From ham to hollyhocks: diverse industry problems to be considered in the Industrial Maths Clean and Sustainable Growth study group

KTN is running a series of Industrial Maths study groups exploring the application of the mathematical sciences to solving industry problems

 

Question: what do meat, flowers and foundation industries have in common?

Answer: problems in those industries can benefit from the application of mathematical sciences.

 

These are just three of the industries that will be contributing to a KTN’s series of Industrial Maths study groups where researchers will consider real-life challenges put forward by companies.

 

Each study group will fall under the broader umbrella of an Industrial Strategy Grand Challenge.  The Government’s Industrial Strategy sets out Grand Challenges to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future, ensuring that the UK takes advantage of major global changes, improving people’s lives and the country’s productivity.  The first four Grand Challenges are focused on the global trends which will transform our future and include Clean Growth.  The KTN study groups will highlight how the application of mathematical sciences can contribute to the Industrial Strategy through helping to unlock key societal and economic challenges.

The Clean and Sustainable Growth study group will take place in Nottingham from 29 April – 1 May and a range of problems will be tackled by researchers.  The organisers, KTN, alongside the University of Nottingham, are looking for researchers to work on industry conundrums and those confirmed so far are:

• Improving the process for cryogenic crust-freezing for meat products, presented by Cranswick PLC
• Quality control processes for cut flowers,¬†presented by MM Flowers
• Evolution of the thermal state of the steel transfer ladle and its liquid contents, presented by Tata Steel
• Optimal scheduling of steel-making and casting operations, presented¬†by Tata Steel

The latter two are problems related to the Industrial Strategy Clean Growth Grand Challenge, Transforming Foundation Industries: this challenge will transform the UK’s foundation industries (glass, metals, cement, ceramics, chemicals) to make them internationally competitive, securing more jobs and greater sector growth by 2025.

If you are a researcher working in a UK university who would like to work on these problems at the study group in Nottingham from 29 April – 1 May, please register here.  Early stage career academics, Ph.D students, and postdocs are particularly welcome.

This Study Group is fully-funded by the University of Nottingham Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships programme Modelling and Analytics for a Sustainable Society with support from KTN.