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Space science finds down-to-earth applications
“It may not be appropriate for every researcher to engage to the same extent. It is important to look at each project in context and judge what the reasonable amount of impact is that can be expected from that project.” - Professor Alan Smith, UCL
Professor Alan Smith is head of the Department of Space and Climate Physics at the University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL). It is the UK's largest university space research group and aims to unravel the mysteries of space through research in fields ranging from the Earth's climate to the most distant objects in the known Universe, using innovative space instruments.
So how did you come to work with the intensive care unit at University College London Hospital? “When we study a the sun in minute detail, we need to process huge amounts of data,” explains Professor Smith, who is also Vice-Dean for Enterprise at UCL’s Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. “The intensive care department of a hospital also needs to analyse large amounts of data. Our techniques for looking for trends in solar data can also be used to look for trends in any kind of data, including from a patient. We’re interested in spotting trends and alerting doctors to change. Moreover, by recording this data we can create a database that is available to better understand what we see in the future. At present this simply is not done and most of the data is lost.”
This project came about when Professor Louise Harra (one of Professor Smith’s colleagues at MSSL) met up with Dr Kevin Fong, a specialist registrar in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine who also holds a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics. “They explored ideas together and this has resulted in our work impacting a community far removed from the astrophysics community,” says Professor Smith. “It is my aim to create an environment where opportunities like this may arise and applications for our work can be found in a variety of different industries.”
His department has a non-academic business development manager whose job it is to find new opportunities and look for contracts from industry. “We don’t want to distract the astronomers from doing astronomy,” says Professor Smith. “While our main focus is our science program, we recognise that we also need to look like a ‘business’ and be able to interact with industry. We need to speak their language and listen to their problems. Moreover, we can also learn a lot from this interaction, about how things are done outside academia.”
Opportunities for interaction with industry come about in several different ways. Professor Smith’s group has considerable expertise in space instrument development and systems engineering and will bid for industry contracts when the opportunity arises. They provide a broad training programme in systems engineering. Other link-ups have happened after Professor Smith has given a talk at a conference or after a serendipitous meeting.
While Professor Smith spends a lot of his time engaging with industry and looking for opportunities for the MSSL’s work to have impact outside space science, he never loses sight of the main driver for the work. “We are driven by what we need in space,” says Professor Smith, “but I am always thinking about how our work might be useful to others.”
For Professor Smith, Pathways to Impact has not really changed the way he works but rather endorses it. He believes it has had an influence on others in his field. “Pathways to Impact has manifested change in people’s attitudes to engaging with the outside world,” says Professor Smith. “It is not appropriate for every researcher to engage to the same extent. It is important to look at each project in context and judge what the reasonable amount of impact is that can be expected from that project.”
He believes it is a departmental responsibility to find the right balance between projects that have major impact outside academia and those that do not. “It mustn’t be an obligation,” says Professor Smith. “For some, such as theoretical cosmologists, it makes no sense to force them to engage. But others should be encouraged to seek honest engagement. Pathways to Impact should not be seen as a box-ticking exercise. With many projects, you can start with the end in mind and plan engagement activities right from the start.”
Institution:UCL
Funding council:STFC
Links
Mullard Space Science Laboratory