Sir Harry Ricardo Laboratories at the University of Brighton

The company started working with the University of Brighton in 1992 when their design team hit some stubborn challenges in testing a new engine design. The design manager had a contact at the university, who persuaded him to talk to Professor Morgan Heikal, who was working in the field of heat transfer at the university at the time. As a result of the initial conversations the problems were given to third year engineering students who attempted to come up with some radical approaches to visualise the problem and develop a new measurement approach.

The student project sparked a series of further investigations which Ricardo funded. Initially this was just for Ricardo's own projects, but soon the company was commissioning the University of Brighton to work on briefs for its clients' as well.

Back in the late 1980's Ricardo had developed their own techniques for looking inside combustion engines with lasers, and for several years had run these tests in-house. But they took a very long time to set up in comparison to the time actually spent running the tests, and were then followed by months of analysis. So the team at Ricardo decided the most efficient way to innovate could be to give some specialist testing equipment to a university for their own use, which could at the same time produce data that might benefit the company.

Professor Neville Jackson, Ricardo's Chief Technology and Innovation Officer.

Ricardo's Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Professor Neville Jackson says: "We invited proposals from several universities. Most came back with a range of interests from their own agendas, and then added that, for a charge, they could also look specifically at particular issues on our behalf.

"This is where the University of Brighton's approach was so radically different. Their proposal talked about what we wanted to achieve from the outset, and included immediately looking for funding opportunities to help us succeed. They offered to work with us to develop tests that would be of joint benefit to both parties. It really was chalk and cheese compared to the response we had from the others."

The company chose to place its test equipment at the University of Brighton in 1995 and then went on to develop the working relationship through creation of the Sir Harry Ricardo Laboratories in 2006, and part-funding of Morgan Heikal's Professorial post.

The research team have been working on many projects which include development of the 2/4 engine which switches between 4 stroke and 2 stroke mode dependent on torque requirements. This is just one of the projects that aim to reduce environmental impact from engines, by enabling a small gasoline engine to perform like the large 4 litre ones found in premium cars.

The new Ricardo T-SGDI engine shows the promise of further reducing fuel consumption by operating a gasoline engine without a throttle on the air intake, just like a diesel. As the T-SGDI combustion system concept was itself a fresh innovation, an additional step was taken in the research programme to validate the simulation process.

A single-cylinder optical research engine was built at the University of Brighton. Possibly the most advanced of its type in the world, this research engine provides a much greater optical access than previous designs, with superior vision into the cylinder, particularly around the spark plug. One of the major challenges with this project will be to maintain the high level of efficiency whilst meeting future US Low Emission Vehicle Tier 3 requirements. The company has also begun to work with the Vetronics group at the university.

Neville is on the strategic advisory network of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and one of his other roles is to lead on strategy for future research into the internal combustion engine for the UK Automotive Council.

Ricardo is the only company in the South East to get a grant from the Regional Growth Fund and is the preferred partner for any laser diagnostics in engines. The company is also active in a range of other sectors including clean energy, motorsport, off-highway construction equipment and rail. 

Professor Neville Jackson at Ricardo.