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Spanoptics benefit from Research Council support

Thursday 28th February 2008
Courtesy: http://www.spanoptic.com/

Small businesses are benefitting from partnerships with academic researchers in the UK. One example give is a transfer of technology from Glasgow University to the company Spanoptic to enable it to develop astronomical lenses for the UK Astronomy Technology Centre.

Spanoptic, based in Glen Rothes, Fife has a portofolio of products which have applications in both medicine and aerospace and the company benefited by having a new process available for commercial application.

The example is one of several given in a new publication from the Research Council UK,  revealing that that sectors as diverse as high precision engineering and educational software have benefited from Research Councils’ support for research in Universities and institutes.

 Successful collaborations with Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Science and Innovation Minister Ian Pearson said, “Research Councils have a vital role to play in increasing the economic impact of the UK’s research base. They manage almost £3bn of the total £6bn DIUS research budget and therefore it is important they continue to increase the economic impacts of their work for the benefit of the UK economy and society.”

Speaking on behalf of RCUK, Professor Philip Esler said, “Collaboration between researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises is extremely valuable to the advancement of research across the sciences and the arts and humanities. It allows the industrial partner to gain access to the latest technology, research developments and knowledge, while the academic partner benefits from working with business on real problems and develops greater business awareness. It also allows the Research Councils to maximise the impact of their investments for the benefit of the economy and enables a two way flow of ideas and knowledge.”

Among other examples  including technology, community, health and environment include:

  • Collaboration between Cambridge Life Sciences LTD and the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne to develop a product to cut the test processing time for suspected heart attack patients from 4 hours to 10 minutes.
  • Study by researchers from Queens University Belfast to provideTexthelp with independent validation of a piece of software designed to help children with dyslexia.
  • Collaboration between Westland Geoprojects LTD and researchers from the University of Plymouth to develop a new marine mammal seismic monitoring system that reduces the impact of seismic surveys on marine life.
  • A researcher from the University of Sheffield working with the company TimberPlay to revolutionise playground environments and promote the value in ‘natural’ environments.


Source :http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/cmsweb/downloads/rcuk/publications/impactssmes.pdf
Web: http://www.spanoptic.com/

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