This Future Innovator’s project helps reduce flood risk and environmental impacts.

Muddasar Anwar

FP McCann Limited

Queen’s University Belfast 

KTP funding from Innovate UK / Invest NI

What is a KTP Associate? Find out here. And see the latest jobs here.

Project background

The continued impact of flooding on the built and natural environment has reached a breaking point for many communities. FP McCann identified the need to design sustainable drainage systems for these communities and to do so the company needed a new understanding of complex flow systems comprising multiphase flow (air, water, oil) coupled with discrete particle tracking. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) was the right solution.

Forming a partnership with Queen’s University Belfast, the main aim of the KTP is to develop this understanding, extending and embedding it across the company’s design sections, while simultaneously developing and establishing an advanced hydrodynamic separator. This state-of-the-art product – now at prototype stage – will remove gross pollutants (sediment, hydrocarbons, rubbish) from stormwater runoff (from roads, car parks, industrial, etc.) before it enters nearby water courses, otherwise causing significant environmental damage and the subsequent detrimental impacts to the society.

Operating without any mechanical components or power sources, increasing sustainability, reliability and reducing lifetime maintenance costs, the separator excels at treating high flow rates, allowing the system to be installed in the main drainage line and continue performing during flood events – a demand which is becoming increasingly more important in the UK due to urbanisation and climate change.

About Muddasar (KTP Associate):

With an aerospace background, the company was at first apprehensive about hiring a KTP Associate whose expertise lay outside civil engineering. However, in a large company, Muddasar has made a big impact!

• Implemented sophisticated optimisation techniques (surrogate modelling and machine learning) to wider company processes beyond the scope of his KTP
• The tool Muddasar is developing will assist the specification and manufacturing of a core company product
• His ability and vision have exploited wider commercial opportunities
• His cross-disciplinary thinking has led to the establishment of multi-disciplinary project management teams as standard
• The transfer of aerospace manufacturing knowledge could have transformative effects on the application of advanced modelling techniques to the wider civil engineering sector in the future
• Spearheaded & accelerated the digital revolution within FP McCann
• His leadership has delivered greater manufacturing efficiencies and ultimately a more cost-effective product for the market such as stock management, transport and production planning 
• FP McCann has invested heavily in a state of the art research facility specifically to enable Muddasar to continue his work, and he will lead a team dedicated to solving the most critical issues in our industry. 

Muddasar was a Winner of the Future Innovator Category for this project at the KTP Best of the Best Awards 2020. 

These videos highlight some of the other outstanding KTP Associates driving innovation. See the latest vacancies for KTP Associates here.

WINNERS OF THE FUTURE INNOVATOR CATEGORY ARE:

Leona McGirr: Creating an Antibody Library for fully human antibodies.

Muddasar Anwar  Delivering innovation for Sustainable Drainage System to prevent flooding.

Declan Bryans: Creating greener energy with innovations in flow batteries.

Mark Gilmore: Development of new class of greener ionic liquid, with multiple potential applications.

Harvey Kangley: Delivering exceptional NPD in rail electrification.

Khai Nguyen: Inventing a new silicone composite for consumer fixing brand, Sugru.

Dmitry Bogachov: Advancing Materials Science for Anilox technology.

Elle Perschke: Applying B2C methodologies to launch a new product within a B2B company.

FINALISTS WERE THESE TALENTED KTP Associates:

Laurence Foster: Innovations to “print” structures, transforming house building.

Swapnil Khadke: Creating new liposome formulations for application in drug delivery

Blessing Mbipom Creating online learning for GPs.

Andrew Grounds: Transforming business models for Social Enterprise.

Jack Tallant: Super-charging reporting and delivery of Charity’s activities.

Dan Hicks: Developing a new design and testing process for electric trails bikes.

George Harris: Developing advanced engineering for intruder detection systems.

Lyndsey McKirdy: Enhancing data science capability at Aggreko.

Xi Liu: Using AI to develop fraud detection and prevention services for law firm.

Alex Komninos: Transforming spreadsheets in to cognitive models at IBM

Want to find out about working as a KTP Associate? See here and the latest vacancies here.

The Future Innovator category of the KTP Awards is supported by Ashorne Hill – a specialist training company which runs Management training programmes for all KTP Associates.

Want to find out more about working as a KTP Associate? More information here, and see the latest vacancies here.