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5G technology offers more than just improved mobile phone connections. Companies of all sizes across the world are embracing 5G technology to take advantage of the benefits it enables. If you are looking to increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve and future-proof your systems, operations and products, then The Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC) is here to help you unlock the transformational benefits that 5G has to offer.

Businesses are invited to join this event and workshops series and hear about the free range of support services and access to state-of-the-art 5G testbeds. You will also find out how 5G is being used in industry, for example within manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and agriculture to drive efficiencies and cut costs.

This event comes in two parts.

Part 1, is an event on the 17th April 2023, and will provide information and examples of how 5G is transforming businesses as well showing how the Scotland 5G Centre can help.

Part 2, a series of 121 private sessions running from April until September and providing you with the opportunity to have a private consultation with one of our Business Engagement Managers (at your local S5GC innovation) and discuss how you can test the application of 5G to a specific business need or challenge.

Come along to this event on 17th April and discover how 5G can transform your organization.

What can you expect from the event?

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This event, hosted by the Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM),  showcases the innovative processes and outcomes from 50 collaborative student team projects through a series of presentations.

As well as providing a platform for our students’ industry-related output, academics will highlight opportunities and mechanisms for industry to work collaboratively with the university in the future.

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Evolve™ green energy technology is the first hydrogen electrolysis solution that can extract hydrogen from any natural water source including groundwater, tap water, and seawater, without desalination. 

Background 

Evolve Hydrogen Ltd wants to develop novel Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser technology to produce “green” hydrogen for use in industrial processes. This innovation unlike the traditional flat-stack designs of common PEM and alkaline electrolysers is designed in a honeycomb configuration with reactive parts placed in a concentric layout. The reactive parts are fabricated via injection moulding of a custom polymer which allow this technology to utilise impure water sources. 

The Challenge 

In developing their technology Evolve Hydrogen Ltd required a bespoke polymer material that enabled direct electrolysis of impure water sources, for example, seawater without the need for desalination. Optimisation of this material required a thorough understanding of its electrochemical performance and transport mechanism in various electrolysis environments. To improve the efficiencies of their prototypes this project required electrochemical engineering expertise to give a full characterisation of the polymer raw material and to recommend improvements in composition to advance Evolve™ technology. 

The Solution 

Evolve Hydrogen Ltd sought the expertise of the University of Strathclyde to perform this project based on recommendations by their technical advisors, two of whom were alumni of Strathclyde University.  Funding provided by Interface’s Inward Investment Catalyst Fund permitted the material characterization of the original polymer and suggestions for efficiency improvements to be carried out by the University of Strathclyde. 

Evolve Hydrogen Ltd provided samples and previous technical data to the University’s research staff, who performed the physical and electrochemical characterisation required as part of Evolve’s aim to achieve TRL 4 (Technology Readiness Level) status. Dr Edward Brightman and his team of electrochemical engineers used their expertise to create a specialised test cell. They also demonstrated the knowledge and the flexibility to adjust the research scope to address new questions of the materials being analysed.   

The work performed by the team of electrochemical engineers successfully characterised the original polymer material and suggested material and dimensional changes to improve the efficiencies of Evolve Hydrogen’s technology. 

The Future 

Evolve Hydrogen Ltd is committed to working with the University of Strathclyde because of their demonstrated level of professionalism, knowledge, creative thought, and the working relationship that has been established.  The University, the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC), and their industrial partners plan to collaborate for the testing of future prototypes and the fabrication of Minimal Viable Products for Evolve Hydrogen’s demonstrations.  They are seeking joint funding together to support an R&D pathway towards commercialisation in Scotland. 

The Benefits 

This project benefitted from the Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund.  The Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund launched by Interface and the Scottish Government promotes Scotland as a leading destination for inward investment and supports businesses not yet located in Scotland but seeking to establish stronger ties with academia here.  As well as funding research and development it provides an opportunity for the company to establish relationships and give insight into other aspects of the Scottish landscape, such as further investment opportunities, supply chains and the skills base to strengthen the case for investing in Scotland.

Learn more about the Scottish Inward Investment Fund.

Learn More

 

Join Innovate UK KTN at the University of Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre to explore all things microbiome across the One Health Microbiome spectrum including human, animal, plant, and environment.

Bringing these sectors together is an opportunity to learn from each other and make new connections.

The conference will explore common challenges and discuss how the community can work together to make the UK a key destination in Europe for microbiome research and innovation. 

There will also be an opportunity for early-stage microbiome entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to find new partners.

This event is for:

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The Crover – the world’s first robotic device that ‘swims’ through grains to monitor their condition.

Background

Crover Ltd https://www.crover.tech has developed the world’s first small robotic device, known as a ‘CROVER’, that monitors cereal grains stored in bulk inside grain bins or storage sheds.  The CROVER device can “swim” within the grains and uses on-board sensors to measure local parameters, such as temperature and moisture, to build a full map of the conditions within the grains. Unlike current grain monitoring solutions that measure only one variable and have limited reach, the CROVER’s remote monitoring capabilities provide real-time data across a range of measurements allowing grain storekeepers to identify critical conditions, like hotspots early and maintain quality of the grains through proactive management.

Crover Ltd were a start-up when they initially approached Interface in 2019, they have since grown from two co-founders to 20 employees.

Since 2019 they have secured significant investment, raising over £600k in innovation prizes and grants (including Scottish Enterprise and Innovate UK). They then opened a seed funding round for investors and hit their £150k target.

The Challenges / Solutions

“When we initially met Interface, we didn’t have a specific R&D challenge as we were focused on developing our product inhouse. An obvious area for support would have been in the areas of design and engineering, however, through discussions with Louise, she assessed how our business worked and proposed that we undertake a project with the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA). The project with the SFRA helped us determine precise financial estimates of the value of Crover data to grain storekeepers and its impact on the grain storage economics. Understanding the financial impacts of Crover’s monitoring capabilities, had wider implications such as being able to quantify monetary value to grain insurers, and the potential to reduce insurance premiums for farmers and grain merchants.” Lorenzo Conti, Co-founder Crover Ltd

Following on from this initial project, one of the main technical challenges Crover Ltd faced related to the precise location tracking of the device within the grain bulk. Conventional signals, such as GPS and WiFi, did not work due to their inability to penetrate the solid grain bulk so a novel approach was required. Crover Ltd had undertaken some initial testing of different solutions, however they needed to tap into academic expertise in ultrasonic waves, positioning systems, electromagnetic signals, wireless sensor network (WSN) and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), to help improve the accuracy of the device location.  Interface connected them to the University of Glasgow who undertook an initial feasibility into a means of measuring and identifying the location of the robotic device in bulk grain storage.  This was initially funded by an Impact Accelerator Account fund of £10k, which then led onto a further project where University of Glasgow and Crover Ltd secured a further £27K to continue the project to a successful conclusion.

Since the initial collaboration Interface has assisted Crover Ltd embark on several other successful collaborations focusing more on the future enhancement and performance improvement of the robotic device, by tapping into design and engineering expertise from several Scottish Academic Institutions.  These involved:

The Benefits

The benefits resulting from the numerous collaborations which Interface have helped broker have undoubtedly helped Crover Ltd in both product development and business growth terms.  Interface has helped open doors for Crover Ltd and helped Lorenzo and his team to establish strong links with academia resulting in some innovative and exciting developments.

Since its inception in 2019 Crover Ltd has grown from 2 employees to over 20 employees, has raised significant investment and secured over £600K in innovation prizes and funding.

Background

Sustainable Thinking Scotland (STS) Community Interest Company is a social enterprise, based in Bo’ness, created to address a wide range of social and environmental issues. They operate a variety of projects that focus on topics such as food growing, community wellbeing and wood and green waste recycling. 

STS currently produce biochar from wood waste. Biochar is a highly porous form of carbon obtained from baking wood within an oxygen-depleted environment and has the potential to draw and lock in nutrients and toxins from its environment. Until recently, the biochar STS produced was used in an agricultural setting, utilising its production as a means of carbon abatement and as a soil amendment within their food growing projects. STS wanted to research and create a biochar optimised for excess nutrient removal from water, helping to tackle harmful algae blooms and the nutrient pollution which causes them.

Challenge

The water remediation techniques STS proposed involving biochar had not been adequately researched, regulated or utilised within the EU, UK and Scottish markets.  STS wanted to engage with academic expertise to advance their production of biochar whilst also ensuring effective regulatory standards were put in place governing its manufacturing and subsequent use.

Solution

The company was referred to Interface through their engagement in Firstport’s LaunchMe accelerator, which is aimed at supporting Scotland’s highest potential social enterprises.  After Interface put out a call to the relevant universities in Scotland, STS decided to work collaboratively with both the University of the Highlands & Islands (UHI) and the University of Strathclyde to test biochar production from wood waste and investigate its potential use in nutrient removal. 

A Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher was used to fund the project with UHI, whilst an initial consultancy project with the University of Strathclyde looked at in depth testing of Biochar including thermochemical changes.

The results from this research should help inform SEPA’s (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) decision making on how to license and regulate biochar’s use in water.
 

Benefits

The new/enhanced product to be developed is a biochar which has qualities which allow it to draw in and bind to excess nutrients within water; adsorbing and removing them, resulting in improved water quality. This will provide a new solution to the growing problem of blue-green algae blooms in freshwater and also act to recover phosphorus and nitrogen from water. The biochar will act to stop nutrient pollution at source, preventing algal blooms and eutrophication, whilst creating a recoverable nutrient loaded carbon biochar that can be re-used on land. This would not only act to maintain/provide carbon within soil but would also provide a slow release (nitrogen/phosphorous rich) fertiliser. UHI’s ERI (Environmental Research Institute) already has significant current interests in this area, not least as partners in a €10M+ EU NW Europe Project (Phos4You) which demonstrates phosphate recovery and re-use innovations within Europe.

Benefits to company:

Benefits to academic partners

Benefits to Scottish Government

Despite the rise in recurring algal blooms in water bodies across the UK, biochar field-based water remediation remains absent from the £1.3 billion UK water treatment market.  Biochar technology development will help create a range of safe, low cost, low impact environmental remediation services which are more financially accessible, encouraging landowners and custodians to invest in their greenspaces, offering a comprehensive/easily accessible solution to long term problems; leading to climate action and contributing to Scotland’s net zero targets.

Next Steps

STS have continued to make strides in developing their “Biochar” product and to understand the markets in which they can operate to position themselves as a sustainable social enterprise.   

This initial project has opened the door to further collaboration and research and Interface have assisted STS to embark on other successful collaborations most notably with Adam Smith Business School at University of Glasgow where they have engaged with a range of student programmes from undergraduate to MBA. Projects include:  

Other projects relating to environmental and sustainability issues are under discussion and Sean Kerr STS Director generously gives time to undergraduate and MSc programmes, student placements, and makes himself available for speaking and networking opportunities.  The relationship continues to deepen and in 2022 Dr Nick Quinn, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship in the Business School, joined STS as a Non Executive Director.  

Sustainable Thinking Scotland’s determination and hard work is paying off as they won Innovation of the Year Award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2023. 

Background

Creative Carbon Scotland (CCS) believes that arts and culture organisations have an essential role in achieving transformational change to a sustainable future.  Their vision is of a Scotland where this role is recognised, developed, and utilised by both the cultural world and others interested in sustainability.

Creative Carbon Scotland provide training and support for arts organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and help nearly 120 key organisations in mandatory carbon reporting to Creative Scotland. Their culture/SHIFT programme builds connections and collaborations between arts and sustainability practitioners to apply their different skills, practices and working methods to address challenging and complex climate change-related issues. 

Challenge

It is widely recognised that artists across all artforms can offer new insights and alternative perspectives to bring about change in wider society. Creative Carbon Scotland are among several organisations who have worked on projects with embedded artists to address environmental sustainability and climate change. The artists have worked over extended periods, using cultural approaches to address these complex issues within organisations in the private, public and third sectors. Creative Carbon Scotland were keen to promote this type of collaboration, and the development of a library of case studies was a key step in the process of disseminating this approach. It aims to enable new users to discover a range of new ways of working with artists to address sustainability challenges.

The organisation recognised that for the case study library to deliver maximum impact, the evidence from a very wide and diverse range of ’embedded artist’ projects needed to be presented in a unique and engaging way.  Consequently, they sought to collaborate with an academic team to co-design an innovative categorisation and tagging framework to enable rapid and effective searching within the Library.

Solution

Funded by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, Creative Carbon Scotland collaborated with Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University to prototype the Library of Creative Sustainability hosted on the CCS website: a new digital resource showcasing best practice examples of collaborations between sustainability partners and artists seeking to make the world a better place. The framework was co-designed with end users to ensure that it met the needs of managers and decision makers within the sustainability and regeneration sectors.

Benefits

The Library of Creative Sustainability has allowed Creative Carbon Scotland to support advocacy and engagement with sustainability leaders in private, public and third sector organisations; presenting an opportunity for artists, designers, and other creative practitioners to share their skills, knowledge, and perspectives to not only address environmental sustainability, but also change the way we interact in society – thus re-imagining culture and embedding sustainability within it.

The prototyping of the Library web page benefitted Creative Carbon Scotland by further positioning it as a vital partner for leaders in the private, public and third sectors at the intersection of arts and culture with sustainability. The research work provided CCS with further examples on which to base new work and the resource itself will help introduce and persuade new partners to take up these opportunities.

The academic partner at RGU benefitted by having their research utilised, specifically through the creation of a suite of user-focused case studies. Both parties will benefit from the development of the framework for categorisation and tagging, generating new ways of engaging users.

Additional Activity

Following the successful delivery of the partnership with RGU, CCS received further support from Dr. Siobhán Jordan, Director, Interface who matched the company with University of Strathclyde Department of Management Science.  Iain Phillips, a student at the Department collaborated with CCS to review the key outcomes of several years of mandatory carbon reporting and reduction across artists, designers and other creative practitioners funded by Creative Scotland.  CCS have a long-standing track record of undertaking research and are also collaborating with University of Stirling Management School.

Background

Macdeck Landscaping is a decking company that has gradually moved into landscaping due to demand from customers for the additional finishing to complete their gardens. They specialise in decking, timber structures, landscaping and garden redesign with an innovative look to each project.

Challenge

The company conceptualised an idea and carried out some basic prototyping of their unique innovative product, a Landscaping Decking Construction System, created with the use of composite materials*. Composite materials can give the required drainage capacity and lack of corrosion in combination, in principle, with the right structural strength for the system.

It was Macdeck’s intention as a business to progress to the creation of a universal branded/trademarked Construction System product. The product would offer the ability to create natural landscapes on raised structures, particularly in flooded areas, and create a wider scope of vision for architects and town and country planners at a more economical cost.

Before this project could develop, a greater fundamental understanding of composite components’ performance in the product was required. At the time, it was not understood either how composite materials would perform in the proposed Construction System under different load situations, what their limitations would be, or what system parameters would be optimal to present a viable and safe product for mass market.

Solution

Looking for an academic partner to collaborate on this project, Macdeck contacted Interface who matched them up with the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) and the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) at the University of Strathclyde, via Strathclyde Links.

The use of these composite materials in a construction context is relatively new, and entirely novel in ‘suspended’ landscaping. A combination of expertise of composite material properties, experimental testing of composites, and structural modelling of composite structures is a unique blend that the two departments at the University – MAE and AFRC – could offer the company.  MAE was also able to offer the company a materials’ testing system as part of their specialist facilities.

The partners collaborated on the project to develop the new product by exploring the properties of the composite components, conducting a series of experimental tests, modelling of challenging performance scenarios, exploring the limitations of the system in terms of static failure modes, proposing solutions to the design issues, linking computer modelling and experimental data and using all knowledge thus generated to contribute to a coherent product technology portfolio.

The project outcomes helped validate the product under brand, as well as helping the company progress with its IP protection and certification, critical to its commercial success.

The approach used was unique and innovative as the two centres of academic expertise were able to bring value to the project that was more than just the sum of the two. The ultimate outcome of the project was a product with the specifications and performance characteristics founded on a sound fundamental scientific basis.

This collaborative project was funded by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, administered by Interface.

Benefits

Company:

The company will build on the results of the project; the experimental data, the model outputs and the recommendations, to create a better, safer, more marketable product based on scientific evidence. The expertise and the credibility of the research from the University of Strathclyde will provide them with evidence for future product approvals and marketing, increasing sales and generating revenues for the business.

University:

This project provided an excellent opportunity for the University of Strathclyde to engage with an innovative local Scottish company with a technical requirement matching both the expertise of the Advanced Composite Centre (in MAE) and the AFRC. The project aligned very well with the AFRC’s and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult’s (HVMC) strategic theme of Lightweighting: the technology agenda of creation of very strong but light parts and structures. The AFRC are currently building a portfolio of capability in this area, which includes developing joint capability in composite materials with the MAE. The University’s work will be acknowledged in all literature related to the System.

Economic, Environmental and Societal Impacts

The proposed product is an excellent example of innovation, enterprise and creativity in Scotland. The product, a new innovative Landscaping System, has definite export potential with sales worldwide.

Macdeck Landscaping, going further, plan to create a new company offering new employment in Glasgow in supply, sales and distribution to support delivery of this product to markets in the UK and abroad.

The product has the potential to change how customers, architects, planners and governments deal with flooded land and their ability to build on flooded land, enabling landscape design on a raised surface, lifting wet and continuously flooded areas clear of ground.

An initial positive for the environment is that, in normal circumstances, a raised patio would require concrete foundations, type 1 infill, concrete block, cement, brickwork.  All this can now be removed and replaced by a re-useable, more environmentally-friendly platform.

*  A composite material is a material made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure, differentiating composites from mixtures and solid solutions.

Background

Independently run since 1797, Johnstons of Elgin makes beautiful knitwear, clothing and accessories from luxurious wools. The company is synonymous with unique heritage, craft and style; yet, it continues to lead the way in technical innovation, using state-of-the-art techniques and tools to create timeless products for the world’s leading luxury fashion brands.

Challenge

In 2011, with increasing pressure on companies to curb carbon emissions, together with spiralling energy costs, Johnstons of Elgin wanted to analyse its energy usage across the main business units of dyes, weaving, logistics, finishing and yarns. At the time, it was very difficult to differentiate across the company the exact costs associated with each of these utilities and energy costs.

An initial consultation with Interface and a site visit led to a project scope designed to investigate options to improve company performance whilst reducing costs through energy and carbon management.

Solution

Interface identified expertise in six universities and subsequently brokered a partnership between the company and The Energy Academy at Heriot Watt University.

Through a PhD studentship, a project was initiated to review strategies that would enable the company to reduce energy costs and market the carbon footprint in each area of the business as well as each product.

Follow On

To further elevate its own brand, improve its global competitiveness, and improve productivity, Johnstons is now innovating in the quality control and measurement of the finish on high-end cashmere fabrics. 

Challenge

A reliance on human touch and feel in assessing the quality of such luxury products has traditionally been standard in the industry and is estimated to be a direct contributor to the 25% rework rate recorded in Johnstons’ finishing process. This existing subjective measurement approach leads to product variability and waste.

Solution

An Interface enquiry resulted in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University of Strathclyde to carry out pioneering research into innovative techniques and technologies for objectively measuring traditionally subjective finish attributes of its woven cashmere pieces.

As a result of the KTP brokered by Interface, Johnstons went on to partner with a nationally recognised leader in measurement through A4I (Analysis for Innovators) to design and develop a system for objective and quantitative assessment of its product finish. The system developed will not only help Johnstons to drive down its costs associated with reworks and remakes, but it will also verify the potential for scaling up to 100% inspection of product moving at speed through Johnstons manufacturing line.

These projects were partly funded by £60k of Innovate UK funding. 

Impacts

Company – This measurement system has increased their accuracy by 30%, reduced their rework rate by 90%, their rework waste by 30% and reduced the cost of producing their quality fabrics by 80%.  In a world where finish is artisan and considered subjective, being able to satisfy high-end designers with more precise specification of choice of finish is invaluable.

Academic – The KTP Associate has since been employed by the company in the role of Technical Director.

April 2021

Johnstons of Elgin’s commitment to sustainability recognised with Queen’s Award. Scotland’s second oldest family business has been awarded in the Sustainable Development category for its 360-degree approach to sustainability and leading the way in ethical manufacturing.