
Prof Michail Kagioglou

Partners
Knowledge Base Partner: University of Huddersfield
Company partner: Paxman Coolers Ltd
Paxman is the leading global manufacturer and supplier of scalp cooling equipment and to establish scalp cooling as a common, if not the universal, treatment practice for all cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy worldwide.
Funding Body: Innovate UK

The project aims to investigate the retrofit of solid wall housing, to achieve a 60% reduction in monitored energy costs, with less disruption, at least 10% faster, without reductions in quality & safety. The research is a joint activity between the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), Building Research Establishment (BRE), Carillion Energy Services, Leeds Beckett University, Tensor, VRM and Collaborative Improvement Limited. S-IMPLER is in receipt of funding from the Innovate UK (former Technology Strategy Board –TSB).

The overall project objectives are to:

• Develop retrofit solutions for seven NIHE solid walled homes that can make a 60% reduction in monitored energy costs for the same capital cost as Northern Ireland Building Regulations
• Deliver the retrofit process 10% faster with less disruption but without reductions in quality and safety.
• Develop innovation in surveying and specification including a surveying tool and a Building Information Modelling tool to allow client modelling of different options with costs and benefits.
• Develop a whole house monitoring system to assess real energy performance before and after energy monitoring
• Undertake forensic performance analysis of the homes before and after improvements have been made.

The University of Huddersfield is a partner in this collaborative research project, focussing on the delivery of BIM implementation for retrofit of No Fines Concrete [NFC] solid wall housing.

Building Information modelling offers potential process and delivery improvements throughout the lifecycle of built assets. However, there is limited research in the use of BIM for energy efficiency in housing retrofits. The UK has over 300,000 solid wall homes with very poor energy efficiency. A BIM based solution for the retrofit of solid wall housing using lean and collaborative improvement techniques will offer a cost effective, comprehensive solution that is less disruptive, reduces waste and increases accuracy, leading to high quality outcomes. The Huddersfield team will develop a BIM for Retrofit Protocol supporting development of a 'what if' scenarios for housing retrofits that deliver high efficiency thermal improvements, aiming to reduce costs and disruption for users, addressing the complexity of NFC solid wall housing.

BIM is therefore utilised for predictive and evaluative energy analysis, 3D modelling,

4D BIM scheduling and 5D BIM cost analysis. The what-if retrofit matrix will deliver an integrated solution that deals with the issues of high energy consumption due to poor thermal performance; reductions in the carbon footprint; internal mould and condensation issues, using constructive solutions that offer reduced disruption to the housing occupier.

Research Team
Prof Patricia Tzortzopoulos Fazenda
Prof Lauri Koskela
Fernanda Chaves