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Business Partnerships & Enterprise Annual Report Out Now

In this report we provide some case studies of Science and Technology's work with external partners during 2013-2014. Read about new companies in InfoLab21, research with IBM, Booths and regional small and medium enterprises, plugging the data science skills gap, new science and technology start-up companies, the Engineering Design Academy, R&D opportunities with China, seed funding for new products and processes, new facilities for hire, free events and training, and much more...

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Report Highlights

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

Between 2013-2014 Science and Technology at Lancaster continued to develop strong and successful partnerships with external partners in the UK and overseas. We supported collaborative projects that addressed specific industrial needs including 68 Impact Acceleration Amount projects to develop new products and processes. We formed collaborations with multiple partners, such as the MUMBA project to protect critical infrastructure and signed a memorandum of understanding with IBM.

FACILITIES FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

We secured funding to develop a £11.4m chemistry facility to bolster high value manufacturing which will see a significant expansion of our facilities and equipment. Our resident businesses continue to thrive, four have increased their presence on campus due to expansion.

COMMERCIALISATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

2013-2014 saw the formation of two university spin-out companies. A materials-analysis company from our top ranked physics department and Novabiomatrix Limited created to tap into the multibillion dollar cell culture technology industry.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

During 2013-2014 we launched a £1.7m Engineering Design Academy and a Data Science Masters both of which offer industry support through student projects. We supported a number of industry-led research collaborations through our postgraduate students including 28 Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering and 4 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. In total we arranged 366 collaborations between students and a wide range of organisations, from regional small and medium enterprises to international corporates.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

We have expanded our portfolio of industry-led professional training with courses inflood risk management designed in collaboration with JBA Consulting. Our MSc in Cyber Security received full certification from the UK’s national intelligence agency and we welcomedUnilever to deliver environmental training to our students.

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

2013-2014 saw increased activity with our international partners, including the KARIM project assisting over 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in North West Europe. We also took the first 15 businesses to China to benefit from the links developed as part of the £5.1 million Lancaster China Catalyst Programme.

MEASURING OUR PERFORMANCE

We measure the success of business partnerships and enterprise, highlighting a significant improvement to the return on investment we have realised from public funding over the last three years.2014-2015 looks set to be another exciting year for Science and Technology. We look forward to developing collaborative relationships with new partners.

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Email Amanda Elsworth-Ross for hard copies

CONTACT US

For more information about collaborating with the School of Computing and Communications contact Dr Steven Fish, Head of Business Partnerships and Enterprise.

Tue 20 January 2015