2018 STFC Regional Centre
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
As one of Europe's largest multidisciplinary research organisations, STFC has world-class research facilities and capabilities. It is responsible for funding much of the research in UK universities in the fields of astronomy and other space sciences, particle physics, and nuclear physics, and in this context it provides the main UK interface to leading international organisations such as CERN, ESA, ESO, ESS, FAIR, NASA, etc. STFC also operates its own world-class, large-scale research facilities in the UK such as the Central Laser Facility, ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source, Diamond Light Source, the Microelectronics Support Centre, the Hartree Centre for Computational Science and Engineering, and the Boulby underground laboratories.
Through its support of science, STFC has had a significant impact on the UK academic community, which has seeded strong connections to UK business, especially in the areas near Daresbury Laboratory in the Northwest and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the South East. The innovation hubs of Harwell Oxford and Sci-Tech Daresbury are well known to local high-tech business, and the co-location of world-class scientific facilities and business incubator space has resulted in the generation of important links to the community. STFC is in the process of further improving commercial access especially for SMEs via the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) programme, which will provide a single point of access and support from STFC scientists in addressing commercial challenges.
While the capabilities within STFC are well known in academic circles across the UK, there is a significant knowledge gap for businesses outside of the immediate area of STFC's facilities. The Midlands region for example is home to much of the UK's strength in the manufacturing, transport and service sectors, yet the companies in the region have yet to exploit the internationally leading scientific expertise to be found in the areas STFC supports.
The aim of this proposal is to develop a pilot Regional Centre that can bridge the knowledge gap and help local business find solutions to high-tech challenges, innovate manufacturing techniques and find new partnering opportunities and markets to thereby improve productivity, build R&D capacity and accelerate growth in the region. The effort builds on the B4I programme within STFC, which provides the route to access advanced analytical technologies, supporting expertise and capabilities within STFC. The University of Birmingham (UoB) together with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) are planning to create a hub for communicating and connecting the opportunities of B4I and the capabilities of the STFC science base to Midlands business.
Through its support of science, STFC has had a significant impact on the UK academic community, which has seeded strong connections to UK business, especially in the areas near Daresbury Laboratory in the Northwest and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the South East. The innovation hubs of Harwell Oxford and Sci-Tech Daresbury are well known to local high-tech business, and the co-location of world-class scientific facilities and business incubator space has resulted in the generation of important links to the community. STFC is in the process of further improving commercial access especially for SMEs via the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) programme, which will provide a single point of access and support from STFC scientists in addressing commercial challenges.
While the capabilities within STFC are well known in academic circles across the UK, there is a significant knowledge gap for businesses outside of the immediate area of STFC's facilities. The Midlands region for example is home to much of the UK's strength in the manufacturing, transport and service sectors, yet the companies in the region have yet to exploit the internationally leading scientific expertise to be found in the areas STFC supports.
The aim of this proposal is to develop a pilot Regional Centre that can bridge the knowledge gap and help local business find solutions to high-tech challenges, innovate manufacturing techniques and find new partnering opportunities and markets to thereby improve productivity, build R&D capacity and accelerate growth in the region. The effort builds on the B4I programme within STFC, which provides the route to access advanced analytical technologies, supporting expertise and capabilities within STFC. The University of Birmingham (UoB) together with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) are planning to create a hub for communicating and connecting the opportunities of B4I and the capabilities of the STFC science base to Midlands business.
Planned Impact
The proposed activity is targeted at maximising the impact of STFC facilities in the Midlands region. As such, all of the project goals are targeted at the impact agenda, and the metrics are designed to document the connections of STFC science to local business and SMEs.
The work of the Centre will be to engage local business and to identify areas where STFC science and facilities can help. The Manufacturing Technology Centre and the University of Birmingham are already engaged in efforts to connect the academic base with local industry, so there is considerable pre-existing institutional experience. As identified by Midlands Engine, improvements targeting productivity will have large impact in the region. Also as noted in the Case for Support, the Midlands strengths include manufacturing, and our engagement along these lines is hugely amplified by the partnership with the MTC. This is one way in which the proposed Centre maximises its impact.
The work of the Centre will be to engage local business and to identify areas where STFC science and facilities can help. The Manufacturing Technology Centre and the University of Birmingham are already engaged in efforts to connect the academic base with local industry, so there is considerable pre-existing institutional experience. As identified by Midlands Engine, improvements targeting productivity will have large impact in the region. Also as noted in the Case for Support, the Midlands strengths include manufacturing, and our engagement along these lines is hugely amplified by the partnership with the MTC. This is one way in which the proposed Centre maximises its impact.
Organisations
- University of Birmingham, United Kingdom (Lead Research Organisation)
- Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) (Collaboration)
- Silverstone Technology Cluster (Collaboration)
- Birmingham City Council, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Medilink West Midlands, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Make UK (Collaboration)
- Manufacturing Technology Centre, United Kingdom (Project Partner)
Description | Birmingham City Council |
Organisation | Birmingham City Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The collaboration has been to use the S2I capability to bridge between the Hartree and Birmingham City Council |
Collaborator Contribution | Time to the project |
Impact | Modelling work for BCC social services |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Hartree |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Department | Hartree Centre |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Liaising with regional business and Birmingham City Council |
Collaborator Contribution | High performance computing and problem solving expertise. |
Impact | A number of solutions delivered to Birmingham City Council |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Make UK |
Organisation | Make UK |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Working with Make UK to make available STFC facilities for business for measurement, testing and validation |
Collaborator Contribution | Liaise with members to open up the B4I, Bridging for Industry, Programme |
Impact | A number of businesses have learned more about the B4I programme |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Medilink |
Organisation | Medilink West Midlands |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Discussions about access to B4I programmes and events |
Collaborator Contribution | Engagement in events for B4I |
Impact | Companies in West Midlands now have a greater awareness of STFC large scale facilities. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Silverstone Technology Cluster |
Organisation | Silverstone Technology Cluster |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Contributed to technology events |
Collaborator Contribution | Hosted events |
Impact | Events were used to communicate to business about the Bridging for Industry programme |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | ALWAYSE Engineering |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Through S2I we are investigating with the company the use of STFC facilities to solve a technical issue. A client of ALWAYSE has experienced product failure (Ball Transfer Unit) in the field. The company is unable to determine to cause of the failure and therefore need STFC support to image the device to determine failure. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://www.alwayse.co.uk/ |
Description | Asset Cool |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | With the S2I, we have helped Asset Cool investigate the possibility of FTIR analysis that is not readily available commercially. STFC can undertake this kind of analysis and are working with the company to resolve the issue. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.assetcool.com/ |
Description | Cellfacts |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Facilitated by the S2I Centre, Cellfacts has discussed with us an industrial challenge they face in involving focussing a laser onto hole. Simplified somewhat to protect IP; the company is using a laser for photo-fluorescence, and are analysing the results for a greater understanding of the samples. Currently the laser is mechanically focused which gives rise to problems in industrial use from temperature changes and vibration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.cellfacts-analytics.com/ |
Description | Confederation of British Metal Formers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | DePuy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Via S2I, we have spoken at length to DePuy about an alternative approach to measurement for some of their UK-made products. Their R&D team have researched Ebeam Technology for its sterilisation properties as a potential development and believe it can be used in an applied setting. However, DePuy now require expert advice and guidance on next steps re: how to embed Ebeam Technologies within their current/future manufacturing processes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.depuysynthes.com/ |
Description | GBSLEP Growth Hub |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Lloyds Event at the MTC |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | MTC Factory Master Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Mercedes |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Through the S2I, we have been speaking with the company's Head of Quality about the non-destructive imaging techniques available at STFC. Mercedes routinely uses CT scans to help identify quality control/performance issues; however, the copper coils are too dense for the conventional CT scans. Mercedes needs to find a non-destructive way of testing whether the insulation between the coils has been breached and therefore require alternative imaging. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://www.mercedes-amg.com/en.html |
Description | Northampton Manufactruing Network |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | S2I Basic Engagements |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Since the launch of S2I, the University of Birmingham (UoB) and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) have promoted the distinctive capabilities, know-how and expertise of STFC to over 730 businesses across the Midlands' geography for the 2018/19 financial year, including strategic stakeholders and partners that make up the Midlands' business environment. The nature of our S2I project is to create engagement opportunities between Midlands businesses and UoB, MTC and STFC. As such we have a yearly target of 1000 "basic engagements" with different businesses, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Since June 2018 we have run more than 40 events where we have described the offerings of the S2I, and have logged and followed up many individual contacts. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/partners/partner-with-us/science-to-industry.aspx |
Description | UHB NHS Trust |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The activity was to publicise the S2I project and engage business with the B4I programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |