2017 Harry Otten Prize winner Lee Chapman on the practical implication of his idea

Since winning the Harry Otten Prize in 2017, our high-resolution sensing ideas have started to find their way into everyday use across northern Europe. Using an operating division at the University of Birmingham, we have sold wintersense (road surface temperature) sensor networks to local authorities responsible for gritting the roads across the length and breadth of the UK. Some have even found themselves installed further afield with installations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. The low-cost nature of the approach has also meant we have reached out to organisations who were unable to afford standard road observation equipment, so we now have sensors located on private car parks (e.g. supermarkets and hospitals) to assist in their winter maintenance efforts. Indeed, wintersense has proved so successful, in 2019, we licensed the approach to international instrumentation and data management specialists Campbell Scientific Ltd who have grand plans to market the product across the globe. Finally, the autumnsense idea, which is used on railways to mitigate against leaves on the line issues, also looks set to take-off this year with our operating division having sold the first autumnsense networks. Watch this space as these are due to hit the tracks in autumn 2019!

Lee Chapman (right) at a trade show with Campbell Scientific when re-launched the product under their branding.