Innovation to Impact in a Time of Recession

Abstract

Whilst most people in developed societies would celebrate the route from innovation to impact, particularly in the context of engineering and biomedicine, it is not often acknowledged that the definitions of the start, mid-points and even end-points of that route vary between groups in society. Since that route requires funding, this variety of opinion leaves regions of the route vulnerable to underfunding, particularly in times of recession. This paper explores how this can lead to failure to foresee problems and underpin solutions on the 10-50 year timescale. Furthermore, policies designed to support the route from innovation to impact can have the opposite effect. The route is illustrated with examples from the author's research. a

Prediction of far-field acoustic emissions from cavitation clouds during shock wave lithotripsy for development of a clinical device

“…Overexposure carries the potential for adverse side effects [3][4][5][6]. There is therefore an imperative for the development of a non-invasive device for monitoring the progress of the therapy in real time in the clinic [7]. This study describes the simulation that supported the development of a new passive acoustic sensor, which is placed by a nurse on the patient's skin, and passively monitors the scattering and reverberation within the patient's body of the pressure fields generated by the interaction of the SWL, bubbles and tissue.…”

Bubble Acoustics From Whales to Other Worlds

“…The proposition that cleaning could be achieved using low volumes of cold water, without additives, in a gentle flow, was an ambition for many years 104,144 . The challenges for cleaning are not simply related to today's use of too much water, too many additives, and too much energy to heat the water 145 .…”