Research interests
Manu’s research interests are in infrastructure asset management, risk management and welfare economics of roads and railways, and sustainable mobility.
Current projects
Risk Informed Track (RITRAK)
The project is funded by UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) via the Impact Acceleration Account to develop a risk informed decision-making tool for the economic appraisal of railway infrastructure investment decisions. The RITRAK project represents a very significant advance for management of railway track maintenance/renewal. This has huge potential for the economic design and preventative (rather than reactive) asset management of new and existing railway track infrastructure. It would aid the decision makers to invest in the most appropriate maintenance strategies for the railway network so that the maximum return on investment can be achieved for the whole railway system. In practice, this means that the tool can be used by strategists to compare different maintenance strategies over the lifetime of the railway track using a risk informed approach and thereby identify the strategy which is most likely to provide the greatest return on the investment.
Listening to Infrastructure for Road Safety
The Institute for Global Innovation funded project explores the potential for technological innovations to address road safety issues and identifies the associated governance challenges from an urban transport policy perspective. This multidisciplinary project involving staff from School of Engineering and Institute of Local Government Studies is working closely with the Government of Kerala, Motor Vehicles Department to identify the scope of employing digital technologies for road safety enforcement in Indian cities.
Intelligent Road Asset Management
Embedding asset management systems for the road authorities within the developing countries. For the Gambian Road Authority, a United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) funded research and capacity building project is developing and delivering a programme of research needs assessment, allied to bespoke training in road management and geotechnical engineering.The project is also embedding an intelligent road asset management system for the Gambia’s urban and feeder roads. In Liberia, a Maintenance & Evaluation (M&E) system was developed through UKAid funding to assist the Ministry of Public Works in socio-economic evaluation and efficiency monitoring of rural roads projects.
ARLI - Alternative Raw Materials with Low Impact
The ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funded ARLI project offers funded advice and technical support to eligible SMEs within the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) area, on developing innovative low-carbon products and processes. ARLI brings together a team of experienced academics and engineers to support businesses in developing cost-effective products and processes, which provide energy-efficiency gains in the use of raw and waste materials. The project, delivered through the School of Engineering, aims to identify waste streams, or other materials that could be transformed into higher value goods for construction and other manufacturing industry applications.
Critical role of Rural Transport in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
A joint research project in partnership with Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), and supported by UKAid -funded Research for Community Access Partnership (ReCAP). The project aims to promote sustainable rural access as a viable component of the implementation strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure its inclusion in the high-level, multi-lateral discourse on sustainable transport and rural development. The joint-project brings in effort to raise the awareness of governments and multi-lateral agencies, in particular development banks and United Nations agencies, to understand the key role of rural transport and rural accessibility in contributing to achieving sustainable development.