TransiT - Digital Twinning Research Hub for Decarbonising Transport
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: School of Social Sciences
Abstract
Our vision for the TransiT Hub is to harness the transformative power of Digital Twinning, and associated digital technologies, to solve the most pressing problems of our age - the rapid and radical decarbonisation of transport , holistically, across all modes - Road, Rail, Air and Maritime, and at a national scale. The TransiT Hub will create a new interdisciplinary challenge-led national digital twinning capability to deliver scalable solutions of the integration and decarbonisation of transport, providing the thought leadership and coordination it requires. This is an urgent response to the climate emergency that will advance understanding of a complex and adaptive system, reducing uncertainty and risk for time-critical investments into sustainable, ethical and affordable decarbonisation. It will be centred on expert problem articulation of the challenges, ensuring planners, operators, and policy makers, will use this new capability to deliver national transformation and realise good climate, economic and social outcomes across the stakeholder community, as well as providing a blueprint for other sectors. While past approaches utilised small-scale, real-world trials and progressive scale-up, the need for rapid transition to a low-carbon economy, combined with the increasingly complex interaction between transport modes precludes this approach. This situation is currently holding back private and public investment and risking the UK's leadership in tackling climate change. Scalable digital twinning offers a way of quickly assessing and narrowing the decarbonisation options for the complex whole transport system.
To? realise our vision we will co-create 9 Federated Transport Digital Twins across modes and passenger/freight types, culminating in a Federated Transport System of Systems (FTSoS). These FTDTs will use novel capabilities to support the design, development, delivery and operation of a reliable, secure, resilient, inclusive, decarbonised transport system at lowest cost and delivering best value. We will use an active and agile learning-by-doing approach, that can adjust to stakeholders, withstand scrutiny, and feedback new knowledge to the next iteration.
The creation of the FTSoS will address a new paradigm of Whole System Digital Twinning - bringing together, coordinating and extending existing DTs in the sector, delivering capabilities currently unachievable within siloed mode specific DTs. Our approach addresses the challenges in interoperability, security and resilience, human-centred design, data management, policy delivery, and new business models, whilst leveraging existing DTs, and Cyber Physical Infrastructure, and growing national digital twinning expertise and capability. This will be shared with, and benefit from, wider national DT programmes, including NDTP and Energy System DT (ENSIGN), and other strategic investments such as DARE and the EPSRC Transport DT Network+, as well as linking with representative bodies and collaborations such as DfT's TRIB and the DT Hub.
The Hub will bring together seven distinguished higher education institutions, UofG, HW, UoL, UoB, CU, UoC and UCL that reflect a careful balance across modelling transport modes and the cross cutting themes essential for federated digital twinning including human factors, cyber security,? connectivity, policy, economics, and digital twinning tools. Furthermore, significant in kind support has been committed by external partners across government and industry partners, including the Department for Transport and over 40 organisations across the transport sector. Our foundational work will be explored through application focused use cases developed with our industrial and academic partners providing practical anchoring of the research; knowledge transfer through bi-directional secondments and the generation of evidence to support robust policy
To? realise our vision we will co-create 9 Federated Transport Digital Twins across modes and passenger/freight types, culminating in a Federated Transport System of Systems (FTSoS). These FTDTs will use novel capabilities to support the design, development, delivery and operation of a reliable, secure, resilient, inclusive, decarbonised transport system at lowest cost and delivering best value. We will use an active and agile learning-by-doing approach, that can adjust to stakeholders, withstand scrutiny, and feedback new knowledge to the next iteration.
The creation of the FTSoS will address a new paradigm of Whole System Digital Twinning - bringing together, coordinating and extending existing DTs in the sector, delivering capabilities currently unachievable within siloed mode specific DTs. Our approach addresses the challenges in interoperability, security and resilience, human-centred design, data management, policy delivery, and new business models, whilst leveraging existing DTs, and Cyber Physical Infrastructure, and growing national digital twinning expertise and capability. This will be shared with, and benefit from, wider national DT programmes, including NDTP and Energy System DT (ENSIGN), and other strategic investments such as DARE and the EPSRC Transport DT Network+, as well as linking with representative bodies and collaborations such as DfT's TRIB and the DT Hub.
The Hub will bring together seven distinguished higher education institutions, UofG, HW, UoL, UoB, CU, UoC and UCL that reflect a careful balance across modelling transport modes and the cross cutting themes essential for federated digital twinning including human factors, cyber security,? connectivity, policy, economics, and digital twinning tools. Furthermore, significant in kind support has been committed by external partners across government and industry partners, including the Department for Transport and over 40 organisations across the transport sector. Our foundational work will be explored through application focused use cases developed with our industrial and academic partners providing practical anchoring of the research; knowledge transfer through bi-directional secondments and the generation of evidence to support robust policy
Organisations
- Heriot-Watt University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Transport Scotland (Collaboration)
- Wavelength NDT (Collaboration)
- Scottish Power Ltd (Collaboration)
- Bentley Systems UK Ltd (Collaboration)
- WSP Group plc (Collaboration)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Department of Transport (Collaboration)
- INCEPT/CILT UK (Project Partner)
- Stagecoach Group plc (Project Partner)
- Rolls Royce (Project Partner)
- Scottish Hydrogen& Fuel Cell Association (Project Partner)
- Northern Powergrid (Project Partner)
- rail freight group (Project Partner)
- Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd (Project Partner)
- ORDNANCE SURVEY LIMITED (Project Partner)
- Flexible Power Systems (Project Partner)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (Project Partner)
- SEStran South East of Scotland Transport (Project Partner)
- AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED (Project Partner)
- TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (Project Partner)
- DHL (Project Partner)
- DFDS (Project Partner)
- Aerospace Technology Institute (Project Partner)
- Nokia (Project Partner)
- Hydrogen Vehicle Systems Ltd (Project Partner)
- John Lewis Partnership (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- MariTrace (Project Partner)
- QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST (Project Partner)
- WSP Group plc UK (Project Partner)
- Marine Capital Limited (Project Partner)
- Midlands Connect (Project Partner)
- Costain (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Tesco (Project Partner)
- BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC (Project Partner)
- nVIDIA (Project Partner)
- The Scotland 5G Centre (Project Partner)
- DNV (Project Partner)
- AGS Airports Limited (Project Partner)
- NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY (Project Partner)
- Campaign for Better Transport (Project Partner)
- Dynamon Limited (Project Partner)
- RAILX DIGITAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED (Project Partner)
- IOTICS LTD (Project Partner)
- GEOINFOSCAPE LIMITED (Project Partner)
- SYSTRA (Project Partner)
- Dover Harbour Board (DHB) (Project Partner)
- Road Haulage Association (Project Partner)
- The Hub Company Ltd (Project Partner)
- Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) (Project Partner)
- Community Transport Association (Project Partner)
- Mott Macdonald (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Vahanomy (Project Partner)
- EON Reality Ltd (Project Partner)
- North Tech (Project Partner)
- UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE (Project Partner)
- Stena (Project Partner)
- Bentley Systems (Project Partner)
- Urban Transport Group (Project Partner)
- Lloyd's Register (Project Partner)
- Siemens plc (UK) (Project Partner)
- Ocado Group (Project Partner)
- EDINBURGH TRAMS LIMITED (Project Partner)
- Scottish & Southern Electricty Networks (Project Partner)
- National Highways (Project Partner)
- Pinsent Masons LLP (Project Partner)
- Slingshot Simulations Ltd (Project Partner)
- SGN (Project Partner)
Publications
Anwer N
(2025)
Developing and leveraging digital twins in engineering design
in CIRP Annals
Archibald B
(2025)
Modelling and verifying BDI agents under uncertainty
in Science of Computer Programming
Cheng R
(2026)
A Survey on Semantic Communication for Vision: Categories, Frameworks, Enabling Techniques, and Applications
in IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering
S. Mordue
(2025)
Corporate Guide: Delivering Resilient Infrastructure
| Description | Participation by Prof. D. Pezaros on EPSRC ICT Strategic Advisory Team (From April 2026) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Prof. D. Pezaros, Co-I, is member of EPSRC Security and Resilience Strategic Advisory Team |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Title | MILES - Multimodal Integrated Logistics Environment for Simulation |
| Description | MILES is an integrated, open-source, shared library of tools for analysing freight logistics and cold supply chain interactions, particularly through agent-based modelling approaches. Developed in-house at Heriot-Watt as part of the original Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF) funded research project, active development has continued on MILES through the TransiT award and related projects. It includes modules for electric road system analysis, long-haul logistics analysis for battery HGVs, local delivery optimisation under electric vehicle fleet assumptions, operational considerations around charging station infrastructure, and routing for resilience to disruptions in the road system, as well as vaccine distribution and a virtual model for agri-food cooling facility planning. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | MILES has been used to analyse operational effects of different electric road system configurations using real-world data, has featured in industry-facing case studies of the viability of electric fleet adoption, and is currently being actively developed for policymaking around the placement of road freight electric charging infrastructure within Scotland. |
| Title | Dataset: Electric Heavy Goods Vehicle Operational Data |
| Description | The dataset comprises operational data of four electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs). The data include vehicle speed and location, traction motor rpm and torque, driver control actions (accelerator pedal position, gear, cruise control etc.) and weather. The data were collected using the SRF Logger, an Android-based data logging device that monitors operations of road freight vehicles in-service. More details on the SRF Logger can be found: https://www.csrf.ac.uk/outputs/srf-logger-2/. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The operational dataset collected by the SRF Logger from the four electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) provides detailed insight into the real-world in-service operation of these vehicles. The dataset supports a range of research activities, including: (i) evaluating the energy performance of eHGVs under real-world operating conditions; (ii) assessing the influence of driver behaviour and driving cycles on vehicle energy performance; (iii) identifying key vehicle parameters, such as aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance coefficients; and (iv) developing mathematical models and digital twins for predicting vehicle performance under specified operating conditions. |
| URL | https://data.csrf.ac.uk/ |
| Title | MILES - Multimodal Integrated Logistics Environment for Simulation |
| Description | MILES is an integrated, open-source, shared library of tools for analysing freight logistics and cold supply chain interactions, particularly through agent-based modelling approaches. Developed in-house at Heriot-Watt as part of the original Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF) funded research project, active development has continued on MILES through the TransiT award and related projects. It includes modules for electric road system analysis, long-haul logistics analysis for battery HGVs, local delivery optimisation under electric vehicle fleet assumptions, operational considerations around charging station infrastructure, and routing for resilience to disruptions in the road system, as well as vaccine distribution and a virtual model for agri-food cooling facility planning. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | MILES has been used to analyse operational effects of different electric road system configurations using real-world data, has featured in industry-facing case studies of the viability of electric fleet adoption, and is currently being actively developed for policymaking around the placement of road freight electric charging infrastructure within Scotland. |
| Description | Bentley Systems |
| Organisation | Bentley Systems UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | In December 2025, TransiT hosted around 40 stakeholder representatives, including many Letter of Support organisations for "Derisking freight transport decarbonisation with digital twins", an engagement event at Bentley Systems offices in London. Here we showcased visualisations, provided the policy context and hosted a panel discussion with DFDS, Royal Mail, Welch Group and NESO. Summary Video from the event - https://youtu.be/3_U9KAN63k4?si=fDkgpDMvFraLCdZd. |
| Collaborator Contribution | 1. Bentley Systems hosted the December 2025 event in their London office 2. Several TransiT researchers have received complementary training by Bentley on their iTwins system 3. Bentley hosted the "Urban Tech Challenge - Most Innovative Solution on 07/07/2025" - sprint hackathon which took place in Dublin at Dublin City University to investigate the use of Cesium and iTwin for deployment in a scenario around Dublin City Area. The team which included Daniel Mitchell (TransiT- GLA) and David Cole (TransiT HWU) won most innovative solution at the challenge which had around 15 other teams of 6-8 participants 4. On 26 February 2026 Bentley hosted a private Cesium Developer Conference event at Heriot-Watt University to showcase collaborative work taking place across the Scotland-Ireland research network. The session brought together researchers from Heriot-Watt University, the University of Glasgow, Dublin City University and the University of Edinburgh where the TransiT team was highlighted as a leading group in the use of Cesium technology, which has helped establish a new collaborative initiative across these universities. |
| Impact | We collated feedback from our stakeholders and solidified relationships and collaboration to help direct the research to ensure it's useful to industry partners e.g. Welch Group followed up with specific research questions and specifications of what they want the research to be able to say. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | Department of Transport |
| Department | DfT, DVLA and VOSA |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | Wavelength NDT |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | TransiT Partnership with Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) |
| Organisation | Scottish Power Ltd |
| Department | Scottish Power Energy Networks |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | TransiT's whole-system modelling and digital twining capability will enable SPEN to assess future demand scenarios and anticipate the operational and investment challenges linked to transport electrification and network decarbonisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SPEN has established 5 years strategic alliance with University of Glasgow and they are a TransiT partner. SPEN contributes to multiple PhD studentships and engages in the co-creation of applied research projects aligned with network decarbonisation and transport electrification challenges. University of Glasgow has an agreement on the SPEN-network rail connect hub project. This is a £620k NIA project between SPEN, GLA and Leeds University. |
| Impact | The partnership have supported two fully funded PhD studentships at the University of Glasgow in 2026, with the intention to expand doctoral recruitment in subsequent years to build sustained research capacity. University of Glasgow has an agreement on the SPEN-network rail connect hub project. This is a £620k NIA project between SPEN, GLA and Leeds University. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Transport Scotland |
| Organisation | Transport Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Research report on charging and refuelling needs of freight vehicles across Scotland. In November, TransiT with the Zero Emission HGV team at Transport Scotland co-hosted around 30 industry representatives, including trade associations, road haulage operators and fleet specialists, to address decarbonising road freight. We were joined by Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Fiona Hyslop MSP, who showed a keen interest in TransiT. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to the TS network of stakeholders |
| Impact | Research report for TS to input into TS policy and planning https://www.hw.ac.uk/document-library/ebs/Transport-Scotland-Stakeholder-Report.pdf For the event, we collated feedback from the industry stakeholders and solidified relationships and collaboration. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | WSP |
| Organisation | WSP Group plc |
| Department | WSP UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Co-authored paper: A Co-Created Framework to Define Digital Twinning Use Cases for Urban Transport Decarbonisation |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-authored paper: A Co-Created Framework to Define Digital Twinning Use Cases for Urban Transport Decarbonisation |
| Impact | Paper and onward collaboration with WSP |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | CILT visit at National Robotarium, Edinburgh, 20.2.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event explained to CILT how robotic, AI and automated technologies can be applied to sectors including logitics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cilt-uk-visit-to-the-national-robotarium-tickets-1142413392209 |
| Description | Co-creation Workshop : Achieving Resilient Freight Electromobility across Road and Rail 19-20.11.2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 100 particiamnts over 2 days addressed key topics within the freight and logistics electrification sphere, including the challenges of electrification, distribution, battery technology, and the resilience of operations against climate impacts; delved into how these factors influence the operations of diverse entities such as energy generators and distributors, rail and road freight operators, logistics hubs, and blue light services; explored the financial aspects and implications of transitioning to electrified systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://dare.ac.uk/events/co-creation-workshop-achieving-resilient-freight-electromobility-across-ro... |
| Description | Connected Digital Twins Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "How digital twins can be used to decarbonise transport" at Connected Digital twins Summit 30-31.11.2024 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://uk.digitaltwin-summit.com/ |
| Description | Cyber Physical Infrastructure and Digital Twinning - Supporting UK Security, Prosperity, Innovation and Resilience with Pat McFadden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to leading MPs to discuss the decarbonisation of transport within the UK. Increased awareness throughout parliament regarding this research to highlight strategic challenge led demonstrators within government. Attendees included Pat Mcfadden (Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon Pat Mcfadden) and his team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DFDS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with DFDS to look at how their ferries operating in/out of Port of Dover and plans for electric ferries can be used as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share further data and time for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DfT Workshop: Innovating Green Technologies for Transport 5.2.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sharing expertise |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DfT academic engagement event at Leeds University 10.3.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event brought together academics from across the UK with an interest in transport, from any discipline, with DfT policy and R&D programme leads. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Discussion with leading Scottish MPs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to leading MPs to discuss the decarbonisation of transport within the UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | E-FWD: UK's Energy Tech & Innovation Hub |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A Q&A and networking event, with a strategic briefing by the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar. Prof David Flynn was a member of the Industry Leaders Panel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Gathering of leading Scottish MPs and energy leaders to discuss the future of energy tech |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to leading MPs to discuss the decarbonisation of transport within the UK. Increased awareness throughout parliament regarding this research to highlight strategic challenge led demonstrators within government and nationally. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Giving a talk at Analytics For Digital Earth Event (around environmental digital twins) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The final Mardia funded Digital Earth workshop. The digital earth project aims to bring people from industry, government, and academia to combine expertise and discuss how to design and implement digital twins and link them to form a digital earth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/analytics-for-digital-earth-tickets-1256412717259?aff=oddtdtcreator |
| Description | Jaguar Land Rover |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with JLR to look at how their HGV fleet operations in South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to collaborate for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Keynote speaker for SESTran Regional Transport Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | South East of Scotland Transport Partnership engaged with me in 2025 to ask me to speak on my transport governance research and expertise at their Regional Transport Summit. They also asked for my input in designing a workshop activity for the full day event. I received the following feedback from the SEStran chair: "I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to say more than a few words to you after the summit, but I would like to extend my sincere thanks to you for making the day such a huge success. I loved your presentation and, at our Board meeting on Friday, one of our Depute Chairs insisted that we should use your model when we're looking at our corporate strategy early next year. That's maybe something you could help us with if you're interested? I think that we achieved all of our objectives for the day, and feedback has been universally positive." There have been two follow ups from people attending the summit to engage with my expertise since then. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Logistics UK's Logistics Finance Forum event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk to Logistics UK membership on progress in researching the use of alternative fuels in logistics operations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Mott MacDonald |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with Mott MacDonald to look at how they could support the Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their work done with Port of Dover for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Port of Dover |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We are working closely with Port of Dover to develop a digital twin that couples port operations, road freight and maritime freight for decarbonisation. Since visit to Port of Dover, they have been interested in the collaboration and are an active partner in the development of the digital twin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| Description | Presentation to GB Rail Data and Information Systems Interface Committee |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 17th Sep 2024 - Presentation to the the GB rail Data and Information Systems Interface Committee (DISIC) presenting the aims of TransiT, the project structure, and the specific aims and objectives of CLD2 in the first phase of work. We have a standing invite to return later in the project to follow up. Note URL provided evidences group and core membership. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/groups-and-committees/technical-strategy/system-interface-committe... |
| Description | Presentation to GB Rail Decarbonisation Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 20th Feb 2025 - Presentation to the working group (URL provided evidences the group's existence and primary membership but not the specific activity) presenting the aims of TransiT, the project structure, and the expected touchpoint with he rail industry in the first phase of work (the later was primarily presented from the perspective of CLD2, although the freight representation may be relevant to other CLDs). We have a standing invite to return later in the project to follow up. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/groups-and-committees/sustainability/sustainable-rail-executive/su... |
| Description | Presentation to industry representatives as part of Cohort 8 of the Connected Leaders programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to rail industry decision makers and DfT members of the aims of the project and touchpoint to rail in the remainder of phase 1. URL provided evidences programme rather than specific event, which was a workshop as part of the 8th cohort. Specific requests for engagement around rail freight. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.connected-leaders.co.uk |
| Description | Presentation to senior rail professionals and international academic colleagues as part of study tour - TU Dresden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 27th Feb 2025 - Presentation to 15 senior leaders from Network Rail (students on the programme), and around the same number of academics and postgraduates from TU Dresden as part of a study tour on our PGCert Digital Railway Leadership visiting Dresden. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Presentation with Department for Transport Jo Shanmugalingam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to leading MPs to discuss the decarbonisation of transport within the UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Presenting a paper at CSRF (Centre of Sustainable Road Freight) meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Activity description: Presented a poster titled "Optimisation of eHGV Charging Infrastructure: A Simulation-Based Framework for Planning Sustainable Road Freight" at the SRF meeting. The poster introduced a simulation-based approach to planning electric heavy goods vehicle (eHGV) charging infrastructure for freight transport systems. Purpose: The aim was to raise awareness of the TransiT project and demonstrate how modelling and optimisation can support planning for zero-emission freight transport. Outcomes/impact: The poster generated discussion with researchers and stakeholders about the challenges of electrifying heavy freight and the role of simulation tools in planning charging infrastructure and supporting sustainable freight operations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/optimisation-of-ehgv-charging-infrastructure-a-simul... |
| Description | Quantum Maritime Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Activity description: Delivered an invited keynote presentation at the Quantum Maritime Conference, an international event bringing together researchers, industry representatives, and policymakers to explore the role of quantum technologies in maritime and port systems. Purpose: The keynote aimed to raise awareness of the TransiT project and highlight how advanced modelling and optimisation approaches can support more efficient and sustainable port and freight transport systems. Outcomes/impact: The presentation introduced the TransiT project to an international audience and stimulated discussion on the potential of emerging technologies, including quantum optimisation, to address operational and decarbonisation challenges in maritime logistics and port operations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://quantummaritimeconference.com/ |
| Description | SRF Annual Meeting with stakeholders 23.10.2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An invite-only Knowledge Transfer event to industry partners |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Tesco |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with Tesco to look at how their HGV fleet operations in South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their truck movement data for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | TransiT - Digital twins to envision radical change in future transport |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Approx. 13 people attended a talk to hear about the future of sustainable transport from one of the Research Associates at TransiT, followed by some discussion and questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | UK Power Networks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with UK Power Networks as the DNO for South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their digital twin models/data for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |