Engineering, environment and technology
An important focus for research at Manchester concerns work targeted at making practical differences to our living environment in later life.
- Transport and mobility
- Age-friendly cities and environments
- Assisted living technologies
Our researchers in this area include:
Professor Chris Phillipson
Professor Chris Phillipson studies the relationship between population ageing and urbanisation, exploring questions about the impact of cities on older people (and vice versa). This work is being supported by Manchester City Council and through a Marie Curie Fellowship from the EU. He also leads an ESRC-funded International Partnership and Networking Scheme (IPNS) which brings together a number of European and North American universities and research centres engaged in the study of the impact of demographic change on urban life.
Dr Fumie Costen
Dr Fumie Costen is a lecturer in electrical and electronic engineering working on the application of technologies. Her primary interest is in computational electro-magnetics and how these can be applied to stimulate the human body. Fumie and her team are working on methods for using stimulation to treat conditions common in later life including Parkinson's disease, dementia and chronic pain. Research is targeting the stimulation of the deep brain, heart, lung and spinal cord. The aim is to development devices to deliver non-invasive treatment.
Dr Alan Lewis
Dr Alan Lewis undertakes research in architecture, with a particular focus on the implications of an ageing population for housing design. Much of his research has centred on the design of extra-care housing. His recent studies have explored the impact of low-carbon housing on older occupants' thermal comfort, on the design housing for people with sight loss, and on how to improve daylight standards in extra-care housing.
Dr Richard Kingston
Dr Richard Kingston is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Smart Cities within the School of Environment, Education and Development. He has over 15 years’ experience leading the development of web-based GIS toolkits to support spatial decision making at local, regional and national levels. He has worked on a range of research projects funded by ESRC, EPSRC, JRF, EU FP5, 7, Interreg and Defra, DETR, ODPM, CLG. He developed the award winning GRaBS Adaptation Action Planning Support System, an interactive web‐based mapping tool to assist different tiers of government support the development of climate change Adaptation Action Plans across Europe. Most recently he has been working for the European Commission on Smart Cities. Further details of Richard’s research can be found at the PPGIS Research Group website.
Dr Paul Chan
Dr Paul Chan is Lecturer in Project Management within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE). He has extensive experience researching organisational and employment issues in the contexts of the engineering and construction sectors. He has worked on a number of EPSRC-funded projects relating to organisational development issues, covering a broad range of topics from knowledge management to sustainable development. He has also undertaken studies on equality, diversity and inclusion in the construction sector. Paul recently coordinated The University of Manchester Research Institute (UMRI) funded initiative on ‘Ageing, Mobility and Wellbeing’, which sought to encourage cross-disciplinary conversations among researchers interested in ageing-related research with an environmental dimension. He is also Editor of Construction Management and Economics, one of the leading international journals on matters relating to the built environment.