Gods on the Frontier (Dr Eleri Cousins)

Gods on the Frontier will develop innovative mixed-reality visitor interactions with Roman religion at English Heritage sites on Hadrian’s Wall. English Heritage's Roman fort sites on Hadrian's Wall are among the most visible and visited remains of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, but present interpretative challenges in communicating their ancient ‘lived reality’ from their surviving architecture. In partnership with English Heritage and the Clayton Trust, this project will deploy principles of co-design focused on interactions between the physical and digital worlds. This will enable measurable change in public understandings of religious landscapes on Hadrian’s Wall and bring the partners’ Roman sites and collections to new audiences through the development of inclusive and innovative displays.

Improving concussion detection in contact sports through innovative textile pressure sensors (Dr Hannah Jarvis)

Concussion resulting from traumatic brain injury in contact sports (e.g., rugby union, league, American Football) has been strongly linked to causing the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Assessment of an athlete with a suspected head injury is subjective and reliant on medical professional opinion and athlete feedback. Postural sway measured via accelerometers has been proposed to be able to detect concussion, but accelerometers are highly prone to error as the effect of exercise can induce changes in posture similar to concussion. Our aim through a collaboration with a company partner (Infi-tex) is to embed their sensors into rugby clothing and headguards to measure real-time impact during training and competition. Through collaborating with colleagues in Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Arts (Co-I Sarah Casey) we will be able to translate the functional need with the aesthetic design of the sensors and determine the best material to be able to adapt to the contours of the body and head and for it to be accepted commercially.

Local Planning Policy for Sustainable Soils (Professor Jess Davies)

Despite its value for biodiversity and climate-change mitigation, soil is routinely undervalued, damaged, and disposed of during construction and urban development. Working with Lancaster City Council, Portsmouth City Council, and Cornwall Council this project proposes to address this challenge by combining EPSRC soil systems science with AHRC design research to explore and accelerate the adoption of soil sustainability principles in local planning policy. This will be of primary benefit to those engaged in planning in local authorities. It will help them navigate this new area of sustainability and explore how they can create robust policy in partnership with others in the development chain and deliver positive climate, food, water, and biodiversity outcomes for their citizens and local economies.

Ai:Lab: Artificial Intelligence in Low Carbon Building (Des Fagan)

The AI:Lab asks: how can processes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) target the reduction of carbon expenditure in the design and construction of buildings, and what role do architects, engineers, our students and the public have in the process of de-carbonisation using new tools of AI? The built environment has a vital role to play in responding to the climate emergency - addressing upfront carbon is a critical and urgent focus. Buildings are currently responsible for 39% of global energy related carbon emissions: 28% from operational emissions with the remaining 11% from embodied carbon in materials and construction. Working with Grimshaw Architects, and with a focus on Morecambe Bay, our key objective is to establish the Ai:Lab as a vehicle to recognise the cross-disciplinary demands and opportunities of AI, to capture these at an early stage, and produce impactful research in communities and across the construction sector.

Crossing the Arts/Science Divide in Schools and Libraries (Professor Sharon Ruston)

The AHRC-funded Humphry Davy Notebooks Project has, since 2019, crowdsourced the transcription of 83 notebooks kept by the early nineteenth-century chemist Sir Humphry Davy. Transcription of the notebooks by c. 3300 people worldwide has revealed that Davy also wrote poetry while working on his scientific experiments. Working with STEM Learning, Fylde Coast Academy, and Lancaster Library, we will develop an interdisciplinary lesson plan for Key Stage (KS) 3 Chemistry and English Language classes drawing on Davy's poetry and scientific discoveries; produce a ‘crowdsourced edition’ of 50 pages of Davy’s notebooks, and work with the Royal Institution of Great Britain to explore new exhibits.

So unfair (Dr Daniel Bye and Dr Jenny Roberts)

Roberts and Bye will collaborate with award-winning Lancaster-based theatre company One Tenth Human (OTH) and other colleagues in Engineering to explore the outreach impact of pre-recorded material intertwined with live interaction.

The overall aim is to engage a wider and more diverse audience with cutting-edge research including Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) for redistributed manufacture, bio-inspired design, and novel methods of generating energy.

This project combines Bye, OTH, and Roberts to develop an interactive play for audiences of families and schools, using Bye’s expertise to integrate live performance with pre-recorded segments from a diverse group of engineers “as live”. We will engage with young people’s keen sense of fairness to explore social and environmental justice themes, using examples from Roberts’ and colleagues’ research.

Accelerating the development of an equity focused approach to improving indoor air quality (Dr Emma Halliday)

Poor air quality has been highlighted as the world’s greatest environmental health risk, linked with serious health consequences. While the focus tends to be on outdoor air quality, indoor air quality (IAQ) is of increasing importance given that we spend ~ 90% of our time indoors. In addition to outdoor air pollution coming indoors, there are a range of other sources. IAQ can be significantly affected by poor building conditions as a result of damp and mould. Alongside this, poor IAQ can arise from indoor generated emissions from building materials, cleaning products, cooking and heating, and tobacco products.

Working with National Air Quality Testing Services (NAQTS Ltd.) and also using participatory arts resources as a catalyst for discussion, this project aims to accelerate the development of a more equity focused approach to improving indoor air quality. The project will involve engagement with a range of organisations with responsibilities for IAQ including local authorities, housing providers, healthcare professionals and engineers.

Insect architects: Exploring the wonder of architecture solutions from the natural world (Dr Philip Donkersley)

Insects that build their own nests are diverse and widespread across the planet. Each one has to produce a microhabitat capable of expanding over time and maintaining a stable internal environment. Though entomologists believe insects are inherently fascinating creatures, it can be difficult to share this perspective with the public and other fields of research. By working with an internationally renowned glass-blowing artist, we will collaboratively create glass sculptures of wild insect nests. The natural nests and glass sculptures will be displayed at public events like “Light Up Lancaster” as well as art/science galleries. To achieve this, we will hire a Lighting Creative Artist to direct installations, an appropriate light source and the use of smoke to visualize the movement of air through the models. Videography of the exhibitions join up with researchers in Architecture and Engineering at Lancaster to develop virtual models of air flow through the nest structures. This will open up new research into architectural adaptations of insects to passively regulate their nests, and generate novel ideas for human construction design.