ServicesforbusinessKnowledge+innovation=Success.

Welcome to the latest brochure from London South BankUniversity (LSBU) describing the range of services we provide forbusiness. This brochure has been designed to highlight the ways inwhich companies can access the talented people, new ideas andextensive modern facilities available at one of London’s largestuniversities.

LSBU has a proven track record in delivering cost-effectiveservices and support to business. Our aim is to help your businessgrow successfully and deliver improved bottom-line results.

This brochure tells you about what we do and gives specificexamples of work we have done with small to medium-sizednetworks and corporate companies. We hope it conveys the sortof work that LSBU does to support businesses.

If you wish to explore ways in which LSBU can help your business,please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to discuss yourrequirements.

Introduction

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The services we provide to business are based on four key aspects – TalentedPeople; Innovative Ideas; Creative Links and Modern Facilities. Throughout thisbrochure you will find examples of our work in each of these areas.

Areas of expertise at LSBU include:

Acoustics Building design and architectureBusiness processesChemical processingCommunicationsComputational fluid dynamicsComputer programmingConstruction managementElectronic and electrical engineeringEnergy efficiencyEnergy and transportEnvironmental health and safetyFinancial servicesFood technologyHealth and fitnessHealth care managementHuman resource managementIndustrial and manufacturing designInformation technologyMachiningManagement skillsNew materialsOccupational health, safety and hygieneOperations managementRegeneration and recyclingRobotics Sales and marketingSolar powerTeaching and learning

The range of services we offer is varied and covers:

Contract research

We can undertake research and development for your organisation to deliver newand improved products, processes and systems.

Consultancy

With more than 500 experts covering a range of disciplines, our staff can provideyou with advice and ideas to address the problems and challenges facing yourbusiness.

Training

We offer training and continuing professional development for your company andstaff in specialisms ranging from IT to construction, marketing to languages,finance to food and much more.

Knowledge transfer

LSBU is involved in and offers access to a number of grant-aided knowledgetransfer schemes designed to allow universities and business to work together tosolve business problems. The best known of these is Knowledge TransferPartnerships (KTP), a Government-funded initiative where graduates tackle abusiness-related project with supervision from both company and university staff.

Facilities

As a major London university, LSBU has a wide range of top-class amenitiesavailable to businesses. Facilities span engineering workshops through to designand media studios.

Student placements and projects

Many of our students undertake work placements as part of their studies. Studentplacements offer businesses a cost-effective way of accessing bright ideas andenthusiastic people. In addition, we are always looking for real world challenges forour students to tackle as part of their coursework. This is one way businesses cangain new insights at little or no cost.

What services do we provide? The key to our services

With more than 17,000 students and 800 academic staff, LSBU isone of the largest universities in London. This makes for a highlycreative environment. Whether you are seeking the advice of one ofour academic experts or wish to take on a work placementstudent, you will be tapping into the extensive talent pool availableat LSBU. Whatever your requirement, you can be assured of anenthusiastic and professional approach.

Here are some examples of how our talented people have helpedbusinesses improve their operations.

TalentedPeople

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Expertise improves patients’ quality of life

Professor Eakin is an occupational therapist based in the Faculty of Health andSocial Care at LSBU. She has extensive experience of working with people withphysical disabilities and has developed a Dependency Index – a standardisedassessment that measures a person’s level of dependence in self-care activities.

Professor Eakin provides advice to companies on a range of occupational therapyissues. Legal representatives have also tapped into her knowledge as she hastaken on the role of expert witness in personal injury cases. Many of her clients aredisabled adults with a range of conditions, which may have been sustained as aresult of work-related incidents or road traffic accidents.

After assessing her client at their home, Professor Eakin compiles a report on theextent of the person’s disability and care needs. “I make recommendations on theprovision of equipment, adaptations and services, and list rehabilitation costs,” shesays. “The report is used by forensic accountants to help calculate thecompensation claim. It’s great to know my professional opinion can make adifference to people’s long-term well being.”

Productivity champion drives Rolls Royce forward

Professor Ezugwu heads the Machining Research Centre at LSBU. His researchfocuses on helping companies reduce the time taken to produce engineeringcomponents while keeping manufacturing costs down, thereby improving firms’productivity and profitability.

For more than a decade Professor Ezugwu’s largest customer has been RollsRoyce. His most recent project has been a US-funded international defencecollaboration, the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft (JSF). The JSF is a multi-role fighterdesigned to affordably meet the needs of all branches of the military. It has thenecessary mobility for future joint operations and benefits from reduced life cyclecosts. Rolls Royce has worked closely with Professor Ezugwu to produce engineparts for the JSF.

The research carried out by Professor Ezugwu and his team has enabled RollsRoyce to develop a capability that could lead to a 30-50 per cent reduction inmanufacturing times and a five-fold improvement in consumable costs. “We prideourselves on consulting extensively with our clients and stakeholders to seekmeaningful solutions to current manufacturing problems,” Professor Ezugwu says.“That way our work has a tangible business impact.”

Talented PeopleEmmanuel Ezugwumanufacturing engineer

Talented PeoplePamela Eakinoccupational therapist

Knowledge is power for software specialist

Professor Long has been involved in many Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)with small and medium-sized companies. He was the lead academic in a recentKTP project with media software and marketing website developers MediaTel.Having identified a mutual interest, MediaTel and LSBU’s Centre for KnowledgeTransfer developed a KTP project to produce web-based software that promisesto transform the way advertising campaigns are managed.

Under Professor Long’s stewardship, the Campaign Management System (CMS)project was put together by LSBU graduates Sean Foo and Julian Simpson. CMScentralises the systems that media agencies use through the stages of managingan advertising campaign into a single easy-to-use media management system. Ithas been successfully implemented at its first client agency and Sean has takenon a full-time role at MediaTel to enhance the system and train new users.

For Professor Long, the KTP experience allowed him to acquire cutting-edgeknowledge and first-hand experience in web-based media software development.“The project also helped us generate case study material to incorporate into aMasters degree module in Strategic Electronic Marketing,” he says.

MediaTel’s operations director Nicola Mullett says she would recommend KTP toany business. “Our company gained a lot of benefits from it. The increase inknowledge from LSBU and the fact that we were able to develop valuablemembers of staff was key from a management perspective,” she explains.

Healthy relationship with market leader

Professor Davies is a nutritionist in LSBU’s Department of Applied Science. Shehas a long-standing research collaboration with Reckitt Benckiser, one of theUnited Kingdom’s top 100 companies recognised for its extensive range ofhousehold and health care products. Reckitt Benckiser has sponsored a numberof PhD students working within Professor Davies’ Nutrition Research Group.

The thrust of the research completed by Professor Davies and her team has beento gain a better understanding of the science of health conditions such asconstipation, irritable bowel syndrome and reflux disease. The work is relevant to anumber of Reckitt Benckiser’s products.

Reckitt Benckiser has benefited from this partnership in several ways. As well asachieving a greater understanding of these conditions, the company is recognisedat international conferences when the research findings are presented while papersare also published in scientific journals. In addition, clinical trials, facilitated bystrong links with the London Teaching Hospitals and undertaken by the LSBUgroup, have provided the company with valuable product performance data.

Talented PeopleJill Daviesnutritionist

Talented PeopleAllen Longcomputer scientist

If you are looking for new ideas to solve existing problems or openup new opportunities for your business, why not follow in thefootsteps of numerous other companies which have benefited fromworking with LSBU?

LSBU’s staff and students undertake a wide range of research andrelated activities. Most of these are geared towards providingpractical solutions to real world problems and challenges.

Whether your need is original research, a specialist graduate in yourorganisation for a specific project, or the advice of an expert in yourfield, we can supply you with people and ideas that can benefityour business.

Here are some examples of the creative ideas that our people haveturned into reality for a number of companies.

NewIdeas

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Designed to increase productivity

Putney-based rdc Foley Cooke is an interior design company which specialises inthe retail sector. It provides complete interior design solutions for clients such asGoldsmiths jewellers, Harrods and Tesco.

The company is working with Dr Ebad Banissi from LSBU’s SoftwareDevelopment and Computer Networking group to develop an in-house 3Dgraphics design system. The new system will enable the firm to compete moreeffectively against competitors who offer an integrated retail design and 3Dgraphics service.

By eliminating the need to outsource its graphic design work, rdc Foley Cookeestimates its profit margins will be boosted significantly by, among other things,reducing the time needed to work on each project. “It gives the company bettercontrol of the whole design process,” design director Roger Cooke explains.

Alongside the graphics software, Dr Banissi and his team have helped thecompany to implement a project management tool enabling them to betterorganise contracts, work schedules and invoices. “The new software is helping usto streamline both the design and financial management processes of thebusiness, improving our overall business efficiency,” graphics director GavinFerguson says.

Following the successful development and installation of the software, Dr Banissiand his co-workers are busy training company staff to use the new service.

Keeping the Tube cool

Dr Maidment and his team from LSBU’s Air Conditioning and RefrigerationResearch Group are working with London Underground to develop a revolutionarycooling system to reduce stifling temperatures on the Tube.

The cooling system takes advantage of the Underground’s existing pumps, whichprevent the capital’s rising water table from flooding the network. Water will beextracted from boreholes and pumped to heat exchangers located in roomsbetween platforms. Fans will blow hot air from the stations across water pipes andthe water temperature will rise by a few degrees as it extracts heat from the air.The cooler air will then be blown back on to the platforms and the warmer waterwill be pumped into the River Thames.

Dr Maidment, who helped devise the scheme, says the system is ideally suited tothe Underground because groundwater is most readily available in the deepestparts of the network. “The water has to be pumped out of the system anyway andit might as well take some of the heat with it,” he says. “Potentially it could cutcases of people suffering heat exhaustion on overcrowded trains.”

Tube engineers have struggled for decades to find a way of introducing airconditioning into the tunnels, many of which were built in the Victorian andEdwardian periods. Traditional air conditioning poses problems since it producesheat, which must have an exit route, and there is little room for ventilation systemsin the narrow tunnels.

A prototype system is being tested at Victoria, one of the busiest Tube stations,and is expected to reduce summer rush-hour temperatures on Victoria Lineplatforms by up to six degrees celsius.

New IdeasLondon Underground and GraemeMaidment, energy engineer

New Ideasrdc Foley Cooke and Ebad Banissi,computer graphics and visualisationresearcher

Bringing fresh ideas to old marketing

A marketing programme backed by companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever andProctor and Gamble is investigating the effect that advertising, pricing and TVviewing have on consumer loyalty and brand segmentation.

John Scriven and colleagues from LSBU’s Ehrenberg Centre for Research inMarketing are working on the R&D Initiative, funded by more than 40 companies.For a modest fee, participating companies gain access via a ‘members only’ weblink to an accumulating knowledge base in the form of reports and concisemarketing learnings that outline research results and implications.

“Clients are increasingly demanding knowledge rather than data or information andthis is where the R&D Initiative comes in,” Mr Scriven says. “We recognise themarket is limited to providing information and aim to supply the all-importantknowledge. There are profound implications for the way in which a companypresents its brand to the market. The R&D Initiative discusses these implicationswith its members and shows them how to use their new-found knowledge toimprove their marketing effectiveness.”

New IdeasR&D Initiative and John Scriven,marketing scientist

New IdeasLocke Carey Consulting and PhilNolan, chemical engineer

Safety first for fire sprinklers simulation

Locke Carey Consulting is a leading provider of fire and life safety advice forarchitects, engineers and construction agencies in the United Kingdom.Embarking on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, Professor PhilNolan’s LSBU Fire and Explosions Research Group and Locke Carey havedeveloped a pioneering computer modelling system for fire sprinklers in buildings.

The system allows Locke Carey to build virtual models of buildings according totheir clients’ construction designs. The company can use the models to simulatethe likely spread of fire and smoke. In this way Locke Carey can assess the firesafety of their clients’ designs before the start of construction.

Under the KTP arrangements, the Government provided a significant grant toallow the project to be carried out. The grant enabled a dedicated graduate, BenWhittaker, to be employed by the University to work on the two-year project underProfessor Nolan’s supervision.

The KTP project has provided Locke Carey with advantages beyond generatingnew commercial interest in its products. “Once you publish the innovations you’vedeveloped it brings technical credibility to the company, and that’s very importantto us,” Locke Carey technical director Glenn Horton says.

Following the project’s completion, Ben was taken on as a full-time employee byLocke Carey. The firm is sponsoring him to study for a PhD so they can continueto transfer his academic work back into the business.

LSBU is located in the heart of the capital. It is well placed toactively engage with other business-focused organisations acrossLondon and beyond. Through its connections LSBU is involved ina range of activities designed to support and help businessesaccess innovation and talent.

This section illustrates some examples of the creative links involvingLSBU and its staff.

CreativeLinks

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Tomorrow’s telecommunications

BTexact, BT’s advanced research and technology business, and LSBU havelaunched a postgraduate research centre based at the University. The venture,known as the BT/LSBU Communication Systems Research Centre, undertakesresearch on a range of telecommunications topics relevant to BTexact’s interests,including computer communication networks, broadband communications andphoto-sensitive materials for communication applications.

Students who join the Centre have access to LSBU’s extensive science andengineering facilities. In addition, they are expected to spend a period of timeworking at BTexact. Ideas resulting from projects overseen by BTexact areavailable for BT to commercially exploit with LSBU sharing any revenue.

“The Centre is a win-win opportunity for everyone involved,” Centre director Dr JimPervez says. “Students at LSBU will have increased exposure to industry, wheremost of them are hoping to work. In turn, BTexact will be able to take advantageof the wealth of innovative technology we anticipate will be produced by thestudents.”

Right ingredients for success

The London Food Centre at LSBU has teamed up with the Greater LondonEnterprise partnership’s working arm oneLondon to support the capital’s black andminority ethnic (BME) food sector companies. Funded by the LondonDevelopment Agency’s INSPIRE programme, the project helps BMEs harness theskills and expertise of public, education and private sectors.

The initative is being promoted to 3,000 BME food businesses across Londonwith the aim of attracting at least 250 to awareness-raising events. These will befollowed by seminars and talks covering the needs and issues for businessinnovation and growth in the food sector. Throughout the programme, additionalsupport is available from mentors and experts from the London Food Centre. It ishoped that a number of BME food sector companies will complete the projectarmed with firm plans for growth and investment.

Additional partners in the INSPIRE programme include the Caribbean FoodEmporium, African Caribbean Business Network, Southall RegenerationPartnership and Park Royal Partnership – all of which include BME companiesamong their members. LSBU hopes its involvement in the project will lead tofurther opportunities to work with the capital’s food industry.

Creative LinksoneLondon and London Food Centre

Creative LinksBTexact/LSBU CommunicationSystems Research Centre

Nurturing new businesses

The London Knowledge Innovation Centre (LKIC) is playing a vital role in makingsure business talent in the region is given the chance to thrive. A joint venturebetween LSBU and Southwark enterprise agency Business Extra, LKIC is helpingentrepreneurs in the London South Central area get their fledgling companies offthe ground. The Centre acts as an incubator, supporting start-up businesses byproviding flexible service space and access to specialist business advisors.

Based at LSBU’s Technopark, LKIC aims to establish itself as a key contributor tothe capital’s innovation and knowledge transfer ambitions. It supports firms fromproof of concept to the critical early stages of growth. Companies benefit from on-site support, proximity to LSBU’s vibrant academic environment and sharedreception services.

The strongest link

The Construction Knowledge Exchange (CKE) has been set up to linkorganisations and groups involved in and supporting the construction industry.These include universities, colleges, professional institutions, consumer groups,associated government bodies such as learning and skills councils and regionaldevelopment agencies, and of course, businesses in the industry itself.

There are many issues the construction industry is seeking to address aroundeducation, including the skills agenda where the various sectors withinconstruction need to interact with each other. The CKE aims to encouragedialogue between academia and industry through company and university visits,knowledge transfer projects and continuing professional development. There arealso clubs and forums, based around innovation, where professionals fromdifferent sections of the construction industry can meet.

The CKE was established in partnership with six other higher education institutionsled by the University of Salford. Backed by the Government’s Higher EducationInnovation Fund, LSBU is running this project for the London and South Eastregion.

Creative LinksConstruction Knowledge Exchange

Creative LinksLondon Knowledge Innovation Centre

As a major London university you would rightly expect LSBU tohave top-of-the-range facilities. The previous sections of thisbrochure have made reference to some of the amenities availableto businesses at LSBU, such as the machining research centreand the London Food Centre’s food manufacturing facilities.

Here are three further examples of some of our facilities and howthey can be used by businesses.

ModernFacilities

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Seen to be heard

Consulting engineers, Capita Symonds, has hired the sophisticated soundchambers at LSBU to carry out independent tests of loud speaker equipment forclients such as concert halls, sports stadia and local authorities.

During the past decade the company has used these facilities to test outtechnology destined for Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and Wembley Stadium, evenconducting staff hearing tests in a sound booth here.

The University’s Acoustics Group has a reverberation chamber and an anechoicroom, where there is no reflective sound. “Hire costs are reasonable and thelocation is really convenient,” Capita Symonds director of acoustics Jim Griffithssays. “Staff are always on hand to help us achieve what we are trying to achieve,which helps when things aren’t quite going according to plan.”

IT training at your fingertips

London Aspect provides flexible training in more than 50 web-based and IT relatedtopics. In addition to scheduled courses, London Aspect offers a wide range ofdelivery options – whether at LSBU or at a company’s own premises. On-sitetraining allows a course to be focused and even modified to ensure that it meetsthe specific training needs of the course participants, as well as providing trainingin a familiar environment.

Happy customers include IPC Media, which needed sessions for more than 100editorial staff to develop their Internet searching skills. Other IPC staff attended ourscheduled courses in PowerPoint and Photoshop, run at London Aspect’s LSBUfacilities. Central London-based travel agency Amathus Holidays required on-sitetraining for staff in the use of Microsoft Access, while the Association ofAccounting Technicians has run several series of Saturday courses in Excel andSage Accounting as part of their Continuing Professional Developmentprogramme. We also offer these and other courses in our normal weekdaycalendar.

Delegates have enthused about the good pace and style of instruction, thecourses designed to fit various ability levels and the overall relaxed and friendlyatmosphere.

Modern FacilitiesLondon Aspect

Modern FacilitiesAcoustics Group

Some of our other customers include:

A&M HearingAnton PaarAssociated OctelBP SolarBritish EnergyBritish Nuclear FuelsCalor GasChiswick FoodsEuropean BakeriesFinsoftGuinness UDVHarmony medical groupLa FornaiaLondon Diamond Drilling ServicesLondon RemadeMangoMaunsellMarks and SpencerMeggitt AvionicsMicrosulis MedicalNoble House LeisurePortman Building SocietyQinetiqRail Link EngineeringService Works GlobalStockwell Motor AccessoriesThe Welding InstituteTurtle MatUnited Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)

A business-like environment

Opened in November 2003, the award-winning Keyworth Centre is thecentrepiece of LSBU’s modern, business-friendly facilities. Located about a milefrom the Houses of Parliament, the Centre can be easily reached by publictransport and is a stone’s throw from London’s South Bank Centre.

It has substantial conference and meeting space, complete with catering andbreakout rooms, for public and private events as well as businesses. Theconference centre on the top floor has views of Canary Wharf, St Paul’s Cathedral,the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Rooms are equipped with dataprojection and computer connections.

The building is also home to the Digital Media Centre, a state-of-the-art computerlaboratory for the creative media industries.

Modern FacilitiesKeyworth Centre

Meeting business needs

Design, layout and production:

Wave6 Dorset StreetLondon W1U 6QLTelephone: 020 7935 3741Facsimile: 020 7935 3795Email: info@draftoil.com

For more information, or to receive a copy of this document in large printformat (Microsoft Word version), please contact:

Dr Ed TinleyHead of Research and Business Development OfficeLondon South Bank University103 Borough RoadLondon SE1 0AATelephone: 020 7815 6917Facsimile: 020 7815 6999Email: tinleye@lsbu.ac.ukWebsite: www.lsbu.ac.uk/business

Contact information Credits

London South bank University, 103 Borough Road, LondonSE1 0AA. Telephone 020 7815 6917 Facsimile 020 7815 6915Email tinleye@lsbu.ac.uk Websitewww.lsbu.ac.uk/business