I want to wish all of our grants community, stakeholders and readers of this newsletter a Happy new year. People around the world celebrate the new year in different ways based on their different cultures and calendars, but universally it’s a time of looking forward. At the Foundation we had a lot to celebrate in 2016 and have a great deal to look forward to in 2017. Throughout the year ahead this newsletter will capture those examples and celebrate the achievements of everybody involved in Foundation-funded work. I hope you find the articles in this edition of the newsletter as inspiring as we do. I wish you all a safe and healthy 2017.
RI Lectures
We were the major supporter of the world-famous Royal Institution’s 2016 Christmas lectures, which were presented by Professor Saiful Islam on BBC4 on 27, 28 and 29 December. If you missed them, they are available on the BBC iPlayer for another two weeks and – until 27 January - you can ask your questions to Saiful and a team of energy experts here. Also, you can discover much more about the heritage that the Royal Institution and Lloyd’s Register have shared for over 200 years through this articleon the Ri website.
Impacts from 2016
• Research by the LRF Transport Risk Management Centre at Imperial College, London, has been used for airport apron safety in Los Angeles, New York and JFK airports. Dr Milena Studic brought to the attention of both national and international aviation communities the safety-criticality of aviation Ground Handling Services. The recommendations outlined in her PhD thesis are now being implemented by the International Civil Aviation Authority to improve safety standards.
• The results of research undertaken at the University of Helsinki have been used to validate POLARIS, a new set of industry standards providing critical risk mitigation directives and support to insurers underwriting marine risk in Polar waters.
• As part of its strategic review into supporting STEM education in the UK, the Foundation commissioned a report to map the health of the UK’s STEM education landscape. The report, published in May by the Royal Academy of Engineering, highlighted the need for increased co-ordination between organisations running STEM initiatives, with better evaluation of their long-term impact.
• The National Space Academy’s special demonstration kit was launched to the International Space Station and used by ESA astronaut Tim Peake to record classroom physics and chemistry demonstrations as part of a project requested by the UK Space Agency. The resulting teacher guides and videos will be made freely available to teachers and the public via a website hosted by the National Space Academy.
Job opportunity in the Foundation
We are hiring a Foundation Director of Operations to work with the team in London. This is a newly created role with accountability for the day-to-day operational control of the Foundation reporting directly to the Foundation Chief Executive as a key member of the senior leadership team collectively responsible for shaping the broader strategy and growing the Foundation into a leading global charity renowned for the work it does and social impact.
Additive manufacturing consultation
Our consultation of additive manufacturing closes at the end of January.
Download from our website or share your thoughts with us.
Safety Grand Challenges
It is not too late to share your experiences of where safety is compromised at the interface between people and infrastructure or where the safety of critical infrastructure itself is threatened. Share your views with us here.
Upcoming
ICON call
Now open: 3rd LRF-International Consortium in Nanotechnologies (ICON) Call now open. To apply please see here.
NSIRC call
Now open: The National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) announced the launch of an open call to universities around the world for PhDs it will fund in 2017 please see here.
Distributed ledgers workshop
01 and 02 February: The Alan Turning Institute will be holding a two day workshop to explore this area. To find out more about the event or to express an interest in taking part contact Gary Pogson.