Ultrasonic array gives touch feedback for gestures in mid air
A team from the University of Bristol has developed a way to provide feedback from a screen without touching it.
Ultrahaptics in action
The team from the University of Bristol’s Interaction and Graphics (BIG) research group has used a phased array of ultrasonic transmitters to focus high frequency sound onto a target in mid-air. This would be used to provide positive feedback for a gesture-based user interface.
The research paper, to be presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) 2013 by Tom Carter from the Department of Computer Science, will unveil UltraHaptics, using ultrasonic vibrations for the first time to deliver tactile sensations to the user. The ultrasonic transducer array emits very high frequency sound waves that can be steered by changing the phase. When all of the sound waves meet at the same location at the same time, they create sensations on a human’s skin.
By carrying out technical evaluations, the team have shown that the system is capable of creating individual points of feedback that are far beyond the perception threshold of the human hand. The researchers have also established the necessary properties of a display surface that is transparent to 40kHz ultrasound.
The results from two user studies have demonstrated that feedback points with different tactile properties can be distinguished at smaller separations. The researchers also found that users are able to identify different tactile properties with training.
Finally, the research team explored three new areas of interaction possibilities that UltraHaptics can provide: mid-air gestures, tactile information layers and visually restricted displays, and created an application for each. Tom Carter, PhD student in the Department of Computer Science’s BIG research group, said: “Current systems with integrated interactive surfaces allow users to walk-up and use them with bare hands. Our goal was to integrate haptic feedback into these systems without sacrificing their simplicity and accessibility.
“To achieve this, we have designed a system with an ultrasound transducer array positioned beneath an acoustically transparent display. This arrangement allows the projection of focused ultrasound through the interactive surface and directly onto the users’ bare hands. By creating multiple simultaneous feedback points, and giving them individual tactile properties, users can receive localised feedback associated to their actions.”
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SouthWest firm drives 60GHz wireless backhaul designs
A SouthWest firm is taking delivery of a new 60GHz chipset for gigabit wireless links over several kilometres.
Infineon Technologies has started the production of its BGTx0 chipsets for wireless backhaul communication systems, shipping to Sub10 Systems in Newton Abbot.
The lead customer Sub10 Systems is currently qualifying BGT70 and BGT80 E-band transceivers for an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) system. Mark Stevens, Chief Technology Officer at Sub10 Systems, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Infineon on integration of the BGT70 and BGT80 chipset into our newly developed E-band transceiver. We expect high performance and high reliability at the same time, therefore we have chosen the best solution in the market.” The targeted system supports a data rate of more than 1 Gbit/s with link distances of about 2.5 kilometers.
Infineon’s BGTx0 family simplifies system design and production logistics by replacing more than 10 discrete devices by a single device. Due to their low power consumption the single-chip high-integration transceivers also help to reduce operating expenses in high data rate millimeter wave infrastructures
The transceiver family provides a complete radio frequency (RF) front-end for wireless communication in 57-64 GHz, 71-76 GHz, or 81-86 GHz millimeter wave bands. Paired with a baseband/modem, the system solution requires less space, offers improved reliability and lower cost for the critical wireless backhaul links needed in mobile base stations that support LTE/4G networks.
“The wide bandwidth available in V- and E-band millimeter-wave frequencies supports the exploding usage of mobile data with great growth opportunities for Infineon. With our process technology and RF design leadership we offer exactly what the emerging small cell infrastructure requires: highly reliable and easy to use packaged millimeter-wave transceivers,” said Philipp von Schierstaedt, Vice President and General Manager of the Business Unit RF & Protection Devices at Infineon Technologies. “The great interest of customers shows that our BGTx0 family perfectly meets their requirements.”
Each mobile communication standard uses specific frequency bands to transport data. Current standards operate below 43 GHz, known as microwaves. As future standards – like latest LTE/4G – will require more capacity and higher data rates, public authorities have released V- and E-band using millimeter waves. Network operators are expected to invest heavily in small cell infrastructures in the years ahead in order to provide mobile phone users with high speed internet and full network coverage.
Engineering samples of BGTx0 transceivers are already available. Volume production is planned for spring 2014.
Infineon’s 60GHz chipset
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September newsletter out now
The September 2013 newsletter for the High Tech sector group is out now at http://www.swinnovation.co.uk/high-tech-news-newsletter/
- Region launches High Tech Special Interest Groups
- STMicro to close it’s Bristol site
- NVIDIA opens £2m design centre in Bristol
- Bristol opens up quantum computing in the cloud
- Bath plans £100m Innvoation Quarter
- Regions startups raise over £5m
Bristol makes quantum computing available to everyone
A revolutionary new project called “Qcloud” run by the Centre for Quantum Photonics at the University of Bristol aims to to make the resources for quantum computing available for everybody via the Internet.
Few quantum computers exist and most are currently used in academic research at organisations such as Google and NASA. However, from Friday 20 September, the quantum processor housed at the Centre will become the world’s first open-access system, allowing researchers from anywhere in the world to access it remotely via the internet.
Using the website bristol.ac.uk/quantum-computing schools, academic research institutions and members of the public can log on and access a quantum simulator, which will be accompanied by user guides and manuals to help users get to grips with the basics of quantum computing. Once users are satisfied with the results of their simulation, they can submit their experiment to be run on a real quantum photonic processor.
The move has the potential to place Bristol at the heart of a new capability in apps for quantum computers.
The research team behind this new initiative are keen to open up the possibilities of quantum computing to the next generation of engineers, mathematicians, scientists and entrepreneurs – those in the classroom, as well as the lab, creating a quantum version of the successful Raspberry Pi low cost computer.
Project leader, Professor Jeremy O’Brien said: “This technology has helped accelerate our research and is allowing us to do things we never thought possible. It’s incredibly exciting to think what might be achieved by making this more widely accessible, not only to the brightest minds already working in research, but to the next generation. I hope that by helping schools to access this technology, and working with the British Science Association to provide educational content around quantum computing, we can achieve incredible things.”
Professor Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate and President of the Royal Society said. “it is very exciting to see this kind of technology being made accessible, not only to research institutions, but to the next generation of scientists. The fact that we can give budding young talent access to some of the most advanced computing technology is something that we, as a nation, should be extremely proud of, and I wish the University Of Bristol the very best of luck with it”
Quantum computing is a stranger affair than classical computing, relying instead on the qubit as its unit of information. The qubit can exist in multiple states at the same time (a phenomenon known as superposition). Calculations are performed by manipulating the state of the qubit. Theoretically, the nature of qubits means they calculate all answers to a mathematical problem simultaneously, and various algorithms can help the computer to indicate which of the solutions the qubits show is the correct one. This can make complex computations exponentially faster than on a classical machine.
Quantum technologies have demonstrated ultra-secure communications through the exchange of Quantum Keys; measurement beyond the classical limits of precision and calculations such as factoring numbers or solving optimisation problems. This has generated considerable interest in quantum computing as its power becomes more widely understood and new applications are developed. Recent publications have described quantum approaches to numerical simulations such as those used in computational fluid dynamics. As quantum technologies become more widely available novel solutions to society’s biggest problems are likely to emerge
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Bath plans £100m innovation quarter
A £100m Innovation Quarter in Bath is aiming to create 2500 new high tech jobs in the region.
Bath Innovation Quay will create a business location for the growing ICT, low carbon and creative sectors within the city and will link with the research and academic base in the city’s two Universities. The development, which the Council will be encouraging to come forward by around the start of 2019, would create around 400,000 square feet of modern business space centred on the University of Bath Innovation Centre with up to 170 low carbon homes.
Bath Enterprise areas
The University Innovation Centre is a core component of the plans. Dr Rob Head, Director of Research Development and Support at the University, said, “Our strong and successful programmes convinced us of the potential to build on these achievements and establish what we have termed our ‘Innovation Campus’. We have been working with the Council on these plans and I am delighted to see this important progress towards creating around 2,500 high technology related jobs within Bath.”
“Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to create a unique, compelling offer for businesses in the creative, digital, and knowledge sectors to relocate,” said Councillor Paul Crossley, leader of Council.
“The prospect of having hi-tech businesses, University research facilities, and places for people to live combining with the buzz of the city and World Heritage Site is simply mouth-watering in terms of opportunities for local people and prosperity for our area. A healthy, smart, zero carbon development will be created that will become the hub for imagination and creativity not just regionally, but worldwide as we take the area’s internationally respected reputation for digital expertise to the next level.”
The development costs for the plan would be around £65 million with the Council seeking a combination of Government money through the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and the private sector.
The main locations that would be used are Newark Works, Avon Street Car Park and Coach Park. Investment worth £7.6 million has already been captured to tackle flood mitigation, highways works, and new footbridge over the river. The Council will also look to obtain £800,000 of funding to relocate the Coach Park.
No details are yet available about those private sector enterprises who would take workspace in Innovation Quay, although the Council says it is fielding considerable interest.
Bath Innovation Quay is one part of the Enterprise Area alongside the Residential Quarter where the Council, Crest Nicholson, Homes and Communities Agency and Curo Group are working together to create new homes and commercial space;
Commercial Quarter, of which Innovation Quay is the main part and the City Gateway comprising of Bath Riverside East and Green Park Station offers the opportunity not only for Sainsbury’s to develop their proposals for a new retail store, but also around 160,000 square feet of office, creative, and bar/ restaurant space.
Swindon Silicon Systems celebrates 35 years of technology
ASIC designer SWINDON Silicon Systems is celebrating thirty five years of trading. From small beginnings in 1978 in Swindon, the company has grown to become the UK’s largest fabless supplier of high performance mixed signal Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) with a turnover of £21m and delivering 50 million ASICs annually. ASICs allow almost any analogue or digital circuit to be implemented on a single chip, replacing traditional discrete components. Only a few years ago a bespoke integrated circuit was no more than a dream for most industrial designers, but SWINDON has put them within the reach of any technology sector.
By 1987 SWINDON had set up a test department and moved to its current premises with a separate production facility added in 1999. The company’s success in the automotive market led to it becoming part of Tomkins Plc in 2007, assisting it’s sister company, Schrader Electronics, to become the global leader in tyre pressure monitoring systems. Schrader International was acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners in 2012, bringing SWINDON the benefits of being part of a large multinational whilst maintaining its autonomy to pursue other markets. SWINDON is expecting its growth to continue, and a move to a new custom built facility is planned to accommodate this growth.
Blu Wireless raises $3.1m for its 60GHz chip design
Bristol-based wireless startup Blu Wireless Technology has closed a $3.1 million (£2m) funding round to customise and productise its chip design for the next generation of high speed wireless connections.
The funding will allow the company to double in size to 30 staff, and complete the development of its HYDRA programmable baseband IP that supports both 802.11ad next generation WiFi (WiGig CERTIFIED) and 4G mobile network backhaul applications that use the 60GHz frequency band rather than today’s 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, giving much higher speed links.
The funding round was lead by Qi3 Accelerator, who represented a syndicate of over $1.5m (£1m) of London Business Angels private investors, including Wren Capital. A further $0.9 million (£0.6m) was invested by the Angel Co-Fund, several additional investors made up the remainder.
Blu Wireless’s baseband technology uses a programmable parallel processing architecture to efficiently support the complex modulation schemes required for emerging multi-gigabit wireless communication standards. The IP is currently optimised for chipsets used in both advanced WiFi and 4G small cell deployments, and can be simply scaled to support the anticipated future standards as they move to 20Gbps and beyond.
The firm is already working with several of the world’s leading chip and system companies in these markets, says CEO Henry Nurser with the same customers using the IP for both 802.11ad and for wireless backhaul. The IP will be sold under license agreement to chipset manufacturers that compete in, or want to enter, markets that exploit the unlicensed 60GHz frequency band.
“With the completion of this funding round, we will be executing our plan to become the leading supplier of baseband system IP to manufacturers in the 60GHz sector,” said Nurser.
“This is a very exciting sector and we are convinced Blu Wireless will be a global leader in 60GHz technology,” said Tim de Vere Green of London-based Qi3 who will also join the board. “We believe 60GHz applications in both consumer WiGig and telecoms backhaul are set for rapid growth, and Blu Wireless is already working with several of the world’s leading Semiconductor companies in these markets. The thorough due diligence we have conducted has given us great confidence in the team’s technical and management capabilities, as well as their deep knowledge of their target markets.”
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Wiltshire electronics manufacturer shortlisted for Year in Industry Awards 2013
Wiltshire based contract electronics manufacturer Exception EMS has today announced that its students Henri French and Chris Bogdiukiewicz have both been shortlisted to be part of six South West Regional Finalists for their contribution to business.
The Year in Industry is a scheme run by the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) to provide high quality, paid placements for students in their gap year before or during their degree course. Placements are for students interested in all areas of engineering, science, IT, e- commerce, business and marketing. Exception EMS has worked with the EDT since 2007 by supporting 2-3 YINI placements each year.
Chris, who will be studying Software Engineering at Southampton University, worked with the Operations team at Exception EMS to develop a process to improve the turnaround time and organisation of customer returns. He did this by devising a developing a companywide standard business practice and developed a database to track returns and quality issues. As a result, Exception EMS is now able to track non-confirming products to the source and eliminate causes, decrease return turnaround time and improve overall customer satisfaction.
Mark Davies, Operations Director explains “Chris has bought huge value to our organisation, the completion of this project will support and accelerate our continuous improvement programme and leave a positive legacy of working with YINI students”.
Chris commented, “Working at Exception EMS has given me the opportunity to work on, and own, a variety of projects improving systems and working practices in the company. My YINI has been the most incredible learning experience and has massively developed me as an individual.”
Henri will be studying Aerospace Engineering at Bristol University and his project was the implementation of a lean manufacturing production cell, which he designed to overcome particular quality issues. Through a process of identification and analysis of the issues, Henri was able to design his proposed solution and secure the required funding. As a direct result of Henri’s cell the internal and external reject rates have fallen considerably with tangible financial benefits for the Company.
Mark Davies continued, “in successfully implementing this project, and within timescales, I believe Henri has learnt valuable lessons in many areas as well as providing a genuine solution and benefit to both Exception EMS and its customers, whilst continuing a successful partnership with EDT and YINI.”
Henri commented, “My YINI placement at Exception EMS has given me the skills and experiences that I will take with me wherever I go in the future.”
Henri was one of two winners selected to represent the region at the National Final to be held at the Royal Academy of Engineering on 19th September 2013. He will battle against eight others to become the YINI National winner with a prize of £1000.
The company is headquartered in Calne in the UK, and has offices in Europe and Asia. The CEM business, both in the UK and via its international partners has an electronics manufacturing heritage stretching back over 60 years and serves customers across a variety of sectors including aerospace and defence, transport, oil and gas, automotive, communication architecture, medical, marine, semiconductor, and renewable energy.
Tech company sets up R&D in Exeter as Silicon Valley parallel
Technology company Blur Group is to set up a new R&D centre in Exeter as it said the South West shares the same characteristics for tech clusters as Silicon Valley.
The London company, which develops an e-commerce platform, said it has chosen to establish an R&D centre in Exeter as it is in a “prime position” to become the UK’s leading tech region.
Blur highlighted the area’s universities, track record in innovation and amount of investment secured for start-ups in the region as the main reasons for its choice of location. “The South West combines innovation and technology excellence, a great mix of universities with both academic and venture focus, and an established reputation in attracting hi-tech firms while providing great incubation and support for earlier stage business,” said Blur chief executive Philip Letts. “”It’s a combination that has worked well for the US and has the potential to do the same in the UK.”
“Choosing this location was very straightforward. In doing so, we’ve received exactly the kind of support from local universities and the county council that reinforces why the South-West will assume the UK tech cluster crown,” he said. “And one ingredient that everyone overlooks in finding the next Silicon Valley was pointed out to me on the first day of my tenure in the Valley – and is very prevalent here – the sea.”
Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Devon County Council cabinet member for economy and growth, added: “It’s a great story for Devon when successful UK tech ventures decide to locate here and proves our superb infrastructure is teed up for this kind of business.
Blur is headquartered in West London and also has an office in Dallas. It floated on AIM in October.
via Insider News South West – Tech company to set up Exeter site.
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Intel’s Justin Rattner on its new laser chip business – MIT Technology Review
Justin Rattner, who just stepped down as Intel CTO, discusses mobile computing, the future of Moore’s Law and the new optical interconnect business.
Today, even as the PC market shrinks and the giant company struggles to convince phone and tablet makers to use its chips, Intel spends $10.1 billion on research annually. Justin Rattner, who has been the company’s CTO until stepping down last week, recently met with MIT Technology Review to argue that this investment will help Intel’s mobile chips overtake those of its competitors and create new businesses.
via Intel’s Justin Rattner on New Laser Chip Business – MIT Technology Review.
Seeing with your ears – new device offers alternative to blind people
A device that trains the brain to turn sounds into images could be used as an alternative to invasive treatment for blind and partially-sighted people researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath have found.
The vOICe sensory substitution device helps blind people to use sounds to build an image in their minds of the things around them.
A research team, led by Dr Michael Proulx, looked at how blindfolded sighted participants responded to an eye test using the device.
They were asked to perform a standard eye chart test called the Snellen Tumbling E test, which asked participants to view the letter E turned in four different directions and in various sizes. Normal, best-corrected visual acuity is considered 20/20, calculated in terms of the distance (in feet) and the size of the E on the eye chart.
The participants, even without any training in the use of the device, were able to perform the best performance possible, nearly 20/400. This limit appears to be the highest resolution currently possible with the ever-improving technology.
Dr Michael Proulx said: “This level of visual performance exceeds that of the current invasive technique for vision restoration, such as stem cell implants and retinal prostheses after extensive training.
“A recent study found successful vision at a level of 20/800 after the use of stem cells. Although this might improve with time and provide the literal sensation of sight, the affordable and non-invasive nature of The vOICe provides another option.
“Sensory substitution devices are not only an alternative, but might also be best employed in combination with such invasive techniques to train the brain to see again or for the first time.”
The findings are reported in the paper How well do you see what you hear? The acuity of visual-to-auditory sensory substitution, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, as part of a special topic in Cognitive Science on synaesthesia research.
The research team included the inventor of The vOICe sensory substitution device, Dr Peter Meijer of The Netherlands, and Alastair Haigh and Dave Brown of Queen Mary University of London.
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Peter Higgs receives the freedom of the city of Bristol
Prof Peter Higgs, the scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson or ‘God particle’, is to be awarded the freedom of the city of Bristol.
The retired Edinburgh University physicist – who went to Cotham Grammar School – predicted the existence of the subatomic particle, which is thought to have been detected by the Large Hadron Collider last year. The school was visited by Prof Higgs in May last year and he will be recognised for his work at a ceremony this week.
“I think it is a wonderful thing and it is great that Bristol has recognised somebody who is clearly an original and creative scientist,” said Dr Malcolm Willis, headteacher at Cotham School.
Almost 40 years after Prof Higgs wrote two scientific papers on his theory, the discovery of a new particle that fitted the description of the elusive Higgs was announced at Cern in Geneva.
Dr Joel Goldstein, from the Cern project and a University of Bristol physicist, said: “Peter Higgs made some very important contributions to fundamental physics in the 1960s and his work really underpinned our current understanding of the way that the fundamental laws of nature work.
“Every physics student in their final year as an undergraduate or when they become a graduate student, learns about the theory that Higgs and his colleagues developed and everyone learns about the particle, so he is one of those big names that everyone has to know about. As a UK citizen, as a Bristolian and as a physicist, I am really very proud of what Higgs achieved and the recognition he is getting.”
Bristol was also the birth place of another famous physicist, Paul Dirac (1902-1984) who was born in the city and developed a key equiation for quantum mechanics.
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Global R&D consultancy offers £25K STEM bursaries at Bath
Science and engineering students have until 16 September to apply for paid bursaries totalling £25,000 with a leading global research and development consultancy.
Sagentia, which undertakes innovation, technology and product development work globally on behalf of leading organisations and start-ups in the medical, industrial and consumer products sectors, is offering 10 bursaries of £2,500 to support science and engineering students during the academic year starting September 2013.
Bath is one of four universities to benefit from the new bursaries which are on offer to students currently studying or have accepted a place on a range of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) courses. The others are Cambridge (where Sagentia is based), Oxford, Southampton, Loughborough, Surrey and Imperial College London.
Dan Edwards, Managing Director at Sagentia, commented: “Sagentia has a strong track record of providing exciting career opportunities to talented STEM students, who join us in applying cutting edge scientific and engineering thinking with the world’s most innovative and successful businesses. The company is launching the Sagentia STEM Bursary Scheme to help financially support the brightest prospects in the next generation of innovators as a key component of Sagentia’s graduate programme and focus on innovation.”
“This investment in the education of British STEM students aligns PLC corporate social responsibility with the future requirements of Sagentia as a science and engineering company,” said Bath alumni Martyn Ratcliffe, Executive Chairman and lead investor in Sagentia. “The UK has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, built on the UK’s world leading science and engineering universities. Sagentia’s future growth is dependent on increasing this excellent resource pool and the success of the company in recent years enables Sagentia to now make this investment.”
Professor Bernie Morley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning & Teaching, said: “Innovation is a top priority at Bath, and we believe that the best young talent shouldn’t be held back by financial worries. That’s why we’re delighted to be part of the Sagentia bursary scheme. It will help us to attract and retain the next generation of bright minds in STEM subjects, improving skills and employability for students from low income families.”
Eligible courses include Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Product Design, or similar. Successful applicants will also be given preferential consideration for paid 10 week summer placements with Sagentia in 2014. Sagentia has provided opportunities to interns since 2000 with many going on to work for the company after graduating.
More information about how to apply can be found here. Deadline for entries is 16 September 2013.
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‘Science buskers’ to entertain SouthWest holidaymakers this summer
Marine engineers from the University of Southampton are becoming ‘science buskers’ in the SouthWest this summer to showcase the significance of their work and to raise awareness of the importance of high tech and innovation in global ocean use.
The ‘Marine Engineering Connections’ project will see around 30 engineers engage and entertain holidaymakers travelling to and from the mainland to the Isle of Wight over 10 summer weekends.The engineers will be trained in science-busking techniques to captivate, educate and start informal dialogues with holiday travellers on Wightlink’s most popular routes between Portsmouth and Fishbourne and Lymington to Yarmouth.
Using a specially-designed marine engineering toolkit, engineers will give three 10-minute ‘busks’ to small groups of passengers by moving around the ship’s open areas and stopping where appropriate. Activities will all be hands-on, in the sense that the engineer can hand the kit over to a passenger to demonstrate to others while the engineer offers a commentary on the principle or effect on display.
For instance, a participant engineer might use a wave tube to demonstrate the effect of turbulence on the seabed and open dialogue with surrounding passengers about how to engineer solutions to minimise this impact. Depending on the conversation, the engineer might relate this to their own work practice or research, and encourage connections to be made between the ferry and global sea transport.
Dr Steve Dorney, Public Engagement Tutor at the University of Southampton, says: “This project was driven by our desire for an innovative way to connect our marine engineers with the wider public. We have seen on other projects how powerful the busking methodology can be, and realised that the relatively short journey times of the Solent ferry routes provided a perfect maritime platform for this activity.”
John Burrows, Operations Director for Wightlink, adds: “Wightlink has a long standing relationship with the University of Southampton. In recent years we have acted as a case study for a Group Design Project looking at vessel design and currently sponsor a Research Studentship Project. We are delighted to be working closely with the University with this venture. At the recent trial run, everybody who saw the busking was absolutely entranced and could not wait to have a go themselves. Over a busy weekend we can carry over 30,000 passengers and I hope large crowds will gather to enjoy the show.”
Marine Engineering Connections, which is funded through the Royal Academy of Engineering’s public engagement grant scheme, Ingenious, is led by the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) at the University of Southampton, in partnership with Wightlink and Lloyd’s Register.
By 2014, Lloyd’s Register will have moved to be co-located with SMMI on a purpose-built campus site in Southampton. The partnership between the University and Lloyd’s Register is currently the largest academic/industry partnership in the world and is set to maximise marine engineering connections across academia and industry.
The SMMI, based at the heart of the Solent Maritime Cluster, brings together a wide range of engineering disciplines, including acoustical, biomedical, civil, computational, electro-mechanical, environmental, geotechnical and materials. These operate alongside research into energy technologies, ship science, transportation policy and the behaviour of engineering systems in marine environments.
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/
High tech conference set for October in Torbay
The Manufacturing, Technology and Innovation fair MTI ’13 takes place at the Riviera International Centre on 24 October 2013, and is yet again set to be a major highlight in the South West’s hi tech & manufacturing calendar; bringing together around 50 leading companies as exhibitors and over 300 delegates for collaboration and networking.
Advanced electronics and hi-tech sectors are a key target for inward investment in Torbay, and this annual event demonstrates the sector’s growing strength in the local area.
Torbay and the surrounding area has long been home to a thriving advanced electronics sector, names like Spirent, Oclaro and Gooch and Housego are accessing a large talent pool of skilled engineers; and by building on the sector and creating a critical mass Torbay becomes even more attractive as a place to invest to related companies and their suppliers.
Silicon Valley Can’t Be Copied says MIT Technology Review
It’s the people and contacts that are vital to building a sustainable technology cluster like Silicon Valley, not artificial stimulation, says an article from Vivek Wadhwa, author of The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent.
The article has implications for the sustainability of London’s Tech City and the focus for supporting high tech clusters: getting people to connect effectively.
In 1990, Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter proposed a new method of creating regional innovation centres around an existing research university. He observed that geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and specialized suppliers gave certain industries productivity and cost advantages. Porter postulated that by bringing these ingredients together into a cluster, regions could artificially ferment innovation (see “In Innovation Quest, Regions Seek Critical Mass“).
Porter and legions of consultants following his methodology prescribed top-down clusters to governments all over the world. The formula was always the same: select a hot industry, build a science park next to a research university, provide subsidies and incentives for chosen industries to locate there, and create a pool of venture capital.
Sadly, the magic never happened—anywhere. Hundreds of regions all over the world collectively spent tens of billions of dollars trying to build their versions of Silicon Valley. I don’t know of a single success says Wadhwa.
What Porter and Frederick Terman of Stanford University, who tried to replicate his success with Silicon Valley elsewhere, failed to recognize is that it wasn’t academia, industry, or even the US government’s funding for military research into aerospace and electronics that had created Silicon Valley: it was the people and the relationships that Terman had so carefully fostered among Stanford faculty and industry leaders.
Silicon Valley Can’t Be Copied – MIT Technology Review.
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Minister discovers world-leading quantum processor in Bristol
Universities and science minister David Willetts paid a visit to the world’s quietest laboratory to learn about quantum technologies last week.
The University of Bristol’s state-of-the-art Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information(NSQI) houses over £1m of specialist equipment in a lab where vibration and acoustic noise levels are among the lowest ever achieved, despite being located in the centre of Bristol.
The researchers are pioneering the field of quantum technologies and demonstrated how quantum processors and devices have evolved to put the UK several years ahead of other nations in terms of research, development and application. The resulting technologies offer ultra-secure communications, sensors of unprecedented precision and computers that are exponentially more powerful than any supercomputer for some tasks.
The University hopes to take these technologies out of the lab and engineer them into useful devices which will eventually be portable and low-cost. It’s working alongside some leading industry leaders, such as Nokia, Toshiba and BAE Systems, to integrate these concepts into new products. The Minister for Universities and Science was shown the world’s most sophisticated integrated optical quantum processor chip, which can be used to calculate the properties of molecules – an approach that could ultimately be used in the design of new materials, pharmaceutical drugs and clean energy devices.
He said: “Quantum technologies could be the future of computing, information and communications. Today’s visit to the University of Bristol has shown that UK researchers are leading the way in this exciting area of science, working with industry to develop new products.”
His tour focused on the Centre for Quantum Photonics (CQP), located within NSQI, which hosts specialist equipment such as high-powered pulsed lasers and superconducting photon detectors.
“Quantum technologies are going to have a profound impact on every aspect of our economy and society in the future. We were glad of the opportunity to show the minister how we’re using this science to create useful technologies which will ultimately lead to economic growth for the UK,” said Professor Jeremy O’Brien, Director of the CQP. “Quantum technologies will fundamentally change our lives and the first devices are only a few years from market. It’s a very exciting field.”
The CQP explores fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, as well as work towards future photonic quantum technologies by generating, manipulating and measuring single photons as well as the quantum systems that emit these photons. It spans the School of Physics and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in the Faculties of Science and Engineering, and the Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information.
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XMOS adds industrial networking to its multicore chips
XMOS has added Modbus and CANopen xSOFTip blocks to the embedded industrial communications capabilities supported by its xCORE family of multicore microcontrollers.
CANopen and Modbus are well established as the leading industrial communications protocols. The addition of these new soft peripherals allows designers to integrate these commonly-required protocols in xCORE-based embedded designs alongside a wide range of other industrial communications standards with timing-predictable, jitter-free control code.
This unique flexibility of configuration allows embedded designers to build systems with the exact combination of interfaces and control capabilities needed for their applications.
via Modbus and CANopen added to multicore industrial communications chips – Electronics Eetimes.
Xsilon creates a SIG to license M2M technology in the home – Electronics Eetimes
UK startup Xsilon is looking to open up its machine-to-machine (M2M) technology to the industry for connecting the Internet of Things in the home.
The Bath-based company has set up a Special Interest Group (SIG) to license its Hanadu communication protocol on an accessible FRAND basis, says CEO Russell Haggar. The SIG will work to complete the Hanadu specification, support it on its path to standardization, develop propositions for particular applications and markets, and support a widespread adoption of Hanadu technology. Haggar says he expects 5 to 10 members within the first year
The SIG will take over the development of the Hanadu specification from Xsilon, allowing offerings from multiple vendors to create a broad platform within the home in the same way as the Bluetooth, Zigbee and OpenET SIGs.
“Having worked hard to create the Hanadu concept and to develop its technology base, we are now moving on to the next level as we open out the platform to our partners,” said Haggar. “We’ve had nothing but positive responses to Hanadu from all our partners and customers throughout its gestation, and now they are working with us to build real momentum in the market for Hanadu products.”
via Startup creates a SIG to license M2M technology in the home – Electronics Eetimes.
ST to close its former Inmos design centre Bristol site
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via Electronics Weekly News | Business | ST to close its former Inmos design centre Bristol site.
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