UEA-innovation-and-impact-awards-brochure-2018

INNOVATION & IMPACT AWARDS 2018 WELCOME Welcome to UEA’s inaugural Innovation and Impact Awards This event recognises the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of UEA’s staff and students, and celebrates the many successful collaborations between the University and our external partners AWARDS RUNNING ORDER KAREN JONES, CBE Chancellor, UEA OUTSTANDING SOCIAL OR CULTURAL IMPACT OUTSTANDING IMPACT IN HEALTH, WELLBEING AND WELFARE ESRC IMPACT ACCELERATOR ACCOUNT AWARD CONSULTANCY PROJECT OF THE YEAR SME COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR UEA INNOVATION FELLOWS From our student entrepreneurs just starting on their journey, to the pioneering work of our staff, and the phenomenal work of our Innovation Fellows, Professor Graham Finlayson and Professor David Russell, there is no question that innovation and enterprise are alive and well here at UEA I hope you all enjoy your evening and that it provides an opportunity to find out more about the multitude of innovation and entrepreneurial projects going on across campus and within Norwich and Norfolk It is our ambition to make UEA recognised as the place to come to realise your idea OUTSTANDING COMMERCIALISATION OF TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR STUDENT OR GRADUATE INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE Since becoming Chancellor in 2016, I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the staff and students who have made a powerful impact beyond academia, and I am delighted to have this opportunity to publicly celebrate their achievements and ensure they receive the recognition that they deserve It is my ambition to encourage this to flourish even further With the appointment of Jacyn Heavens, CEO of Epos Now, as UEA’s first ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence, we hope that students and staff will receive the inspiration and practical support to confidently pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations OUTSTANDING IMPACT IN POLICY AND PRACTICE THE JUDGES PROF LAURA BOWATER Associate Dean for Innovation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences DR JON CARTER Head of Innovation PROF FIONA LETTICE Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation HELEN LEWIS Director of Research & Innovation PROF TED TUROCY Associate Dean for Research, Faculty of Social Sciences JULIA WARNER Head of Research GLEN WEBSTER Area Business Manager, Barclays DR ANDY WOOD Chief Executive, Adnams and Associate Dean for Innovation, Faculty of Social Sciences “ At UEA, we have many talented staff and students who are using their expertise to generate outstanding societal and economic impact on a local, national and international scale Being part of the judging panel has been a real privilege and I am delighted that this award ceremony is highlighting and celebrating these innovative projects.” PROF LAURA BOWATER “We are presenting these awards to celebrate the success and impact of UEA’s pioneering research and innovation, delivered by our amazing staff and students with a range of fantastic external collaborators These awards celebrate the many productive partnerships within and beyond the University that enable such excellent research and innovation outcomes.” PROF FIONA LETTICE “Having worked very closely with UEA for some time now I have a great appreciation of the incredible talent within I am also passionate about bringing education and business closer together for the benefit of all, so am delighted to be involved with such an exciting project.” GLEN WEBSTER “I am absolutely delighted that UEA has decided to celebrate the innovative work being undertaken right across campus The quality of entries we saw was first class, many with the potential for long lasting impact and societal change I was delighted to be a judge for the first of what I hope will be many celebrations of the University’s innovation and impact.” DR ANDY WOOD OUTSTANDING IMPACT IN POLICY AND PRACTICE This award recognises impacts of research and innovation that have made direct changes in policy, or the way in which policies are viewed, where the beneficiaries include government and public sector organisations EUROPE, THE UK AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: IMPACTING THE EU REFERENDUM AND THE BREXIT PROCESS PROF ANDY JORDAN, DR TIM RAYNER AND BRENDAN MOORE School of Environmental Sciences Prof Jordan’s research demonstrates the positive impact the EU has had on the environment through modernising UK policies, driving improvements in environmental quality, and underpinning massive, long-term investments in new water and energy infrastructure Presented by CHRIS SARGISSON Prof Jordan is an expert in environment policy and one of the most highly cited researchers in the world today (Web of Science) Norfolk Chamber of Commerce IMPROVING ELECTORAL INTEGRITY AND DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION THROUGH ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT His impact activities have profoundly influenced discussions in Parliament, the NGO community and the wider public sphere, particularly during and immediately after the EU referendum His insights, and those of the ESRC funded Brexit & Environment Network that he now co-chairs, are directly informing strategic, long term choices as the UK prepares to leave the EU and forge a new relationship with the rest of the world A.Jordan@uea.ac.uk DR TOBY JAMES AND LEONTINE LOEBER School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies The team’s research diagnoses issues, raises awareness, and proposes policy solutions to improve the management of elections in the UK and internationally They have worked with institutions such as the Electoral Commission, International IDEA, the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, and the Venice Commission to increase public awareness of problems with the electoral process, identify ‘best practices’ in management systems and design and deliver international training courses for practitioners This included promotion of gender equality in electoral management bodies, better HR management practices and use of technology in elections CAN SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND REMAIN IN THE EU? DR NIKOS SKOUTARIS School of Law Following the EU referendum, Dr Skoutaris published a working paper on whether Scotland and Northern Ireland could remain in the EU or in the single market The paper explores two pathways The first entails the secession of the two regions from the UK while the second allows them to remain both in the UK and the EU The team worked to establish a UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation with party-neutral charity Bite the Ballot, and are part of the founders of worldwide Electoral Management Research Network, which makes scientific research accessible for policy makers The paper was published in the prestigious Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies (CYELS) and within a week it reached the top 5% of all research outputs tracked by Altmetric, becoming the number output ever published by CYELS Dr Skoutaris has presented his research to the European Parliament, been offered to formulate the European United Left Parliamentary Group’s post-Brexit Northern Ireland policy, and been appointed as an adviser to the Scottish Parliament on Brexit-related issues T.S.James@uea.ac.uk N.Skoutaris@uea.ac.uk OUTSTANDING COMMERCIALISATION OF TECHNOLOGY This award recognises innovations that have demonstrated outstanding use and exploitation of technology, including projects that have commercially licensed intellectual property to industry partners, and those who have formed UEA start-up companies to exploit intellectual property Presented by GLEN WEBSTER Barclays MOVETECH TELEMETRY DR ALDINA FRANCO PATHOGEN DNA ENRICHMENT FOR METAGENOMIC SEQUENCING BASED DIAGNOSTICS School of Environmental Sciences The British Trust for Ornithology uses 100 to 150 tracking devices each year, and the RSPB’s seabird tracking project, using archival GPS tags, has tagged over 1,200 birds since 2010 However, the wildlife tracking market is dominated by expensive technologies, making devices less accessible to the wider research community and other potential consumers In response, Dr Franco, in collaboration with the University of Lisbon and the British Trust for Ornithology, has developed low-cost, low-weight, high efficient GPS/GSM solar-powered tracking devices The product, weighing only 12g is now commercially available through the British Trust for Ornithology A.Franco@uea.ac.uk NATUREMETRICS PROF DOUGLAS YU AND DR KAT BRUCE School of Biological Sciences DR JUSTIN O’GRADY Norwich Medical School Over 100,000 people suffer bloodstream infections annually in the UK These infections often lead to hospitalisation and identifying the cause of the disease using current testing methods can take a long time While waiting for the results, patients often receive inappropriate antibiotic therapy Led by Dr O’Grady, the technique developed enables clinical scientists to separate the small amount of bacterial DNA in clinical samples from the large amount of human DNA The bacterial DNA can then be sequenced to identify which pathogen is causing the infection and which antibiotic will kill it, all in a much faster timeframe than current methods (less than hours compared to 48 hours) The patent for this technology has been filed, leading the way to better treatment for people with severe infections and more sustainable antibiotic use in the NHS NatureMetrics Ltd is a UEA spin-out founded to bridge the gap between molecular ecology research and the frontline of environmental management Standard environmental surveys are notoriously difficult to carry out because nature is diverse and most species are difficult to detect and identify reliably and quickly NatureMetrics provides a solution to this problem by carrying out a range of DNAbased environmental services to government bodies and commercial businesses that have responsibilities for environmental monitoring, including to front-line environmental consultancies The company has set up business and laboratory procedures to reliably process large numbers of samples with rapid turnaround time and at lower costs, increasing the effectiveness of environmental management in general Douglas.Yu@uea.ac.uk Justin.OGrady@uea.ac.uk OUTSTANDING SOCIAL OR CULTURAL IMPACT This award recognises the significant contribution of research and innovation in promoting social and cultural awareness, education and tolerance, including projects leading to increased cultural tourism and improvements in quality of life for specific groups and wider society Presented by BRENDA ARTHUR Norfolk and Norwich Festival FIJIAN ARTS REFUGEE HISTORY PROF STEVEN HOOPER AND DR KAREN JACOBS PROF LYNDSEY STONEBRIDGE AND DR BECKY TAYLOR Sainsbury Research Unit The Fijian Arts project has involved collaboration with a range of external partners, including the Fiji High Commission, Fiji Museum and the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology The project’s major exhibition Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific at UEA’s Sainsbury Centre was opened by the President of Fiji at a launch attended by Lord Sainsbury and Sir David Attenborough Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II also visited the exhibition by personal request Project members have advised regional UK museums on presenting their Fijian collections in innovative ways Among the main impacts of Fijian Arts have been a higher profile for Fiji’s national museum and a shift in attitudes towards heritage, at government, press and public levels – away from something to with a semi-irrelevant past, to something important to Fiji’s future S.Hooper@uea.ac.uk School of History The Refugee History project is developing awareness of shared refugee history in order to transform our understanding of, and attitudes towards, the current refugee crisis The research explores the idea that modern global history is also history of the refugee, and acknowledges the impact of refugee crises on modern culture and literature The Refugee History website is fast being recognised as the go-to source of information, translating academic history to general debate, nationally and internationally It provides a platform for sharing perspectives, highlighting new research, promoting best practice, and developing new and collaborative research methods to make an impact on current debates and policies L.Stonebridge@uea.ac.uk CRIME PAYS: BRINGING NOIR TO NORWICH HENRY SUTTON, DR LAURA JOYCE AND DR SARA HELEN BINNEY School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing Founded in 2014, the annual Noirwich crime writing festival now attracts around 1,600 visitors a year The festival, created by Henry Sutton and his team, along with collaborators from Writers’ Centre Norwich, hosts internationally-recognised crime writers, including Val McDermid, Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Arne Dahl Noirwich creates growing economic impact through cultural tourism, with 43% of 2017 attendees coming to Norwich specifically for the festival, but it also makes an important cultural impact as it works to change literary opinions of the crime genre and enhance the local cultural landscape Henry.Sutton@uea.ac.uk Photograph: Andi Sapey OUTSTANDING IMPACT IN HEALTH, WELLBEING AND WELFARE This award recognises impacts of research and innovation which have made changes in practice, guidelines and procedures in the healthcare sector, leading to real world improvements to quality of life for vulnerable individuals and groups Presented by HOWARD PARTRIDGE Innovate UK IMPROVING ACCESS FOR ALL: REDUCING INEQUALITIES IN ACCESS TO GENERAL PRACTICE SERVICES DR JOHN FORD, PROF ANDY JONES AND PROF NICHOLAS STEEL Norwich Medical School Most policy initiatives to improve access to GP services target the whole population, such as extended seven day opening However research suggests that targeted services are needed for high risk groups, such as socio-economically disadvantaged groups, including those in rural areas and the elderly Research led by Dr Ford, Prof Jones and Prof Steel is exploring access to primary care for these marginalised groups, in particular vulnerable older people, and their findings are influencing NHS England, Clinical Commissioning Groups, GP practices and local authorities across England and internationally to reduce these inequalities The project has already formed the basis of a national NHS England resource to reduce inequalities, it has supported integration of transport and health services in Norfolk, and has contributed to the service redesign of a Local Health Integrated Network team in Ontario, Canada John.Ford@uea.ac.uk 10 RECOGNISING DEHYDRATION IN OLDER PEOPLE ICENI DIAGNOSTICS PROF DAVID RUSSELL DR LEE HOOPER AND DR FLORENCE O JIMOH Norwich Medical School School of Chemistry PROF ROB FIELD John Innes Centre DR DIANE BUNN School of Health Sciences Dehydration is a frequent problem in elderly individuals admitted to hospital and residing in long term care homes Research led by Dr Hooper has shown that 20% of older people living in residential care in Norfolk are dehydrated Unfortunately, accurate and effective tools to record drinks intakes are limited and often time-consuming In response to this, Dr Hooper and her team have developed a novel, self-reporting ‘Drinks Diary’ to record an individual’s drinks intake in long term care The Drinks Diary has already been downloaded by hundreds of users for free As a unique self-reporting tool, it empowers older adults in long term care, increases awareness of the importance of fluid intake, indicates a need for interventions supporting drinking in older adults, and contributes towards optimal care in the elderly Iceni Diagnostics Ltd, founded in March 2014, develops carbohydrate based therapeutics and point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases A major focus for the UEA-John Innes Centre spin-out company is the development of its own carbohydrate based diagnostic platforms for infectious disease Disease targets include norovirus and rotavirus for human healthcare, as well as avian influenza where the risk of a global pandemic is of particular concern Iceni Diagnostics has received numerous accolades and awards, including a prestigious international Longitude Prize Discovery Award to support the development of a diagnostic device to tackle anti-microbial resistance L.Hooper@uea.ac.uk 11 ESRC IMPACT ACCELERATOR ACCOUNT AWARD The winner of this award has been selected by the judging panel from all entries to the previous four categories, as a project which demonstrates outstanding innovation and impact The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), a non-Departmental Body founded by Royal Charter in 1965, is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues They support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and civil society In 2014, the ESRC established an Impact Acceleration Scheme which seeks to accelerate the conversion of completed academic research into economic and social impact UEA successfully bid for an Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) that OPERATION WALBEA: WHAT THE AMERICANS LEFT BEHIND IN EAST ANGLIA DR DERWIN GREGORY year, receiving over £800,000, and since then our IAA has been a significant catalyst for generating benefits locally, regionally, nationally and globally Thanks to the support and advice of our External Advisory Board, which has been so ably chaired by Brian Horner, our three year programme of activity has seen UEA research applied to more than 50 different projects, from increasing the flow of US tourists to Norfolk, to improved electoral registration procedures nationally, to the establishment of community self-help groups to empower women with disabled children in Africa In doing all that we have made many new productive external partnerships, and especially in Norfolk School of History During the Second World War, the East Anglian counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire became home to the ‘friendly invasion’ of United States Army Air Force (USAAF), and by 1943 there were more than 100,000 US airmen based in Britain The arrival of GIs into rural East Anglia had a considerable impact on the local communities, introducing fairly sleepy, largely rural areas to the big band music of Glenn Miller, peanut butter, jitterbugging and Coca Cola Operation WALBEA investigates this US military presence through the everyday objects left behind Run by the Centre of East Anglian Studies in UEA’s School of History, and working in partnership with tourism agency Visit East Anglia, the project brings together researchers, student archaeologists, local history societies and veterans to shed light onto the lives lived by US service personnel in East Anglia during the War Through archaeological techniques, the project is building a database of artefacts recovered from the communal and accommodation areas of facilities used by GIs during the war These finds will help historians to understand how they lived, what they ate and drank, what illnesses they were treated for and what products they used in their everyday lives Presented by BRIAN HORNER Norfolk Museums Development Foundation and ESRC IAA External Advisory Board The project is raising the profile of the region’s WWII USAAF heritage, and has already boosted the East of England’s economy by increasing tourism WALBEA has also impacted the wellbeing of injured and serving British and American military personnel, veterans and family members through inviting them to participate in archaeological excavations of Second World War airfields Derwin.Gregory@uea.ac.uk American Air Museum FRE 567 12 13 AWARD FOR STUDENT OR GRADUATE INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE This award recognises outstanding student innovation and enterprise ventures that originated at UEA, recognising both business and social enterprises that formed in the last four years All shortlisted companies have benefitted from the support of UEA’s Student Enterprise team, including mentoring and funding The Enterprise Fund, established with the generous support of UEA alumni, has so far invested over £134,000 through the “Grow It” and “Scale It” schemes to make a project commercially viable In addition to providing the financial support, these alumni also support applicants with their considerable skills and experience Significant funding support from Santander Universities and UnLtd has been awarded to student and graduate start-ups in both the “Try It” and “Do It” seed funding schemes to explore an idea or launch a venture www.uea.ac.uk/careers/student-enterprise HACK THEATRE THE BALDWIN GALLERY MICHELLE SEWELL DENNISON SMITH School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing HACK Theatre is a multi-award winning theatre company supported by Norwich Arts Centre, and acts as the Roundhouse’s Regional Partner for Norfolk HACK’s vision is for an art form that is regularly refreshed with new ways of thinking, aiming for theatre engaged in politics, society and culture, and relevant to the lives of people now The Baldwin Gallery curates dialogue between cultures, nature and art Representing contemporary artists and specialising in Canadian First Nations art and international environmental art, the gallery engages with an adaptive living tradition that speaks to the postcolonial movement and gives present tense authority to England’s historic museum collections The team procures and consults for museums, cultural institutions, arts organisations and collectors in the UK and abroad HACK Theatre toured the sell-out production, Border Control, which combines performance and debate; engaging audiences in discussions about immigration with political representatives to influence policy-change Other toured productions include Off Dereham, The Games We Played, and Disney Dysfunction Based at the Norwich Arts Centre, the team also produces a monthly scratch night for local regional artists in Norfolk and Suffolk Artistic@hacktheatre.co.uk Recent and upcoming collaborations or commissions in London include The National Maritime Museum, Canada House, The Horniman Museum, Origins Festival of First Nations, Blacks Club (Soho) and The Hospital Club (Covent Garden) Having opened doors just over a year ago, the Baldwin Gallery is already considered the UK authority in First Nations art Dennisonb@thebaldwingallery.com Presented by LUCY MARKS Norfolk Network CATCHING A FISH IN NORWAY PAUL DONATI AND LOTTIE MICHAEL School of Law This social enterprise began in 2014 with the ambition to tackle huge problems in the fashion industry; operating as both a Fairtrade, eco-friendly clothing brand, and a platform for young artists to promote and exhibit their work Since then, the business has grown from strength to strength, making over £40,000 turnover, employing two part-time team members, and reinvesting profits into finding more sustainable manufacturing processes with wider community impacts The brand works with Fair Wear Foundation - accredited manufacturers in Maharashtra, India - to create organic and carbon-neutral fabrics, which are then printed locally in Norwich Info@cafinclothing.com 14 15 CONSULTANCY PROJECT OF THE YEAR This award recognises outstanding consultancy projects that clearly demonstrate a commercial, social, health or cultural impact beyond academia HOME BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING IN A HYPERTENSIVE PREGNANT POPULATION: COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS PROF RICHARD FORDHAM, DR CHRISTOPHER SKEDGEL, DR GEORGIOS XYDOPOULOS AND KRISNALI PARSEKAR Hypertensive disorders complicate up to 10% of pregnancies, remaining one of the leading causes of direct maternal deaths worldwide Therefore, increased blood pressure monitoring in hypertensive pregnant women is required, resulting in frequent hospital visits SALENA DAWSON Federation of Small Businesses IMPROVING ANIMAL NUTRITION THROUGH TARGETED ANALYTICAL SCIENCE DR CHARLES BREARLEY AND DR HAYLEY WHITFIELD School of Biological Sciences DR MICHAEL WORMSTONE School of Biological Sciences Norwich Medical School Presented by IMPROVING CATARACT SURGERY OUTCOMES St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Health Economics Consulting consulted with Prof Fordham’s team to develop a cost-effective mobile application (HAMPTON) that allows pregnant women to log their blood pressure readings from home and transmit the results directly to the Hospital’s doctors who are able to provide immediate advice in case of abnormal readings Cataracts affect millions of people and are treated by surgically removing the cataract and introducing an artificial intraocular lens (IOL) into residual lens tissue, restoring visual power While initially successful, secondary visual loss often occurs due to a wound-healing response known as posterior capsule opacification (PCO) Dr Wormstone and the late Prof George Duncan worked with clinical colleagues to develop a human lens tissue model, based on a simulated cataract operation Amongst other results, this has led to the valuation of several novel IOL designs and their ability to influence PCO One design has been in clinical use for more than a decade and a nextgeneration lens will soon undergo clinical trials The model continues to be developed, and links have been established with companies to develop their IOL designs I.M.Wormstone@uea.ac.uk The project has reduced unnecessary appointments, improving the efficiency of the Fetal Unit at St George’s hospital, and was nominated as one of five finalists in the Health Innovation category of the British Medical Journal awards 2017 R.Fordham@uea.ac.uk Global animal nutrition technology company AB Vista has worked with UEA for five years, commissioning more work with UEA than with any other university in the world AB Vista is the world’s third largest feed enzyme business offering technological solutions that improve animal nutrition in a near $1 billion per annum industry Dr Brearley’s research responds directly to the needs of industry and agriculture It provides an understanding of the benefits of enzyme adjuncts and, with Dr Hemmings (School of Chemistry), additionally seeks to engineer ‘next generation’ enzymes for the industry C.Brearley@uea.ac.uk 16 17 SME COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR This award recognises collaborations between UEA and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have resulted in outstanding commercial, social, health or cultural impact beyond academia Presented by JACYN HEAVENS Epos Now SYNC THE CITY WHO BUYS MY FOOD? DR ALFONSO AVILA-MERINO AND PROF FIONA LETTICE Norwich Business School Science Analytical Facility In partnership with dunhumby and Tesco, ‘Who Buys My Food?’ provides farmers and small food and drink producers with actionable insight derived from the analysis of supermarket loyalty card (Tesco Clubcard) data The Science Analytical Facility, located within the Faculty of Science at UEA, provide a highly experienced analytical service for a wide variety of sample types in environmental, food, pharmaceutical and forensics research ‘Who Buys My Food?’ has been running for over 11 years with over 650 SME food and drink businesses collaborating The project has also created a Tesco Local supplier network for collaboration through delivering shopper insight reports, running webinars, sharing case studies and collecting data Led by Liz Rix, the team have worked with over 15 different SMEs in the last 12 months, including Aeropak, ANspec, Apitek, Cambridge Nanosystems, Chemtec, Flexitog, Food Forensics, Harvey Water Softners and Treatt A number of these SMEs have become regular customers, relying on the speed of response and professionalism of the service Currently, the Science Analytical Facility offers a range of analysis unavailable elsewhere in the region Norwich Business School JULIE SCHOFIELD Careers Centre AND JOHN FAGAN SyncNorwich Sync the City is a Norwich-based annual tech start-up event, collaboratively founded in 2014 by UEA and SyncNorwich, a community of tech professionals mainly drawn from SMEs Sync the City challenges attendees to pitch a start-up idea to participants, judges and mentors Ten winning pitchers then form a team to develop a prototype product and business plan within 54 hours A panel of judges select a winner on the final evening of Sync The City Participants are students, local entrepreneurs, software developers and designers Mentored by local leading tech and business professionals, this event is an invaluable learning and development opportunity for all participants, helping them to develop technical and business skills and to secure internships and jobs PROF ANDREW FEARNE Recently, the project launched an agri-food business network, Food For Thought, through which the lessons learned from engagement with Tesco will be applied to the agri-food industry in the region A.Fearne@uea.ac.uk SCIENCE ANALYTICAL FACILITY LIZ RIX In May 2017 the Science Analytical Facility received their ISO9001:2015 certificate, formalising the professional service provided by the team The certificate is recognised by Funding Councils as a demonstration of competence and will help develop new opportunities with external clients E.Rix@uea.ac.uk In a number of cases, competition winners have taken their idea through to commercialisation, or they have secured capital to further fund their start-up Julie.Schofield@uea.ac.uk 18 19 UEA INNOVATION FELLOWS PROF GRAHAM FINLAYSON PROF DAVID RUSSELL School of Computing Sciences School of Chemistry Prof Graham Finlayson commenced on a path of entrepreneurship at a young age By the age of 16, back home in Scotland, he and a school-friend started a company, HighTech Software, and developed a game simulating the stock market that was on sale on the high street at WHSmith Prof Finlayson combines his entrepreneurial instinct with his excellence as an academic, joining UEA in 1999 as the youngest ever professorial appointment at the University (he was offered the job aged just 30 years old) His research interests include: colour imaging; computer vision; colour science; artificial intelligence; and computational geometry In 2006 Prof Finlayson spun-out from UEA Imsense Ltd, which produced ground-breaking software to enhance digital photos and improve the quality The Imsense app, ‘Imphoto’, was awarded “Hottest Medal” on the iTunes store, and was downloaded more than 100,000 times (a large number in that era) Imsense Ltd made a successful exit in 2010, through acquisition by an undisclosed major blue chip trade buyer Imsense was the first company in the 50 year history of UEA either to raise venture capital and to make money for the university In 2012 Spectral Edge Ltd was also spun-out from the Finlayson Lab Spectral Edge Ltd has pioneered new approaches to image fusion, colour perception-based processing and image enhancement Initial investment came thanks to partnerships with the Iceni Seedcorn Fund and Rainbow Seed Fund, as well as investment from business angels Spectral Edge Ltd now employs 10 people and in December 2017 completed an investment round in excess of £4 million This new round of funding, led by existing investors Parkwalk 20 and IQ Capital, will grow the Spectral Edge team further and build and grow a range of products The long term aim is to deploy the fusion technology in smart phones (where most devices now have multiple cameras and there is a pressing need for improved fusion technology) IN DECEMBER 2017 SPECTRAL EDGE COMPLETED AN INVESTMENT ROUND IN EXCESS OF £4 MILLION Prof Finlayson is an inventor on more than 30 patent applications Many of Prof Finlayson’s patents are implemented and used in commercial products including photo processing software, dedicated image processing hardware (ASICs) and in embedded camera software Prof Finlayson’s intellectual property ships in 100s of millions of products worldwide Across the whole of UEA, Prof Finlayson’s Colour Laboratory is one of the most successful research units In statistics, the Colour Lab impact is evidenced by: more than 300 refereed papers, more than 10,000 citations, more than £15 million in grant and investment funding and more than 20 PhDs graduated He has worked with many blue chip imaging companies including, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Nikon and Sony He is the recipient of the Philip Leverhulme prize and a Royal Society-Wolfson merit award He is a Fellow of the Institute for Engineering Technology, the Society for Imaging Science and Technology and the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) The RPS also awarded Prof Finlayson the Davies Medal for his contribution to the photographic industry Prof David Russell is a leading light in the field of bioanalytical chemistry, particularly in the development of nanoscale technologies with diagnostic and bio-medical applications Prof Russell has been recognised for his research by the Royal Society of Chemistry through the SAC Silver Medal award, and by Schlumberger with a Stichting Research Prize Prof Russell joined UEA in 1991 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (1997), Reader (1999) and then to a Chair in 2002 He was the Associate Dean for Research for the Faculty of Science (2008-2010) and from August 2011 to December 2014 Head of the School of Chemistry Whilst maintaining his academic duties and publishing regularly in prestigious journals, Prof Russell took the lead on translating his research through the development of diagnostic devices, undertaking collaborative projects and licensing his technology to industry In the last 10 years this has resulted in two spin-out companies – Intelligent Fingerprinting Ltd and Iceni Diagnostics Ltd (co-founded with Prof Rob Field) – as vehicles to take the inventions to market Prof Russell’s research at UEA has resulted in six patent families and distinct novel technologies, each with its own potential to revolutionise the field to which it applies His invention and patent on nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy for cancer was licensed to two industry collaborators, and his invention relating to the detection of drugs and drug metabolites within sweat deposits in fingerprints was licensed, and subsequently assigned, to his UEA spin-out Intelligent Fingerprinting From its foundation in 2007, Intelligent Fingerprinting now employs more than 30 staff, and has its own manufacturing facility, R&D laboratories and office space The company has recently launched the Intelligent Fingerprinting product range This consists of a cartridge for the detection of four classes of drugs of abuse, together with a bespoke fluorescence based cartridge reader These products are a world first, offering a direct link between an individual and their diagnostic result A finger of an individual is pressed on the cartridge for five seconds The sweat deposited in the fingerprint is used to detect the drugs taken by the individual Results are available within 10 minutes of obtaining a fingerprint sample Such a rapid, non-invasive, and dignified method of sample collection and processing has applications in multiple sectors The products are being marketed and sold within the criminal justice arena, drug rehabilitation services, workplace and occupational health services Since the launch in August 2017, products have sold in the UK, USA and Australia INTELLIGENT FINGERPRINTING HAS SECURED OVER £13.5 MILLION FROM PRIVATE US AND UK BACKERS Prof Russell has played an instrumental role in the success of Intelligent Fingerprinting, which has gone from strength to strength over the years, securing over £13.5million from private US and UK backers The company has created significant impact within the high-tech enterprise arena by bringing a novel product to market, providing highly skilled jobs, bringing foreign venture capital into the UK and generating revenues from product sales In partnership with Prof Rob Field from the John Innes Centre, Prof Russell founded a second spin-out company, Iceni Diagnostics Ltd in 2014, which is taking the lead on developing carbohydrate based diagnostic platforms for infectious diseases including norovirus, rotavirus and avian influenza Based on the Norwich Research Park, Iceni Diagnostics has won a number of prestigious awards in recognition of their R&D, including: an international Longitude Prize Discovery Award for its work on diagnostics to tackle anti-microbial resistance (November 2016); EDP ‘Future 50’ companies (July 2016); and the EDP ‘Knowledge Catalyst’ business award (November 2017) 21 UEA INNOVATION: BREAKING BOUNDARIES These projects have all been made possible thanks to the support of the following external collaborators: 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum AB Vista Aeropak ANspec Apitek Apple Bite The Ballot Blacks Club British Trust for Ornithology Cambridge Nanosystems Canada House Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture dunhumby Electoral Commission ESRC Fair Wear Foundation Fiji High Commission Flexitog Parkwalk Green Alliance Penguin Random House Greener UK Reliance Foundation Harvey Water Softeners Right to Remain Health Economics Consulting Roundhouse Hewlett Packard Santander Universities Hill Farm Oils Sony Horniman Museum Spectral Edge Hospital Club St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Iceni Seedcorn Fund Imperial War Museum Duxford International Centre for Parliamentary Studies Chemtec Fiji Museum Food Forensics International IDEA IQ Capital SyncNorwich Tesco CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR FINALISTS Treatt UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund Jarrold University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology Javelin Ventures Ltd University of Lisbon National Maritime Museum Unltd Nikon Venice Commission NorseCare Visit East Anglia Norwich Arts Centre Waterstones Origins Festival of First Nations Writers’ Centre Norwich If you’ve been inspired by what you’ve read, and would like to find out how you can work with UEA to make an impact, contact us to find out more This could be in the form of consultancy, funded research, student internships, or your own idea for a project – and we often have funding available to help get projects started Email business@uea.ac.uk or visit www.uea.ac.uk/business 22 23