This horizontal focuses on aligning the process and outcomes of engineering research with the values, needs, and expectations of society. This includes, but is not limited to:
Ethics & Governance: Integrating ethical considerations in research and evaluating the long-term societal impacts of new technologies.
Inclusion: Promoting diverse perspectives in the research process to ensure equitable access to innovation.
Public Engagement & Openness: Creating two-way dialogues between researchers and stakeholders (including the general public) to ensure research addresses real-world challenges.
This theme serves as the digital and computational backbone, integrating data-driven methodologies across the research activities by utilising Industry 4.0/5.0 tools. This includes, but is not limited to:
Intelligent Optimisation: Using algorithms to solve multi-objective sustainable engineering problems that are too complex for traditional methods.
Machine Learning: Applying supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning to optimise complex system behaviours.
Predictive Analytics: Utilising historical and real-time data to forecast system performance, enabling proactive engineering solutions.
Cyber-Physical Systems and Digital Twins: Using smart infrastructure that can adapt to real-time changes and utilising virtual representations of physical assets to simulate performance and improve sustainability.
This horizontal ensures that the cluster’s intellectual output is widely shared to maximise its influence on the global engineering community and where applicable, protected and sold. This includes, but is not limited to:
Strategic Dissemination: Sharing findings through high-impact journals, open-access repositories, and local and international conferences to build the cluster’s reputation and influence.
IP Asset Management: Systematically identifying, documenting, and protecting patentable inventions and proprietary software to ensure a competitive advantage.
Market Translation: Streamlining the pathway from lab to market through industry partnerships, licensing, and support for technology demonstrators.
