eFutures: university research in electronics

There is a strong need for a new network to consolidate electronics research in UK universities. In recent years there have been major changes in technology, as the push for miniaturization has led to components with characteristics far from ideal transistor switches interconnected by wires instantaneously. Today's transistors get too hot, leak current, vary in size and are produced in their billions on chips the size of a thumb nail interconnected relatively slowly by miles of wiring. This creates a formidable challenge for designers, who already face the complexity of design on a bewildering scale. The public have an appetite for all things electronic and demand new and better products year on year. This also creates a challenge for designers and an opportunity for the electronics community. By working together these challenges can be tackled, making the UK's electronics community fit for purpose in the coming years to face critical challenges at the interface between design and technology. Complementing industry facing groups such as the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) and the Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network (EKTN), the network will form part of a highly visible coordinated alliance to government and the media, who can use it for information, opinion and clarification in this space. This is important for the UK economy as the global electronics market is worth more than a trillion dollars annually. The initial membership will be drawn from the technology community who formed the Si Futures network and those participating in the design Common Vision. Together they represent a significant proportion of the UK academic community. There is a recognition that a broader electronics research community than those included in the previous network grants need to come together.

The network aims to be the UK hub for university research in the electronics sector. This will provide a clearly defined, authoritative contact point to ensure that the resident UK electronics community is well linked to the academic research base. Benefits may come from new companies, attracting inward investment as well as maintaining the existing design houses, fabs and supply chains. This greater connectivity will result in better knowledge transfer which will benefit the UK electronics commercial sector. It means that they can see experts in fields of direct relevance to their business. It will give smaller companies in particular a better sight of the rapidly changing landscape which they must operate in and adapt to if they are to prosper in the 21st century. It will also facilitate the transition of trained young engineers from academia into industry. University research yields a lot of IP which is not at present being exploited. The network will facilitate many of these issues and so give rise to a higher level of IP exploitation, in the form of more spin-outs and academic/industry joint ventures, which will be of great benefit to the UK economy. Public sector organisations such as TSB and EPSRC need to have a good view of electronics research. This is necessary in order to advise government, to recognise what societal challenges can be met with targeted research from the electronics community and to identify where public funding is needed in order to support new research and to maintain a healthy research base. The network creates a single point of contact, which will be both authoritative and unbiased. The EC require technical input for Framework documents. The network is in an ideal position to meet this demand. It will be sufficiently visible and can be used to solicit views in the UK and to offer the best experts to represent the UK. The network will have a steering group comprising engineers from industry as well as representatives from industry-facing organisations such as the NMI, and EKTN. This steering group allows a direct interface between the network and the commercial sector, which will allow a candid response to the concerns raised in the commercial sector. It also enables the academic community to offer an early awareness of new developments which may help to steer the electronics commercial sector. The network will have a web presence. A who's-who list identifying expertise and facilities at each partner institution will be established and made available on the network web-page. A visitor area will be designed and maintained making use of the resources uploaded by the community, in order to highlight good news research and exploitation. It is anticipated that the web pages will contain press releases which will be of use to the trade press. A series of community wide meetings as well as smaller focussed meetings will be held, which will be open to the academic and industrial communities. In this way we aim to build a broader interface through which meaningful collaborations can be built.