BP fuels research

Opening of the new BP Institute at the University of Cambridge

Sir Robert May, President of the Royal Society, and Sir John Browne, BP Group Chief Executive, will be in Cambridge today, Tuesday 29 May, 2001, to open the new BP Institute for Multiphase Flow at the University of Cambridge.

The Institute has been established through a generous benefaction of £23 million from BP. As well as a new building, the benefaction has enabled the establishment of six new academic posts including the BP Professorship of Petroleum Science.

Andrew Woods, the BP Professor said: "The BP investment underlies their belief that it is through fundamental research that major technological breakthroughs occur."

A distinctive feature of the Institute is the interdisciplinary nature of the work, involving five University departments: Earth Sciences (host), Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and Chemical Engineering. There will also be close interaction between academia and industry to enable the effective application of fundamental science to challenging and important problems confronted by industry.

Pioneering research will be carried out into the movement of fluids, such as oil and water, through permeable rocks and over the earth's surface, with particular focus on flows involving two or more different fluids. Such research has wide applications: from more accurate understanding of how and where oil is formed, to designing natural methods of cooling and heating buildings. The new Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI), with financial support from BP, has recently funded a research project on natural ventilation, solar heating and integrated low-energy building design.

The new building is designed to accommodate 40 researchers including academics, students and research staff on sabbatical from both industry and other academic institutions, thereby providing a vibrant and open environment in which new ideas can flourish. As part of BP's commitment to developing alternative sources of energy, the new building has been designed to incorporate solar panels into the roof.

Useful links
BP Institute for Multiphase Flow