Knowledge e xchange

1. Knowledge exchange Bonding technology Introduction • Our advanced bonding techniques, initially supported by a PIPPS technology transfer award to SpanOptic Ltd (UK), have led to a UK patent for bonding silicon carbide, with further applications under development. These include • At UWS we are studying endothelial and mesenchymal stem cells and their responses to ‘nanokicking’, nano-mechanical stimulation, in collaboration with Life Sciences colleagues at Glasgow University and Strathclyde University. This work will be of major interest for cell biologists and may • lead to significant • improvements to • biomaterial design • and therapeutic • techniques, with • applications in a • wide variety of • treatments, such • as cell growth structuring and regeneration. • In seeking further expansion of our KE activities we will continue to work closely with Research & Enterprise and Business Development staff in each institution, who will play an ongoing key role in: • Identifying opportunities and funding calls for future KE • Liaising with current and possible future beneficiaries • Organising information and training workshops for • staff, postdocs and students. • In Scotland we will also engage strongly with the new Fraunhofer Centre in Applied Photonics and the newly approved Scottish Innovation Centre in Sensors and Imaging. • We believe that we have in place robust procedures to protect the IP derived from the outputs of our research. Moreover we believe that our highly successful recent engagement with industry in the UK and beyond indicates that we will have in place effective mechanisms for future exploitation of our proposed research. We regard Knowledge Exchange as a core activity for all of our academics, as well as making a key contribution to postgraduate and postdoctoral training. The international collaborative aspects of the Gravitational Wave field mean leadership and project management skills are paramount. In this poster we highlight some of our recent Knowledge Exchange activities and future plans. Staff in the IGR are part of SU2P: a £2.4M initiative funded by RCUK, the SFC and Scottish Enterprise. This collaboration delivers a radical new approach to business engagement, with facilitated, flexible interactions between UK industry and university researchers in Scotland and the US – building on Scotland’s universities world-class research outputs in photonics and strong links to Stanford and Caltech. Our procurement of Advanced LIGO components has returned ~£2.6M to UK industry, involving contracts with a large number of companies, including SpanOptic Ltd, LaserLines Ltd and Crystran Ltd. Staff in the IGR (Scintrex, MicrogLaCoste) and at Strathclyde University (Gravitech) are working with the oil industry to develop advanced gravity gradiometers for oil prospecting. transfer of our silicon carbide technology to Gooch and Housego, through a KTP award, to develop adhesive-free bonding methods for optical applications.. Photonics Innovation Stem cell research Advanced LIGO Future strategies . Sensor technology IGR staff are also working with Thales, via an STFC mini-IPS Award, applying Bayesian inference methods developed for gravitational wave searches to improve infra-red imaging. This work has important defence and security applications.