Blog

Keeping businesses moving with Specialist Facilities

18th May 2017

Time is flying by… it has already been a year since we launched the online Specialist Facilities showcase and video.

Promoting and connecting businesses to these specialist facilities that are housed within universities, research institutes and colleges is fully part of Interface’s matchmaking service and we have seen some great examples of this in use.

Flaér, a new performance cycling brand, sought aerodynamic testing that would help them better understand the performance benefits of the Revo Via, their new chain performance system, and establish what drag their system would create on a road bike.

Interface connected the company with the Department of Aerospace Sciences at the University of Glasgow to access their wind tunnel facility. Using the wind tunnel has since led to the creation of improved processes and improved, as well as new, products, with a resulting increase in overall productivity, products and turnover.

This sports brand working with an Aerospace Science department is a great example of how solutions can be found when different disciplines come together. In fact this is not an unusual scenario, 71% of the businesses we support seek expertise in a different discipline to their own. With knowledge of over 1200 pieces of equipment our team are equipped to identify the right equipment to help solve business challenges.

A great example of this cross disciplinary activity comes from the equipment used within human performance laboratories which has supported two very different companies who required motion analysis equipment.

Scottish Ballet wanted to evaluate the potential of using augmented reality in a dance context to help in widening access to the arts. The core aim of the collaborative project was to create a high definition film which would show dancers in a short choreography, mixed in with the motion capture data “vapour trail”. This was produced using a motion analysis system. 

StEPS Podiatry also used a Motion Analysis system and a 3D gait analysis machine to create a highly detailed 3D image of the foot. The information obtained from the scan, such as arch height and the alignment of the Achilles with the leg, was assessed and provided the company with valuable data to develop new preventative screening equipment to help catch the early symptoms of repetitive strain injury in sports people to help prevent injury development.

When thinking about academic expertise many people think that it is just expertise and know-how services that companies can engage with, our online platform has changed that. There are hundreds of pieces of equipment and cutting edge facilities that are used every day for scientific research throughout Scotland which are widely available for commercial use to help create, develop, test & analyse.

So… how could Specialist Facilities help solve your business challenge?