Helping the RNLI save more lives
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) hopes to use its charitable donations more effectively to save more lives, thanks to a project involving a Maths lecturer from the University of Southampton.
Dr Tri-Dung Nguyen
will be working alongside colleagues from Engineering and Management to help the RNLI reduce the operational costs of its fleet – money that can then be used by front-line rescue services.
The team is developing computer models that will capture the commercial and logistical costs of building and maintaining the lifeboat fleet.
Tri-Dung said: “The RNLI and the University of Southampton have been working together for many years but this is the first time that expertise from Maths and Management has been included.”
The team’s new mathematical models will enable the RNLI to minimise overall costs by examining the interaction of design, material costs, maintenance routines and staffing.
The £240,000 two-year project is being half-funded by the RNLI and half-funded through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the RNLI and the University of Southampton.