Read about the Engineering Design Academy, R&D opportunities with China, new science and technology start-up companies, research with IBM, Booths and regional Small and Medium Enterprises, seed funding for new products and processes, new facilities for hire, free events and training, new companies on campus, plugging the data science skills gap, and much more...
Collaborative Research
Between 2013-2014 Science and Technology at Lancaster continued to develop strong and successful partnerships with external partners in the UK and overseas. We supported collaborative projects that addressed specific industrial needs including 68 Impact Acceleration Amount projects to develop new products and processes. We formed collaborations with multiple partners, such as the MUMBA project to protect critical infrastructure and signed a memorandum of understanding with IBM.
Facilities for Research and Development
We secured funding to develop a £11.4m chemistry facility to bolster high-value manufacturing which will see a significant expansion of our facilities and equipment. Our resident businesses continue to thrive, four have increased their presence on campus due to expansion.
Commercialisation of Intellectual Property
2013-2014 saw the formation of two university spin-out companies. A materials-analysis company from our top-ranked physics department and Novabiomatrix Limited created to tap into the multibillion-dollar cell culture technology industry.
Student engagement
During 2013-2014 we launched a £1.7m Engineering Design Academy and a Data Science Masters both of which offer industry support through student projects. We supported a number of industry-led research collaborations with our postgraduate students including 28 Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering and 4 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. In total, we arranged 366 collaborations between students and a wide range of organisations, from regional small and medium enterprises to international corporates.
Professional training
We have expanded our portfolio of industry-led professional training with courses in flood risk management designed in collaboration with JBA Consulting. Our MSc in Cyber Security received full certification from the UK’s national intelligence agency and we welcomed Unilever to deliver environmental training to our students.
International partnerships
2013-2014 saw increased activity with our international partners, including the KARIM project assisting over 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in North West Europe. We also took the first 15 businesses to China to benefit from the links developed as part of the £5.1 million Lancaster China Catalyst Programme.
Measuring our performance
We measure the success of business partnerships and enterprise, highlighting a significant improvement to the return on investment we have realised from public funding over the last three years.2014-2015 looks set to be another exciting year for Science and Technology. We look forward to developing collaborative relationships with new partners.
Contact us
For more information about collaborating with the Engineering Department and funded product development contact Helen Atherton, & Chris Lambert, part of the Lancaster Product Development Unit.