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Transitioning to artificial intelligence-based key account management: a critical assessment
Get PDFResearch suggests that Artificial intelligence (AI) use for sales and marketing activities improves firm performance. Underpinning these AI applications are datasets that reflect large volumes of sales transactions and interactions with a broad range of customers. Conversely, key account relationships involve deep and focused engagements with a small number of strategically important customers at multiple levels, and this has important implications for AI data inputs and uses. Whether AI is appropriate or relevant to key account management (KAM) is currently unclear. In this paper, we critically evaluate AI applications for KAM. The paper highlights the amenability of a firm’s KAM capabilities to AI and evaluates the opportunities and challenges that AI-based KAM offers. The paper also outlines a set of moderating factors likely to affect the impact of AI on KAM and provides a conceptual model to better understand the potentially transformative effects of AI on KAM. The paper concludes with a set of theoretical and managerial implications of AI-based KAM and develops a comprehensive research agenda to contribute to the further exploration of AI-based KAM.Industrial Marketing Managemen
Environmental stewardship education in Tuvalu, Part 1: the role of policy Alignment
Get PDFEnvironmental stewardship is crucial for fostering sustainable development, particularly in vulnerable small-island developing states like Tuvalu. Government policies and frameworks play a vital role in shaping the education system, but inconsistencies in policy alignment often hamper efforts to embed Environmental Stewardship Education (ESE) into the national curriculum. We aimed to answer four questions: 1. What formal policies shape Environmental Stewardship Education (ESE) in Tuvalu? 2. Are national educational and environmental policies mutually consistent? 3. Are these national policies consistent with regional and global policies? 4. What challenges hinder the implementation of ESE in Tuvalu? These questions were addressed using a study of regional, international, and Tuvaluan online-available documentary assessments of national policies and frameworks in conjunction with those obtained from the Education Department. Our findings revealed that a combination of Tuvalu’s environmental and educational policies was instrumental in shaping ESE. Nationally, educational and environmental policies are internally inconsistent, as well as being inconsistent externally with regional and international policies. Recommendations for improving policy alignment and the sustainable integration of ESE into the curriculum are provided. The second part (Part 2) of our review covers the development and delivery of effective curricula for ESE.Commonwealth Scholarship CommissionThis research received external funding from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. The funding number to access this fund at the University of Lincoln is 0006192.Sustainabilit
Autonomous path selection of unmanned aerial vehicle in dynamic environment using reinforcement learning
Get PDFThe Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an emerging area within the aviation industry. Currently, fully autonomous UAV operations in real-world scenarios are rare due to low technology readiness and a lack of trust. However, Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers powerful tools to adapt to changing conditions and handle complex perceptions. In autonomous vehicles, automotive self-driving technologies have made significant advances. To enhance the level of autonomy in aviation, it is beneficial to analyze these frameworks and extend autonomous driving principles to autonomous flying. This research introduces a novel solution for ensuring safe navigation in UAVs by adopting the concept of autonomous lane or path selection strategies used in cars. The approach employs deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for high-level decision-making in selecting the appropriate path generated by various established algorithms that consider different scenarios. Specifically, the Interfered Fluid Dynamical System (IFDS) \cite{IFDS_OG} is utilized for guidance and the PID for the flight control system. The UAV can choose between global and local paths and determine the appropriate speed for following these paths. This proposed framework lays the foundation for future research into practical and safe navigation strategies for UAVs.AIAA SCITECH 2025 Foru
Differential flatness based flight control of tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft
Get PDFWhidborne, James F. - Associate SupervisorUrban Air Mobility (UAM) is identified as the future of mobility, and several
airframes are being trialled to fit air transport within modern cities. Speed and
efficiency are the primary requirements deliberated for UAM Vertical Take-off and
Landing (VTOL) aircraft, and configurations incorporating tilt-rotors and tilt-wings
have been identified as viable solutions. For quadrotors and robotics, control
techniques leveraging the differentially flat property of system dynamics have
achieved significantly improved tracking performance and motivated the
application of this control technique for VTOL aircraft. This study proposes a
novel control architecture based on the differential flatness property of aircraft
kinematics, to improve controller performance for autonomous flight. A
conceptual validation of the proposed technique was implemented on a Planar
VTOL (PVTOL) model as a precursor to the research. Consequently, an
architecture for implementing the concept in tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft (Aston Martin
Vision Volante) was devised, implemented, and tested. The control architecture
achieved the speculated performance improvements and lays foundation for
further research and development into the proposed control technique.MSc by Research in Aerospac
Have prospects for product life-spans improved?
Get PDFWe are grateful for support from the EPSRC (grant reference EP/N022645/1), which enabled data collection6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025
Antibacterial and osseointegration evaluation of silver ion-implanted orthopaedic implants
No full textThis study investigates the efficacy of silver ion-implanted or impregnated freeform surfaces of locking compression plates (LCPs) for orthopaedic applications, specifically targeting the prevention of surgical site infections without affecting the future removability of fracture fixation devices. Using stainless-steel LCPs as a testbed, we explored the antibacterial activity of silver-implanted LCP plates against Staphylococcus aureus as well as assessed the biocompatibility through osteoblast-like cell behaviour.
Silver-ion-implanted LCPs demonstrated a 72% reduction in bacterial adhesion compared to controls (p < .01, Cohen’s d = 8.2), along with a 4.5-fold increase in the proportion of dead bacteria (p < .001, Cohen’s d = 10.6), although this efficacy was lower than that reported for similar ion dosages in the literature, likely due to the complexities of non-planar geometries.
Furthermore, the silver-treated surfaces influenced osteoblast-like cells to exhibit a >60% reduction in attachment compared to untreated controls, with cells showing predominantly rounded morphology, an outcome beneficial for fracture fixation plates intended for eventual removal, as it discourages osseointegration. Our findings revealed the promising antimicrobial potential of silver ions as an excellent agent for the improved antibacterial performance of the LCP surfaces for fracture fixation, marking a departure from the traditional focus on permanent implant osseointegration. A key novelty of this work is the application of silver ion implantation to full-scale, geometrically complex orthopaedic implants, as opposed to the flat samples typically used in prior studies. The observed discrepancies between our results on freeform surfaces and theoretical predictions/experimental data from flat samples necessitate a deeper investigation into the influence of complex surface geometries. These results underscore the critical need to refine both our models and implantation processes to account for the effects of complex surface topography.This work was funded by the UKRI via Grant No. EP/T024607/1, Cambridge Royce facilities grant EP/P024947/1 and Sir Henry Royce Institute - recurrent grant EP/R00661X/1, the Hubert Curien Partnership award 2022 from the British Council and the International exchange Cost Share award by the Royal Society (IEC\NSFC\223536).The contribution of J.C., R.B. and J.O. (Eurecat) has been financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain under the project BIOIMPLANT (RTC2019-006803-1) and DEMANDING (PGC2018-096855-B-C42). Funding from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Projects PID2021-128727OB-I00 and TED2021-132752B-I00) is also acknowledged.Journal of Micromanufacturin
The application of rapid aerodynamic prediction techniques to supersonic aircraft
No full textWhen considering new designs of supersonic aircraft, the ability to assess many different configurations with relative accuracy is of the utmost importance. Since the 1950s, simple component flows for axisymmetric bodies, wings and other lifting surfaces have been widely used in a technique known as the component build-up approach. Each component is separately modelled using methods designed for specific scenarios where their accuracy is high. The effect of each component on the others is then calculated and they are summed. This gives, typically, lift and pitching moment. This technique has remained relatively unchanged and, with the advent of higher order methods, the lower order methods have often been overlooked. This study uses the component build-up approach to predict lift and presents a new technique for drag acting upon a full aircraft. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the accuracy and speed of these methods. The X-15 research aircraft was chosen as a test case due to its wealth of supersonic full-scale data. The presented methods predict lift to within 3.7% and drag within 6.3% of experimental data for a range of Mach numbers from 1.9 to 6. When comparing this low fidelity method with high fidelity steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations, both computational data sets match well.AIAA SCITECH 2025 Foru
Techno-economic study for degraded gas turbine on pipeline application in the oil and gas industry.
Get PDFGas compression through pipelines is a capital intensive project. Therefore, it is
imperative to investigate the viability of investing in such a project. Thus, the techno-
economic and environmental risk assessment (TERA) tool to rapidly evaluate the entire
natural gas pipeline project becomes vital. This research has investigated the impacts of
gas turbine (GT) degradation in the application of TERA for a natural gas pipeline, taking
into account the equipment selection, ambient conditions and periodic engine overhaul.
Three scenarios (optimistic, medium and pessimistic) defining different levels of
deterioration of the GT in comparison with the clean condition were examined in each
season of the years (rainy, dry and hot season) based on the location of Trans-Saharan
gas pipeline with 18 compression stations. The developed TERA model considered
different modules such as the pipeline/gas compressor, performance, emission, a
simplified lifing and economic module.
The pipeline/gas compressor module evaluated the performance of the 4180km pipeline
and gas compressor power across all compression stations in both isothermal and non-
isothermal conditions. Aspen-Hysys/micro-soft excel and MATLAB were used to develop
the model. The result showed that for every 1% increase in pipe exit pressure resulted
in a 1.8% increase in the volume of the gas flow in the pipeline. Having evaluated the
gas compressor (GC) power across the 18 compressor station, the investigation also
revealed that for every 1% rise in the gas temperature resulted in a 3.4% rise in the
power required by the gas compressor to move the gas. The GT performance was
modelled using TURBOAMATCH at fixed power of the engine with respect to the
different scenarios under investigation. The performance result was linked with the
developed emission, lifing and economic model in MATLAB. The result revealed that for
every 1% degradation (reduction in flow capacity and isentropic efficiency) at a constant
power of engine operation, between an ambient temperature of 16.2ᴼC and 29ᴼC, CO₂
emission increases between 0.71% and 0.78% when compared with the clean condition.
Also, at the same operating condition, the NOx emission increases between 1.66% and
1.8%. However, NOx emission at different compressor station varies from one station to
another due to the influence of different ambient conditions, engine power settings and
number of engines used. Lifing result showed that as the engine degrades, its creep life
reduces at high TET to deliver the same power at a fixed number of engines
Net present value (NPV) at different discount rates (DR) (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) were
used to evaluate the economic viability of the project, taking into account engine
divestment and leasing for the redundant fleets after overhaul. The study further
investigated how Rescheduling of GT Overhaul (ROH) from the baseline condition
affects the economic viability of the pipeline project. The result showed that implementing
the ROH reduces the number of GT used for the optimistic, medium and pessimistic
scenarios by 8%, 2% and 4% respectively, for the same number of the compressor
station and at the same operating conditions when compared with the baseline condition.
The result also showed that running the engine on degraded mode increases the life
cycle cost while the NPV reduces as the degradation increases. For instance, at 10%
DR, the baseline NPV for the clean, optimistic, medium, and pessimistic scenarios were
19.6, 17.1 billion, respectively showing that the NPV decreases with
increase in degradation, unlike other studies that analysed the NPV on clean engine
operation only. Remarkably, the NPV for engine divestment was 0.2% to 20.3% lower
than the NPV for leasing depending on the different scenarios and DR, indicating that
NPV leasing gives better benefits than that of engine divestment.
Furthermore, the implementation of on-line compressor washing to investigate the
impacts on the pipeline project and emission reduction using TURBOMATCH and
MATLAB for the developed model revealed that the CO₂ emission and cost of CO₂ for
the optimistic, medium and pessimistic scenarios had a reduction of 5.8%, 6.1% and
6.5% respectively when compared with the baseline condition. Also, at 5% DR, the NPV
for the three scenarios after compressor washing increase by 6%, 5.2% and 4.8%,
respectively when compared with the baseline case. The proposed methods and result
in this research will offer a useful decision-making guide for all pipeline investors to invest
in a natural gas pipeline business, taking into account different operating conditions and
the impacts of engine degradation.PhD in Aerospac
Large eddy simulations of methane emission from landfill and mathematical modeling in the far field
Get PDFGreenhouse gases such as methane will be generated from the landfilling of municipal waste. The emissions of noxious gas from landfills and other waste disposal areas can present a significant hazard to the environment and to the health of the population if not properly controlled. In order to have the harmful gas controlled and mitigate the environmental pollution, the extent to which the gas will be transported into the air at some time in the future must be estimated. The emission estimates (inventories) are combined with atmospheric observations and modeling techniques. In this work, large eddy simulation (LES) is used to determine the dispersion of methane in the atmosphere at large distances from the landfill. The methane is modeled as an active scalar, which diffuses from the landfill with a given mass flux. The Boussinesq approximation has been used to embed the effect of the buoyancy in the momentum equation. A logarithmic velocity profile has been used to model the wind velocity. The results in the far field show that the mean concentration and concentration rms of methane, appropriately scaled, are self-similar functions of a certain combination of the coordinates. Furthermore, the LES results are used to fit the parameters of the Gaussian plume model. This result can be used to optimize the placement of the atmospheric receptors and reduce their numbers in the far-field region, to improve emissions estimates and reduce the costs.Atmospher
Autonomous parafoil flaring control system for eVTOL aircraft
Get PDFReducing landing kinetic energy during emergency landings is critical for minimising occupant injury in eVTOL aircraft. This study presents the development of an autonomous parafoil control system for impact point targeting and flare control. A model predictive controller for a six-degree-of-freedom parafoil and eVTOL payload model was designed incorporating an inner-loop flare controller for descent speed-based flare height adjustments and an outer-loop nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) to minimize line-of-sight error. Two guidance methods were explored: a standard fixed impact point approach and an adaptive method that adjusts the target point dynamically to account for horizontal travel during flaring. The standard method outperformed the uncontrolled system in 79.64% of cases, while the adaptive method achieved success in 40.73% of scenarios, with both methods maintaining vertical landing velocities below 8 m/s in all tested cases. Controller performance degraded under higher wind speeds and large control derivative variations, with the adaptive method position error attributed to flare distance estimation inaccuracies.Aerospac