NPL:  The  Technology  Innova2on  Fund    

Pritesh  Mistry  January  2013    

The  object  of  NPL  is  to  “bring  scien=fic  knowledge  to  bear  prac=cally  upon  our  everyday  

industrial  and  commercial  life,  to  break  down  the  barrier  between  theory  and  prac=ce  and  to  effect  a  

union  between  science  and  commerce”.  

 Prince  of  Wales  at  the  opening  of  

NPL  in  1902    

“There  is  to  be  one  measure  of  wine  and  ale  and  corn  within  the  realm,  namely  the  London  quarter,  and  one  breadth  of  cloth,  and  it  is  to  be  the  same  with  weights.”    

Magna  Carta  -­‐  1215  

People  in  1215,  as  now,  were  very  concerned  that  they  got  their  full  pint  

 

What  is  NPL?  •  World-­‐leading  science  and  technology  

laboratory  •  Develops  &  disseminates  UK’s  

measurement  standards,  and  ensures  they  are  interna=onally  accepted  

•  Provides  companies  with  access  to  world-­‐leading  support  and  technical  exper=se  

•  Directly-­‐owned  by  BIS  (GOCO)  

•  650+  staff  

•  Working  with  and  for  business,  academia  and  government  

•  Science  with  impact  

NPL’s  Academic  Collabora2on  •  Assurance  and  confidence  •  Enhance  science  excellence  •  Technology  Push  =>  NPL  as  route  to  impact  

NPL’s  Industry  Collabora2on  •  Assurance  and  confidence  •  Accessible  knowledge  and  facili=es  •  Market  Pull  =>  NPL  suppor=ng  innova=on  

Our  focus  is  applied  science  

What  NPL  can  offer…  

650+  highly  trained  staff  

15,000  electronic  instruments  

19,000m2  of  labs  

9,500m2  of  clean  rooms  (largest  in  Europe)    

30%  have  PhDs  

Combined  access  of  knowledge  from  the  UK  research  base  

Access  to  techniques  and  instrumenta=on      

Science  and  commercial…  

Science  areas        Commercial  services  Acous=cs        Advanced  Manufacturing  Advanced  Materials      Defence  Analy=cal  Science      Digital  Economy  Biotechnology        Energy  Electromagne=cs        Healthcare  Engineering  Measurements    Knowledge  Services  Environmental  Measurement    Measurement  Solu=ons  Ionising  Radia=on      Sustainability  Mathema=cs  &  Scien=fic  Compu=ng    Nanoscience    Op=cal  Radia=on  &  Photonics    Quantum  Phenomena      

Calibra'on,  tes'ng  and  analysis  of  customer  instruments  and  artefacts.    Collabora've  R&D,  consultancy,  training,  IP  

We  deliver  science  with  impact  

Thought  leadership  

 KT  

 Instruments    

KT    Back  Office  

KT  Business  

Development  

• Networks  • Building  collabora=ons  

• KT  impact  assessment  

•  IPX  • Training  

• Na=onal  and  Interna=onal  reputa=on  in  understanding  KT  and  how  to  deliver  impact.        KT  advocacy.  

• E-­‐alerts  • Events    • Technical  comms  

• Publica=ons  • Reprographics  

• Using  internal  capabili=es  to  sell  KT  services  externally  

Excellence  in  

Knowledge  Networks…  

The  Technology  Innovation  Fund  was  an  idea  born  out  of  our  passion  for  science  and  technology.      Over  250  companies  later;  NPL  has  supported  industry  to  innovate,  grow  and  thrive  on  the  global  stage.      The  programme  is  open  to  all  UK  based  SMEs.  Support  is  provided  at  a  set  day  rate  of  £400.    

£5.3m Increase in annual

sales

3600 Working days

saved

38% Saved costs using

our resources

£15,000 Average cost

savings

Advice Surgeries

1  day  intensive  problem  solving  Aligned  with  all  Measurement  Network  events  

 Consultancies

5-­‐10  days  subsidised  technical  support  For  first  'me  interac'ons    

 Research Clubs Contract  Research  for  larger  scale  issues  Industry  wide  issues  solved  with  NPL  at  the  heart    of  the  solu'on  

 Technology Assessment

SME’s  developed  novel  technologies  that  need  assessment  and  valida'on  –  improving  chances  of  

investment  

 

4  levels  of  engagement  aimed  at  delivering  

bespoke,  cost  effective,  

solution  driven  support  for  innovative  companies.    

Technology  Innova2on  Fund  NPL  programme  to  support  small  and  medium  sized  clean-­‐tech  businesses  new  to  NPL    Four  ways  SMEs  can  access  support:  •  Advice  Surgeries  •  Consultancy  •  Research  Clubs  •  Technology  Assessment    Flexibility  and  speed  is  a  key  component  of  TIF    Matched  funded  work,  so  day  rate  reduced  to  £400/day    Minimum  5  day  project  (£2k  cost  to  SME,  £4k+  total  value)        

Simple  applica2on  process  1. Simple on-line form

2. T&Cs…

3. Internal Review…

GO NO GO

Impact  of  previous  work  Results  from  running  a  similar  scheme  in  the  past  are:    

 38%  of  businesses  made  cost  savings    

 Par=cipants  saved  £850,000  overall,  an  average  of  £15,000  each    

 63%  reported  savings  in  =me  -­‐  a  total  of  3,600  days    

 51%  reported  an  increase  in  skills    

 68%  believe  the  work  helped  manage  the  risks  associated  with  innova=on    

 18%  are  more  able  to  market  the  new  or  improved  product  or  process      

NPL  Case  Study  #1  •  The  Challenge  –  Regula2ng  Refinery  Gas  Flares  •  A  problem  in  reducing  air  pollu=on  from  release  of  

vola=le  organic  carbons  (VOCs)  by  petroleum  refineries  and  crude  oil  stores  is  the  difficulty  of  measuring  the  concentra=on  of  these  gases  at  the  point  of  release.  

•  In  2007,  NPL  worked  with  the  TCEQ  to  focus  on  the  release  of  VOCs  in  Texas  City,  Houston.  

•  The  Solu2on  •  NPL's  mobile  DIAL  facility  can  remotely  measure  

pollutants  in  the  air  from  the  way  visible,  UV  and  IR  laser  pulses  interact  with  gases  in  the  air.  

•  NPL  used  DIAL  to  show  that,  emissions  from  tanks  of  petroleum  products  were  close  to  predicted  VOC  emissions  from  crude  oil  storage  tanks  were  several  =mes  greater  than  predicted  

NPL  Case  Study  #2  •  The  Challenge  •  The  electronics  industry  has  a  waste  problem  -­‐  currently  

over  100  million  electronic  units  are  discarded  annually  in  the  UK  alone.  

•  It  was  es=mated  in  a  DTI-­‐funded  report,  that  around  85%  of  all  PCB  scrap  board  waste  goes  to  landfill.  Around  70%  of  this  being  of  non-­‐metallic  content  with  liple  opportunity  for  recycling.  

•  The  Solu2on  •  ReUSE  (Reuseable,  Unzippable,  Sustainable  Electronics)  

project  to  increase  the  recyclability  of  electronic  assemblies.  

•  The  project  partners  designed,  developed  and  tested  a  series  of  unzippable  polymeric  layers    

•  Withstanding  prolonged  thermal  cycling  and  damp  heat  stressing,  allow  the  assemblies  to  be  easily  separated,  arer  immersion  in  hot  water.  

TIF  Case  Study  #1  •  The  Silixa  Intelligent  Distributed  Acous=c  

Sensor,  or  IDAS,  works  by  picking  up  digital  sound  signals  along  an  op=cal  fibre  cable.    

•  The  system  detects  an  acous=c  signal  at  all  points  along  the  full  length  of  the  cable  -­‐  for  up  to  40  km    

•  NPL  scien=sts  created  a  known  underwater  acous=c  sound  field  using  the  NPL  underwater  acous=c  reference  transducers.    

•  Provide  traceability  to  interna=onal  standards  and  direct  comparisons  with  known  acous=c  sources.    

•  NPL  provides  a  unique  range  of  underwater  acous=cs  facili=es  and  services  to  meet  the  individual  needs  of  customers    

Wraysbury  underwater  facility  

TIF  Case  Study  #2  •  Staff  of  ISSL  (Integrated  

Surveillance  Systems  Limited)  apended  training  sessions  based  on  site  at  NPL    

•  To  improve  their  understanding  of  antenna  tes=ng  techniques  

•  NPL  delivered  custom  training  materials  based  on  ISSL’s  requirements    

•  Included  visits  to  the  anechoic  chambers  and  dielectrics  measurement  laboratory.    

TIF  Case  Studies  in    progress  

•  Fer=lizer  •  NPL  helping  to  develop  a  thermodynamic  model  for  conversion  of  polyhalite  into  

fer=lizer  products  •  Beper  understand  the  condi=ons  to  achieve  improved  purity  and  energy  

efficiency.    

•  Lor  Insula=on  •  Poten=ally  first  mass-­‐market  way  to  reduce  energy  losses  from  compression  of  lor  

insula=on  •  Need  to  know  exact  reduc=on  of  efficiency  from  compression  •  Use  of  Hot  Box  and  calibrated  sensors  •  Op=mising  LEDs  •  Op=misa=on  of  light  quality  –  maximise  benefits  and  energy  use  minimised  •  Range  of  different  applica=ons  (elderly,  agricultural  etc.)  •  Lack  of  measurement  capability  to  assess  light  quality    •  NPL  measurements  used  to  aid  product  design  and  evalua=on,  including  field  trials  

 Pritesh  Mistry,  Technology  Innova=on  Fund  Manager  Pritesh.Mistry@npl.co.uk        More  informa=on  and  the  online  form:  hpp://www.npl.co.uk/commercial-­‐services/products-­‐and-­‐services/technology-­‐innova=on-­‐fund/      

Thank  you…  Suppor=ng  climate  research  and  a  low  carbon  future:  NPL's  Technology  Innova=on  Fund,  in  conjunc=on  with  the  Centre  for  Carbon  Measurement,  is  providing  financial  support  for  UK  SMEs  new  to  NPL,  looking  to  innovate  in  the  low  carbon  economy.