UoY - Nuclear Physics STFC KE and commercialisation fellow
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The nuclear physics group have a strong portfolio of impact activities, principally in developing novel detectors and methodologies for application to the areas of border security, nuclear decommissioning and medical imaging. The purpose of this grant is to fund a knowledge exchange and commercialisation fellow who can accelerate the impact coming from the group. Among other duties, they will help with longer term planning, build more links with relevant industry, support the filing of IP, and develop the case for a spin-out company. They will support the development of two specific projects related to quantum-entangle positron emission tomography and flexible silicon detectors for nuclear decommissioning.
People |
ORCID iD |
| David Jenkins (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | Fluidic alpha sensors for radiopharmaceutical QC (STFC ESR&D grant; PI: Dr Christian Diget) |
| Organisation | Lablogic Systems |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | STFC Early Stage R&D award won November 2023. UoY NPG contributing developments made to date in radiation characterisation in liquids. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) brought LabLogic in as a collaborator with UoY to this project, and is facilitating the collaboration where required. |
| Collaborator Contribution | TRIUMF and LabLogic will each provide complementary expertise and end-user technical requirements for the in-development technology. |
| Impact | The 3 year project is new and outputs will follow in due course. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Fluidic alpha sensors for radiopharmaceutical QC (STFC ESR&D grant; PI: Dr Christian Diget) |
| Organisation | TRIUMF |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | STFC Early Stage R&D award won November 2023. UoY NPG contributing developments made to date in radiation characterisation in liquids. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) brought LabLogic in as a collaborator with UoY to this project, and is facilitating the collaboration where required. |
| Collaborator Contribution | TRIUMF and LabLogic will each provide complementary expertise and end-user technical requirements for the in-development technology. |
| Impact | The 3 year project is new and outputs will follow in due course. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Pilot technology development project |
| Organisation | Createc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Patented radiation detector technology. Detector development expertise. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Robotics technologies, robotic-assisted radiation detection expertise. |
| Impact | Commercially confidential. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | RADCASE (functional scintillators) - Phase 2 |
| Organisation | Lablogic Systems |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | RADCASE is a joint project between the Nuclear Physics Group at the University of York (NPG) and LabLogic Systems Ltd. (LabLogic). An STFC Follow-on-Fund was awarded to support a 12 month collaboration between NPG and LabLogic to develop a prototype device demonstrating the concept of a functional scintillator. The project began on 1st September 2021 and ran to 31st August 2022. NPG and LabLogic agreed to continue to work towards a RADCASE prototype (we are presently in Phase 2 of the collaboration) to form the basis of commercialising this technology via a fruitful industry-academia partnership. The NPG has contributed project management, IP, and commercial support to this project via the STFC KEC Fellow (Adam Featherstone). The NPG has also contributed electronics schematics redesign and PCB design work, and in the future will be contributing product prototype design work, prototype fabrication, and detector characterisation and testing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Electronics schematics (to be modified for the present project). It is expected that the partner will contribute to GUI software development for the prototype device and marketing and commercialisation support. |
| Impact | As of March 2023, the first prototype device is likely a few months away, so no tangible outcome right now. Through this collaboration, the group received a commission to carry out radiation simulation work for a company associated with the partner. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Title | A METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, PROCESSING POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY DATA |
| Description | Exploiting quantum entanglement to achieve significant improvements in PET medical imaging. This STFC KEC Fellowship made possible the transfer of this patent portfolio to the University of York, where the inventor now works. |
| IP Reference | EP3230768 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Title | CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTOR |
| Description | This patent relates to a flexible alpha radiation detector, on which Prof David Jenkins is a named inventor. The patent was granted prior to the STFC KEC Fellowship starting. |
| IP Reference | EP3559706 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2019 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Impact | Through the STFC KEC Fellow, significant progress has been made in identifying an interested licensee/purchaser of this IP. This has not yet been agreed or formalised, but is a promising step towards commercial exploitation of the technology. |
| Title | Method and system for determining a characteristic of radioactive matter |
| Description | Dr Christian Diget (nuclear physics at University of York) and Dr Samadhan Patil (medical engineering at University of York) invented a device and method to identify alpha-emitting radioisotopes in liquid form. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) heavily supported Dr Diget in assessing the invention, advising on IP protection approaches, and working with a patent attorney. A priority patent application was filed 8th March 2024. |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Commercialisation plans are in place to exploit this IP, but this will come in the following couple of years. |
| Description | Business engagement knowledge sharing to the UoYork Physics and Engineering community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | At a University of York School of Physics, Engineering and Technology research away day, the KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) presented a 'how to' on business engagement, and coordinated this to form part of a joint session on research impact. Other topics in the session, brought in the the Fellow, included impact more generally, IP commercialisation, and KTPs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Business engagement knowledge sharing to the UoYork community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The University of York hosts a monthly Business Engagement Forum. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) presented to the wider business engagement community at York on his experiences, lessons learned, and advice for engaging with businesses as a means to establishing academia-industry research partnerships. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Delivering training for Nuclear physics ECRs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The STFC KEC Fellow prepared and delivered a training session on research impact, knowledge exchange, and commercialisation to a large group of early career researchers at an IOP event. Pre- and post-training quiz demonstrated successful, positive impact of the training. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Hosted collaborator visit: Nik Georgopoulous from SHU |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Christian Diget, supported by the KEC Fellow Adam Featherstone, hosted a visit by academic collaborator Nik Georgopoulous from Sheffield Hallam U. The purpose of the visit was to explore and work on a strategy for interdisicplinary, translational grant applications |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Hosting a KE/collaboration exploration meeting with Damavan Imaging |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Academia-industry collaboration exploration meeting set up between academic experts at UoY and Damavan Imaging who create industrial imaging solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting company: Cerberus Nuclear |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The nuclear physics group at the University of York hosted a company visit to share areas of active research from the group and the company. Presentations were given by the STFC KEC Fellow and by the company with a view to exploring commercial partnership potential. Student placement potential was also explored in nuclear physics but also in mathematics, facilitated by the STFC KEC Fellow. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting company: H3D and Southern Scientific |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) coordinated a visit by a company, H3D (USA based), that creates specialist detector hardware. Research collaboration discussions were held between H3D and nuclear physics academic colleagues at the University of York. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting company: NNL Hot Robotics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) organised a visit by the National Nuclear Laboratory's "Hot Robotics" team to the University of York. Two representatives visited, and UoY gave presentations and demonstrations in the area of nuclear physics, robotics, and autonomous systems. Presentations were given by NNL, and discussions on collaborations were held. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting institution: AWE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | AWE visited UoY to pre-announce their intention to fund UK Centres of Excellence. Many members from the UoY Nuclear Physics Group attended and engaged with the discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting institution: Universite Paris-Saclay |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Prof Jonathan Wilson (Universite Paris-Saclay) visited Prof David Jenkins at the University of York in February 2024. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) worked with Prof Wilson to assess patentability/inventiveness of a co-created technology between the institutions and to define next steps for IP exploitation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Hosting a visiting institution: University Medical Centre Groningen |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) organised a visit by Prof Harry Tsoumpas (academic in medical imaging at University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands) to the University of York for a day of discussions and presentations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Hosting an event: Nuclear physics applications workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) organised the University of York Nuclear Physics Group's first applications-focused (to distinguish from pure research) away day in September 2023. This was an opportunity to bring on board wider NPG staff that are not currently involved with Knowledge Exchange by reminding them of support on offer and by allowing academics currently active in KE to share experiences. - Dr Christian Diget: "The meeting went really well, your organisation of it was excellent [...] we had many fruitful discussions." - Dr Mark Post: "Thanks so much for putting this event together. I think it is testament to how good your preparation and instructions were that we managed to spend pretty much the whole day in constructive discussions and plans even without you there for the whole time. Looking forward to follow-ups." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited presentation to company: Tuv Sud |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | After meeting with the company at a conference, the STFC KEC Fellow was invited to present an overview of the expertise and technologies of the nuclear physics group at the University of (with a view to exploring commercial partnership potential). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Knowledge exchange group visit to company: Tracerco |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Visiting postgraduate students (and some academics) from South Africa and Botswana were taken by the nuclear physics group at the University of York to a leading radiation detector solutions company. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Local article publication on nuclear physics commercialisation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The STFC KEC Fellow was invited to write an article for the University of York Knowledge Exchange newsletter, aimed at increasing awareness of research impact and its importance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Organised and hosted academia-industry workshop: UKIERI workshop #1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow, Adam Featherstone, played a leading role not only in assisting Samadhan Patil and David Jenkins applying for a UKIERI IRMP partnership grant, but led the organisation and hosting of a 1.5day workshop at the University of York. This kick-off workshop launched the partnership, had delegates from across the UoY School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, had representatives from six different UK companies, and online delegates from Indian academic partners. Day one consisted of presentations from partnership leads, industry presentations, research snapshots from UoY School of PET, and workshop/ideation sessions. The day finished with a networking dinner. Day two comprised a tour of UoY facilities with interested industry guests and closing discussions. It was a huge success and generated follow-up visits and discussions with several of the industry delegates. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.linkedin.com/posts/samadhanpatil_semiconductor-technology-for-the-nuclear-activity-72165... |
| Description | Participation in Phase-10 UK-Japan nuclear research workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | There are recurrent UK-Japan collaboration calls to apply nuclear physics research in the nuclear decommissioning sector. The STFC KEC Fellow represented the University of York and strengthened links with Lancaster University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Provided business engagement training to UoY Psychology colleagues |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow, Adam Featherstone, engaged with the wider UoY academic community by providing training and sharing best practice from grassroots level industry engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Represented Nuclear Physics Group at formal UoY School launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The University of York "School of Physics, Engineering and Technology" held a formal launch event in February 2024. The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) represented the Nuclear Physics Group at a booth, engaging with the public, businesses, and UoY staff and students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7166198442107588609/ |
| Description | Selection of industry meetings at BNMS conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow, Adam Featherstone, attended the British Nuclear Medicine Society annual meeting to engage with various private companies to explore technology transfer and collaborative opportunities. COmpanies included Siemens, GE, and Alliance Medical. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Visit to company: Createc |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with a company to share areas of active research from the nuclear physics group at the University of York and the company. A presentation was given by the STFC KEC Fellow at an initial online meeting, and a presentation was given by the company at a later meeting in person - all with a view to exploring commercial partnership potential. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visit to company: Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) visitied nAMRC to learn about their remit and work, to share the research of the University of York Nuclear Physics Group, and to discuss collaboration opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit to company: SINTEF |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with a company to share areas of active research from the nuclear physics group at the University of York and the company. Presentations were given by the STFC KEC Fellow and by the company with a view to exploring commercial partnership potential. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visit to company: Tracerco |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with a company to share areas of active research from the nuclear physics group at the University of York and the company. Presentations were given by the STFC KEC Fellow and by the company with a view to exploring commercial partnership potential. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visit to facility: STFC Boulby |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A team from the University of York, including the KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone), visited STFC Boulby for a tour and a day of presentations and discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit to institution: AWE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof David Jenkins and the KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) visited AWE in December 2023 for meetings on collaborative opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit to institution: TRIUMF |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A team from the University of York, including the KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone), visited TRIUMF (Canada) in November 2023. A morning of research presentations was held, and the afternoon comprised business and collaboration meetings in which the Fellow was heavily involved. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit to institution: UKAEA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof David Jenkins and the KEC Fellow (Dr Adam Featherstone) visited UKAEA in December 2023 for meetings on collaborative opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit to institution: University Medical Centre Groningen |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | In March 2024 a team from the University of York Nuclear Physics Group - Prof Dan Watts, Dr Julien Bordes, Dr Adam Featherstone (KEC Fellow) - visited the University Medical Centre Groningen and the University of Groningen, Netherlands. The Fellow initiated and managed the entire trip from the UK side. The team visited Prof Harry Tsoumpas to discuss academic and commercial collaborations, and Prof Dan Watts delivered a seminar to Prof Tsoumpas' UMCG research group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7171545852853764096/ |
| Description | Workshop attendance: Launch of NTRnet |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The KEC Fellow, Adam Featherstone, represented UoY at the launch of the Nuclear Threat Reduction Network (NTRnet). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |