Silicon Gorge boosts profile in the Economist | Silicon South West
The leading role of the silicon industry in the SouthWest has been profiled in The Economist. The piece focusses on Prof David May of XMOS Semiconductor as well as Nigel Toon of Icera and now CEO of picoChip.
Silicon Gorge boosts profile in the Economist | Silicon South West
Bristol hosts technology ‘mission’ from London
Bristol University’s SETsquared incubator unit for innovative new technology businesses last week hosted a get-together of some of the UK’s leading young technology companies. Prominent amongst these were a number of new Bristol technology firms, including DocCom who have helped organise the visit.
In January 2011 SETsquared-based healthcare technology company DocCom was identified by the UK Technology Strategy Board as one of the UK’s top 20 emerging health tech companies. This resulted in DocCom being invited to participate in the UK Trade and Investment’s “Future Health Mission” trip to Silicon Valley USA, where the best of new British healthcare technology was showcased to the American high tech and investor communities.
“Bristol is always an exciting place for ideas-led new technology companies, and today we are really pleased to have the chance to give our London-based innovator friends a taste of that atmosphere,” said Dr Jonathon Shaw, co-founder of DocCom. “SETsquared is the obvious place to host any coming together of the brightest and best in emerging UK technology companies, as they are noted for the support and encouragement given to emerging South West technology businesses like DocCom or Brightpearl. We are looking forward to a stimulating day of shared ideas and best entrepreneurial practice, as well as an opportunity to show off Bristol’s new technology credentials”.
The Technology Mission from London to Bristol brings together innovative, entrepreneurial technology companies for a day of ideas exchange, as well as allowing out-of-town technology firms to see first-hand what gives Bristol its reputation as a breeding ground for technology innovation and successful start-up businesses.
“London companies need to get out more. Bristol is a fantastic city and home to some great companies,” said Oli Barrett, senior account manager for Polecat which helped to organise the US trip. “This is a one-day ‘mission’ which will help companies based in London and Bristol to meet, share and plot together”.
In addition to DocCom, new technology companies and their followers who took part in the Mission day include:
Viadeo, Coull, Netsight, Glow Creative, X-Digital, OneLeap, SubHub, Firebox, Level 29, The Sandpit, The Long Run Venture, Shell Livewire, Skyscanner, Brightpearl, NetTek Ltd, TechHub, The Filter, Like Minds, Cognac Systems, Plexus Technology Ventures, Churnbar Ltd, Cassie Robinson, WildIrishGuy Productions, The Mowgli Foundation, Conscious Solutions, Eden Ventures and Science City Bristol Ltd.
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Student Conference addresses key issues in Complexity Science
The first Student Conference on Complexity Science is taking place this week in Winchester with feature over 80 presentations demonstrating how the discipline is addressing challenges such as global sustainability, energy, climate, finance and technology.
The conference is being organised by PhD students from the University of Southampton’s Institute for Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS) and will bring together complexity science students from across the UK and particularly the UK’s three EPSRC Doctoral Training Centres at the Universities of Bristol, Southampton and Warwick.
The students will present their current work during the conference, addressing research problems spanning a broad range of scientific disciplines such as social science and economics, climate and earth science, biomedical and neural systems, ecosystems, biodiversity and sustainability, physical systems and materials science, cell biology, molecular biology and biochemical systems, the web, critical infrastructure and techno-social systems, networks science, evolution, and language.
Lord Robert May, distinguished professor, former president of the Royal Society and chief Government scientist, will deliver a keynote speech on Friday 5 August in which he will present his latest work with the Bank of England’s Executive Director for Financial Stability, Andy Haldane, on how techniques pioneered to model complex biological ecosystems can be used to deal with systemic risk in financial “ecosystems” in order to avoid financial disasters such as the ones experienced globally over the last half-decade.
The second keynote speaker on Saturday 6 August is Luis Amaral, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University, who is a world authority and pioneer in network science. His research aims to address some of the most pressing challenges facing human societies, including the mitigation of errors in healthcare settings, the characterisation of the conditions fostering innovation and creativity, and the growth limits imposed by sustainability.
The students will address a wide range of subjects. A public engagement study by James Crossley at Manchester Metropolitan University will look at how complexity science can be used to conduct studies of zombie, vampire and werewolf attacks on a population. Other interesting contributions involve using complexity science for mathematical modelling of cell fate regulatory networks by Sonya Ridden, University of Southampton; decoding the statistics of neural networks by Marc Box, University of Bristol, and game theoretic models of crime prevention by Hemant Pasi, University of Warwick.
The conference main themes are:
• Core Research in Complexity Science
• Physical and Engineered Complexity
• Biological and Environmental Complexity
• Socio-economic and Socio-technological Complexity.
Professor Seth Bullock, who directs the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS) at the University of Southampton, said: “The UK is investing significant sums in training and supporting the next generation of complexity scientists because they are able to bring a new set of tools to bear on critically important interdisciplinary research challenges, such as those surrounding issues of global sustainability, energy, climate, finance and technology. This conference is the first chance for the UK’s complexity science PhD students to come together as a community and learn from each other.”
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Wind-powered vehicles move into fast lane
A high-performance supercar and superbike designed to smash the stereotype of electric vehicles are among the show stoppers at a major international environmental trade show and conference being hosted in Bristol in October at UWE.
www.environmentaltradeshow.co.
via Wind-powered vehicles move into fast lane
Bristol professor to give Christmas Lectures
A University of Bristol psychologist has been chosen to give the 2011 Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures.
Experimental psychologist Professor Bruce Hood, Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre, will deliver a three-part series – entitled Meet Your Brain – in the iconic theatre at the Royal Institution. The lectures will also air on BBC Four in late December.
The science events for children were started by Michael Faraday in 1825 and have long been seen as one of the most important events in the scientific calendar.
New group to spearhead science and technology innovation in Exeter
City businesses have come together under the leadership of Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry to form the Exeter Initiative of Science and Technology (ExIST), supported by the University of Exeter and Exeter City Council.
New group to spearhead innovation in the city – Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry
AgustaWestland Launches new R&D Programme Supported By £10m TSB Grants
AgustaWestland will collaborate with SMEs and the Universities of Bristol and Liverpool who will lead on specific Research and Development (R&D) activities, as well as working with the National Composites Centre (NCC) in Bristol. The Next Generation Vertical Lift programme will encompass three R&D projects focusing on main and tail rotor blades, transmission systems and flight trials.
AgustaWestland Launches new R&D Programme Supported By £10m Government Grant
This is Plymouth | University of Plymouth and Western Morning News launch £1m fund to help small businesses
University of Plymouth and Western Morning News launch £1m fund to help small businesses. The fund provides between $10,00 and £100,000 as part of the first round of Regional Growth Fund. Applications are examined by a panel of independent experts appointed by the WMN and University of Plymouth. The Bids which are short-listed are then subjected to due diligence.
Swindon and Wiltshire get LEP approval
Swindon and Wiltshire get Local Economic Partnership approval
Southampton engineers produce plane with 3D printer
World’s first ‘printed’ aircraft
Engineers at the University of Southampton have designed and flown the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft produced with a 3D printer.
The SULSA (Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft) plane is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure has been printed, including wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches. It was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building up the item layer by layer.
No fasteners were used and all equipment was attached using ‘snap fit’ techniques so that the entire aircraft can be put together without tools in minutes.
The electric-powered aircraft, with a 2-metres wingspan, has a top speed of nearly 100 miles per hour, but when in cruise mode is almost silent. The aircraft is also equipped with a miniature autopilot developed by Dr Matt Bennett, one of the members of the team.
Laser sintering allows the designer to create shapes and structures that would normally involve costly traditional manufacturing techniques. This technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from concept to first flight in days. Using conventional materials and manufacturing techniques, such as composites, this would normally take months. Furthermore, because no tooling is required for manufacture, radical changes to the shape and scale of the aircraft can be made with no extra cost.
The project has been led by Professors Andy Keane and Jim Scanlan from the University’s Computational Engineering and Design Research group. “The flexibility of the laser sintering process allows the design team to re-visit historical techniques and ideas that would have been prohibitively expensive using conventional manufacturing,” said Professor Scanlon. “One of these ideas involves the use of a Geodetic structure. This type of structure was initially developed by Barnes Wallis and famously used on the Vickers Wellington bomber which first flew in 1936. This form of structure is very stiff and lightweight, but very complex. If it was manufactured conventionally it would require a large number of individually tailored parts that would have to be bonded or fastened at great expense.”
“Another design benefit that laser sintering provides is the use of an elliptical wing planform. Aerodynamicists have, for decades, known that elliptical wings offer drag benefits. The Spitfire wing was recognised as an extremely efficient design but it was notoriously difficult and expensive to manufacture,” said Professor Keane. “Again laser sintering removes the manufacturing constraint associated with shape complexity and in the SULSA aircraft there is no cost penalty in using an elliptical shape.”
SULSA is part of the EPSRC-funded DECODE project, which is employing the use of leading edge manufacturing techniques, such as laser sintering, to demonstrate their use in the design of UAVs.
The University of Southampton has been at the forefront of UAV development since the early 1990s, when work began on the Autosub programme at its waterfront campus at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. A battery powered submarine travelled under sea ice in more than 300 voyages to map the North Sea, and assess herring stocks.
Now, the University is launching a groundbreaking course which enables students to take a Master’s Degree in unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) design.
This is the first scheme of its kind and from September 2011, postgraduates can take part in a one-year programme covering the design, manufacture and operation of robotic vehicles. The degree will cover marine, land based and pilotless aircraft, typically used in environments that are deemed unsafe or uneconomic, such as exploration under sea ice, or monitoring gas emissions from volcanic eruptions. NASA expects UAVs to become ‘standard tools’ in fields such as agriculture, earth observation and climate monitoring.
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BBC News – Will 3D printing revolutionise manufacturing?
BBC News – Will 3D printing revolutionise manufacturing?.
EADS in Bristol is quoted on its use of 3D printing technology
Chippenham company leads US public safety technology revolution
Key step to a US national network
IPWireless in Chippenham has used a show in the US to launch a new communications system for federal government and public safety applications that for the first time is creating a national network.
The company, which has over 100 engineers in the town, develops technology and systems that are part of the latest LTE communications standard. Its LTE system will be used by Adams County in Colorado for their Public Safety Network in the 700MHz that has been allocated for a national US broadband public safety network.
The network is one of the first in the country to be deployed in 700MHz and will be integrated and deployed by IPWireless’ system integrator partner, Raytheon, to provide the county’s Police, Fire and EMS first responder agencies with a dedicated wireless broadband network that enhances public safety and improves citywide data communications, while lowering overall communication costs.
“After our extensive review of potential LTE solutions for the Adams County 700MHz LTE network, it was clear that IPWireless had leveraged its experience and expertise in government mobile broadband and 3GPP technologies to develop an LTE solution that better meets the unique needs of government customers,” said Bill Malone, Executive Director of Adams County Communications. “The IPWireless LTE Solution allows us to meet our immediate requirements to support efficient communications for our 1,500 diversified users and will also scale to support neighbouring counties, the state of Colorado, or even the surrounding region as part of the nationwide public safety network.”
New products
The company also launched a range of new systems. The EPC3000 is designed to support small-to-large local and regional networks, and scales as government agencies needs evolve to support large state-wide network deployments and ultimately, an interoperable national public safety network. The EPC200 is designed to support single cell deployments for military applications, private compounds or disaster response. Both are designed to work with other LTE networks.
The company has also developed a new digital and radio frequency card that supports the latest LTE tecnhnology, called Release 8, and is software upgradable to Release 9. This can be deployed outdoors at the tower top or building rooftop, at the base of a tower, or in an equipment room, shelter or outdoor cabinet. It is also ideally suited to rapid deployment disaster response networks and military tactical deployments.
“We are dedicated to helping government agencies maximize their spectrum assets especially during these challenging economic times,” said Bill Jones, CEO of IPWireless. “Our LTE solutions provide the performance, scalability and flexibility government agencies require so they can deploy mobile broadband networks more easily and with less operational overhead than is traditionally associated with network build outs.”
The company also offers LTE modem devices, including PCI Express Mini cards and USB sticks that support band 14 (public safety and D-block) in 700 MHz as well as a wide range of commercial bands. These LTE modems can be supplied with other specialized public safety user devices, including devices that are backwards compatible to 3G commercial networks.
An IPWireless Band Class 14 LTE USB modem is currently being tested on the LTE emergency communications demonstration network in Boulder, Colorado. The demonstration network is being managed by the Public Safety Communications Research program established by the US Department of Commerce and is intended to provide a common demonstration site for manufacturers, carriers, and public safety agencies to test and evaluate advanced broadband communications equipment and software for emergency first responders.
Kyoto delegation visits Bristol to explore research collaboration
A top-level delegation from Kyoto University visited Bristol as part of an ongoing relationship aimed at exploring collaborative research opportunities. The visit aims to showcase some of Bristol’s expertise in environmental change, nuclear research and composite materials, and builds on previous collaborative work in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and clinical translational research (TR).
During the stay, the team, led by Professor Kiyoshi Yoshikawa, Executive Vice-President for Research, visited the University’s National Composites Centre to see its innovation in high-tech materials and example of university – industry collaboration. They saw some of the groundbreaking work being carried out in the Cabot Institute, which is developing risk and resilience models for major catastrophes, linking the environment, critical infrastructure and the insurance industry.
The delegates met with academics from the Faculties of Engineering, Social Sciences and Law and Medical Faculties, and toured the School of Chemisty’s state-of-the-art laboratories.“In order to tackle the increasing challenges that are likely to have a major impact on people’s lives in the future, it is important for Bristol to collaborate with leading research universities such as Kyoto to harness the research excellence at both institutions, and to explore collaboration with industry partners,” said Professor Guy Orpen, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise. “The relationship between Bristol and Kyoto continues to mature and I am convinced will lead to even further interaction, collaboration and activities between academics and students at both universities.”
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Exeter develops magneto-optical sensor for detecting malaria
Researchers at Exeter University have developed a handheld instrument that can rapidly diagnose malaria. It uses magneto-optics to detect the hemozoin crystals produced as a byproduct of malaria parasite digestion of hemoglobin in the red blood cell and so avoids having to take blood to sample.
Phase I of the project developed the hand-held diagnostic device that can detect malarial infection at well below 100 parasitized red blood cells per microliter in less than two minutes in the lab. In Phase II, simpler yet improved second generation devices will undergo further development and clinical testing under field conditions until they can meet the sensitivity and specificity standards required of a test for malaria.
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Centre opens for road-testing intelligent transport systems – E & T Magazine
Centre opens for road-testing intelligent transport systems in Nuneaton – close to the region and a key resource for system testing
via Centre opens for road-testing intelligent transport systems – E & T Magazine.
BAE Systems recruiting hundreds as part of investment in skills – E & T Magazine
BAE Systems recruiting hundreds as part of investment in skills – E & T Magazine.
Southampton research brings smart gold nanoparticles closer to a treatment for cancer
Scientists at the University of Southampton have developed smart nanomaterials which can disrupt the blood supply to cancerous tumours and be used in nanosurgery.
The team of researchers, led by Physics lecturer Dr Antonios Kanaras, showed that a small dose of gold nanoparticles can activate or inhibit genes that are involved in angiogenesis – a complex process responsible for the supply of oxygen and nutrients to most types of cancer.
“The peptide-functionalised gold nanoparticles that we synthesised are very effective in the deliberate activation or inhibition of angiogenic genes,” said Dr Kanaras.
The team went a step further to control the degree of damage to the endothelial cells using laser illumination. Endothelial cells construct the interior of blood vessels and play a pivotal role in angiogenesis. They also found that the gold particles could be used as effective tools in cellular nanosurgery.
“We have found that gold nanoparticles can have a dual role in cellular manipulation. Applying laser irradiation, we can use the nanoparticles either to destroy endothelial cells, as a measure to cut the blood supply to tumours, or to deliberately open up the cellular membrane in order to deliver a drug efficiently,” said Dr Kanaras.
TopicLogic looks to shine out of the cloud in the US
Bristol startup TopicLogic is looking to raise runds for the launch of its cloud-based software in San Francisco later this year.
The company develops a web-based service that manages online storage such as Evernote and Dropbox. It has already raised £100,00 in angel funding and is looking for £250,000 to support the product and for online marketing, with the launch at the TechCrunch event in September.
The tool is already being used in a trial of barristers in London to organize their legal documents.
peter@topiclogic.com
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Brightpearl aims at the US from Bristol
Bristol startup Brightpearl is aiming to make waves in the US.
The company raised £3m last month and has starting gaining key customers in the US for its software that dramatically simplifies backend systems for online retailers and wholesalers with integrated web-based software for accounting, CRM, stock control and ecommerce. This builds on £1m investment in 2008. In the last 12 months the company has moved from 100 to 500 customers.
“What we want to be is a success story for the South West in cloud-based software, and hopefully we can build a really successful US business from Bristol,” said US entrepreneur and CEO Salman Malik. “It’s a fantastic ride.”
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Bristol starts offering its research for free
Following the ground breaking study into offering IP with minimal licensing restrictions, Bristol University has started offering IP from its research in computer science, wireless technology, computer vision and semiconductor technology to companies under a new licensing scheme.
“As early adopters of the Easy Access IP model we have a real opportunity for companies to move our innovations into the marketplace more quickly and easily than before,” said Dr Neil Bradshaw, Director of Enterprise at the University of Bristol. “This is a significant advance for our Universities and one where we are leading the world.”
The ‘Easy Access IP’ project aims to increase engagement between universities and industry and speed up the transfer of academic knowledge and expertise into the hands of commercial partners who can then develop it to benefit the economy and society as a whole.
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It is also offering IP in biomedical technology:
The IP can be licensed from here with exclusive or non-exclusive licenses.
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