Breakthrough Issue 14

The United Kingdom Science Park Association magazine | Issue 14

SciEncE

|

i n n O vAT i O n

|

RESEARcH

|

TEcHnOlOGy

The key to being cyber secure 42 pURpOSE And pASSiOn

54 KEEpinG jAnET SAfE & SOUnd

64 inSiGHT inTO BiG dATA

PURELAB® Chorus Innovation and Flexibility Ideal for a wide range of applications

www.veoliawatertechnologies.co.uk

sales.watertech@veolia.com

01628 897 260

Odyssey® M The most sophisticated imager the industry has ever seen Empower your lab with an extensive array of applications and detection options. Create new research opportunities and follow your discoveries–wherever they lead.

Get a live, one-on-one tour of the Odyssey M at: licor.com/odyssey-m-tour

• Dozens of assays, including three-color Western blots and cell-based assays • Up to 18 channels across fluorescent, colorimetric, and luminescent spectrums • Optimal sensitivity to reveal subtle changes between samples • Industry-leading 5-micron resolution to see detailed tissue sections for triaging

What’s on the horizon?

We care about the future and collaboration is at the heart of our approach Our unique combination of laboratory, workshop & office space, provides companies in the life sciences, aerospace, automotive and construction technology sectors the ideal location to grow their business in a Covid-Secure environment This exciting facility is designed specifically to support and encourage the growth of innovative and knowledge based companies, transforming how we live and work

Together we can make a difference

For more information about these exciting facilities contact :

joinus@wolverhamptonsp.co.uk 01902 824100 www.wolverhamptonsp.co.uk BT_s _21

INTRODUCTION

Creating the future by making the best use of what we’ve got UKSPA’s Interim Chair Patrick Bonnett reflects on the Government’s Innovation Strategy…

T

hursday July 22nd saw the publication of the new Innovation Strategy by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The strategy was launched by Kwasi Kwarteng, the BEIS Secretary of State at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre near Sheffield.

Sitting in the audience at the launch and having worked with other UKSPA member colleagues to feed into the consultation process that informed the strategy it was interesting to see which elements of the strategy were emphasised at the launch, and the subsequent Q&A. It’s important to reflect on what the Strategy is and also what it is not. What it isn’t is a document full of operational detail – unlike the Industrial Strategy of 2017 - there is a certain lack of specificity within the 116 page document. What it is is a strategy which seems to accept a model of funding and delivering innovation which embraces elements of risk more comfortably and is also more diverse in its approach than might be expected from central government.

UKSPA

T: 01799 532050 E: info@ukspa.org.uk W: www.ukspa.org.uk l Executive Director Jim Duvall l Communications Manager Adrian Sell l Membership Administrator Louise Tilbrook

The strategy outlines how the government will focus its efforts to support businesses and institutions delivering innovation, setting out plans in four areas: access to finance for businesses; supporting and nurturing talent; recognising and helping institutions and places support innovation and stimulating innovation in technology and missions that will provide the UK with a strategic advantage.

Each of these four areas mirror what UKSPA members deliver to their tenant companies, partners and their local economies on a daily basis. To make the strategy a success, BEIS must translate this blueprint strategy into reality. The UK has a mature and evolving innovation ecosystem which can help deliver the objectives contained within the Innovation Strategy.

With over 130 member locations across the UK, from Orkney to Plymouth, from Belfast to Aberystwyth, UKSPA is ideally placed to help turn concept into reality. But we must be smart, this ecosystem needs to be nurtured and supported and we must hold

OPEN BOX MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS l l l l l l

Director Stuart.Walters@ob-mc.co.uk Director Sam Skiller - Sam@ob-mc.co.uk Production Manager Mark.Lamsdale@ob-mc.co.uk Production Matt.Hood@ob-mc.co.uk Advertising Sales Frances.Murphy@ob-mc.co.uk Editor Ian Halstead - halsteadian@aol.com

We are committed to sustainable forest management and this publication is printed by Buxton Press who are certified to ISO14001:2015 Standards (Environmental Management System). Buxton prints only with 100% vegetable based inks and uses alcohol free printing solutions, eliminating volatile organic compounds as well as ozone damaging emissions.

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

government’s feet to the fire on this.

Government needs to work with UKSPA and its members to leverage our existing assets, making the most of the multi £billion investments made over past decades in our innovation infrastructure. This infrastructure is place based and forms the UK wide network around which ‘things happen’ clusters develop, supply chains grow, new industries are born and nurtured, new skills develop and high value sustainable employment is created.

The UKSPA network provides a spring board for levelling up and sustained economic growth in all four nations. Our network and members represent one of the UK’s most significant innovation delivery assets.

We look forward to working with BEIS and its constituent bodies to operationalise and deliver the Innovation Strategy, taking world-leading science and developing it into new products and services that are successful in international markets - something that UKSPA members have been doing highly effectively since 1984. ■

Breakthrough is published on behalf of UKSPA

by Open Box Media & Communications, Premier House, 13 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham B3 1RB. T: 0121 200 7820.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the consent of UKSPA.

Open Box Media & Communications are proud to be corporate sponsors of Heart Research UK (Midlands).

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 5

12 THINKING GLOBAL The current and past European presidents of the International Association of Science Parks, Salvatore Majorana and Lena Miranda, give their takes on innovation, global co-operation and much more.

09

Convergence is crucial BluescreenIT’s founder and CEO, Michael Dieroff, considers what happens when cyber and physical security converge – and collide.

34

Impact

Innovation

Advocacy

CONTENTS

All eyes on lab innovations 2021 A look ahead to the UK’s biggest trade show for the laboratory industry as it returns for 2021

54

Keeping Janet safe & sound Jisc’s chief security architect, Lee Harrigan-Green, discusses the potential for cyber-attacks on the UK’s research, science and education communities.

6 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

30 MIF delivers Innovation 4.0 Professor Matt Reed takes us on a virtual tour of the University of Liverpool’s Materials Innovation Factory.

37 Showcase for talent Ahead of Lab Innovations 2021, Breakthrough hears from two of its exhibitors, Green Light Laboratories and Autoscribe International.

40 LAB AWARDS 2021 Sarah Lawton, Editor of Laboratory News, looks forward to the Lab Awards 2021 - an opportunity to celebrate those that helped advance laboratory research and development in the past 18 months.

58 Decoding nature’s DNA Environmental DNA pioneers NatureMetrics are fast establishing an international presence. We find out more about this innovative enterprise.

62 The Smart Labs Approach to High-Performance Science Facilities Smart Labs enables safe and efficient world-class science with a combination of physical and administrative techniques to assess, optimise, and manage high-performance laboratories.

CONTENTS

Man for all seasons Surrey Research Park’s CEO, Grant Bourhill on his career, his strategic vision and his love of innovation.

52 COMMITMENT TO A DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY MUST COME FROM THE TOP CEO at WISE, Kay Hussain, has much experience of initiating projects to improve gender balance in organisations. She looks at the role leaders play in creating sustainable cultural change.

42

Growth

46 COLLABORATION MAKES IBRB ANOTHER JEWEl IN WARWICK’S CROWN Completed in early 2021, the new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) at the University of Warwick has come into commission at precisely the right time for the scientific research community.

27 New innovation strategy brings a breath of fresh air Close-to-market innovation across the UK is central to the new Innovation Strategy, say UKSPA’s Patrick Bonnett and AIRTO’s Steve Yianni and Paul Howarth.

Purpose and passion Cheltenham’s ambitious Golden Valley Development (GVD) aims to give the UK an international advantage in cyber-security and digital innovation. Breakthrough hears how.

INSIGHT INTO BIG DATA NESTA’s Joel Klinger offers Breakthrough his personal take on issues around Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI).

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

68 Healthcare vision in harmony Breakthrough hears from East Midlands Academy Health Science Network’s Mike Watson, and West Midlands Academy Health Science Network’s Jordan Farnell, about how digital technology and AI are combining to enhance healthcare provision and adult care across the region.

Trends

64

Support

16

22 Formula for success Devon’s Environmental Futures and Big Data Impact Lab is making big waves in the regional economy.

We head south-west to find out more from its programme director Robert Kathro and innovation manager Sarah Fear.

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 7

The world according to UKSPA and its members

Advocacy Convergence is crucial BluescreenIT’s founder and CEO, Michael Dieroff, considers what happens when cyber and physical security converge – and collide.

C

yber-security is a fiercely competitive and unforgiving industry, where reputations can be destroyed overnight and the weak won’t survive.

However, Plymouth-based BluescreenIT (BIT Group) has earned an international reputation since it was established in 2004, holds training sessions for Ministry of Defence personnel worldwide, and has National Cyber Security Centre accreditation for its security courses.

Dieroff is also helping shape future national policy, as chair of the government’s Digital Policy Alliance’s security skills and partnerships group.

So it’s clear that he’s speaking from both expertise and experience, when asked about the challenges created by the convergence of security in both its cyber and its physical forms.

“Traditional elements, such as locks, keys and security guards, are still prevalent, but they are now usually accompanied by an ever-growing arsenal of sophisticated and technologicallyempowered solutions which only existed as concepts just a few years ago,” says Dieroff.

“From biometric tools, such as iris detection and facial recognition, to smart sensors, RFID and cloud-based video management systems, it’s a landscape filled with promise and potential, but … there’s a catch.

“The recent evolution has been hugely positive, but equally, it has resulted in a

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 9

ADVOCACY

merging of the physical and digital worlds, and we’re now witnessing the ‘collision’ between new technologies and systems designed for cyber-security – and those created for physical security.

“Unfortunately, when companies try build bridges between these previously distinct spheres, important considerations are regularly forgotten, exposing a fresh set of risks and vulnerabilities of which many organisations simply aren’t aware.”

Inevitably, most physical security systems are heavily reliant upon connectivity. Machine learning, AI and other technologies collect huge amounts of data, which then flows into a central system controlling the physical elements which protect both key assets and lives.

However, vulnerabilities often emerge from within this connectivity, allowing hackers to penetrate, intercept, manipulate and override the physical systems.

“They might, for instance, cut off a building’s cooling mechanism and turn up the tempo of the generator, causing the heating system to overheat and burst into flames, rendering it useless and creating a fire hazard or even loss of life,” says Dieroff.

“The threats and risks stretch as far as your imagination will take you. In hacking and manipulating these technologies, criminals are now able to gain access to critical systems, altering the way in which they work and extracting the data they use.

“The core problem is that many organisations think they’re immune to such attacks, not least as they’ve usually invested heavily in cyber-security and physical security. They don’t have the knowledge to see potential threats, and don’t realise their systems are operating in silos.”

P E N E T R AT I O N T E S T

He recalls an instance when BIT was asked by a company to carry out what his industry calls a ‘penetration test’.

“They hadn’t properly secured their physical security assets, so we were able to hack their access control system and watch their on-site guard walking through the building, knowing exactly where he was at all times,” recalls Dieroff “We then intercepted their alarm, directing the message straight to our lap-top and then killing it on site, which left their premises and assets unprotected.

10 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

“After the test, we went to their technology provider’s website and viewed their publicly-available case studies to find out who else might be at risk and discovered that one of them was a High Street bank.

“We then spoke to their chief engineer and found there were no systems in place protecting its access control, CCTV, and alarm monitoring systems. As a result, we uncovered six ‘back-doors’ through which their physical control systems could be hackled very simply.”

It’s puzzling to discover that physical security systems are often so vulnerable, and Dieroff draws on his experience of more than 20 years in both public and private sector to suggest why.

“Unfortunately, although there are obviously exceptions, physical security professionals still typically consider the cyber world to be nothing more than ‘voodoo’,” he says.

“In general, there’s a lack of knowledge, so people aren’t aware of the vulnerabilities, and if they are, they usually don’t know where to start in solving them, where they might exist, or how severe they might be.”

T H E K E Y O F T HR E E

Dieroff highlights three key issues which surface repeatedly, when BIT teams are called in to review security systems and apply penetration tests.

• Very often, the systems installed for security (usually CCTV or access control) link to the internet via a basic router and don’t flow through security control systems, but use separate VLAN connections which aren’t protected - despite being the critical operational hub.

• Administrative rights are often linked to a shared user account. When physical guards log on, they all use the same access credentials, which kills accountability. When your admin rights are linked, it just takes one swift move by a hacker - and you’ve been had.

• Many people fail to check the applications and APIs used by their security systems. A CCTV system might look flashy, but if its data-base isn’t encrypted, hackers can easily access key personal data about employees which can then be shifted onto the dark net.

He admits that management teams are often so puzzled by the complexities of the technologies and systems involved in cyber-security that they wonder where to start.

However, Dieroff says there are several basic steps to ensure they have comprehensive protection, even as the lines between physical and cyber security continue to blur.

“A risk assessment empowers a company to understand their unique risks and measure their options by cost which is crucial. No security team can make the right investment decisions if they simply don’t understand the potential threats.

“With penetration tests, you might discover one way into a company’s systems, but there could be many more.

A vulnerability assessment essentially highlights all your ‘shaky doors and windows’, which can be fixed, and can then be backed up by subsequent penetration tests.

“The key is creating a quantifiable risk measurement policy which analyses severity (perhaps from loss of IP to loss of life) and likelihood (might something happen once in five years, or imminently and would it be on a repeatable basis).

“You can then see both what you have to do in terms of compliance and what you should do to mitigate the greatest risks. There will likely also be smaller risks, which you may ultimately decide that you are happy to take.”

Dieroff stresses that it’s crucial for all decisions about both cyber-security and physical security to be taken via a collective process, conducted and reviewed by an organisation’s key leadership groups.

“Putting systems into different silos is what causes most security problems, so all departments have to be involved or you’re likely to keep repeating the same mistakes,” he says.

“Security by design only happens when it’s based on a solid bedrock of effective decision making, because – in common with any major strategic decision – there first needs to be a convergence of minds, a convergence of expertise and a convergence of outlooks.” ■

For more on BluescreenIT, please visit: www.bluescreenit.co.uk

Spotlight on Surrey’s Sustainability Cluster

A

s the world’s leaders prepare to gather in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), sustainability is rightly at the forefront of the political agenda - with the spotlight sharply focused on UK industry and what we can bring to the table to help protect and preserve our planet.

The world is waking up to the urgent need to reverse the damage we have done to our environment and keep the Paris Agreement’s target 1.5 degree temperature increase within reach, and Surrey Research Park tenants are leading the way with ambitious new technology that offers real solutions. Our sustainability cluster is growing rapidly, with tenants choosing Surrey Research Park for our links with the University of Surrey, geographical location and opportunity to scale.

Joining us most recently is NatureMetrics, a worldleading provider of biodiversity monitoring data using environmental DNA. NatureMetrics delivers biodiversity data to businesses, NGOs and governments using tiny traces of DNA left behind in the environment by all species, from bacteria to blue whales. Their purposebuilt laboratories are now ready for use and the company, which has more than doubled in size in the past year, has ambitious growth plans at Surrey Research Park utilising a £6.5 million investment to support further scale-up.

As a champion of women in business, I am so pleased to note that the company is led by women including founder and CTO Dr Kat Bruce, CEO Katie Critchlow and COO Dr Juliet Jones, who also gained her PhD at University of Surrey.

We have also recently welcomed Superdielectics, a ground-breaking energy storage technology firm which was established in 2016 with a mission to solve the world’s renewable energy

Vicki Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer, Surrey Research Park

storage problem. The company produces high energy density, low cost, low environmental impact storage devices for electrical energy that help create a clean and sustainable global energy transportation system.

Superdielectrics founder Dr Highgate is a reader at the University of Surrey and started his research for energy storage technology back in 2014. He had high hopes of discovering unusual electronic properties in polymer materials which could be used for storing renewable energy. The research

three-fold at Surrey Technology Centre in order to accommodate increasing levels of research. The product is scheduled to be manufactured in the UK within the next 12-24 months.

A third sustainability trailblazer, Regener8Power Limited, has also recently joined us at the Park. The business focuses on the development of high-impact solar, storage and green hydrogen projects and has ambitious growth plans as they explore opportunities to expand further in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

Equally important are our existing tenants at Surrey Research Park, many of whom are experiencing substantial growth. We are proud to be home to companies such as Future Biogas, which converts a wide range of feedstocks into clean, renewable energy, and Thomson Environmental Consultants, which has vast expertise in marine consultancy, climate change and sustainability, habitat design and creation and ecological contracting.

As the climate crisis approaches the point of no return, our tenants are leading the way in pioneering ground-breaking new technology with vast potential for tackling some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. I can’t wait to see what they do next and look forward to watching our sustainability cluster grow and evolve in the months to come. ■

“ T he w o r l d is wA k in g u p T o The urgenT need To re verse T h e d A m A g e w e h Av e d o n e T o o u r e n v i r o n m e n T.”

1 | U K S PA b r e A K t h r o U g h | W i n t e r 2 0 18

team discovered novel polymer materials that have dielectric properties 1,000 to 10,000 times greater than existing electrolytes (electrical conductors), which could be used for storing renewable energy. This was a major breakthrough, opening up a potentially highly lucrative market with the ability to transform the global power industry and help decarbonise the world economy.

In December 2020, Superdielectrics raised capital and invested in lab space at the Surrey Technology Centre at Surrey Research Park to take the first steps towards turning the initiative from research into a business.

The organisation has subsequently recruited four academics and expanded

For more info, please contact 01483 579693 or visit: www.surrey-research-park.com

ADVOCACY

Thinking global Ian Halstead talked to the current and past European presidents of the International Association of Science Parks to hear their take on innovation, global co-operation and much more.

T

he pandemic was heartbreaking and exhausting in equal measure, but it underlined the huge benefits which can be delivered via cross-border scientific collaborations.

Covid also reminded the world that creative talent in all sectors should be encouraged to flourish and not handicapped by the lack of physical or financial resources.

Equally, effective collaborations and the evolution of innovative products and processes rarely occur by happenstance, which was the catalyst for the formation of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) in 1984.

It now represents 350 parks, innovation districts and business hubs, plus 120 corporate members, based in 75 countries from its offices in Malaga and Beijing.

IASP aims to drive the growth of employment and wealth by fostering global partnerships and increasing both innovation and productivity among its member organisations.

The presidents of its seven regional divisions serve three-year terms, promoting the IASP to their domestic audiences and engaging the wider science and technological communities worldwide.

So it’s intriguing to talk to the current European IASP president (Salvatore Majorana) and his predecessor (Lena Miranda) about their work with the organisation and discover more about their professional roles.

12 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

Salvatore Majorana, European IASP president and Director, Kilometro Rosso, Lombardy

GLO B A L P E R S P E C T I V E

The latter is CEO of the Linköping Science Park in Sweden, founded in the same year as the IASP and of a scale which would make it notable anywhere.

“We have around 500 companies employing more than 7,000 people work and our core sectors are ICT, software, hardware, IoT and AI,” says Miranda.

“We have an Open Innovation focus, and whilst much of the activity is about developing new products and processes, we also help companies transform their business models.”

The country’s 35 science parks and 40 incubation hubs reflect Sweden’s long heritage of innovation, and the determination of successive governments to invest heavily in education and research.

“My predecessor worked closely with the IASP for 30 years, and it was interesting to meet their members around the world, and to discover how similar we all are from some perspectives, but also

how we are different,” recalls Miranda.

“Being IASP president certainly helped me develop a global perspective alongside my European perspective. In Sweden, only a third of parks are in the IASP, but I was fortunate to come to a park where the logic and merit of joining the association was well understood.

“I think the size and scale of the IASP community makes it relevant for both relatively new parks and established ones.

Miranda is certainly well placed to make such an assessment from a domestic perspective, as she also chairs the Swedish Incubators & Science Parks Association, which has some 70 members, covering more than 5,000 companies employing close to 10,000 people, and sits on the National Innovation Council.

“I’ve been on the association’s board for five years and chaired it for three. It’s been informative and intriguing to see what is happening across the country from a science and innovation perspective, and

to see how the role of science parks is evolving within our economy.

“Of course, science parks are constantly evolving themselves which is why I believe peer reviews are increasingly important. You look at how a park is delivering, its model, its funding requirements and you also think about what needs to change.

“You might tweak its operational structure, the services it offers, how it sets its targets, and how it works with academia and industry. Sometimes we carry out the reviews with consultants whom we have known for a long time, but we also have people who can facilitate these reviews.”

It’s an innovative approach, given that peer reviews are traditionally only associated with universities and other research-based institutions, but she’s been in favour of the concept since her first involvement with the IASP. “My first conference was in Beijing, and the CEO of the Swedish Association was supposed to give a presentation on a report about the peer review process, but he couldn’t go, so he asked me,” recalls Miranda.

“I was new to the whole thing, so I had to read the report many times before I flew out and it helped me really understand the intricacies of the process and realise what benefits it can deliver.”

“Obviously, we wouldn’t have had the vaccines without cross-border cooperation by researchers, Big Pharma and others, so hopefully, it has persuaded others, not least the politicians, of the logic of collaboration.

“At the economic development level, I believe we must increase our focus on innovative SMEs and help them scale-up to deliver new products and processes. I also see the rise of cities as a very powerful trend.

“Property developers are having an increased influence on the growth of science parks, and I’d like to see the various stakeholders – politicians, funders, tenants and citizens – develop innovation hubs at the local level. We must make science parks easy to access and easy to work with.”

M AT C H - M A K I N G C O M M U N I T Y

Some 1,500 kilometres away, Salvatore Majorana is the director at Kilometro Rosso, an innovation district in the heart of Lombardy and with a sprawling 40-hectare campus.

I nc r easin g impo rtance

Looking to the post-pandemic environment, Miranda believes the IASP, and innovation hubs worldwide, will play an increasingly important role.

“It’s a very volatile era, not simply the recovery from Covid, but the trade war between the USA and China, Brexit and other geo-political influences, so ways in which we can build bridges and international connections to deliver sustainability and tackle climate change will be crucial.

“The pace of transition to green technologies certainly increased during the pandemic, as did the speed at which digital products and models were adopted by consumers, companies and organisations.

“I think we’re in a good position to accelerate into a more sustainable world, and for science parks to become an even more powerful force for transition and transformation.

Lena Miranda, former European IASP president and current CEO of Linköping Science Park, Sweden

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

“ L eading a science park is like being the conductor of an orchestra .”

S alvatore M ajorana , E uropean I A S P president With a track record in IP licensing, managing individual patents and a patent portfolio, allied to solid experience of creating tech-based start-ups and tech transfer, it’s easy to see why he was chosen for the demanding role.

Like Linköping, Kilometro Rosso has an Open Innovation focus, although its structure and operational model are very different, not least as it’s privately owned by the Bombassei family, which founded Brembo SpA, a global leader in designing innovative brake technology for high-end cars, trucks and motor-cycles.

“It is an unusual structure, which evolved in the early 2000s, when the owner of Brembo was thinking how tech companies could best deliver innovation and how ideas could flow more easily between academia and industry, and his solution was to create a community,” says Majorana.

“Nowadays, we have companies, research institutions, universities, and start-ups, 2,000 people are working here, and our core role is to act as tech transfer agents.

“We will scout for technology needs for our companies, and on the opposite side, engage with providers of innovative technologies and platforms. We provide a match-making service, if you like, for the members of our community.”

The park has also created initiatives to help manufacturing tenants

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 13

ADVOCACY

address their two biggest challenges: recruiting skilled workers and identifying new sources of raw materials.

“We brought in a specialist training company and each year we now deliver around 600 new employees in different disciplines, such as programming, cybersecurity and robotics,” he says.

Bremo’s own expansion has continued at pace, and it now operates 26 production and research sites in 15 countries, employs more than 11,000 people and its 2020 turnover passed EUR 2.0 billion.

Its latest project, a lab-based centre of excellence in California’s Silicon Valley, is expected to open later this year.

Meanwhile, back in Lombardy, Majorana embraces musical metaphor to explain his operational model.

“A science park is usually a large and complex structure, where different companies and different activities converge and where innovation takes place,” he says.

“We try to encourage and harmonise their activities. Sometimes they have different agendas and on occasions, may use different languages, so there are a number of strands which we try to knit together.

“On many occasions, particularly if a company or organisation is new to the park, there will be more questions than answers. You need to explain your strategic agenda to them and you must understand theirs.

“It’s also important that you try to make the various people move at the same pace, because their natural instinct will be to move at different speeds. In many ways, it is like being the conductor of an orchestra.

Kilometro Rosso, Lombardy

“Co-operating and collaborating is always enjoyable, sometimes you deliver the product or the process which you had originally discussed, sometimes you find you have created something quite different. You might even have created a new company.

“When we work with companies, we prepare the backdrop, light the stage and give them the best possible platform to perform, but the results are down to them.

“It’s very similar to the way in which science parks should work together. When they collaborate, they can generate results far greater than their individual parts, which is I am so enthusiastic about working with the IASP.”

t h e w ide r context

Majorana draws a parallel between engaging with tenants in a single location and making connections across the wider scientific and technological community.

“Your horizons may be limited to just one country, but then you hear what is happening in China, in South Africa and in Colombia, you see a wider context, and your imagination begins to lead you in different directions, you are open to new influences and ideas.

“Just as we help information flow more smoothly across different countries, we Linköping Science Park, Sweden

also help people to move around. You might, for instance, have developed software which helps science parks work together. They could be far away or in the same country. You create collaborations. “t happened to me. I set up a twinning relationship between Kilometro Rosso and a science park in Barcelona to allow my colleagues to explore what was happening there and we had an exchange programme which is evolving most pleasingly.

“I see IASP as a ‘playground’ for science parks to learn new things and discover new resources which may not yet be available to them in their country and acquire new knowledge. When you see different locations working together, it is amazing to witness the benefits.”

These two pleasingly passionate individuals have much in common, although one element does set their locations apart.

Both have considered and powerful mission statements. ‘Supporting brilliant minds since 1984 ‘ is the Swedish take on science and innovation, whilst ‘Where great ideas become business’ is the equally catchy Italian equivalent.

However, their branding most definitely reflects their origins. Linkoping Science Park is a child of the public sector and was christened in line with tradition and logic.

However, Kilometro Rosso was spawned by an ambitious private sector enterprise looking to raise its profile in the most visible way possible.

Its name mirrors the gleaming kilometre-long wall of grooved and lacquered red aluminium which provides a landmark, a sound barrier for its tenants - and a statement of corporate intent to the 100m motorists who pass along the adjacent Milan-Venice expressway every year. ■

For more information on the IASP, please visit: www.iasp.ws

14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

AD_130889_DaLL_Degree Apprenticeships.qxp_178x116.5 18/05/2021 11:58 Page 1

UPSKILL YOUR STAFF WITH DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS Our apprenticeships range from foundation degrees to master’s level and are a cost-effective way of upskilling your existing workforce or attracting new talent to your business.

Research Scientist – Level 7 MSc in Applied Drug Discovery Clinical Trial Specialist – Level 6 BSc Hons in Applied Bioscience Laboratory Scientist – Level 6 BSc Hons in Applied Bioscience or Applied Chemical Science Technician Scientist – Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship FdSc in Applied Bioscience or Applied Chemical Science

Find out more W: kent.ac.uk/digital-lifelong-learning E: apprenticeships@kent.ac.uk

The Rotronic Universal Monitoring System – RMS

Monitoring environmental conditions in any industry requires a fully integrated continuous monitoring system. The modular Rotronic Monitoring System – RMS is the perfect solution. It provides installation flexibility and full data availability, anywhere, and on a variety of devices. Rotronic can meet all your requirements, incorporating multiple sensors for parameters on a secure network. We can service the entire system. www.rotronic.co.uk/rms ROTRONIC Instruments (UK) Ltd, Crompton Fields, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9EE T: 01293 571000, instruments@rotronic.co.uk

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 15

Support

On and off-site services for your business

Man for all seasons Surrey Research Park ’s CEO, Grant Bourhill, talked to Ian Halstead about his career, his strategic vision and his love of innovation.

I

t was no surprise to hear that executive headhunters had beaten a virtual path to the Bourhill family home in Cheltenham this year when Surrey Research Park needed a new CEO. They’d already been there in 2018, when the University of Leicester was searching for someone to build on its international reputation in space science. Its vision was to create a sizeable new location where academics, students and industry could dovetail to deliver innovation in the burgeoning space sector.

Bourhill couldn’t resist such a strategic challenge, and during his three years as chief executive, Space Park Leicester was successfully transformed from abstract theory into solid reality. “The university had deployed an instrument into space every single year since 1967 and had a remarkable heritage of both developing those instruments and then analysing the data,” he recalls.

16 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

“I left for Surrey the week after the keys had been handed over for a brandnew 10,000 sq metre innovation facility, and despite the challenges of Covid, it was fully let to industrial partners. The pent-up demand was huge, and it was very satisfying to see the rapid take-up.

“The new space - which is the first phase of a £100m project - also came in under budget, which was a tremendous tribute to the build contractor Bowmer + Kirkland, and the park will be a tremendous long-term asset to Leicester and the wider East Midlands economy.”

When the headhunters outlined the SRP role, the thought of leading the park into the post-Covid era, driving forward its next development phase and crafting links with other science parks to help deliver the government’s new Innovation Strategy proved irresistible.

“If you look across the country for locations which drive innovation, this is one of the ‘jewels in the crown’. It’s a 70-acre park, with 650,000 sq ft of lettable space, there are 170 companies here employing 4,500 staff - and we’re right in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,” says Bourhill.

“The companies range from startups to global corporates, the existing eco-system is strong, and the park has an established presence in multiple high-growth sectors, notably space; human and animal health; the environment and digital (AI, cyber; digital games and 5G/6G).”

A RARE BLEND

A glance at Bourhill’s CV makes it easy to see why recruitment teams seek him out, as it’s a rare blend of academic performance and an impressive record of bringing new technologies to the marketplace, allied to proven leadership experience.

Having graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a first in chemistry, he then completed a PhD in

Surrey Technology Centre, a national centre of excellence for science and engineering

optics at the same institution and was awarded a prize for best thesis.

Bourhill then spent three years at Caltech, California’s world-renowned science and engineering institute – and on a scholarship from NASA – before returning to the UK to join the MoD’s defence evaluation and research agency (DERA) which later became QinetiQ. With ‘base camp’ established at nearby Cheltenham, he spent almost five years at DERA, developing and exploiting new sensor technologies, before becoming an innovation and new business development director with Sharp Laboratories of Europe.

“I enjoyed my eight years with Sharp, including several lengthy spells in Japan, working on various projects to bring several world-first consumer electronic products to the market,” says Bourhill.

Among those innovations were socalled ‘dual view’ displays which subsequently made their way into several high-end automotive models.

“There was a central display panel so the driver could navigate with GPS, but the front passenger could watch, for example, full-screen movies from the same display,” recalls Bourhill.

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

“It was very similar to the way 3D displays work when different images go to each eye. Dual view uses the same technological principle, but widens the angle between images, so that one image goes to the driver and a separate one to the passengers.

The same underpinning platform was also used in another of Bourhill’s projects which launched electronically switchable 2D/3D displays for mobile phones and games platforms, such as Nintendo.

Other applications included upgrading conventional airport X-ray systems to allow security staff to see both 2D and 3D images without the need to wear bulky, uncomfortable and expensive glasses.

The innovation increased the speed and efficiency of luggage screening, and significantly enhanced detection rates for foreign objects or substances A subsequent spell with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) initially as director of programme delivery, and then head of its Smart Systems and Heat operations proved equally stimulating from a technological perspective.

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 17

SUPPORT

“The ETI focused on bringing low-carbon innovation into the marketplace, and I led a team at its Birmingham office responsible for developing products and software solutions to help drive the transition, primarily for domestic homes, to lowcarbon heating” says Bourhill.

“The ETI was a very successful example of a public private partnership, and BP, Shell, EDF, EON, Rolls-Royce, Caterpillar and Hitachi were among our corporate partners.”

The Alan Turing Building on the Surrey Research Park campus houses the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing

“ F or locations which drive innovation , this is one of the ‘jewels in the crown ’.”

A M AT T E R O F A B C

Strategic analysis is clearly something Bourhill enjoys, and it’s no surprise to discover that his vision for the Surrey Research Park is already in place … and is a matter of ABC. “The ‘A’ is to add even more value, which could be by strengthening the access of businesses to students and bringing in more funding for both startups and scale-ups,” he suggests.

“The B is for building even stronger synergies between our existing clusters.

One of the exciting things in the future will be the convergence and synergies between digital, health, space and environmental monitoring for example.

“The C is connectivity, driving greater interaction between businesses on the park and the local innovation ecosystem, which includes the neighbouring Royal Surrey County Hospital and the University of Surrey.

“There are a multitude of ways in which greater business-university connectivity could be achieved. For example, the university is launching new research institutes, one focused on people-centred artificial intelligence and another on sustainability.”

In terms of growing its real estate offer, the park has three undeveloped plots which could deliver around 110,000 sq ft of new space for labs and offices.

One planning application has already

Rocketdesk’s open-plan workspace at Surrey Research Park is a community for start-ups and creative technologies

18 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

been submitted to the local authority, for a digital PET cancer screening and research facility.

Bourhill is also keen to create stronger links between SRP and other science parks and innovation locations across the country.

“I think we can all do more. If we look at the space sector, for instance, there are a number of clusters around the country with extremely strong capabilities, including Cornwall, Harwell, the West Coast of Scotland, here at Surrey and of course at Leicester.

“I believe the UK Science Park Association has a role to play here as a unifying force which helps these centres of excellence come together, and to work more closely with the UK Space Agency.

“Likewise in a whole number of other strategic sectors. We all need to collaborate more effectively, to build synergies, increase productivity and generate employment and wealth.”

It will be interesting in the months and years ahead to see how Bourhill delivers his strategic vision, because despite his relaxed demeanour and considered conversational style, there is no disguising either his competitive nature or relentless desire to excel.

The same traits are equally evident in his personal life, where from taking up yoga as a novice five years ago, he now teaches the discipline in his spare time. ■

For further information, please visit: https://surrey-research-park.com

Specialist insurance for science and technology companies – advice that makes a difference The UK is a world leader in the life science, technology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Companies are under pressure to innovate at pace, but working at the cutting edge can expose you to new risks and liabilities.

Getting the right insurance advice can make the difference.

What if: ● ● ● ●

Your R&D materials are lost in a power outage?

A data breach lands you in court?

Your clinical trial goes pear-shaped?

Your supply chain is compromised?

Are you confident in your risk management arrangements?

The combined forces of FOCUS Oxford Risk Management Ltd and Partners& deliver expert risk protection advice to this unique sector.

And, if you need to make a claim, we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you, getting you back on your feet fast and supporting you through the next challenge.

We take a holistic approach – helping you to identify and understand your current and emerging risks so you can make informed decisions. With our ecosystem of trusted advisers, we keep abreast of the shifting sands of emerging risk, regulation, legislation, and compliance.

With offices across the UK our team of experts is well placed to meet your needs wherever you are located.

From university spin-outs and start-ups to multinational companies, we’re here help you to map the pitfalls and tread confidently as your enterprise grows and changes.

“

Focused on building long-term, supportive relationships and business understanding. We couldn’t ask for more from an insurance broker.

– Eric M, CEO, Life Science client

To find out how we can help you, talk to our team of experts: 01865 953 111 www.focusorm.co.uk

”

Life sciences I Biotech I Pharmaceuticals I E-health I Healthcare IT I Medical technology Bionanotechnology I Science Parks & Incubators I Investors

FOCUS Oxford Risk Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Register Number 773843. Registered in England & Wales No. 10428089. Registered address: 264 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DY. FOCUS is a trading name of FOCUS Oxford Risk Management Ltd.

If you’re relocating your lab, Restore Harrow Green are the experts you can trust to handle Laboratory Services every aspect of your project.

Our years of experience enable us to provide you with a high level of service and our advanced knowledge of laboratory operations mean we are able to handle: Samples, and chemicals, including dangerous and hazardous goods All types and sizes of moves-we specialise in complicated projects Instruments and all types of equipment Cold chain materials IT, data and archives Clean Rooms Office, write up, and break out areas

We provide: A High Level of Service & Technical ability A Dedicated Lab Project Manager An In-house DGSA

We guarantee: Your peace of mind

RHG Laboratory Services

@HarrowGreen

We are a nationwide relocations provider with branches in every major UK city and we are able to undertake any size lab move.

We have a large storage and distribution network across the UK as well as a newly acquired, dedicated facility in Cambridge, specifically designed to support the UK’s largest science parks.

Glasgow

Leeds Manchester

Contact us today r to discuss you project and to book your free consultation

Birmingham Cambridge Bristol

www.harrowgreen.com labprojects@restore-harrowgreen.com 0345 603 8774

London

SUPPORT Sarah Fear, Impact Lab innovation manager

Formula for success Devon’s Environmental Futures and Big Data Impact Lab is making big waves in the regional economy. Ian Halstead headed south-west to find out more.

T

he merest mention of Devon evokes thoughts of cream teas, glorious beaches and open moors stretching to the horizon.

However, although outsiders may still imagine it’s a county dominated by the tourist industry, it’s also now home to a hugely impressive programme looking to drive academic and industrial expertise into the region’s SMEs. The Impact Lab is a collaboration between seven organisations: with the University of Exeter as lead partner, and Exeter City Futures, the Met Office, the University of Plymouth, Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth Marine Laboratory and Rothamsted Research completing the line-up.

As programme director Robert Kathro readily concedes, it’s a significant achievement in itself to bring so many partners together to create an effective support and advisory network, especially

2 2 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

one tasked with spanning a wide array of business sectors and niches.

The programme began in January 2018 with £8.1m funding, of which 60% came from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the remainder from its seven partners.

The lab provides free technical consultancy services to Devon-based SMEs, and in some cases can also provide funding.

H I GH - GR O W T H S E C T O R S

Environmental Futures and Big Data were identified because they are high-growth sectors in which Devon wishes to compete internationally.

The first phase is due to end in mid2022, but reassuringly, discussions are already well underway to discuss how a second phase might be funded.

“Our strategic intent is to exploit the region’s capabilities in data analytics and environmental science. All client projects

are obviously different, but there are recurring themes,” says Kathro.

“For instance, a company might have accumulated data over a lengthy period of trading, but not know how to extract value from it, or even realise its potential value.

“Sometimes too, a management team may want to explore the possibilities offered by data analytics, but have no in-house capabilities. Other companies need help to identify the questions they should be asking around data and environmental science.

“Our work might involve analysis, data modelling or machine learning, it could be related to a particular product or process, or it might involve identifying and removing a flaw from their business model.

“To mid-2021, our partners have worked with 110 companies. Some came to us as mature SMEs with established

FUTURE THINKING

Impact Lab is a partnership of seven organisations to support and advise a wide array of business sectors

clients and solid revenue. They knew what they wanted, but were just a bit nervous about hiring someone to help them address an issue.

“Some wanted to discover how to prepare their business to move to the next level, and to apply for new grants or funding. Others were at the opposite end of the spectrum. They had rough ideas, so we helped to formulate them, then apply academic knowledge to resolve the issue.

“We are always careful to stay in our niche. Sometimes, clients have multiple issues they wish to address, and we ask them to choose their sweet spot where we can collaborate.”

The Impact Lab’s only geographic restriction is that clients have to be Devon-based SMEs employing fewer than 250 people or FTEs. Some sectors are outside its remit because of ERDF regulations – local or primary retail, property development and primary banking for instance – although it’s very rare that a business seeking help can’t receive any support.

“The 110 clients we have worked with operate across an eclectic array of niches, but in general, agri-tech, advanced engineering, aeronautics, services, health and healthy ageing are key sectors,” says Kathro.

“The partners work together to deliver advice to the companies, typically through our team of data analysts.

“Once, we understand what a client wants, we can turn on a project in a matter of weeks which is what SMEs require, as time is money to them, and they will then typically take between 40 and 50 days of work.

“We can also reach into the expertise of any academic, in any department and of any discipline, anywhere within our seven partners, if we see the need, and

the academic has the time.”

Before Kathro returned to his home county to take up his role, based at the Exeter Science Park, he worked overseas, both within corporate structures and as an entrepreneur.

“I know from experience that it can take you months just to identify and make initial contact with the academic, who has the skills and knowledge your business requires,” he says.

“The Impact Lab is very easy to access for Devon’s SMEs, and it’s also a shop window, if you like, for the vast array of academic expertise we have within the programme.

“You can see the real estate offering expanding to cope with demand through my window, and we can now offer desk space at our main building here, at the University of Plymouth campus with the Sustainable Earth Institute (SEI) and at Rothamsted Research’s farm site near Okehampton.

Sarah Fear is the Impact Lab’s innovation manager at the University of Plymouth, working inside the SEI, which brings researchers, businesses, community groups and individuals to develop and promote new ways of thinking about the future of our world.

As her picture shows, the visualisation skills of her colleagues make it appear that she’s working inside a planetarium.

Innovation management is a pivotal role, approaching local SMEs, enlightening them about the programme, and then working alongside them to develop productive partnerships.

Both Kathro and Fear display commitment in abundance, but if the former is more the analytical observer, the latter is the passionate problem-solver.

“It’s a challenge to serve SMEs who need flexibility and quick responses when working with academia, which is more usually geared to larger clients, but that’s why the Impact Lab exists,” says Kathro.

“Sarah does a tremendous job, along with the five other innovation managers across the programme.”

“I think on occasions, the various partners have surprised even themselves at the depth of talent and resources they have within their organisations,” admits Fear.

“Plymouth College of Art, for example, have achieved tremendous results helping businesses with new product designs and packaging, looking

Robert Kathro, Impact Lab programme director

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 2 3

SUPPORT

Credit: Abi Finnie

at what materials are used and also helping with end-of-life cycle product re-use.

“Traditionally, most SMEs have regarded universities as research-focused and student-oriented institutions, which at its most basic is correct, but collaborations between them and industry (in all its shapes and sizes) can be of huge benefit for both parties.

“The Impact Lab helps academics ensure their data and understanding of an industry, or a particular sector, is up to date, relevant and can be put into practice.

“They can share their skills, knowledge and data along the way, and the companies they’re working with can offer them fresh insight into the direction of travel for their industry.

“We’re saying to businesses, we can help you along the pathway to growth, it will be focused on your ideas and your needs, but we can provide academic expertise if you have a particular need or gap in your knowledge - or we could take a knowledge exchange approach at a high-level.

“On Big Data, a project could involve working the Met Office on weather data.

How do different temperatures, or times of year, impact on customers’ decisionmaking and how then do their responses vary to a company’s products or services?

“On Environmental Futures, the core issue could be clean energy, life-cycle assessments, energy, air or water pollution. We take a very broad definition, which is essentially looking at how a business could have a more positive impact on its environment.

“It’s about helping SMEs to look at how their business works now, and to help them grow and develop, but there’s also a positive knock-on effect in terms of their supply chain, local economic growth, new customers, and ultimately more taxes for the government.”

Pollenize work with schools and other groups to increase the bee population

2 4 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

The pair of electric vehicles in Plymouth Sound were the benefit of grant funding for conversion work

“ T he Impact L ab helps academics ensure their data and understanding of an industry, or a particular sector , is up to date , relevant and can be put into practice .”

R O B E RT K AT H R O, P R O G R A M M E D I R E C T O R , I M PA C T L A B AN ECLECTIC TRIO

A trio of Fear’s projects underline Kathro’s comment about the eclectic mix of client sectors.

• Pollenize are trying to increase the bee population, so they’re working with schools and other groups to plant different seeds. They then identify which plants bees prefer, so the university can examine them. There’s a lot of scientific research in the back story, but the outreach is very much engagement with the schools and the community.

• We worked with an insurance company on risk analysis for a client, using Open Source data from the emergency services to see how many incidents occurred in different areas. Was crime or arson linked to a building’s specific use or not? We also looked at how road crashes or delays might impact their operating model.

• Another project involved the two electricpowered vessels now in Plymouth Sound, where

we gave them a grant to help fund the conversion work. It’s very unusual for the UK. If you went to (say) Norway, they’d be commonplace, but not here.

Decarbonisation of the marine industry is one of the Impact Lab’s core strategic areas of activity.

The feedback from clients has been very positive, but even though the website and the brand are generating a lot of attention, there are still many more companies out there who we can help,” says Fear.

“We held an Impact Lab Innovation Showcase in September, so new businesses could come along, hear from the seven partners and see what we’ve done for our previous clients.

“They also engaged directly with companies we’ve worked with and discovered what our support has enabled them to produce and achieve, which we believe will generate new interest in our work later this year and into 2022.” ■

For further information about The Environmental Futures & Big Data Lab, please visit: www.impactlab.org.uk

A World Class Workforce

Join us to learn how to support your staff through Professional Registration.

® ®

®

® ® ®

®

®

®

®

®

® ®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

® ® ®

® ®

® ®



Tube Separation ®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

73

®

®

® ® ®

®

® ®

®

® ®

® ®

33

y urit Sec re e ply Ap eal H S

®

® ® ® ®

®

®



®

®

®

® ®

® ®

® ®

® ®

®

® ®



Leak-Proof Absorbance ®

Rigid Secondary Containment

ALE, IC G NCY B LO TAOR O S BI UBTEG S A C



®

®

®

®

®

®

Se re eCost Effective Sample Transport Packaging Quick, Easy plyand p A eal H S A unique packaging solution for convenient transport of Category B Biological Samples and patient specimens in accordance with UN3373 regulations and P650 packaging instructions.

Ideal for use in diagnostic and clinical trials kits to ensure compliant sample return. Options to suit a wide range of tubes.

24/08/2021 09:33:30

®

® ®

UN ®

Ticks the Boxes for UN3373 Compliance cu

®

®

®

ALE, IC G NCY B LO TAOR O S BI UBTEG S A C rity

®

Breakthrough Magazine 2021.indd 1

®

®

sciencecouncil.org/world-class-workforce ®

Tuesday 18th January 2022 2pm

®

®

®

®

Learn about the benefits of professional registration for your organisation and staff, demonstrating the integrity of your scientists and science technicians.

®

Lab Managers and Technical Leads are invited to attend a Science Council event.

®

23/08/2021 13:09:09

®

® ®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

®

UKSPA_SpeciSafe_Sep21.indd 1

®

®

®

Visit www.alphalabs.co.uk/specisafe to find out more

SpeciSafe-Packaging_Alpha_FINAL_Oct14.indd 1

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 2 5

We love to speed things up.

Productive pipetting from 1 to 384 channels.

We accelerate science together.

To fulfill this mission, we develop the most precise and easy-to-use pipettes for labs all over the world. www.integra-biosciences.com

Quality Pre Used Lab Equipment

A complete buy and sell service • Quality Instruments at a fraction of the original cost • Convert your unused equipment into revenue • New Project? We source equipment • Lab Clearance service

Akribis Scientific Limited enquiries@akribis.co.uk

www.akribis.co.uk

01565 734875

You can reach key decision makers in: S C I E N C E • I N N O VA T I O N R E S E A R C H • T E C H N O LO G Y F or a d vertising sales : F rances M u r p hy 0121 353 1469 | frances.murphy@ob-mc.co.uk

2 6 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

SUPPORT

New Innovation Strategy brings a breath of fresh air

T

his summer saw the publication of the new Innovation Strategy, which is a progressive move by government to deliver on its stated goal for the UK to become a ‘global hub for innovation by 2035.

This strategy supersedes the Industrial Strategy launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in 2017. Instead, the focus is now on a Treasury-led plan for growth known as Build Back Better, framed as a refocusing, rather than a junking, of the Industrial Strategy.

The new Innovation Strategy will be an integral part of the plan for recovery and recognises that the societal challenges and global market opportunities identified in 2017 remain. In setting out this strategy, the government is signalling its intention to place science and technology at the heart of the UK’s recovery from the pandemic by supporting the UK’s innovation capabilities.

Close-to-market innovation across the UK is central to the new Innovation Strategy, say UKSPA’s Patrick Bonnett and AIRTO’s Steve Yianni and Paul Howarth.

The new strategy aims to harness assets across the country, recognising the UK’s geographically dispersed R&D and innovation ecosystem as a means of maximising the benefits of innovation for local economies and building on local strengths in places.

The UK is immensely strong in close-to-market R&D and in pulling it through to market as products and services. Much of this activity is represented by two organisations: the Association for Innovation, Research and Technology Organisations (AIRTO), and the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA).

AIRTO is the foremost membership body for organisations operating in the UK’s innovation, research and technology sector. With a combined

Steve Yianni FREng PRESIDENT, AIRTO

Dr Paul Howarth FREng CEO, NNL CHAIR, AIRTO

turnover of £6.9 billion and more than 57,000 scientific and technical staff, its members work at the interface between academia and industry. UKSPA represents more than 130 research campuses, science parks, technology incubators, and similar locations. Collectively, these house over 6,000 high-tech companies with 120,000 employees, comprising some of the nation’s most skilled scientists and innovative business leaders.

Together, these sectors play a fundamental role in driving productivity.

They include hotbeds of innovation operating in cities, such as the Met Office and National Physical Laboratory, and hubs of activity in non-urban areas, such as the European Marine Science Park near Oban, the Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus, and Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre.

Applying pandemic lessons to pressing concerns

The climate crisis and demographic crisis are, arguably the world’s most pressing concerns. Globally we must cut emissions by 11.7% each year if future generations are to thrive. The market associated with goods and services for an ageing population is enormous, estimated at more than €3.2 trillion annually in the EU alone.

Both crises offer global trade opportunities for the UK, with its world-class expertise and international reputation for innovation and

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

Professor Patrick Bonnett Chair, UKSPA / board member, AIRTO Chief Development Officer, NICA

entrepreneurship. The level of innovation required to tackle these big missions is colossal and needs nurturing if it is going to be successful, so this fresh commitment and investment from government to advance innovation is very much welcomed.

Even better, the UK government has shaped the strategy around lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to recognise the power that science and technology can play in tackling societal challenges and transforming lives, helping realise the ambition to ‘Build Back Better’. In setting out this strategy, the government is signalling its intention to place science and technology at the heart of the UK’s recovery from the pandemic by supporting the UK’s innovation capabilities.

Building on our world-class existing capabilities

If the Innovation Strategy is to stimulate a post-pandemic economic boost, it needs to build on the best of our existing capabilities to fully exploit the innovation and development assets spread across the UK, recognising the considerable investments made over the past 30 years. This will enable the UK to build back better in a strategic manner and maximise impact for the UK economy and society as quickly as possible. We are therefore calling on the government to go further in strengthening two areas of the Strategy:

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 2 7

SUPPORT AIRTO welcomed the launch of the new Innovation Strategy by Kwasi Kwarteng at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)

• Creating more support mechanisms for boosting international collaborations – and in particular, taking steps to ensure that established and renowned UK entities continue to play their pivotal part in programmes like Horizon Europe.

The UK’s international standing as a ‘Science and Technology Superpower’ will be hampered if we lose ground in our relationships with key collaborators in EU member states.

• Boost investment in the innovation ecosystem during the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review cycle.

Some of the UK’s non-profit distributing organisations that lie at the innovation ecosystem’s foundations, offering living labs, test-beds and demonstrators, remain undercapitalised. For the UK’s innovation ecosystem to be truly world-leading by 2035, this under investment must be addressed.

Adopting a fresh emphasis and systems approach to innovation is the way forward

Overall, the strategy’s commitments to increased public investment in science and innovation are welcome. In particular, these areas of fresh emphasis are particularly positive:

2 8 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

Nurturing Talent: Recognising it needs to put people at the heart of its plans by investing in skills and improving opportunities for the brightest and best to come to work in the UK. Nurturing the role of the innovation ecosystem: Capitalising on the extensive network of innovation assets which lies in the UK’s Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs), Research & Technology Organisations (RTOs), Catapult Centres, Science Parks and Innovation Campuses to harness their capabilities, expertise and infrastructure to invigorate future economic growth across all parts of the UK. Nurturing the role of business: Plans to form a Business Innovation Forum to ensure business is fully engaged in its implementation.

Nurturing places: Allocation of £127 million through the Strength in Places Fund – with two of the five announced bids being led by AIRTO members (Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0 and Advanced Machinery and Productivity Initiative).

It is especially refreshing to see that, in rising to the challenge of advancing innovation, the new Strategy signals an appetite for the inherent risk which comes with developing technologies, along with an associated plan for managing it.

Significantly, the new Strategy recognises that innovation is not a linear process that always commences in the laboratory, and that the market has a significant role to play in creating demand. It is also very welcome that the government has recognised the need to adopt a whole systems approach to innovation by coordinating policy on regulation and procurement – powerful tools for driving innovation, when applied appropriately.

Over the coming months, we look forward to working with government to identify how best it can support the implementation of the new Innovation Strategy, and look forward to engaging with the Comprehensive Spending Review the independent review to be led

by Professor Sir Paul Nurse. ■

For further information, please visit: www.airto.co.uk

How We Can Support Your Business Bespoke Advice Overcome any challenge and explore any opportunity through bespoke and responsive support.

Training & Workshops Our team provide a range of training programmes and workshops focussed on different areas of business and ways of working.

Marketing & Branding Redefine the identity of your business and get it in front of the right customer.

Business Mentoring Develop your skills and take your business to the next level with support along the way.

Agile Interventions Change the way your team delivers projects; ensuring budgets and timeframes are met.

Research Services Identify opportunities within your industry and the steps you must take to get there.

Design Sprints Extend your product and service range through a fast-paced development

Become a member of HIL from only £20 a month!

Email info@hethelinnovation.com for more information

process used by Google Ventures.

and more...

Any Questions? info@hethelinnovation.com 01953 859100 hethelinnovation.com

Breakthrough readers can get 10% off our Training Workshops using ‘UKSPA10’ at Checkout!

Innovation

Extending the frontiers of UK science and industry

MIF delivers Innovation 4.0 Professor Matt Reed takes Ian Halstead on a virtual tour of the University of Liverpool’s Materials Innovation Factory.

S

ociety’s relentless transformation often has no place for such concepts as tradition and a sense of place, so it’s refreshing to discover how two long-term partners have created an Innovation 4.0 model in one of England’s great cities.

Unilever’s reputation for innovation stretches back to the 1880s, when its founder William Lever built Port Sunlight on the banks of the Mersey to manufacture

3 0 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

a new type of soap … and provide homes and leisure space for his workers.

The first collaboration between Lever’s business and the University of Liverpool was during World War One, and even the origins of the eyecatching Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) stretch back 20 years.

“The university created the Centre for Materials Discovery in 2006 and it was based on a new model, because although Unilever wanted to enhance the ways in which it did chemical synthesis, it didn’t want to own all the assets, simply to have access to them,” says Reed.

“Their solution was an Open Access campus with a lot of very expensive hi-tech equipment for robotic chemistry. There was a separate lab for

Unilever’s exclusive use, but any company or organisation could use the rest of the space.

“Unilever’s biggest research laboratory in the world is at Port Sunlight, and around a dozen staff used to commute between the two sites. By 2012, the model was working so well that the university proposed replicating it, but on a much larger scale.”

External funding was clearly needed for such an ambitious venture, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) was the most obvious partner.

Prof Andy Cooper, now the MIF’s academic director, led the negotiations and was clearly very persuasive, as UKRI offered to invest 50p for every pound which the project could attract from corporate sources.

“Unilever pledged to invest £22m, which brought in another £11m from the government and the university agreed to put in another £37m just for the initial project, and construction went ahead,” recalls Reed.

“It was a four-year build project, which I was involved with as Unilever’s lead, to deliver 130,000 sq ft of new space across four floors, which included around £20m of advanced scientific equipment, including the latest robotics, measurement and testing technology.

“The ground floor is Open Access, so any company large or small, or any academic partner, can use the equipment through a PAYG model on a daily or weekly basis, and there’s also a team of 18 specialists who understand and operate the kit.”

THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Echoing William Lever’s passionate belief that his company should always consider the wider community, and the benefits its products could bring to society, generating employment and wealth is a core element of the MIF strategy.

“It’s never been just about delivering products and processes for the two key partners, we work very closely at the strategic level with the

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which endeavours to help drive economic development for its nearly 2m citizens,” says Reed.

He switched from Unilever to the MIF in July 2019, with a brief to develop new partnerships with external companies and organisations, and to set up a pipeline of research projects.

Companies based in the UK and Europe quickly saw the merit of its model and around a third of his time is now spent working with such partners.

Given both his roles, Reed is ideally placed to assess the MIF which has now evolved into a successful innovation campus of international presence, and he identifies four elements which have underpinned its growth, and its success at both academic and commercial levels.

He describes the model as Innovation 4.0, where the core principles and digital technologies of Industry 4.0 are applied along the R&D pathway, to both accelerate the pace of academic discoveries and the speed at which commercial products are launched.

“The knowledge element and the level of commitment from the university have been critical. We have large and high-quality academic teams based here, with a track record of attracting significant grant funding and delivering on their vision,” says Reed.

“The achievements are also genuinely rooted in a partnership approach. It can be local, national or international, but it can’t be just a partnership in name only. Andy, myself and

everyone here sees ourselves as working within a wider eco-system outside the university.

“Innovation is of course at the heart of everything which happens.

Unilever have a very ambitious sustainability agenda and by 2030, they want to replace all the ingredients in their cleaning and laundry products by new materials which aren’t derived from fossil fuel.

“They are also determined that every new product will be capable of being recycled or recirculated, which is extremely ambitious, not least because much of the science which they will need doesn’t yet exist.

“The real estate perspective is also still evolving. The MIF wasn’t designed like a science park, to be open for any activity and to any potential tenant. We have a small research hotel which has been so over-subscribed that we could have probably filled it five times over.

“We’re currently working with Sciontec, who run the Liverpool Science Park, to see if we can increase our research space and make it available to individual companies and consortia. They are very keen to be close to the MIF. We realise it’s a very distinctive model and has wide appeal.

“Potential partners in this country and internationally can see that we’ve combined very ambitious academic activity with an ‘open for business’ mindset in the same building, and that the success of our translational model has delivered real world outcomes, and not simply theories.”

“ W e aren ’ t a science park , but we are a blend of what a C atapult does and what a university does .”

P rofessor matt reid, S T R AT E G I C D I R E C T O R , M I F

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 3 1

I nnovation

D I G I TA L L A B B E N C H E S

At the core of the Innovation 4.0 framework are digital lab benches, created using Internet of Things approaches to remove the mindnumbing chore of inputting experimental data from researchers, freeing them to be more creative and more productive.

“We want to really blend knowledge about chemistry with expertise in digital and robotics, so a lot of the academic input is about devising digital solutions for innovation and R&D for the chemical sector,” says Reed.

“Scientists retain full control of their experiments, but the benches ‘capture’ their data. The digital technology can directly interrogate the balances, mixers and other different elements being used and

3 2 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

then collect all the information into what I call the ‘digital fingerprint’ of the experiment.

“It’s a low-cost, but tremendously effective, means of introducing technology to the chemistry lab, and it’s a product of our innovation focus.”

As the MIF looks to extend its physical presence and attract new external partners, the wider debate for the UK’s science park and innovation district community is if its model could be replicated elsewhere.

“We know it’s of interest to both companies and universities, but it would have to be built upon a significant strategic partnership, as here,” says Reed.

“For me, the first stage is to agree upon a joint capability and to have a shared mindset. It wouldn’t work if it

was just about a single project between an academic institution and a company.

Right from the start, the relationship between the university and Unilever was seen as long-term.

“We aren’t a science park, but we are a blend of what a Catapult does and what a university does, and as we widen our real estate operations, we will become more of a science park.

“It’ll be interesting going forward to see if a science park could look to act as the location for a joint activity between a company (or a consortium) and one or more universities.” ■

For further information, please visit: www.liverpool.ac.uk/materialsinnovation-factory/

Logicall, leading the way in IoT Monitoring

“

It has been excellent partnering with Logicall! Exploring innovative ways to work smarter and more sustainably, while improving safety and compliance.

Sodexo had a regulatory Covid-19 vaccine temperature monitoring requirement that was quickly addressed using Logicall’s scalable, innovative and disruptive IoT solution.

”

Find out more

- Dr William Hui

Dr William Hui – Group Head of Safety & Risk, Sodexo UKI - Justice

Specialists in IoT Asset Monitoring in a range of industries Let us answer your questions! info@logicall.co

@logicallws

www.logicall.co

@logicallwifi

01672 564299

@logicallwifi

Monitor your assets, the Logicall way.

All eyes on Lab | Innovations 2021 UK’s biggest trade show for the laborator y industr y returns for 2021

A

t Lab Innovations, the UK’s largest trade exhibition for the laboratory industry, the industry’s leading professionals, scientists, researchers and more will come together for the first time in 2021.

On November 3 and 4 2021, at the NEC, Birmingham, the show will open its doors with a bigger floor space than ever before, showcasing innovations from sectors including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and drink, cleanrooms and more.

Following a year of huge scientific breakthroughs, Lab Innovations offers the UK’s laboratory industry space to showcase their latest innovations and drive the business of science again. Lab Innovations will celebrate its ninth

3 4 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

edition this year with a focus on cuttingedge digital tech that can increase laboratory sustainability and efficiency.

After so long away from exhibitions, this will be industry’s first big opportunity to showcase its recent innovations. At the event, attendees will be able to discover the latest lab tech, source a vast range of products under one roof and gain insight into data-driven case studies, such as those from Green Light Laboratories, which demonstrate the impact of sustainable initiatives in the lab.

Exhibitors are looking forward to launching their latest products and showcasing ground-breaking innovations at the 2021 show. Among the exhibitors are Anton Paar, Cole-Parmer, CEM Microwave Technology, IKA, NOVACYT, Eppendorf UK, Huber UK, VWS UK, Julabo, Sartorius, and Scientific Laboratory Supplies. The list also includes exciting newcomers like Mettler Toledo, Edwards Vacuum, TMQA and BMM Weston. This year, for the first time, Lab Innovations will take place in the

same hall as Advanced Engineering UK, enabling even better cross-industry collaboration than before.

“I’m really looking forward to the industry getting back together, so we can’t wait for the UK’s biggest lab tech shop-window to open again in November,” commented Jaqueline Balian, Head of Laboratory Sector at Gambica. “I’m excited to see what our innovative and forward-looking industry comes up with.”

“It’s an opportunity to talk to different people and see cutting edge and new stuff that’s going on in the laboratory innovations field,” explained Jeremy Parker, Senior Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca. “It’s an opportunity to interact with suppliers and talk about opportunities to try new things in labs.”

With a community of over 30,000 contacts, a monthly newsletter, social media support and online exhibitor directories, exhibitors will be able to promote their company and products before, during and after the event.

Building on its reputation as an ideal tool for networking, Lab Connect, a free-to-use professional meetings service, will enable exhibitors to schedule meetings in advance of the show, matchmaking them with visitors who have a specific interest in their products and services.

This year’s sustainable laboratory will be bigger than ever this year, showcasing equipment and processes used to reduce the impact labs have on the environment. With a focus on carbon and carbon equivalent emissions, visitors will be able to learn from case studies and audits from a series of leading UK labs.

Visitors can also earn CPD points from four free-to-attend theatre programmes – the Royal Society of Chemistry Theatre, the Insights & Innovation Theatre, the Cleanroom Hub and Live Lab. Keynote speakers include Timandra Harkness, science writer, broadcaster and comedian. Other confirmed speakers include Andy Evans, director of lab sustainability consultancy Green Light Laboratories, and Martin Farley, sustainable labs advisor at University College London and health schools sustainability manager at Kings College London.

Furthermore, this year’s exhibition will feature a brand-new event, the Lab Awards.

Brought to you on the evening of November 3 — the first night of Lab Innovations — by Lab Innovations in partnership with Laboratory News, the awards will recognise the key achievements of the laboratory industry.

With the leading brands in the industry set to attend, Lab Awards isn’t an event to be missed.

The Lab Awards are an opportunity to recognise the achievements made by the leaders of the lab industry, generating increased awareness about the latest key innovations and projects.

There will be several awards that are distributed between five categories: Collaboration, Sustainability, Innovation, People and Special. Examples of the awards up for grabs include the most impactful collaboration with academia, the most impactful sustainable process

improvement and the most impactful emerging technology. Winning one of these prestigious prizes will highlight you and your business as industry leaders, shining a spotlight on the best products, services and initiatives in the lab sector.

“Laboratory News is honoured to put its name to Lab Awards 2021 and we are very excited to be working with the Lab innovations team to create this much needed annual celebration of the best in collaboration, sustainability, innovation and specialist projects across the laboratory sector,” explained Sarah Lawton, editor at Laboratory News.

“We are aiming for the highest level of integrity throughout, with all entries carefully reviewed by expert judges. The short-listed nominees and winners will enjoy the prestige associated with being recognised as an industry leader.”

“Not only is this going to be a fun night of celebration, but it will also be a much-needed opportunity for businesses and individuals to network with the best community of scientific and lab professional and companies after such a long time apart,” added Aleiya Lonsdale, Head of Marketing at Lab Innovations. ■

Are you ready to meet some of the country’s leading names and top innovators in the lab sector?

Register to attend Lab Innovations 2021 on November 3-4 by visiting: www.registration.gesevent.com/survey/3g kgh0773yl6n/?actioncode=11180

“ this I S going to be a much - needed opportunity for businesses and individuals to network with the best community of scientific and lab professional and companies after such a long time apart. ” A leiya Lonsdale , H ead of M arketing , L ab I nnovations

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 3 5

Starlab: more than just tips!

MEET US AT LAB INNOVATIONS! Stand C24

From tips through to lab equipment, and all the consumables in between.

3-4 November, Birmingham NEC

We can support your Molecular Biology, PCR, Microbiology and Cell Culture Applications.

GUARDONE®: all in, except contamination.

FIND OUT MORE starlab.click/guardone

MICROCENTRIFUGE 24: super small size, super quiet.

FIND OUT MORE starlab.click/mc24

MIXER HC: mixing, heating, cooling, timing - all in one unit.

FIND OUT MORE starlab.click/mixerhc

New faceplate designs not yet available for purchase

Passionate for science.

Showcase for talent Ahead of the UK’s largest trade exhibition for the laboratory industry, Lab Innovations 2021, at the NEC, Breakthrough hears from two exhibitors.

E

ven in a sector dominated by international companies and manufacturers, Green Light Laboratories’ director Andy Evans stands out from the competitive crowd.

He’s the only full-time employee at his South Oxfordshire consultancy, bringing in friends and industry contacts to assist on projects on an ad-hoc basis.

However, Evans has a notable list of clients: dominated by Russell Group universities, including Imperial College, Bristol, Birmingham, Oxford and Warwick, and high-profile manufacturers of freezers and other lab equipment based in the UK and overseas.

He’s also currently working with government-appointed agents to write the British Standards for energy and temperature performance in cold storage, and when travel restrictions are finally lifted, he’ll be off to advise clients in Europe and the US. “We carry out a variety of services, all focused on helping lab operators minimise their running costs and reduce their carbon emissions,” says Evans.

“We’re often called in for audits, to assess every element of a lab and then make recommendations, which typically fall into three categories: required changes in behaviour and/or the implementation of best practice, procurement, and/or equipment upgrades “Sometimes, we’re asked to deliver training, either as a follow-up to the audit or as a bespoke course, and we also do case studies, which involves testing either existing or new technologies, and also assessing the impact of both good and bad practice.

“One area of increasing importance is writing procurement criteria and guidelines for lab operators. We recently tendered for all types of lab cold storage for the University of Bristol, including the examination and testing

of all candidate ULT freezers which hasn’t been done before.

“All our case studies of equipment are 100% independent. It’s interesting that many international lab equipment manufacturers make claims about the performance of their products, but they’re never tested by a third party within a UK-based laboratory environment.”

B U I L D I T, T H E Y W I LL C O M E

It’s no surprise that the Green Light stand, and his presentations, have attracted long queues of visitors (both physical and virtual) at previous Lab Innovations (LI) exhibitions.

“The first sustainable laboratory stand we built which came third for attendance numbers at the first LI show we exhibited at. The year before LI had given me a speaking slot, which came joint top for attendance,” recalls Evans.

“For the 2019 show, our second sustainable lab stand included 11 case studies, featuring incubator shakers, cold storage equipment, different chemistry products, new consumables which use less plastic than previous designs, and other equipment.

“I think there were 165 other exhibitors at the show, so it was very satisfying to take top spot for visitor numbers on both days. We also do a tour of our lab every hour on the hour, which

attracted a lot of people from Big Pharma and major manufacturers.

“We’ve established ourselves as a trusted and independent consultancy for testing. People can come and see our case studies, and the majority are also exhibitors.

“We do a lot of best practice case studies on cold storage, fume-hoods and other equipment, which helps lab users to quantify the impact of their actions in terms of sample security, safety, utility bills and carbon emissions.

“There’s so much interest now in sustainability and how it relates to the use of lab equipment, whereas even three years ago, almost no-one was offering services to deliver lab sustainability and I’m expecting sustainability to be a central theme of the next LI show in November.”

For further information on Green Light Laboratories, please visit: www.greenlightlabs.co.uk

“ F or the 2 0 19 show, there were 16 5 other e x hibitors , so it wa S very satisfying to take top spot for visitor

numbers on both days .”

A N D Y E VA N S , D irector , green light laboratories

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 3 7

A

nother high-profile exhibitor at Lab Innovations 2021 will be Aldermaston-based Autoscribe International, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and is known throughout the industry for its Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) solution.

Over the decades, the company has expanded into the USA and Australia and established an international network of distributors, but is still owned by the founding Boother family.

Product manager, Dr Simon Wood, continues to drive development of Autoscribe’s LIMS solution, and after 30 years in the industry, it’s interesting to hear his take on current trends and potential innovations.

“We specialise in testing labs, often for international manufacturers working in such sectors and chemicals, oil and food, but also environmental labs, used for testing the quality of water and other samples, and looking to identify sources of contamination,” he says.

“Everything is about the speed at which data and information can be analysed, and the results made available. For Covid-related testing, there has naturally been a particular emphasis on speed, but you always have to ensure the data is accurate and that it has integrity.

“The traditional basics are as relevant as always. You need to ensure that the correct tests are carried out, the data is correctly collated and analysed and of course that the person carrying out the tests is suitably qualified.

“Equally, you also have to ensure everything is being done according to the relevant standards which are in place. You will often be influenced by regulatory requirements when for example, you are operating within a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment, or to ISO 17025 standards.”

C LO U D T H I N K I N G

There’s been much chatter in recent years, and no doubt will be at November’s exhibition, about the perceived merit of the cloud as a data-storage platform.

3 8 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

“ T he cloud is very useful to support labs , but the fundamental focus must always be on the q uality

of the data generate D .”

D r . S I M O N W O O D, product manager , autoscribe Having seen many advances over the years, from the days of floppy disks to today’s 64-bit servers, Wood is well-placed to assess the potential of such technology.

“Unfortunately, the industry is always susceptible to the hype surrounding new technologies and sometimes the basic requirements which apply to the laboratories are either forgotten, or insufficient emphasis is placed upon them,” he says.

“To me, technology is just one part of the whole solution. The cloud is, of course, a very useful platform to support labs, but the fundamental focus must always be on the accuracy of the tests and the quality of the data which those tests generate.

“Data scientists shouldn’t be distracted just by debates about underpinning technologies. AI has a lot of potential but at this stage of its evolution, and within the areas we operate, it is yet to have the significant impact it should.

“AI will be useful when looking at longer-term trends and trying to identify

patterns, because the algorithms will potentially provide a heads-up about something which more traditional tests haven’t revealed.

“AI will also help when you’re looking for inter-connectivity between different sets of data, which aren’t immediately obvious, and therefore allow people to focus their attention where it is needed most. AI-powered laboratories will, therefore, enable improved efficiency and performance.

“Generating data has never been a problem, and digitalisation has certainly created floods of data, but it’s always about identifying the right data which helps people make better decisions, for individuals, companies and organisations.” ■

For further information on Autoscribe Informatics, please visit: www.autoscribeinformatics.com

visit our stand

C82 Our stand will have multiple hand sanitisers and equipment will be wiped down after each use, with staff wearing visors to ensure everyone’s safety. Email: enquire.mtuk@mt.com

When Did we Last Meet?

Let‘s Catch-up at Lab Innovations Join us at Lab Innovations 2021 and discover our latest technologies in laboratory automation and multi-parameter systems.

Visit our stand to learn more about increasing productivity, consistency and safety through automation.

Our specialists will be on-hand to demonstrate our software which can connect up to 60 lab instruments. You will also have the opportunity to see how our solutions ensure audit-readiness and data integrity.

Find out more in advance at:

} www.mt.com/lab-automation Our stand will have multiple hand sanitisers and equipment will be wiped down after each use, with staff wearing visors to ensure everyone’s safety.

Mettler-Toledo Ltd Tel: 0116 234 5095 Email: enquire.mtuk@mt.com

3 November 2021 | ICC, Birmingham

Discover the awards > www.lab-innovations.com/lab-awards

Lab | Awards 2021 Celebrating innovation, collaboration, and sustainability Sarah Lawton, Editor of Laborator y News, looks forward to the Lab Awards 2021, new for 2021 at Lab Innovations. An oppor tunity to celebrate the science, scientists and ser vice providers that helped advance laborator y research and development despite pressures faced during the past eighteen months…

I

t is your business to serve science, but we know it isn’t just about the latest piece of equipment – it’s about how you as companies and individuals have adapted to a rapidly changing world, how you have responded to immediate and pressing global healthcare demands, how you have continued to focus on understanding the requirements of your employees and customers as their needs have evolved, and how you have enabled global science to take leaps and bounds in defence of our greater good.

Time, we think, to recognise that. And most especially this year.

So, an idea spawned years ago by my predecessor, Phil Prime, and cooked slowly under the glow of a partnership between Laboratory News and Lab Innovations organisers, Easyfairs, was purposefully driven forward into reality this year. For the time to stand up and give our appreciation truly is now.

The awards are open to participants from across the UK and internationally.

Participating projects were expected to have a timeline that saw completion of the focal outcome sometime since the previous live Lab Innovations show in November 2019. Awards are grouped across four categories covering sustainability, collaboration, innovation, and people. There are also special awards which event participants can vote for on the day, which include a best stand award and an award for pandemic response.

4 0 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

On the evening of Wednesday 3 November, the winners of the inaugural Lab Awards 2021 will be announced during the evening celebrations at Lab Innovations.

J ust some o f t h e awa r ds When Phil conceived these awards, he believed it was important they both focus on people and provide employers the opportunity to bring attention to the hard work of those behind the cutting-edge products, projects and processes.

For example, our ‘Most impactful collaboration with the public sector’ award acknowledges that the development of relationships and solutions towards a common goal has been more important than ever before. The ‘Most impactful emerging technology’ doesn’t focus on the technology itself but the impact that tech has had on research projects. For the hard-working customer service teams out there, our ‘Most impactful aftersales care’ award is just what employers need to focus a little appreciation on those oft unsung heroes.

With no less than eighteen, carefully considered awards to choose from, we hope employers will make best use of what is conceived as a program aimed at celebrating the people behind the scientific successes.

J ud g in g t h e awa r ds

Judged by a panel of esteemed and well-known industry experts, to include Gerald Law of Innovation DB, Harriet Gould of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Jaqueline Balian of Gambica and Martin Farley of UCL Sustainability, among others, award entries will be assessed against two general challenges and a third challenge focused on the category specialism.

Challenge 1

All awards will be judged for ‘impact’ using the UK Gov’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) which defines impact as: ‘an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.’ Although, for the purposes of these awards, we have expanded the scope of this framework to cover research, development and implementation across academia, industry and public sector projects, products, and programs.

Challenge 2

Where relevant, projects have been asked to highlight resulting commercial benefits, research and development knowledge gained and any future potential the project offers that is yet to be realised.

3 November 2021 | ICC, Birmingham

Discover the awards > www.lab-innovations.com/lab-awards

Challenge 3

Each of the annual awards will also be judged on one specialist criteria within its category covering collaboration, sustainability, or innovation.

To keep things interesting, entrants were told that evidence and indicators of impact could be diverse, to include quantitative, qualitative, ‘tangible’ and ‘material’ information. Linked case studies and illustrative examples could be used to demonstrate both impact type and indicators of reach and significance. So, while no type of evidence was inherently preferred over another, submissions had to include evidence and/or links to references to

Most impactful collaboration with academia

Most impactful collaboration with the public sector

corroborate claims of impact for audit purposes and a variety of presentation methods was encouraged.

E X C I T I N G A N D VA R I E D

With submissions to this year’s awards now closed, we are already sifting through a fantastic pile of exciting and varied entries. It is anticipated that this, the inaugural awards competition, will be the forerunner of what will become a highly anticipated and hotly contested annual event. So, look out for next year’s awards if you missed this chance.

With free entry and a winner pack that includes a trophy, bespoke digital

Most impactful collaboration with industry

Most impactful sustainable process improvement

winner’s artwork, and a highly valuable editorial and digital feature and advertising highlights package most marketing departments would spend a small fortune on up for grabs, the kudos and exposure offered to winners is expected to draw crowds. ■

More information on the Lab Awards 2021 can be found on the Lab Innovations website at: www.lab-innovations.com/ lab-awards Sarah Lawton is Editor of Laboratory News magazine. For more, please visit: https://labnews.co.uk

Most impactful sustainable product development

Most impactful sustainable waste management improvement

Most impactful consumable innovation

Most impactful laboratory informatics solution

Most impactful emerging technology

Most impactful laboratory research model or simulation

Most impactful online or print training resource

Most impactful F2F training

Most impactful aftersales care

Most impactful health, safety and security development

Best stand award

Pandemic response award

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 41

Growth

Sharing your success, best practice, and lessons learned

Purpose and passion Cheltenham’s ambitious Golden Valley Development (GVD) aims to give the UK an international advantage in cyber-security and digital innovation. Ian Halstead hears how.

G

olden Valley is such a grand and glorious concept that it would have perfectly suited the Victorian era, when innovative engineers and social reformers transformed both their nation’s society and its economy.

Numbers alone can’t provide the full picture, but they do underline the scale of strategic ambition by Cheltenham Borough Council, which is leading the project, and its partners.

Their vision for the 200-hectare scheme sees a campus focused on cyber tech and digital integrated into two million sq ft of commercial buildings, where some 12,000 people will work and with 3,700 homes woven into the mix.

If Isambard Kingdom Brunel had met George and Richard Cadbury before they created Bournville, such a blend of advanced technology, employment and residential space would surely have been the outcome.

Just like the innovations which flooded from Brunel’s fertile mind, Golden

4 2 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

Valley’s technologies are very much of the moment, but also of the future.

The council has underlined its longterm commitment by acquiring 45 hectares of greenfield land, and the £37.5m pricetag was its largest-ever single purchase.

Its leader, Councillor Rowena Hay, says a further £180m of funding has now been set aside for the delivery of high-quality and sustainable homes.

It’s pleasing, and reassuring, to see such a major strategic project being led by the public sector and progressing as planned.

Even the timing of the launch – alongside the search for a master developer to lead the creation of the first £1 billion phase – proved auspicious … albeit with hindsight.

Avison Young was brought in to advise on GVD’s real estate and procurement elements, and Gordon Isgrove, the principal in its Bristol office, leads the team.

“We’d been due to unveil the scheme at MIPIM in March 2020 and I was in London with Tim Atkins (the council’s managing director for place and growth, and the

project lead), discussing the launch,” he recalls.

“However, it became very evident within 48 hours that the conference wasn’t going to happen as the world had changed almost overnight.

“We stepped back to reflect, and then held a digital launch in May, which was very apt given that the innovation element of the project is all around digital, and it added resonance to the story we were trying to tell.

“As weeks and months passed during the pandemic, digital tools and technologies became ever more relevant and important. We got strong immediate traction from the market and also a powerful interest in discovering more about the strategy which underpinned the proposals”.

R E M A R K A B L E GR O W T H

The wisdom of focusing on innovation based on cyber-tech had been emphasised just as 2020 began, when the Department for Digital, Culture,

Media and Sport calculated that the UK’s cyber-security industry’s revenues had risen more than 40% in just three years to be worth £8.2bn.

Given the sector’s remarkable rate of growth, and the ever-increasing importance of measures to detect and repel cyber-attacks from nation states and rogue groups, the figure is likely now past the £10bn mark.

Advanced surveillance technology has, of course, been a feature of the Gloucestershire economy since 1919.

A peacetime home was required for the Government Code & Cypher School, allowing its analysts to detect and decrypt messages from foreign powers in relative peace and seclusion, and Cheltenham was chosen.

Even the existence of the establishment – later renamed GCHQ – was officially a classified secret, although both the whereabouts and purpose of ‘the doughnut’ (as it was christened by locals) was well known in this country and overseas.

Over the decades, its presence attracted global talent eager to work there, and companies keen to enter its hi-tech supply chains.

“It genuinely is a USP for Golden Valley, because no other area has that richness and depth of digital talent and the physical co-location with both GCHQ and the global corporates based here,” says Nick Sturge.

“There are a significant number of global corporates with a footprint in and around Cheltenham, and the presence of similar corporates has been a key long-term driver of economic growth in London, Oxford, Cambridge and other major centres of innovation.

“If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur or a start-up enterprise

looking to recruit talent, particularly in such an advanced technology as digital, then it de-risks your model massively if you can co-locate with such companies.”

A WISE CHOICE

Sturge was brought in as a strategic adviser to GVD back in October 2019, to offer considered analysis and thoughtful musings, with a particular focus on the scheme’s innovation core, Cyber Central UK, and it looks a wise choice.

Having established his credentials by creating the Bristol SETsquared Centre, an incubator for early-stage and high-growth tech firms, he burnished them by leading a collaboration which transformed Brunel’s original station at Temple Meads into a dynamic enterprise hub, Engine Shed.

Sturge nods as Isgrove outlines the immediate response from potential development partners, although he’s keen to stress the council’s wider vision.

“The interest was strong, but there was also another core element.

Housing in particular, and aside of the real estate perspective, it was also about developing the eco-system not just in and around Cheltenham, but further afield,” he says.

“There are so many aspects. The commercial space, the innovation, the commitment to research, talent and sustainability. Everyone we spoke to, whether entrepreneurs or academics, developers, or government figures, really bought into the concept, and said they wanted to be part of it.

“For some, this might just be about taking space, but for many others, it will be buying into the community which is growing here.

“We know people come to Cheltenham for jazz, science, books and racing, and even just to relax, but it’s also a tech place and I think the council was right to emphasise that aspect.

“GVD will also be one of the very few campuses focused on science and technology which is not operated by, or dominated by, a single university.

“We’ve been engaging with as many academic institutions as possible, as they supply both talent and research.

“ I ’ ve been telling colleagues at Avison Y oung that there I S a soul to this project.”

GORDON ISGROVE (RIGHT), P R I N C I PA L , AV I S O N Y O U N G B R I S T O L

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 4 3

GROWTH

Factory Berlin

You have 20 universities within 75 miles of here which is fantastic.”

“You’re right, of course. We’d all fail if we simply talked about this from a property perspective, although the focus had to be on the real estate proposition in the early months because we needed to attract a master developer,” replies Isgrove.

“There was a great deal of dialogue between our team and potential development partners so they could understand our aspirations. We don’t know what the GVD will look like in 10, 15 or 20 years, but it will be a genuine long-term partnership.

“Talking in depth about the concept was useful for everyone.

It helped us understand the process as well as potential partners, and we developed useful insights as the discussions proceeded.”

Nick Sturge, Strategic Advisor, GVD (Image: Jon Craig)

4 4 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

FA C T O RY B E RL I N

By the end of July, a preferred development partner was identified, HBD X Factory, a JV between HBD (the former Henry Boot Developments) and the international tech campus developer, Factory.

The latter has been winning international plaudits for a decade, since it established a community for digital innovators, entrepreneurs and start-ups in a redundant warehouse alongside the former Berlin Wall.

After a second and equally successful campus was launched in the German city, a third has since been launched in Portugal’s start-up epicentre of Lisbon.

Meanwhile, Sheffield-based HBD emphasised its reputation for tackling large-scale projects requiring long-term commitment across the UK’s residential, retail, workspace, industrial and logistics sectors by picking up Property Week’s prized ‘Developer of the Year 2020’ accolade.

“The likelihood of bringing a preferred development partner on board through a JV was always very high because it’s such a complex project, and most of the bidders had already identified their own partners,” recalls Isgrove.

“We’re now well into the legal processes and expect to reach a contract close with HBD X Factory during Q1 2022, with a planning application later that year, leading to the start of construction for the first phase.

“At the same time, there are also a lot of other strands to be discussed and developed. There are two distinct parcels of land. The southern half is primarily where the innovation space will be delivered, and the residential development will dominate the north.

“There will probably be three phases for the former, and perhaps five or six for the latter.

“GVD is a campus-style environment, not a business park on the edge of town, so we’ll certainly be looking at ten years, and quite likely another year or two beyond that, before development is completed.”

“I’ve never worked on a project like this,” admits Sturge. “Right from the start, the way the council set out its objectives so professionally, but also so passionately, I was really impressed.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’ve been telling my colleagues at Avison Young offices around the world that there’s a soul to this project,” says Isgrove.

Admittedly, it is slightly unsettling to hear property professionals talking about passion and soul, although it’s definitely a sign that Cheltenham’s GVD project is already winning both hearts and minds. ■

For more information on the Golden Valley Development and Cyber Central, please visit: www.goldenvalleyuk.com

Put our Refrigerators and Freezers to the test

Storage for samples, reagents & test-kits • Specifically designed for demanding scientific and laboratory storage with accurate and uniform temperature control throughout the chamber.

• Refrigerators with fan-forced air circulation for uniformity and temperature recovery after routine door openings.

• Adjustable shelves to accommodate a wide range of storage requirements.

• Comprehensive visual and audible alarm systems ensure sample storage parameters are met.

• Lockable for Security.

www.phchd.com/eu/biomedical

Specialist insurance advice for science and technology businesses across the UK

T

he UK is a world leader in the life science, technology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Working at the cutting edge of innovation can expose your business to new risks and liabilities.

What if: • Your R&D materials are lost in a power outage?

• A data breach lands you in court?

• Your clinical trial goes pear-shaped?

• Your supply chain is compromised?

FOCUS Oxford Risk Management Ltd has been providing specialist insurance for over 30 years and in

January 2021 became part of Partners&. Our combined strength delivers expert advice to companies across the UK, from start-ups to organisations with global operations.

We are only one of a handful of specialist insurance and risk management advisory firms able to deal with the insurance needs of life science, technology, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

Our specialist team has the technical expertise required in today’s complicated world of insurance for industries at the forefront of life science, R&D, technology and clinical trials.

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

We take a holistic approach – helping you to identify and understand your current and emerging risks so you can make informed decisions.

And, if you need to make a claim, we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you, supporting you and getting you back on your feet fast.

With offices across the UK, we are well placed to meet your needs wherever you are located. Talk to us to find out how we can help you. ■

Contact us by ringing 01865 953 111 or please visit: www.focusorm.co.uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 4 5

GROWTH

Collaboration makes IBRB another jewel in Warwick’s crown

A

t a time when infectious diseases and the spread of viruses is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the focus has fallen on the world’s scientists and researchers to provide the answers.

For them to do this successfully, collaboration is critical, meaning that the ability to bring together researchers in high-quality surroundings has never been more important.

Completed in early 2021, the new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) on the University of Warwick’s Gibbet Hill campus appears to have come into commission at precisely the right time for the scientific research

4 6 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

community. It’s bringing together 300 researchers who are working to understand the origins and mechanistic basis of diseases of the body and brain, intending to find new ways to extend healthy life spans.

When you add in that the facility also houses world-class research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology, and disease models, it is clear to see why the £33m project, built by Willmott Dixon, designed by Hawkins Brown Architects and Fairhurst Design Group, and project managed by Turner & Townsend, is already considered to be a world-class addition to the University’s campus.

Nick Waterfield, Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Warwick (below left), said: “The facility is exactly what we needed - it’s a beautiful building that has been planned and constructed to perfection, ensuring that we can facilitate interdisciplinary biomedical research of the highest quality.

“We have people working on anti-virals and anti-malarias, as well as repurposing bacterial toxin systems to combat cancers – new research, which is not only desperately needed, but also best worked on in a collaborative environment.

“For example, our Life Sciences team is working hand-in-glove alongside other teams within the building, such as the Chemistry department on a whole new class of antibiotic drugs, which we’ve already got a couple of publications for.”

In addition to expanding his work in the IBRB, the space has allowed Waterfield and his team to create a spinout company called NanoSyrinx Ltd, which has just received £6.2m in funding and is now operating from the department’s former base on campus.

Waterfield said: “The IBRB is a huge draw and really raises the profile of the university. It is already drawing in PhD students and undergraduates because it is such an impressive facility. These students are not only the future of the University, but of scientific research in this country.”

C O LL A B O R AT I O N I S K I N G

The biggest step forward that the IBRB enables is in worldleading collaboration between the University’s different scientific disciplines, allowing those more used to in-vitro work to do more in-vivo research, and vice versa.

David Roper, Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Life Sciences University of Warwick (above right), said: “I’ve seen the building grow before my eyes and I’ve been amazed at the speed of the build – it’s been fascinating to see how large parts of the facility have been constructed offsite and then brought here to be put together.

“What has really taken me aback however is the quality of the design. It’s a wonderful working environment – the labs are designed in such a way to maximise the collaborative spirit and feel, and we are very privileged to work in here every day.

“There are three floors dedicated to different areas of research, with the middle floor dedicated to bringing together the infection biologists from both the medical school and life sciences to enable them to work together on research.

“This means we’re much more able to collaborate – we can go from our more test tube-based, chemistrylike approach, to doing experiments in live cells. This is a much better way of doing science - it’s a true marriage between the disciplines and it’s going to turbo-charge the way we approach things.”

Thanks to a £750,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation, the IBRB includes state-of-the art laboratory space - the Wolfson Tissue Mechanobiology and Human Disease Laboratory, where researchers will investigate how cells and tissues perform mechanical functions. Their work will impact our understanding of a wide range of diseases, from cancer to brittle bones and heart conditions, positively impacting our ability to fight human diseases.

THINKING AHEAD

As well as being pioneering in the research it enables, the IBRB has also set new standards when it comes to construction and design. Willmott Dixon, who built the facility as part of a long-standing relationship with the university, completed large amounts of the build away from campus before piecing it together once it was brought to site.

This approach meant that more than half of the development was made up of pre-manufactured value, including its precast frame, mega-riser, timber frame, and cladding. As well as simplifying the logistics of the work that takes place

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

on the campus, it also improves its sustainability credentials by reducing the carbon footprint.

With more than 390 vertical PV solar panels incorporated in the design, the building is the university’s most environmentally sustainable space on campus so far and is very much in line with Willmott Dixon’s pledge for its buildings to be carbon net-zero by 2030.

Peter Owen, managing director, at Willmott Dixon, (below left) said: “We are delighted to have completed such a fantastic facility, both in terms of construction and scientific research.

In the current climate, we are extremely proud to be playing a part in the University’s future ambitions, bringing to life a significant scheme, as well as for the on-going fight against human diseases.

“This facility will witness groundbreaking research to further solidify the university’s position at the forefront of biomedical development. For this project, collaboration stemmed far beyond the research that is now taking place in the facility, by working with the researchers throughout the development, we were able to ensure that the building’s design aligned seamlessly with the University’s ambitions both for sustainability and crossdepartmental research.”

Be it through design, collaboration or sustainability, the IBRB is a facility to be admired and another jewel in the University of Warwick’s crown.

By working together to fight against deadly diseases currently front and centre of the scientific community’s thoughts, the collaboration between disciplines is helping huge strides to be made in a small corner of the Midlands. ■

To find out more about the IBRB, please visit: www.willmottdixon.co.uk/ibrb

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 4 7

MEMBER PROFILES

K

ent Medical Campus is able to deliver flexible, exciting and immediate high-end property solutions to occupiers seeking expansion or relocation opportunities in the health, science and education sectors.

The Campus has secured outline planning permission for 98,000 sqm of accommodation that includes hospital facilities, clinics, consultation rooms and a rehabilitation centre, education and training facilities with residential accommodation, keyworker accommodation, pathology laboratories, business uses, ancillary retail services and up to 116 bed class neurorehabilitation accommodation with Enterprise Zone status.

The initial development already on site comprises:• KIMS Hospital which is Kent’s largest independent hospital with 99 beds, five integrated operating theatres and two endoscopy suites. It employs over 300 staff and works with more than 250 Consultants across a range of specialties.

G

reiner Bio-One is a manufacturer and direct supplier of high-quality laboratory and clinical products to academia, research establishments, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare organisations globally.

Focusing on the evolving needs of their customers in the development of innovative solutions, Greiner Bio-One’s range includes products for cryostorage (cryovials, scanners and decappers), cell and tissue culture, including 3D and mass cell culture solutions, high throughput screening, high content screening, immunology, microbiology, liquid handling and molecular biology.

Greiner Bio-One’s product portfolio also includes the VACUETTE® evacuated

4 8 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

• Cygnet Health Care Hospital, with an £18m investment & 65 bed mental health facility.

• 75 bed Care UK Home which opened in summer 2020.

• New Schools – Department for Education have developed a new Primary School, Nursery and a Special Educational Needs and Disability school.

In addition:• £11.4m Funding for Local Road Improvements from Maidstone BC & Kent County Council that will improve the traffic flows around junction 7, upgrading of Bearsted Road & New Cut Road roundabouts which prepares the combined site for future development & employment growth.

blood collection system, needle safety devices, cannulas and the MiniCollect® Capillary Blood Collection range.

Further solutions include a UN3373 compatible Transport Line and Greiner eHealth Technologies, which combined with Pre-Barcoded Tubes provides the ultimate in sample tracking and preanalytical error reduction.

Quality comes first at Greiner BioOne and by using state-of-the-art production technologies, manufacturing under specific environmental conditions and deploying highly skilled staff, they are able to continuously improve the quality of their products and processes

• Maidstone Borough Council are on site developing a 37,000 sqft Innovation Centre to provide office space, facilities and support for small and mediumsized enterprises working in the life science, healthcare and med-tech sectors. Maidstone Innovation Centre is part funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund 2014 – 2020. For further information, please visit: maidstoneinnovationcentre.co.uk • Planning application is being submitted for a Health & Wellbeing Village of circa 50,000 sqft of mixed medical use accommodation that will complement the Innovation Centre. ■

For further information, please visit: www.kentmedicalcampus.com

and are certified according to DIN EN ISO9001 and EN ISO13485. Other quality management and assurance processes include the traceability from raw material to finished product, In-ProcessControl (IPC) and Statistical ProcessControl (SPC).

All products are supported by a highly experienced and specialised team dedicated to providing the complete package of support and advice to customers. ■

For further information, please visit: www.gbo.com

F

or 40 years, Arlington has helped pioneer the development of modern science orientated buildings. Their Parks have always been more “science” orientated than “business” and along with high profile innovation and life science Joint ventures at Harwell and Colworth Science Parks, Arlington have delivered Bristol Myers Squibb’s European HQ in Uxbridge and Eisai Pharmaceutical’s European Knowledge Hub in Hatfield (built to accommodate the full cycle of pharmaceutical development from research and development to production).

Where possible they cluster similar companies from related sectors together and develop open innovation cultures for Large, Medium and Small companies as well as spin outs and start-ups that produce benefits by enabling open collaboration between the innovative new companies and the resource-rich but innovation-poor larger businesses, providing opportunities for personal and business development and a forum to share experience and facilitate appropriately structured engagement.

INVESTMENT

Arlington utilise well-established relationships with a proven panel of specialist designers, to ensure they provide the very best Life Science and

technology-based facilities. Where these were provided on a tailored, bespoke basis in the past, Arlington are now investing to develop vacant, flexible laboratory and office space at Oxford and Hammersmith that will offer the best locations for young, technology focused businesses. These properties will also feature shared equipment for clients including centrifuges, balances, ultrafreezers, tissue and gene science apparatus, as well as other specialist equipment.

This personalised on-line networking system is being developed by the latest member join the Arlington Team, Dr Mark Wareing, who with a Life Science and Pharmaceutical background, has been recruited to specifically build a world class, market leading life science focused platform, to enable companies located there, to better and more efficiently commercialise their R&D and innovation activities.

w ea lt h o f bene f its

Each Arlington property offers a highservice environment with onsite security and full-time relationship managers, high quality landscaping and modern shared facilities including meeting rooms, lecture suites and cafés/ restaurants, along with the very successful Arlington Park-Life apps, which offer health, well-being and social events that improve work/life balance.

The developments in Oxford, Uxbridge and Hammersmith, West London are close to Oxford University and Imperial College/University of London, to meet

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

the increasing demand for Laboratory and science orientated facilities for new companies generated by the world leading research carried out there.

GR O W I N G C U S T O M E R B A S E

Arlington’s growing customer base includes various innovation and life science focused companies. Recent businesses to grow at Arlington’s Oxford park are Oxford Biodynamics and Evox Therapeutics, who will sit alongside other existing customers such as Oxford Biomedica, Perspectum Diagnostics, Animal Dynamics, Oxford Fertility, Ultromics, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Spybiotech, Veeva Systems, Oxbotica and CRUK at Oxford, with the European HQs of Bristol Myers Squibb and Daiichi Sankyo alongside Amgen and Lifescan at Uxbridge Business Park with many more companies in negotiation.

Arlington are actively engaged with the wider academic world and other public sector organisations and healthcare providers from where many of the new, exciting life science companies originate. In particular, start-up incubators are increasingly looking at Arlington locations for their thriving early-stage companies as they make their move away from the University environment. ■

For further information, please visit: www.arlington.com

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 4 9

MEMBER PROFILE

University of Chester, Thornton Science Park

T

he University of Chester Thornton Science Park (TSP) is leading research and innovation Science Park, specialising in energy and the clean growth agenda.

The site benefits from a diverse range of accommodation ranging from good quality office/workspace to modern high end purpose-built laboratories. With over 30 companies located on site who all work within the science and technology industries this site provides a number of opportunities for networking and collaborating with industry and academic experts. It is also proud to be home to the HyNet North West consortium as well as the local Protos development office.

Formerly the site of the Shell Technology, Exploration and Research Centre, the 25 hectare (66 acre) Park was acquired by the University of Chester in 2014. The site is now used for innovative post-graduate research along with the dynamic commercial occupants.

The Energy Centre at Thornton aims

to promote growth and acceleration in the development and deployment of energy-related technologies.

There are opportunities to forge close collaborative research projects and develop relationships with academic experts as well as access to student researchers and graduate workforce.

Along with office and laboratory space the site includes: industrial test bays, on-site catering and coffee shop, meeting room access, heat, light, power and internet access, on-site parking, an on-site cleaning service and wrap around business support including fully-funded ERDF programmes delivered by a dedicated Business Engagement Team.

Thornton Science Park is located near the village of Ince, just outside Chester. It is accessible via the M56, and direct public transport from Helsby and Ellesmere Port.

Other commercial facilities at the University of Chester include: NoWFOOD at the University of Chester

provides a comprehensive package of support to emerging food enterprises, as well as research and support for established food and drink manufacturers. The Centre provides business growth support, access to specialist resources, and incubation space for start-ups. The sensory suite is a unique offering in which businesses can gain crucial sensory feedback from customers.

The Riverside Innovation Centre is a city-centre facility dedicated to the development of business potential. The hub, which is located on the banks of the River Dee at the University’s ‘Riverside Campus,’ provides business office space alongside professional conferencing and meeting facilities. ■

For further information, please visit: www1.chester.ac.uk/learning-site/ thornton-science-park

Stainless Steel Laboratory Furniture

NEW FROM LABTEX

Bespoke Stainless Steel fabrication for laboratories and research, including pressure vessels, filters and bespoke furniture.

Looking for a professional company that relocates scientific equipment?

Large or small, our proven process will ensure a safe and successful move

Contact us today!

01484 600200 | info@labtex.co.uk | labtex.co.uk THE UK’S LABORATORY EQUIPMENT EXPERTS

5 0 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

Call Benchmark Services today

on 01480 423810 or visit www.benchmark-services.co.uk

ATDBio: Using Oligonucleotides to assist with the fight against COVID-19 From synthesis, scale up and sequence confirmation

S

ynthetic oligonucleotides, small pieces of single-stranded DNA and RNA made by chemical synthesis, have important uses in all aspects of molecular biology, genetics, medicine and beyond. But they have recently made front-page news as the major component in COVID-19 testing kits.

E f f E c t i v E s o lu t i o n s t o complEx problEms

ATDBio is an oligonucleotide synthesis company based in Southampton and Oxford, UK, specializing in making high quality oligonucleotides for demanding applications. ATDBio has seen major changes to its business as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Tom Brown Jnr, Director, explained: “All current genetic COVID-19 testing methods require synthetic oligonucleotide primers and probes. We work with our customers, including UK hospitals and private companies, to help them develop simpler, faster and more accurate diagnostic methods. We’ve been inundated with enquiries since the advent of the pandemic, and we’re scaling up our oligonucleotide synthesis capability significantly in order to meet this demand.”

Ian Tear, Senior Production Scientist, added: “We have the flexibility and knowledge to adapt our production processes to our customers’ needs. We take pride in finding simple, effective solutions to complex problems, allowing our customers to focus on their research”.

This knowledge and deep understanding of nucleic acid chemistry, combined with years of experience, are among the many reasons ATDBio is sought after for custom oligonucleotide synthesis.

Shimadzu’s reputation for robustness, innovation, product longevity and customer service were just some of the reasons ATDBio selected Shimadzu LC Nexera Prep systems as part of its production workflow.

Dr Brown explained: “Almost every lab I’ve worked in seems to have had an old Shimadzu UV/Vis spectrometer, still going strong. I also remember reading about Shimadzu winning the Nobel Prize as a student in 2002.

1 | U K S PA b r e A K t h r o U g h | W i n t e r 2 0 18

We visited the Shimadzu laboratory in Milton Keynes, met some of the staff, and were particularly impressed with their knowledge, willingness to understand our challenges, and ability to find us a system that was a match for our needs.

Shimadzu’s appreciation of our needs, along with delivery and support of a trustworthy solution was beyond our previous experience.” Dr Brown added: “As part of our recent scale-up, we purchased several more Shimadzu LC systems. We synthesize oligonucleotides on different scales, from very small amounts for research purposes, to very large quantities of qPCR and LAMP primers and probes for COVID-19 tests. Having the ability to work reliably across a wide range of synthesis scales is crucial for us.”

A n A ly s i n g n A n o c o n s t r u c t s q u i c k ly w i t h m i n i m A l sAmplE clEAn-up When not working on COVID-19, ATDBio engages heavily in research and development, which it views as essential to remain at the forefront of the nucleic acids field. Dr Brown explained: “At any one time we are involved in several

research projects. One of our current projects is on DNA nanotechnology, in which oligonucleotides are used as building materials to make large DNA nanoconstructs, which have the potential to be used in drug delivery.”

ATDBio employs complementary analytical techniques. However, when material is scarce, or the DNA contains a high degree of secondary structure, possesses a large molecular weight or contains components which interfere with the LC or MS such as salts or proteins, the MultiNA is the go-to instrument. MultiNA enables highly reproducible analysis of DNA & RNA using automated microchip electrophoresis. Quentin Vicentini, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher on the DNA-Robotics project, added: “The MultiNA allows us to analyse nanoconstructs quickly with minimal sample clean-up. It provides a quick, reproducible and high-resolution validation that an experiment has worked before moving on - rather than waiting for a gel to run.”

ATDBio will continue to make a significant contribution to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as improving our preparedness for future outbreaks.

Shimadzu will surely be there to help. ■

Hear more details from ATDBio about the importance of oligonucleotides, their synthesis and purification, in a video interview at: www.shimadzu.co.uk/atdbio

GROWTH

Commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace must come from the top Chief Executive Officer at WISE, Kay Hussain, has much experience of initiating projects to improve gender balance in organisations. Here she looks at the role leaders play in creating sustainable cultural change.

W

ISE is frequently asked to prove that creating greater gender balance in STEM will lead to a return on investment.

Doing so is straightforward as the business case is compelling, and evidence continues to grow over time [see boxout].

Gender balance leads to increased innovation, productivity and profitability. McKinsey’s latest report Diversity Wins shows companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams ‘were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile (up from 21 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2014)’.

However, this kind of return on investment requires commitment. It’s not enough to simply hire more women and watch what happens.

Change relies on strong leadership and accountability from the very top of an organisation.

When senior leaders set a company’s vision, mission and culture, everyone else follows suit.

Leadership of this nature sends a clear message that an organisation is committed to creating an environment that welcomes, respects, supports, involves, values and empowers people in the workforce.

I often hear leaders discuss diversity and inclusion as a ‘function’ of HR or the responsibility of the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

5 2 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

manager. They might also point to affinity groups to prove that the organisation is working on cultural change. While these elements all play a valuable role, without board level representation, ownership and accountability for delivering results, they cannot forge a company-wide commitment to change. A workforce needs to see directors, trustees, senior leaders and managers walking the talk. Leaders have to be the change they want to see.

So where is a good starting point?

Leaders need to understand what the obstacles are in their business. Data from gender pay gap reporting, or the annual HR employee survey will provide a good basis, but the best way of really finding out is to talk and listen to employees across all levels and departments.

This requires leaders to be open and willing to learn; and the feedback might make for uncomfortable listening. To succeed, it’s important to really understand what working life is like for an organisation’s employees, as well as to learn about the pinch points and barriers preventing them applying for roles, being selected, promoted and, importantly, staying with an organisation.

Reverse mentoring, where leaders discuss issues with less senior team members in a structured way, is a great way to learn. It can give real insight into other people’s experiences. A leader might be paired

with a black, gay man struggling to fit into a white, heteronormative workplace; an ambitious women failing to find promotion opportunities; or a Gen Z employee looking for a clear career path.

Learning about these concerns can help leaders make decisions that consider a variety of viewpoints.

Equally, reverse mentoring helps less senior team members form relationships with senior leaders, something that may not naturally happen otherwise.

This kind of insight also makes leaders mindful of their own biases and preferences. They may not realise, for example, that while championing diversity, they still hire and promote people like themselves.

This is understandable but not inevitable once a leader is self-aware and talking to their workforce.

The Ten Steps, WISE’s unique change management programme, aims to help organisations create much needed gender balance in STEM. It comprises ten interrelated elements, with two in particular, ‘educate your leaders’ and ‘treat D&I like any other business improvement project’, emphasising the role of senior members of staff.

The programme recognises that to achieve real results and build lasting change, the commitment to D&I needs to be on a par with other business

requirements such as health and safety or financial compliance. But equally as important, real results require consistent representation from empathetic leaders at board level.

The practice of empathy combined with an ongoing dialogue with the workforce will create trust and respect. It is from this position that leaders can create organisational change, raise awareness of biases and outmoded ideas, enable a culture of positivity, and actively challenge teams to remove barriers to success for all their employees. ■

For more on WISE’s Ten Steps, please visit: www.wisecampaign.org.uk/the-ten-steps/

B USI N ESS CASE STATS • Reducing gender gaps in labour market participation, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) qualifications and wages, could increase the size of the UK economy by around 2% or £55 billion by 2030. (Gender Equality Roadmap, UK Government, 2019) • Improving the ratio of women to men in STEM innovation by 1% has the potential to increase company revenues in that sector by £300 million per year.

(WISE: Making a Difference, 2019) • Directors broadly recognize the benefits of diversity in the boardroom—94% agree that board diversity brings unique perspectives to the boardroom, 83% of directors say board diversity enhances board performance and 72% say it enhances company performance.

(PWC Annual Corporate Directors Survey) • There is evidence that inclusion is closely linked to employee engagement, itself in turn a critical component of employee retention, productivity and financial performance. Research has shown that business units that score in the top quartile of their organisation in employee engagement have nearly double the odds of success.

(McKinsey Diversity Wins 2020)

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 5 3

Impact

Taking care of your people, places and public perception

Keeping Janet safe & sound

Jisc’s chief security architect, Lee Harrigan-Green, discusses the potential for cyber-attacks on the UK’s research, science and education communities.

T

he public sector has long been obsessed by acronyms, and many are desperately contrived, but to be fair, Janet is one of its better efforts.

In the early 1980s, the UK government realised that the random mish-mash of regional and national computer networks serving universities and research institutions needed to be replaced by a single and standardised system.

After several years of planning, the Joint Academic Network (Janet) was launched in 1984, two years before a similar US project was completed. At the time, Janet was the world’s fastest computer network.

Since its conception, the system has been managed from the giant Harwell

5 4 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

campus and operated by Jisc, a not-forprofit organisation created to deliver digital services and solutions to universities, colleges, learning providers and science parks.

Now known simply as the Janet Network, it has often been dubbed the ‘backbone’ of the UK’s academic and research community, but it sounds more like the central nervous system in its current incarnation, as HarriganGreen explains.

“Put simply, if you’re in research, teaching or learning, your network connection is fundamental to everything you do. That connection must be trusted, reliable and secure, and able to meet capacity needs as your university, research institution or

science park grows,” he says.

Around 18m users rely on the network, and as cyber-threats become ever more sophisticated, Harrigan-Green and the security team at Jisc have had to adapt and respond to stay ahead of the game.

“When Janet was formed, a team was set up to protect the network, work with customers and investigate potential security issues on behalf of our customers, but as cyberspace has changed, and Janet has been upgraded, our strategy has evolved to meet its needs,” he says.

“Originally, the potential for cyberthreats was much lower than it is now.

One key threat now is DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, designed to flood a network with traffic and stall it, or bring it down.

“ W e ’ re owned by our members everything we do , and each new service we introduce , is purely to create greater protection for them , and help them to better protect their own networks .”

“Five years ago, there was an upsurge in such attacks, which changed the way we work. Previously, the network itself was attacked, but then, in 2015, Jisc was attacked.

“After that, we upgraded our defensive capability and we now have a world-leading platform to identify and mitigate such attacks across Janet.

“Previously, it would have typically taken around 45 minutes to respond, but now we can detect and mitigate such attacks within a three-minute window.

“We’re constantly looking at internet traffic passing over the network to differentiate between legitimate and suspicious activity. The system works so quickly that even if a DDOS attack is in progress, a college, university or customer might never know.

“As a result, the number of organisations using Janet which are impacted by such an attack has dropped very significantly.”

H I GH T R U S T

Feedback from Jisc’s users confirms what Harrigan-Green and his colleagues have long believed, that there is a very high level of trust in Jisc staff and services because it isn’t a commercial organisation.

“We’re owned by our members – not by shareholders or external investors – so everything we do, and each new service we introduce, is purely to create greater protection for them, and help them to better protect their own networks,” he says.

“Trust is crucial at many levels.

Trust in an organisation. Trust in their

people. Trust in the integrity of the information and data which they provide. Trust in an external provider.”

Understandably, given the surge in ransomware attacks globally during the pandemic against governments, critical national infrastructure, public and private organisations, it’s a concern to many Janet users.

“The potential for devastating impact via ransomware is quite high, and we’ve done a lot of work with members assessing the potential for threats, helping them to prevent attacks and also by introducing additional tools and technologies,” says Harrigan-Green.

“Previously, we’d have focused on identifying threats in our network.

Increasingly now we’re introducing tools which members can use to identify threats in their own networks, which might be a phishing e-mail sent to try to capture passwords, for instance.

“We can often detect such traffic, contain it, prevent it being sent on to other people on their network and then act to negate any actions resulting from that mail penetrating their systems, and it’s all automatic.

“In the old days, members and customers would have been given a list of security measures they should take, but nowadays, attacks can be addressed in real time by our systems.”

CYBER ESSENTIALS

The government-backed scheme, Cyber Essentials, was created to give all organisations greater peace of mind about security, and

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

Harrigan-Green says it’s been hugely popular with Jisc members.

“We run a penetration service to test platforms, and if an organisation is looking to win work with the government, we provide an assessment service which can certify that their systems are suitable for such work,” he says.

However, although all UK universities, colleges and research centres are connected to Janet, along with many other organisations, many science parks don’t make use of it.

“There are three core aspects of cyber-security: confidentiality of key data, integrity of key data and the availability of key data, which is known as the CIA triad,” says Harrigan-Green.

“People and companies must look at their business requirements and decide what levels of risk are acceptable.

“Each connected organisation will have differing needs, and those providing critical services that need ‘always on’ availability may well choose the Janet Network because of the level of cyber security protection and the calibre of people we have monitoring potential threats in real-time.

“However, others may decide that, for instance, they’re quite happy to go to a public ISP. Sometimes, it’s about size and scale. It might also be about cost or even an ISP’s brand. We operate a subscription model, so people can’t immediately compare the ‘headline’ cost with another network provider.

“Covid had a huge impact in how cyber security risks are assessed in education, as millions of pupils and students were learning remotely, and doing so via their institution’s network.

“The demand for our services is certainly up, though I do fear some people and organisations are still not taking security seriously enough and will only do so when they suffer a cyberattack, or their systems are breached.” ■

To find out more on how Jisc protects the Janet Network and connected organisations, please visit: www.jisc.ac.uk/cyber-security

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 5 5

The rise in data breaches on science parks CEO of Communicate Technology PLC, Tony Snaith, speaks to Breakthrough about the growing concerns of targeted data breaches and cyberattacks on science parks.

Since 2011, Communicate have connected business parks, office spaces and organisations of all shapes and sizes and are fast becoming one of the industry’s leading internet service and managed security providers.

Specialising in IT, telecoms and cyber security across the UK, they have spent the last ten years sourcing experts and acquiring businesses within the sector, providing a full service offering to a national portfolio of clients.

Operating from and providing services to Colworth Science Park in Bedford, Hethel Engineering Centre in Norfolk and Discovery Park in Kent, Communicate know only too well the pressures science parks face from cyber criminals, witnessing first-hand the types of data breaches occurring on these premises.

Tony explains: “Science parks across the world have always been a target for cyber criminals, the reason being, collecting and selling intellectual property. With science parks at the forefront of the global pandemic for vaccines and research, it only heightened the value of their intellectual property further.”

Having significantly expanded their cyber division over the last 18 months, Tony explains: “The global pandemic increased cyber-attacks on science parks by over 200% in 2021, following targeted state sponsored attacks searching for Covid-19 vaccine information or any Covid-19 related research.

communicate.technology

“The pandemic drastically changed the way we work, with the majority of businesses working remotely it brought new security threats. Security is easily over looked and work from home employees were, and still are, at a much greater risk than those in an office environment. Office space and home environments should be considered when thinking about a robust security system.”

Tony explains how Communicate help science parks: “Firstly, we take the time to understand the risks and likelihood of a breach. This helps our clients mitigate the risk without the need for costly solutions. Our models allows businesses that are part of a community of multiple tenants share costs associated with cyber security solutions with them typically saving 80% and also benefiting from managed detection of breaches.

“If I could make one fundamental recommendation to our clients it would be activate Multi Factor Authentication (MFA/2FA) for all members of staff. This stops rogue actors intercepting your systems by sending you a unique code to your mobile phone via text message or application to work alongside your current username and password login. Having at least two independent login features reduces the risk of compromise by as much as 99.9 percent over passwords alone.”

Recently, Communicate has undergone a rebrand to bring together their multi-divisions including cyber security, telecoms, IT support, networks, managed services and cloud services.

10 years of Communicate Having spent the last 10 years listening to customer requirements and perfecting their offer Communicate has proudly grown from one location to four, having acquired two businesses and created dynamic new divisions within the firm. Recognised for their rapid growth, Communicate have been listed as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies for four years running.

10 years on, Communicate are celebrating with a rebrand to bring together multiple specialist divisions to create an all-inclusive approach that unifies and leverages their offering. With an amplified message combining with a modern corporate look and feel, Communicate’s powerful

new brand paves the way to untapped markets and serves as a compelling reflection of their unique technical expertise, practical intellect and responsive support.

The impetus will also help the company towards long-term objectives, with a key aim to attract talent and add weight to their commitment to investing in those joining the sector for the first time.

Communicate CEO, Tony Snaith, added: “It’s the perfect time for a rebrand as the business has developed significantly over the past ten years.

The new brand reflects our vision going forward and our streamlined full service offering.”

0800 404 8888 enquiries@communicate.technology

“Having everything under one roof provides our clients the most valuable benefit of all; confidence.”

Powerfully connected

IMPACT

Decoding nature’s DNA Environmental DNA pioneers NatureMetrics are fast establishing an international presence. Ian Halstead finds out more about this innovative enterprise.

N

atureMetrics is certainly going places … from the mighty Amazon in Northern Peru to the ancient woodlands of Oxfordshire, and from the southern coast of Mozambique to the lonely lochs of Scotland.

The breadth and depth of the organisation’s work is remarkable: for the quality of both the DNA science which is involved and the data analysis which generates the findings.

“We specialise in two main kinds of analysis using genetic techniques,” says chief operating officer, Dr Juliet Jones.

“One is where you use PCR tests, as they do for Covid, to look for one specific species in an environment by looking for traces of its DNA in water or soil’.

“However, as an ecologist, it can be heartbreaking to look for just one species

5 8 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

which might be of interest as it is protected by law or is invasive, because the samples we collect include the DNA of all the species in the area’ “That’s why we’ve expanded our services to include meta-barcoding which look for multiple species at one time. It’s more of a survey method where we might be looking for different types of birds or bacteria, mammals or fungi.

“We send customers an easy-touse kit so they can collect samples of DNA from water or soil. We then analyse the samples in our labs by extracting and then amplifying DNA from the target group – for example, vertebrates - and reporting back to customers on what we found”.

“We spend a lot of time customdesigning our labs to ensure we have

Dr Juliet Jones, Chief Operating Officer, NatureMetrics

“ W e want to help protect and restore nature through original data and analysis .”

the right set-up and have separate ones for each step along the way, including four types of extraction lab.”

POWER OF GENETICS

It would likely require post-doc research, a passion for environmental science and knowledge of Big Data to fully comprehend the minutiae of NatureMetrics’ model, but its mission statement provides a helpful precis: ‘We bring the power of genetics to front-line environmental management.’

In freshwater environments, for instance, a project might involve detecting the DNA of crayfish discovered in chalk streams to identify whether they’re a domestic or invasive species.

In the marine sector, a team might be tracking changes in species diversity on ocean floors to reveal the previously unseen impact of human activity.

In the renewable energy sector, researchers can collect, collate and analyse the Big Data required to measure and manage the impact of large-scale projects via environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys.

NatureMetrics is also going places as a business, with demanding targets for internal expansion, global growth and revenue.

“We are hugely ambitious as individuals and as a business, and do have quite aggressive financial targets,” says Jones.

“We made a profit during our third year, and last year we invested heavily in building up our team, so we’re expecting to triple our revenues in 2021 and we’re

effectively looking to triple them again in the following year.

“We’re also building new business models to commercialise the insight from the data that we are gathering and recently partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature to develop a global database of freshwater life using eDNA, which will be free for non-commercial users.”

NatureMetrics was founded in 2014 by a trio of scientists driven by the desire to provide companies and NGOs and even local communities with the data they needed to monitor – and hopefully reverse – changes in biodiversity.

Dr Kat Bruce established the venture, after being awarded a PhD in tropical ecology and DNA meta-barcoding, alongside two pioneers of DNA-based biodiversity assessment, Professors Doug Yu and Alfried Vogler.

Its proposition appealed immediately to environmentalists and researchers, and the investment community wasn’t far behind in realising its huge potential.

In early 2016, NatureMetrics set up its first lab after raising £250k in seed capital, in 2019 major expansion was possible thanks to a £2.5m injection of funds and in May, it completed a Series A capitalraising round which brought in £6.5m.

“We find that our vision is very easy to ‘sell’, because when we explain what we do, everyone is excited. People are also attracted by the simplicity of our technology versus conventional sampling methods,” says Jones.

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

“In the past you had to know what you were looking for and then go and find species using experts with traps, nets, binoculars, but we do the opposite.

“Our DNA analysis - which doesn’t require experts to travel to the field enables us to discover what nature is telling us about our impact. We can then also start to use the meta-data we collect to predict what will happen in the future, helping companies to avoid impact, not just to measure it.

“We’re all passionate about the science, but also passionate about the business, its expansion and the ever-increasing quality of data which it is generating. We want to protect and help restore our planet, and giving greater access to the tools, databases and resources we are building will help everyone along that journey.”

MOVING ON UP

As NatureMetrics moved from start-up to established business, and then looked to grow its internal structure, customer-base and global presence, the corporate structure changed to reflect its evolution.

“During the last year, Katie (Critchlow) came on board as CEO to work alongside Kat to really drive us forward,” says Jones.

“Kat’s always had a powerful vision of how valuable the data is, and what we could do with it. The strategic emphasis now is about how we can translate this data into commercial products and services.

“We’re building up the company to allow us to reach out to more prospective stakeholders, customers or investors around the world, and expanding the team by recruiting specialists in energy, the marine sector, extractives, conservation and ESG in the finance sector.

“We’re also strengthening our lab expertise to develop the research side of our business. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of technology, and to stay

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 5 9

IMPACT

there we need to constantly upgrade our in-field testing and analysis teams.

“Equally, it’s crucial to make sure we’re always staying in touch with the requirements of our customers. There’s no logic in coming up with new technologies and products if it’s not what they want.”

The latest fund-raising allowed NatureMetrics to find a new location befitting its size, scale and corporate ambitions.

Jones considered options within a 25-mile radius of the company’s original home in Egham, and admits she was delighted to discover that Surrey Research Park had suitable space.

“We have built up a really high-quality team over the last couple of years, and were already based in Surrey, so we all got very excited when we looked at the park and this building,” she admits.

“There’s a great mix of tenants, and three of our largest UK-based customers are already here, which will help strengthen those relationships. Their presence wasn’t a critical element but was a definite plus-point.

“The move has also offered us a chance to ‘grow up’ as a company. We’d been very successful as a start-up, but a science park location underlines our growth and our ambitions.

“Our new location had to be in the South of England to retain our talent, so we didn’t consider moving overseas.

“We do have people based in Europe and South Africa, and have considered opening labs abroad, but wanted to ensure we could absolutely guarantee the quality of our lab work, and at the moment, the best option is to work exclusively from the UK.” The technology, testing and data which underpins NatureMetrics may be complex to the scientific novice, but the passionate philosophy which flows from the executive leadership and throughout the workforce is anything but.

“Put simply, we want to help protect and restore nature by using original high-quality data and analysis. We also want to help customers understand the impact of their operations on biodiversity so they can act to reduce that impact, says Jones.

“Some customers are even now aiming for a Net Positive Impact and we are helping make that target possible through measurement,” says Jones.

The extra space in the new HQ has allowed significantly more samples to be processed, and the investment has dramatically increased the amount of research and sample-collecting work which can be automated.

The Big Data team is also getting bigger, with a chief digital officer, systems engineer and digital product engineer in place.

“We’re expanding our database using the data we have developed over the last five years, as well as publicly-available data, and considering which other meta-data we could include from our clients’ samples,” says Jones.

“We’ll then use all that information to build out commercial products and identify current and future changes to biodiversity and genetic mapping.

“We’re also ranking the value of conservation data and analysing ways in which restoration work could proceed - and assessing if such work would be viable.”

However, despite such ambitious plans for growth and the tangible desire to really make a difference, there’s also a solid realisation that even the most dedicated people can only give so much.

“When I came into the business, it was to help scale-up its systems in readiness for growth and make everything operate in a more efficient and professional way, which took huge amounts of time and effort,” recalls Jones.

“I loved every minute and it was very satisfying, but at the same time, I have a young family and am working very hard to ensure the work-life balance is right.

“We advocate flexible working for all our staff, not simply those with families, and also focus very strongly on ensuring that everyone has good mental and physical wellbeing”. ■

For further information, please visit: www.naturemetrics.co.uk

6 0 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

Fermenters & Bioreactors for wide-ranging research and manufacturing applications Autoclavable bioreactor and mixing systems from 50ml to 20L Stir-tank, Single-use Air-lift, LED-Photo, Fixed / Fluidised-bed bioreactors Borosilicate, PEEK or other alternative materials for bioreactors and fittings for special applications Individual control modules for pH, dO, foam, temperature control Customised control modules Off-gas analysis CO2, O2 and CH4 Low-flow peristaltic pumps Optical density, pH, dissolved oxygen, redox, conductivity measurement

www.electrolabtech.co.uk

info@electrolabtech.co.uk 01684 291007

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 61

IMPACT

The Smart Labs Approach to High-Performance Science Facilities Smar t Labs enables safe and efficient world-class science with a combination of physical and administrative techniques to assess, optimise, and manage high-performance laboratories.

• Improved safety and health.

• Lowered energy consumption and operating costs.

• Reduced degradation and deferred maintenance.

6 2 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

participating US campus institutions (https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter. energy.gov/accelerators/smart-labs). A dedicated Smart Labs utility incentive program was launched in California in 2021 (https://smartlabs.energy/), and the I2SL Annual Conference has a thematic track devoted to Smart Labs each year.

Ho w t h e p r o g r am w o r ks

Smart Labs uses a process optimisation approach – plan, assess, optimize, manage – customized to laboratory facilities. The planning phase brings together all stakeholders and identifies priority buildings within the organisation’s portfolio.

A critical piece of the assessment process is the lab ventilation risk assessment, in which an industrial hygiene professional examines each space and determines its appropriate ventilation rate using a control banding method. Because existing lab ventilation rates were often assigned using blanket high-airflow policies without individualized risk assessments, this “right-sizing” of ventilation airflow normally results in significant energy savings – without compromising safety.

The assessment phase also includes functional tests of the ventilation systems.

Optimizing the building’s systems after the assessment typically requires investment, perhaps to recalibrate airflows, to repair fume hoods, to upgrade the HVAC control system, or to apply advanced control strategies.

Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory

A

• Increased retention and recruitment of round the world, organisations top talent, including researchers, make enormous investments educators, and scientists. in building facilities with specialized workspaces to Smart Labs routinely achieve support scientific activities significant energy savings with a and inspire innovation. favorable return on investment.

Scientific discovery can drive Laboratories typically consume three reputation, growth, and (for commercial to 10 times more energy than similarly concerns) profitability. At the same time, sized office buildings. By following the laboratory buildings are complex and Smart Labs process, as much as 50% of costly to operate, and many suffer the energy used by inefficient and significant and persistent operational poorly operating ventilation systems issues that hamper the success of can be saved. research activities and increase waste.

At the University of California When left unresolved, these issues can Irvine and the US Environmental degrade performance, hinder recruitment Protection Agency, two organisations of top talent, and, possibly, cause where the Smart Labs program was irrevocable harm to people, property, or pioneered, significant and persistent the environment. savings were achieved across dozens of Smart Labs is a non-proprietary lab buildings. process and philosophy that arose from a Smart Labs is spreading. Building long-term collaboration between on UC Irvine’s flagship Smart LabsTM numerous governmental, academic, initiative, the approach was commercial, and trade association popularized in 2017-20 by the US leaders. The Smart Labs process, which Department of Energy’s Better has gained traction in the US over the Buildings Smart Labs Accelerator past decade, provides a systematic program, which included seventeen approach to managing and optimizing laboratory ventilation systems.

Other aspects of resource use, Argonne National Laboratory in such as water conservation Illinois, a Smart Labs campus. and electricity reduction, are also addressed.

Smart Labs methods can provide significant benefits when creating new facilities or upgrading existing facilities, including:

The Smart Labs process

M ana g in g c h an g e

Critically, use of the Smart Labs approach comes with a responsibility to manage change within the organisation and to maintain performance of the optimized systems. This is done through a Lab Ventilation Management Program.

The purpose of the LVMP is to define stakeholder responsibilities and establish the procedures necessary to maintain effective ventilation system operation and to ensure that ventilation rates continue to meet the evolving functional requirements of building personnel. The program also includes the “information layer,” which refers to continuous commissioning of building systems using real-time analytics and advanced monitoring software.

The success of a Smart Labs program depends on the technical achievement of optimized ventilation systems and on implementing a long-term management plan, but it also requires active leadership, financial readiness, and engagement of all relevant stakeholders.

It’s crucial for the organisation to

Image courtesy of 3Flow

g ettin g sta rted

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) is a non-profit educational and mission-driven organisation devoted to sustainability in laboratories and related hightechnology facilities, from planning, to architectural and engineering design, to construction and operation. Through worldwide partnerships and the exchange of technical expertise, I2SL supports development of safe, sustainable

recognize that it is embarking on a program of continuous optimisation, not just a one-time project. Another critical success factor is company culture, which must be open to adjusting mindsets and should foster breakthrough thinking.

Organisations embarking on a Smart Labs journey often engage a specialized consultant to kick off the program; the consultant will later train internal staff to perform the process. Facilities staff from Smart Labs campuses in the US regularly hold meetings to share technical tips and lessons learned.

An extensive library of Smart Labs resources exists on the web, most notably

Image courtesy of NREL

the Smart Labs Toolkit developed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and hosted on the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories’ website (https://smartlabs.i2sl.org/).

These resources cover topics from the Persistent energy savings through application of the Smart Labs process at a US government lab campus, 2003-2020. business case for Smart Labs to technical risk assessment guidelines and the details of laboratory HVAC control systems.

Education on the Smart Labs process is one of I2SL’s key initiatives. In future articles, we’ll cover other current focus areas such as resilience for laboratory facilities and the increasing trend toward converting non-lab buildings into laboratories. ■

high-tech facilities that address the rapid pace of science, medicine, and research and development.

As part of its educational mission, I2SL sponsors an annual conference, webinars, and workshops. I2SL also supports Working Groups related to specific technical areas and serves as a repository for a wide range of resources and Best Practice Guides. I2SL is organised into chapters in the US and beyond, and collaborates with other green lab groups worldwide.

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

I2SL believes laboratory and high-tech facilities merit concentrated attention as part of the international effort to reduce facility resource use, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance resilience. Labs’ extensive requirements for safety, environmental management, security, resilience, and resource consumption present significant challenges.

The potential for greater energy and water efficiency, increased use of renewable energy, and adoption of other “green” practices make labs a worthy focus for improvements in design and operations.

For further information, please visit: www.i2sl.org

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 6 3

Trends

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the innovation ecosystem

Insight into Big Data Joel Klinger offers Breakthrough his personal take on issues around Big Data and ar tificial intelligence (AI).

I

t’s more than three centuries since the noted poet and satirist Alexander Pope warned readers of his ‘Essay on Criticism’ that a “a little learning is a dangerous thing”.

The perennial accuracy of his observation is noted most frequently whenever conversations turn to the subjects of Big Data and AI. The received wisdom accepted by many is that both are somehow dangerous concepts – although exactly how and why is never fully explained – and a mention of either usually provokes mentions of ‘Big Brother’ and is then the catalyst for a recycling of the latest conspiracy theories.

As Nesta’s senior lead of data engineering, Joel Klinger is ideally placed to look at Big Data and AI from a neutral perspective.

His current work for the Londonbased innovation agency involves leading a team developing open data infrastructure, allowing scientists to focus on their research rather than being distracted by the network which underpins their work.

Before joining Nesta, Klinger was a data scientist for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), helping refine their predictive analysis in the context of housing, local geography, and personal outcomes.

His previous role involved research at the University of Sheffield and Italy’s

6 4 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

University of Padova, studying how the science of particle physics could be applied to understand the inner workings of blast furnaces - and monitor the subterranean presence of carbon dioxide.

“For centuries, blast furnaces have been the symbol of heavy industry and manufacturing, but no-one really knew what went on inside them. We needed novel ‘windows’ to discover what was happening,” recalls Klinger.

The same innovative technology can also be used for a wide array of other uses; from scanning vehicles at ports to locating previously undetected bodies inside Egypt’s pyramids.

GENIE IN THE BOX

Given his knowledge about the theory, practice and implementation of Big Data and AI within society, as either a public service or technological tool, it’s intriguing to hear his considered views.

“There is often a disconnect between reality and perception with regard to both subjects,” says Klinger.

“You’ll hear, for instance, people who have enjoyed using a particular app will think it’s being driven by AI, when it’s actually just a slick app.

“It’s also wrong to see Big Data as a single concept, it’s a kind-of ‘genie in the box’ concept, where you have a large number of data points.

of the data which is available is far from the quality which would be required to make such discoveries,” he says.

“At an individual level, the data isn’t usually there. As to worries that AI might make predictions about some sections of the population, or a particular demographic niche, the data is very rarely representative enough to make such predictions.”

Equally, Klinger says those who hold the opposite perspective are misleading themselves for the same reasons.

“Some see Big Data as a panacea to solve all society’s problems, but the quality of data doesn’t exist for it to have such an impact,” he says.

“In science, it’s different. I used to work in physics, and if you saw particles moving around in what appeared to be a random fashion, and you had a sufficiently large dataset, AI would usually be able to identify a pattern.

“It’s understandable that if there’s a hugely disruptive event (perhaps in a national economy, or within a large corporation) some people will try to use Big Data and AI to detect patterns of behaviour and actions.

“However, even when there isn’t enough quality data to deliver worthwhile conclusions, they’ll still give more credence to the conclusions which are generated, simply because it’s been done via AI. “As someone working in these niches, I actually find that more concerning than issues about privacy.”

“Big Data can be a way of linking people within an organisation, perhaps who share an interest in the same research area, or a way of adding value by identifying links and making connections which on the surface didn’t exist, which is where AI comes in. Where you have patterns which are only abstract and text needs to be disentangled, AI really comes into its own.”

Klinger accepts that many people have concerns about privacy and imagine that Big Data might work with AI to discover too much about themselves and their activities, but believes the issue is over-blown.

“There are rare examples where this has happened, but for the most part, the quality

FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES

Klinger has an equally intriguing take on the oft-discussed work which Cambridge Analytica carried out for Vote Leave during the Brexit campaign, and for former US president Donald Trump.

“People reached conclusions and saw conspiracies here and there, and started talking about algorithms as if they had magical powers to influence decisionmaking by voters,” he says.

“However, anyone working in AI, would say the journalists (and their readers) were making assumptions for which there was no proof, and that they sub-consciously wanted AI to be ‘creepier’’ than it actually is.

“I think it appeals to people who see shadows and darkness to promote the idea that Big Data and AI are somehow a negative presence and being used by people on the fringes of society as an anti-democratic force.

“For me though we need to have a balanced view and focus on the hugely positive benefits which these technologies and tools can bring to society.

“When I was at the DCLG, it was clear that the government was consistently lagging behind the private sector in its adoption and deployment of AI and its use of Big Data.

“There were real problems in public services at the time about data-sharing, so you might have two government departments holding information and statistics which could have generated hugely beneficial outcomes for individuals and society.

“ B ig D ata can be a way of linking people within an organisation , perhaps who share an interest in the same research area , or a way of adding value by identifying links and making connections which on the surface didn ’ t e x ist, which is where A I comes in .”

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 6 5

TRENDS

“You could, for instance, look at what public sector services someone had received over the course of their working life, and then predict what interventions they might require in the later stages of their lives which could deliver tangible benefits for those individuals and their families.

“Unfortunately, because of both bureaucratic barriers and a negative mindset, all that information and data remained in separate silos and couldn’t be used to deliver very positive outcomes.”

Klinger recalls one DCLG project looking at disadvantaged families across the country, trying to decide what social and economic impacts were being felt by their children, even before they went to school.

“There was a huge base of data, which had been collected and collated over years, and would have been enormously useful, but unfortunately, it had typically been anonymised several times before it reached the analysts, which effectively made it useless.

“However, Covid changed that mindset in the blink of an eye. There had never been technological barriers to sharing data, but vague and unspecific concerns about ‘privacy’ meant it wasn’t shared.

“Now I think there’s a much wider realisation that Big Data can be used as a force for good to identify issues around social deprivation and to see how targeted and precise intervention can have very positive outcomes.”

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

Nesta is working to address such issues with multiple local authorities in Northern England, and Klinger admits it’s pleasing to see how people and government departments have changed their perceptions about sharing information and data for the public good.

“You need organisations and individuals who can break through the red tape and help make others realise the benefits of Big Data and AI, and it’s very satisfying to discover how the discussions have moved on - from even five years ago,” he says.

Klinger and his colleagues are currently working on an ambitious

6 6 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

project dubbed the Open Jobs Observatory, to identify skill-sets and employment challenges throughout the UK, and to see where regional skill gaps exist and where specialist additional training needs to be made available.

“We were commissioned to scrape as much data as possible from web-sites, but inevitably it comes through in a very raw form,” he says.

“However, AI makes it possible to identify exactly where jobs are, what skills are required, which vacancies are filled most easily (and which aren’t), gather details about occupational classifications, salaries and a host of other very useful data about these jobs.

“We have now created a hugely informative data-set which is then updated and analysed in real-time to ensure it’s always relevant, so we can offer real-time insights which is often referred to as ‘now-casting’ by forecasters.

“Employers requiring specific skills, perhaps in a niche sector, will soon be able to use this data-base to identify

areas where those skills exist, and that data simply hasn’t been previously available except when it’s been years out of date and therefore of no use.

The Open Jobs Observatory project has been a year in the making, but began to operate in real-time over the summer.

“When it goes fully live it will be of enormous use to employers, government training agencies, local authorities, regional growth companies and other bodies and organisations focused on the creation of employment and economic growth,” says Klinger.

“By itself, it might not change the minds of those who see dangers and darkness in the adoption of Big Data and AI, but I hope that it and similar programmes will gradually persuade people of the genuine benefits which they can bring to society and to their futures.” ■

For further information, please visit: www.nesta.org.uk

ARISE Innovation Hubs Supporting new businesses in the East of England

ARISE innovation ecosystem in Essex and the East of England

A

s we all return to the office, navigating the new normal, innovation and entrepreneurship will be key to the UK’s prosperity.

We have seen the impact of collaboration between our world leading academics and industry over the last year with the story of the Oxford – Astra-Zeneca vaccine programme. Our ability to collaborate and move vital knowledge from academic researchers to the expertise and rigour of a pharmaceutical company has changed the course of the pandemic.

Our vision is to support entrepreneurs and new businesses to transform health and wellbeing through interaction with local and national businesses and expertise within our academic and clinical institutes.

Having spent the last 10 years working across the UK’s vibrant innovation ecosystem, in start-ups, open innovation incubators, government led Catapults and within universities, the most important points for any new drug, device or app is that the path from invention to commercialisation is never linear.

Success is dependent on being able to access expertise and advice from within a supportive network.

ARU is a regional University, in the heart of the east of England community.

The theme of health, performance and wellbeing is reflected within their own research portfolio, with expertise in healthy ageing, sustainable health care, vision, medical devices and data science.

Our work with the NHS Entrepreneurship scheme is driven by Professor Tony Young, OBE. This initiative aims to bring the start-up mindset to the intellectual capital of our workforce and empower them to transform the NHS through innovation.

The programme was created to challenge the brain drain from the NHS. It has recruited over 700 entrepreneurs in 5 years, from medical and allied healthcare professions, forming over 250 start-ups, raised over £270M and impacted the care of over 30 million patients.

We are keen to create a focal point for our local businesses and entrepreneurs within our two Essex

based sites. We are offering the supportive environment for early-stage businesses working within the health, performance and wellbeing sectors.

Working closely with our academic and clinical researchers to support cross pollination and growth of new innovations, connecting our residents with regular networking and events, supporting with internships and access to business innovation schemes.

Our site in Harlow offers further physical space on a developing campus.

It is easily located for travel to London, with proximity to life science and biotech businesses in the region such as the Princess Alexandra Hospital and Public Health England. It joins our first Arise hub, based on the Chelmsford campus, our combined innovation space is 2000sqm.

We have seen start up activity reaching a plateaux within the east of England. By delivering further space and infrastructure we hope to stimulate the development within the region. Working in collaboration with our nearest neighbours to offer joined up support to our innovators and new companies.

As you think about what next for your business, or indeed where next, we would be delighted to hear from you. ■

You can find out more about the Arise Innovation Hubs by visiting: www.ariseinnovation.co.uk or by contacting Dr Beverley Vaughan directly at: beverley.vaughan@aru.ac.uk 1 | U K S PA b r e A K t h r o U g h | W i n t e r 2 0 18

TRENDS

Healthcare vision in harmony Breakthrough hears how digital technology and AI are combining to enhance healthcare provision and adult care across the Midlands.

I

t’s eight years since NHS England launched Academic Health Science Networks to drive the adoption and spread of innovative ideas and technologies across the country.

The aim was to improve health, generate economic growth and employment, and create the right conditions for change throughout the health and social care communities.

The move echoed the government’s earlier establishment of the Catapult network to stimulate collaborations between industry, academics, scientists and researchers.

6 8 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | i s s u e 14

With 15 separate networks – almost all serving large geographic regions and with multiple population centres both urban and rural – it would be easy to understand if the AHSNs tended to focus on the needs of patients within their area.

However, it’s pleasing to discover that the two with the largest geographical area, and a combined population of more than 10m, are collaborating … and clearly enjoying doing so.

The WMAHSN and EMAHSN certainly don’t lack ambition, as Jordan Farnell, the innovation manager (digital)

for the former, and Mike Watson, digital lead for the latter, explains.

“From one perspective, we’re being asked to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes, through innovation which means we’re working on multiple digital projects across the region,” says Farnell.

“One of those programmes focuses on AI and given the £140m which the NHSX Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care fund is making available over four years, we’ve been trying to increase regional entries for those awards.”

“ C ovid highlighted the value of sharing data . M aintaining that appetite will be critical .”

M I K E W AT S O N , digital lead, east midlands academic health science network

Mike Watson, Digital Lead, EMAHSN

COMING TOGETHER

The NHSX programme aims to develop partnership between the NHS and social care organisations, HE institutions and suppliers of AI technology. Awards are made from the fund to accelerate the testing, evaluation and delivery of new technologies.

The third tranche of funding focused on later-stage technologies, and both were optimistic that numbers would be up by the first deadline in early September.

“Mike and I came together to see how we could increase the no of applicants. We realise it can be difficult to apply for, not least as a scheme could be provider-led or vendor-led,” says Farnell.

“It can also be tricky simply to identify the right academic partner, and of course, they then need to have sufficient time to get involved. ”We decided to create a forum which could bring all the potential partners together and used our regional health innovation exchange platform (Meridian) to set up a portal for expressions of interest, from the NHS, social care or academia.

“It was a simple form, which just required someone to have read the terms of application for the grants and to self-certify that they have read and understood those requirements.”

“Jordan and I see ourselves as being at the intersection of healthcare, academia and industry, so we’re trying to bring all those strands together,” says Watson.

“It’s a matching service, so we looked at the applications with our other

stakeholders, then matched them up with one another in time for them to make detailed application for the awards.

The initial feedback was promising, and as the NHSX fund has another three rounds over the next two years, we’re hoping the numbers will rise significantly over that period.

“It would be a real shame for everyone, not least the patients, if more applications didn’t come forward from the Midlands.”

Not that either of these effervescent individuals is remotely contemplating anything other than success, in either their work with the AI fund or their individual projects.

“I’ve been working with Worcestershire County Council and Wolverhampton City Council, who are using a company called PredictX to look at how they can use data from the NHS and adult social care to predict more accurately when certain phenomenon might occur,” says Farnell.

“In both cases, we were being proactive to improve patient outcomes and used money from the NHS Digital

Pathfinder fund. Both programmes are still underway, although they diversified from their original focus during Covid.

“In Worcestershire, they were asked to predict the likelihood of Covid outbreaks and the impact they might have on front-line NHS care.

“In Wolverhampton, they looked at certain long-term condition groups to understand more about how their conditions were progressing, and the likelihood of them presenting themselves to their A&Es. “Predict X then analysed that data to assess how their decisions might impact on the local NHS Trust, how that might impact on adult social care, and what care packages might then be needed to support those individuals.

“We have inducted two companies specialising in AI into our Serendip Incubator based at iCentrum on Aston Science Park, Birmingham and have managed to successfully broker relationships between them and NHS Trusts. As a result, both now have pilot projects underway.”

E FF E C T I V E TA RG E T I N G

Jordan Farnell, Innovation Manager (digital), WMAHSN

G e t y o u r d i g i ta l c o p y at: w w w. b r eakt h r ou g h di g ita l . co . uk

In the East Midlands, Watson has been working with the regional breast cancer screening service for the last two years, looking to use AI to make its processes more effective and better targeted.

“We realise that we’re both in quite a privileged position, because we’re given regional oversight of healthcare delivery,” he admits.

“Obviously, we’re not on the front-line of the NHS, but are trying to understand what impacts the services it provides, how they can be

i s s u e 14 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 6 9

TRENDS

made more efficient and effective, and how both patient outcomes and productivity can be increased.”

However, despite their evident enthusiasm for both the tasks in hand, and the digital technologies which drive them, they are very aware that the introduction of AI-driven technologies brings its own challenges.

“It’s not just about introducing the technology because we see its benefits, it’s about understanding the barriers to its adoption, and also identifying any safety issues which might arise following its introduction,” says Watson.

“We’re always trying to be honest brokers, to understand what different people and groups require, and how we can assist and support them in their objectives.”

“We also have to ensure everything we do is in line with the regulations of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and that the various stakeholders are setting the correct standards,” adds Farnell.

“Making sure that the right datasharing models have been adopted is equally crucial, and also that everyone has carefully thought through everything about the AI which they are planning to use.

“We appreciate that our various health and social care partners are not experts on the subject, so a key element of our role is helping them to access people who have the relevant expertise, well before their AI solutions are adopted and then implemented.”

GENUINE CONNECTIONS

Equally, given their awareness of the myriad benefits which digital technologies and AI can deliver,

7 0 | U K S PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | I s s u e 14

it’s impossible for the duo to dilute their enthusiasm.

“I think it’s a really exciting time for the Midlands. We’re working with the Shared Care Record programme board which is working both internally and externally across healthcare and social care with local authorities,” says Farnell.

“For the first time, we’re starting to see the development of digital strategies which include how such elements as electronic patient records could be adopted. It’s the closest we’ve been in a long time – other than in pilot studies – for genuine connections between realworld data and real-world AI to become a possibility.”

“It is exciting. Covid has highlighted the value of sharing data and maintaining that appetite will be critical. There is now a real desire to share, and the various elements are really lining up now,” says Watson.

“Digital technology is advancing so quickly that a lot of the advances do come via serendipity to be honest.

You need to have constant conversations

about what is going on, on our respective patches, to form new connections.

“It’s like working on a science park where there are several tenants in the same sector. Collaboration might not always be instinctive, but working together will always deliver better outcomes than working separately.

“It’s very pleasing to see that there’s a level of maturity about the way in which our two AHSNs are engaging. Working on shared projects, for instance, really does improve the outcomes for everyone,” adds Farnell … who then steps aside to let his opposite number conclude the discussion.

“The Midlands is such a huge geographical region, with a massive population and also a wide mix of urban and rural areas, so it gives our health partners huge challenges in trying to develop programmes and projects which work across the various demographic niches,” says Watson.

“Jordan and I work well together, we both have the same motivations and desire to help deliver projects which are applicable to our respective patches. It makes no sense to be territorial, and collaboration is better for the people we work for and (most importantly of all) for the patients.” ■

For more information on the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network, visit: https://emahsn.org.uk For more on the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network, see: www.wmahsn.org

The New IKA Thermoshakers /// Sample Handling made easy

2+1 years warranty*

› Large and clear display, automatic attachment detection › Quick and effective mixing of liquids, up to 3,000 rpm › Fast heating rate, up to 6 °C/min › Programmable ramps for automatic performance of tasks › Aluminium die cast housing ensures excellent stability and robustness

* After device registration on www.ika.com/register

IKA England LTD. Pure Offices, Office Suite 1 Fountain House, John Smith Drive, Oxford Business Park, Oxford, Oxon OX4 2JY Phone: +44 1865 986162, eMail: sales.england@ika.com www.ika.com

@IKAworldwide