Case Studies

"...This is an incredibly useful programme. This is the second Innovation Fellowship I have been involved in, and in both cases the project has led onto large-scale funded exploitation projects that went well beyond my expectations. The focus on real-world exploitation, coupled with the inherent flexibility, make it extremely effective in leveraging further activity..."

(Innovation Fellow, 2009)

The following case studies provide an overview of current and past Fellowships supported by the programme. The programme brochure features additional information and case studies.

• Live Innovation Fellowships
• Previous Innovation Fellowships
• Spin-outs created or supported by Innovation Fellowships

Live Innovation Fellowships

Professor Carol Phillips has been working with an experimental citrus anti-microbial vapour with a view to its potential use in the agricultural/horticultural sector. Her work at Northampton has established that the vapour has been effective against a number of plant pathogens and she is now looking to take this further with an industrial sized-application.

John Greenwood's work on a Self Erecting, Low Cost Flood Barrier was finally showcased to an interested audience in mid- September 2009. Working in conjunction with AECOM and P A Geotechnical, John's idea has stepped out of the lab and was demonstrated holding back a wall of water almost a metre deep and twenty metres long at the Environment Agency's Lea Marston Site. Suitable to be used either on its own or as part of an arsenal of flood defences, the significant cost savings over existing applications should allow this to be a serious contender when reviewing options available to protect land and buildings from the risk of flash floods.

At Leicester University Dr Eleanor Graham has tackled the difficult challenge of identifying bodies in mass disasters. By using her knowledge of DNA fingerprint sampling, a prototype tool has been developed in conjunction with De Montfort University that could be widely used throughout the world in a variety of circumstances. The team are now looking to have the capability to scale up production to the 000's.

Dr Mark Baron, from the University of Lincoln, has been working on making a portable drug test that could be used easily at scenes of crime, significantly speeding up detection times for certain compounds that could give the Police a head start particularly in detection of ‘date rape'.

The work undertaken by Dr Tony Allen at Nottingham Trent University has been looking at developing a biometric voice-key verification system. With a myriad of potential applications from use in call-centres through to incorporation within a mobile phone, progress has been swift and a successful application to the Lachesis Fund has leveraged a further £250k to assist taking this technology to this global market. Industrial interest is high and a spin-out company has been formed.

Production of portable prototype has proved to be a significant catalyst for a team of electrical engineers at the University of Nottingham. A combined heart and breathing rate monitor which has diverse potential applications in both heavy industry and neonatal care has attracted over £390k of further development funding to take the product to market.

Gyles Lingwood's innovative 'idea generation' software certainly did that! Market testing of a prototype version in both secondary and tertiary education produced some very positive results, and it has now been possible to demonstrate this to some potential photo-library partners.

Dr Amin Al-Habaibeh at Nottingham Trent University was aware of the difficulties health practitioners have in inserting intravenous cannulas successfully, and as a result has been working on designing and developing a new version. His invention, which should improve the success rate significantly, makes the procedure less stressful for the clinician and gives the patient a much better experience.

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Previous Innovation Fellowships

Fellowship makes it through to final of Financial Times competition

The very first Innovation Fellowship awarded, to Dr Harry Salt at Loughborough, has made it through to the final stages of a global competition to tackle climate change. The Zephyr evaporating tiles system is an innovative, low-energy cooling system which can provide significantly cheaper air conditioning and reduce CO2 emissions. Zephyr has made it through to the last five from over 300 entries.

New technology to support high-risk pregnancy management

In 2002, Dr Barrie Hayes-Gill at the University of Nottingham secured an Innovation Fellowship to enable him to establish the feasibility of commercial manufacture of a portable monitor for the long-term measurement of fetal heart rate. The product is based on patented technology arising from Dr Hayes-Gill's research measuring the tiny electrical signal generated by the fetal heartbeat. In 2004 the project had substantially developed: a spin-out company, Monica Healthcare Ltd., was formed and the team won first prize in the bioscience section of the Joint Research Councils Business Plan Competition. In 2005, the company secured £500,000 investment from the Lachesis Fund, Catapult and the management team, to finalise the product design and take the product through a testing programme. It has subsequently gone on to raise significant further funding and won the 'New Exporter' Award at the 2009 East Midlands UKTi International Business Awards. The product enables GPs and midwives to more accurately assess the condition of the unborn child in high-risk pregnencies.

Developing new healthcare therapies

One of the very first Innovation Fellowships, awarded in 2001 to Professor Alison Goodall (University of Leicester), enabled the development of a new therapy for thrombocytopenia (a lack of blood platelets, often occurring in cancer patients). In 2004, the resulting spin-out company, Haemostatix, has secured £250,000 in seed investment from the Lachesis Fund and is now looking to raise £3,000,000. It has three employees, with Professor Goodall as Chief Scientific Officer. Recently it has established a collaboration with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to secure specialist production capability for its products.

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Spin-outs created or supported by Innovation Fellowships

In addition to the transfer of technology to existing companies, for example via licensing, the programme has contributed to the successful development of a number of spin-out companies and joint ventures, including: