COMPUTER scientists at the University of Greenwich working with the Cutty Sark Trust have won the top prize at the London Knowledge Transfer Awards.

The partnership uses sophisticated computer models to determine how to dismantle and reassemble the fire-damaged ship, which will open again to the public in 2010.

The project was named Knowledge Transfer Collaboration 2008 at an awards ceremony at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. It also won the Knowledge Base Collaboration Award.

The new awards, run by the London Development Agency, demonstrate the benefits to business of using the expertise in universities and colleges.

Five years ago, the Cutty Sark received a devastating blow when experts predicted the Victorian tea clipper would collapse within a decade if nothing was done.

Yet the Cutty Sark Trust feared the very act of restoration could endanger this precious icon of our nation’s maritime heritage. So the Cutty Sark Trust, its custodian, called in the university to predict how the decaying wooden hull and corroded iron frame would respond to restoration.

Professor Chris Bailey said: “We are applying computer modelling technology to the problem of how to restore the Cutty Sark's rotting pieces, without bringing down the entire structure.

"With our software, we can take the ship apart and put it back together again to see if it collapses. So when engineers tackle the real thing, they know they will be going about the job in the best possible way.”

In May 2007, the Cutty Sark was at risk when a fire broke out at its Greenwich base, but, fortunately, around 50 per cent of the ship (masts, planking and the coach house) had been removed for conservation and therefore escaped unharmed.

Professor Bailey said: “It was only really the iron frame, the hull, and a superstructure put over the ship to protect it which was in the fire. An assessment was carried out to see if the frame had buckled and luckily it hadn’t, so all of the work carried out previously was still relevant.”

Professor Bailey, and his colleague Dr Stoyan Stoyanov are now working with the trust to understand how the Cutty Sark's structure will age over the next 100 years, and when maintenance will be required. They are developing technology which will be used on other ships too, protecting maritime heritage across the globe.

Peter Mason, Cutty Sark's chief engineer said: “This has been a very fruitful and enjoyable collaboration for us. First we worked on the strength of the hull. This has been followed by our current work on turning conservation into a quantifiable technology with predictable outcomes.

“Our next project will be very different. We want to explore why the ship was so fast. What did the designer Hercules Linton know that his peers of the time did not?”

The university's pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise, Professor Tom Barnes, said: “This is a fantastic example of the way in which the specialist expertise of university academics can be put to use in the wider world.

"The Cutty Sark is a much loved icon in the capital and I am delighted that these new awards have recognised our important work which will protect it for generations to come.”