02.01

Apologies

These were received from Sarah Adam, Dr Soon-Thiam Khu, Dr Mike Farrimond, Raymond Cummings, Mark Baverstock, Norman Revell, Graeme Burns, Michael Norton, Dr Tiku Tanyimboh, Linda Brady, Fiona Lee, Tony Gerstel, Nick Preston, Ian Miller, Elliot Gill, Dennis Grimshaw, Dr Johannes Andersen.

02.02

Presentation of de Montford University’s Research Profile

Unfortunately, this item was postponed due to lack of time. A presentation will be given at the next available meeting.

02.03

Network Update

GAW stated that there had been a number of new members since the last meeting; 

Mohammed Abdillahi

Linda Brady                

Fiona Lee

Tony Gerstel

Nick Preston

Dennis Grimshaw

Wallingford Software

West Scotland Water

East Scotland Water

East Scotland Water

North West Water

Ewan Associates

SA had set up the web site and database for membership.

GAW asked the academic members to report on any progress with joint research proposals. 

AS (Sheffield) said that a project on Whole Life Costing of Sewer Systems between Sheffield and Exeter was about to be submitted as a follow-on from the current WITE project on clean water systems. AS outlined collaboration between Sheffield and Bradford (Prof Richard Ashley), and it was suggested that Bradford is invited to join ACTUI. (Action SA)

RB (Liverpool) reported on discussions with Imperial College on Transients, particularly in the area of air pockets and the use of experimental facilities. He also mentioned Liverpool’s EPSRC MRes programme, and asked industrial members for possible short research projects for the students.  AB (Liverpool) said that plans for a project on data uncertainty/reconciliation with Exeter were being progressed.

CM (Imperial) also expressed an ongoing interest in data uncertainty in demands, and was going to hold an EPSRC sponsored workshop in March/April  (“Year 2002 challenge”) concerning quality and reliability of data.  In the water quality area, a project with Sheffield is being planned on Water Quality in Distribution Systems.  In the area of Transients, further projects with Exeter are being planned as a follow up to the present WITE project, probably with the emphasis on Real Life application.

RP (Brunel) stated their interest in quality modelling in distribution systems (particulate and biofilm modelling), and their longstanding interest in a generalised data format for model representation, based on a previous EPSRC collaborative project with de Montford.

HY (Cranfield) expressed their continuing interest in meter system uncertainty, and oil/gas industry work on sediment transport in pipelines.

DS (Exeter) mentioned the Sustainable Urban Environment initiative, outline proposals for which involve many network members, and the possibility of European funding for projects. He suggested a profile of ACTUI be placed on the EEC website (Action SA/DS)

BU (de Montford) reported their interests in burst detection methodology, pressure control/transient behaviour with multiple PRVs and data reconciliation.

As a result of the discussion on the above, it was recognised that three themes are actively being pursued: “transients”, “quality in distribution” and “data”.  It was agreed that ACTUI should present these as co-ordinated research programmes, so that proposals were complementary as far as possible, and could be linked where appropriate. SA will be asked to obtain information from academics about proposals in these areas, create appropriate website entries and maintain the information. (Action SA). Within these programmes, individual proposals can carry the endorsement of the ACTUI network.

It was also clear from the above discussion that the themes identified were extensions of the research interests of the academic groups, in particular, following on from industry related WITE projects. To get industrial input, it was agreed that a forum should be provided for industry to put forward suggestions on research requirements. This could be a one day workshop, with presentations from industry representatives, and responses from academics. Research ideas should be relevant to ACTUI, and should be circulated to academics in advance of the workshop, if at all possible. Late March 2002 was suggested, with UKWIR (Mike Farrimond) being invited to host and publicise the meeting to all the industry (Action SA/GAW). A session on technology transfer mechanisms could be included. EPSRC representatives should be invited.

02.04

Management Committee

Following the suggestion at the last meeting, the following have been nominated to form a management committee:

Peter Skipworth  

Tiku Tanyimboh

Bogumil Ulanicki

Roger Powell

Hoi Yeung

Cedo Macsimovic

Godfrey Walters

Elliot Gill

Sheffield

University of Liverpool

De Montfort University

Brunel University

Cranfield University

Imperial College

University of Exeter

Halcrow

SA will ask each industry partner for a named representative (Action SA).

The purpose of the management committee will be to formulate programmes of activity for the network for discussion and approval at the next available meeting, and to put forward agenda items for the meetings. SA will circulate requests for agenda items to the management committee before each meeting (Action SA).

02.05

This is now available for inspection and use, but will be developed further as the network itself develops. It should include information on the network themes (see 02.03), with possibly an Interactive notice board for the research areas. (SA to check demand for such a feature). The website address is www.ex.ac.uk/actui.

02.06

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at the proposed “industry requirements” workshop, if this can be arranged for March 2002.

02.07

Any Other Business

CCWI-03 will be jointly organised by Brunel and Imperial College, to be held in or near London, probably in September 2003, concentrating mainly on its traditional area of computing and control in water supply.