Maths may not seem an obvious subject to turn to for businesses recovering from the impact of the pandemic but mathematicians from the University of Bath are using their expertise to do just that.
The university’s Institute for Mathematical Innovation (IMI) is running a short series of free mini-workshops targeted at sectors that have been particularly affected.
The first, staged yesterday, focused on the transport industry and featured speakers from Bristol Airport, FirstGroup Rail and First Bus.
The other two – planned for September and November – will look at the healthcare sector and the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries.
The mini-workshops are being held in collaboration with the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), which works with 44,000 organisations to bring together innovation communities, and the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in the Mathematical Sciences (V-KEMS), which help address challenges from business and industry, the third sector, and other groups outside academia.
Prof Chris Budd, from IMI and the university’s Department of Mathematical Sciences and Director of Knowledge Exchange, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed how many people work, with many office-based workers doing their jobs remotely from home instead of commuting daily.
“Many businesses are looking to continue the remote working model post-Covid to some extent, which will have a significant impact on the transport industry.
“The goal of these meetings is to consider the positive and negative impacts of the pandemic, and to look at opportunities where mathematical modelling can help as we recover.”
The workshops are conducted virtually, with break-out rooms facilitating further discussion with research mathematicians to assess where modelling approaches might address these challenges.
The meetings’ output will feed into a three-day ‘post-Covid economic recovery’ virtual study group in collaboration with V-KEMS next January, where problems identified in the workshops will be worked on by mathematicians from across the UK.
Prof Budd added: “Previous study groups hosted by the IMI have looked at problems ranging from improving agriculture and the food industry to modelling the impact of climate change on the national grid.
“We look forward to using mathematical modelling to help tackle some of the many challenges faced by the transport industry following the Covid-19 pandemic.”
For more information or to sign up for the workshops, click here
