̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - sensor technology

Cheaper method for making woven displays and smart fabrics – of any size or shape

sc604 — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 17:37:37 +0000

Researchers have developed next-generation smart textiles – incorporating LEDs, sensors, energy harvesting, and storage – that can be produced inexpensively, in any shape or size, using the same machines used to make the clothing we wear every day.

Nano ‘camera’ made using molecular glue allows real-time monitoring of chemical reactions

sc604 — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 14:59:34 +0000

̽��ֱ��device, made by a team from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, combines tiny semiconductor nanocrystals called quantum dots and gold nanoparticles using molecular glue called cucurbituril (CB). When added to water with the molecule to be studied, the components self-assemble in seconds into a stable, powerful tool that allows the real-time monitoring of chemical reactions.

̽��ֱ��camera harvests light within the semiconductors, inducing electron transfer processes like those that occur in photosynthesis, which can be monitored using incorporated gold nanoparticle sensors and spectroscopic techniques. They were able to use the camera to observe chemical species which had been previously theorised but not directly observed.

̽��ֱ��platform could be used to study a wide range of molecules for a variety of potential applications, such as the improvement of photocatalysis and photovoltaics for renewable energy. ̽��ֱ��results are reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Nature controls the assemblies of complex structures at the molecular scale through self-limiting processes. However, mimicking these processes in the lab is usually time-consuming, expensive and reliant on complex procedures.

“In order to develop new materials with superior properties, we often combine different chemical species together to come up with a hybrid material that has the properties we want,” said Professor Oren Scherman from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “But making these hybrid nanostructures is difficult, and you often end up with uncontrolled growth or materials that are unstable.”

̽��ֱ��new method that Scherman and his colleagues from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and ̽��ֱ�� College London developed uses cucurbituril – a molecular glue which interacts strongly with both semiconductor quantum dots and gold nanoparticles. ̽��ֱ��researchers used small semiconductor nanocrystals to control the assembly of larger nanoparticles through a process they coined interfacial self-limiting aggregation. ̽��ֱ��process leads to permeable and stable hybrid materials that interact with light. ̽��ֱ��camera was used to observe photocatalysis and track light-induced electron transfer.

“We were surprised how powerful this new tool is, considering how straightforward it is to assemble,” said first author Dr Kamil Sokołowski, also from the Department of Chemistry.

To make their nano camera, the team added the individual components, along with the molecule they wanted to observe, to water at room temperature. Previously, when gold nanoparticles were mixed with the molecular glue in the absence of quantum dots, the components underwent unlimited aggregation and fell out of solution. However, with the strategy developed by the researchers, quantum dots mediate the assembly of these nanostructures so that the semiconductor-metal hybrids control and limit their own size and shape. In addition, these structures stay stable for weeks.

“This self-limiting property was surprising, it wasn’t anything we expected to see,” said co-author Dr Jade McCune, also from the Department of Chemistry. “We found that the aggregation of one nanoparticulate component could be controlled through the addition of another nanoparticle component.”

When the researchers mixed the components together, the team used spectroscopy to observe chemical reactions in real time. Using the camera, they were able to observe the formation of radical species – a molecule with an unpaired electron – and products of their assembly such as sigma dimeric viologen species, where two radicals form a reversible carbon-carbon bond. ̽��ֱ��latter species had been theorised but never observed.

“People have spent their whole careers getting pieces of matter to come together in a controlled way,” said Scherman, who is also Director of the Melville Laboratory. “This platform will unlock a wide range of processes, including many materials and chemistries that are important for sustainable technologies. ̽��ֱ��full potential of semiconductor and plasmonic nanocrystals can now be explored, providing an opportunity to simultaneously induce and observe photochemical reactions.”

“This platform is a really big toolbox considering the number of metal and semiconductor building blocks that can be now coupled together using this chemistry– it opens up lots of new possibilities for imaging chemical reactions and sensing through taking snapshots of monitored chemical systems,” said Sokołowski. “ ̽��ֱ��simplicity of the setup means that researchers no longer need complex, expensive methods to get the same results.”

Researchers from the Scherman lab are currently working to further develop these hybrids towards artificial photosynthetic systems and (photo)catalysis where electron-transfer processes can be observed directly in real time. ̽��ֱ��team is also looking at mechanisms of carbon-carbon bond formation as well as electrode interfaces for battery applications.

̽��ֱ��research was carried out in collaboration with Professor Jeremy Baumberg at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Dr Edina Rosta at ̽��ֱ�� College London. It was funded in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Reference:
Kamil Sokołowski et al. ‘Nanoparticle surfactants for kinetically arrested photoactive assemblies to track light-induced electron transfer.’ Nature Nanotechnology (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-021-00949-6

Researchers have made a tiny camera, held together with ‘molecular glue’ that allows them to observe chemical reactions in real time.

This platform is a really big toolbox – it opens up lots of new possibilities for imaging chemical reactions

Kamil Sokołowski

Scherman Group

Nano camera

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Cambridge and Nokia Bell Labs establish new research centre to advance AI-supported multi-sensory personal devices

plc32 — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:00:23 +0000

Nokia Bell Labs is a founding partner of the new Centre for Mobile, Wearable Systems and Augmented Intelligence, to be based in Cambridge’s world-leading Department of Computer Science and Technology. ̽��ֱ��Centre will advance state-of-the-art mobile systems, security, new materials, and artificial intelligence (AI) to address one of the main human needs – the ability to communicate better with each other.

̽��ֱ��collaboration pairs two innovation powerhouses. Nokia Bell Labs in Cambridge conducts research on novel sensors based on emerging materials, embedded and network intelligence, and computational social science. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ��’s Department of Computer Science and Technology is expert in analysing mobile data and systems research in real world applications with quantifiable impact.

Research into mobile, wearable and augmented intelligence systems

̽��ֱ��research jointly conducted in the new Centre will redefine the way people interact with the digital and physical world. Areas of focus include precise, predictive and personalised medicine, digital, physical, mental, and social well-being, and sensory human communication experiences beyond visual and audio. ̽��ֱ��Centre will be directed by Cecilia Mascolo, Professor of Mobile Systems, and Alastair Beresford, Reader in Computer Security.

“ ̽��ֱ��new Centre provides support for high-quality, long-term research into mobile, wearable and augmented intelligence systems in Cambridge,” said Professor Mascolo. “In addition, the Centre will also engage with other researchers across the UK and abroad. We will formally launch the new Centre with a research symposium later in the year, with researchers drawn from across the UK and beyond.”

“Mobile systems have transformed our lives and evolved dramatically over the last 20 years,” said Dr Beresford. “However, there are many big changes to come, and our research will ensure we have the right technical solutions as well as appropriate safeguards available.”

Establishing a dynamic research community

̽��ֱ��Centre will be used to establish a vibrant research community, and support Nokia Bell Labs PhD Studentships as well as postdoctoral researchers over the next five years. It will also support the wider research community with a range of events, workshops and seminars. ̽��ֱ��official opening and first academic research symposium will take place in September.

Markus Hofmann, Head of Applications, Platforms and Software Systems Research at Nokia Bell Labs said: “We are very excited to participate in the creation of this new Centre at Cambridge. We look forward to solving the key technical challenges as we move towards our shared goal – to provide people with enhanced awareness of their world, to help them better sense and interpret their digital and physical environment, to enable the long-distance exchange of people’s emotions and perceptions, to augment and improve the human experience in a digitally connected world.”

Julie Byrne, Head of External Collaboration Programs at Nokia Bell Labs, said: “We established our Distinguished Academic Partner Program to bring together the best and brightest minds to solve human need challenges by delivering disruptive innovations. We are delighted to be a founding partner of this new Centre and to bring the world-leading Department of Computer Science and Technology at Cambridge to our collaboration program.”

More about the impact of philanthropic giving

Read other examples of the positive impact of philanthropy at Cambridge

̽��ֱ��long-sought dream of wearable and mobile devices that will interpret, replicate and influence people’s emotions and perceptions will soon be a reality thanks to a collaboration between the ̽��ֱ�� and Nokia Bell Labs.

Markus Spiske

Computer code

Yes

Students invent new technology to improve later life

ta385 — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 09:30:00 +0000

As part of their Master of Research programme at the ̽��ֱ��’s EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications last year, the ten students were given 12 weeks to develop an integrated suite of wireless devices to enable family members and carers to monitor the wellbeing of an older person, remotely and with minimal invasion of privacy.

Details of the team’s breakthrough have just been published in ̽��ֱ��Royal Society’s Interface Focus journal.

According to ̽��ֱ��Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, around one in three adults aged over 65 who live at home will suffer at least one fall a year; and in 2009, in England and Wales alone, this age group accounted for 7,475 deaths as a result of an accident. Nevertheless, the vast majority of older people would still prefer to stay in their own homes until it is impossible for them to do so, rather than move into residential care.

Three million people in the UK are aged 80 or over, and the number of people aged over 85 is set to double in the next 20 years. With ageing populations placing increasing pressure on health services in the UK and many other countries, there is growing demand for assisted living technologies to enable older people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer.

But as team member Oliver Bonner, an electronics engineer, explains:

“Existing monitoring devices are often too bulky, only perform one function and can’t be integrated because manufacturers don’t want their products used alongside those of rival brands. What we’ve done is develop an open platform so that anyone who invents an ingenious assistive device can bring that into the system and enhance what it can do for older people.”

̽��ֱ��interdisciplinary team – comprising engineers, chemists, biochemists, materials scientists and physicists – designed and incorporated five assistive devices into their sensor suite: a door sensor, power monitor, fall detector, general in-house sensor unit, and an on-person location-aware communications device. ̽��ֱ��group improved on existing devices, in part, by taking advantage of recent developments in 3D printing, printed circuit board production and electronics prototyping.

Josephine Hughes, who studied engineering as an undergraduate at Cambridge and is now pursuing a PhD in robotics, said:

“We’ve created a non-intrusive safety net that can be used to help older people live independently in their own homes for as long as possible while also connecting them with their friends and family. We had to ensure that older people would accept the system.”

To protect the privacy of older people, the in-house system uses motion and audio detectors to establish presence but no cameras or sound recording devices. Towards the end of the project, the team installed their sensor suite in the home of team member, Philip Mair, a biochemist. With kind permission from Mair’s flatmates, the group tested the system for two weeks and, to their relief, discovered that it was fully operational.

Extensive further testing would be required before the system could be commercialised but it has already attracted interest from potential investors and manufacturers.

Philip Mair said: “ ̽��ֱ��toughest part of the project was having to tear up our first proposal and start over again. Once we got into the development phase, we had to wait for our area of expertise to come into play but also pick up entirely new skills very quickly, in my case, programming.”

Professor Clemens Kaminski, Director of the Sensor CDT at Cambridge, said:

“ ̽��ֱ��sensor team challenge was a unique experience for all involved and what these students have achieved is astonishing. To devise a proposal, budget and work plan as well as build and demonstrate such a sophisticated system in such a short period is remarkable.

"Their sensor suite significantly outperforms any commercial solution currently available and the team has made a genuine contribution to society by sharing the advances which it has made. ̽��ֱ��experience will stay with them for the rest of their careers.”

All ten team members are now working on other projects as part of PhD research at Cambridge.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� is a world leader in the science and technology of sensing and myriad sensor technologies have been developed here, ranging from DNA sequencing to plastic transistors. ̽��ֱ��CDT in Sensor Technologies and Applications connects more than 100 academics from 20 departments and leading industries to provide a coordinated training programme and PhD experience to outstanding students from a large number of disciplines.

During the first year of the Sensor CDT studentship, which leads to the Master of Research qualification, students immediately begin to engage in sensor innovation through course work and experimental projects. ̽��ֱ��experience differs from that of a traditional, single-discipline PhD as students work across different Departments and undertake projects both individually and in teams. Students interact with industrial partners who are also pushing the boundaries of sensor innovation, and learn how to achieve radically new solutions to current and future sensor challenges.

A showcase event for Cambridge activities in the field is the Sensors 2016 conference (14 October 2016) which will host international speakers as well as the current CDT cohort, who will present the outcome of their own team challenge, focused on building a medical imaging device.

̽��ֱ��team:

James Manton; Omar Amjad; Josephine Hughes; Isabella Miele; Philip Mair; Tiesheng Wang; Oliver Bonner; Vitaly Levdik; Richard Hall; Géraldine Baekelandt.

Teaching team members: Prof Clemens F. Kaminski; Dr Oliver Hadeler; Dr Fernando da Cruz Vasconcellos; Dr Tanya Hutter.

A team of post-graduate students has published research with the potential to transform the lives of millions of older people around the world.

̽��ֱ��team has made a genuine contribution to society by sharing the advances which it has made. ̽��ֱ��experience will stay with them for the rest of their careers.

Professor Clemens Kaminski, Director of the Sensor CDT, Cambridge

Team members from Cambridge's EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

How does your smart city grow?

sc604 — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 13:08:19 +0000

It can be tough getting people excited about infrastructure because we often don’t notice it until something goes wrong. We expect to turn on the tap and have clean, drinkable water come out. We expect the underground to work. We expect to flick a switch and have the lights come on.

But just think how different expectations were for people living in Victorian London. ̽��ֱ��‘Great Stink’ in 1858, caused by untreated human and industrial waste flowing directly into the Thames, led to near-constant cholera outbreaks. Eventually, the smell in the Houses of Parliament became so bad that the windows had to be covered with heavy curtains, which goaded the politicians of the day into action. Engineer Joseph Bazalgette came to the rescue by creating a sewer network for central London, which relieved the city from cholera epidemics.

Fast-forward 150 years, and London, and the rest of the UK, is generally in fairly decent shape infrastructure-wise. However, literal and figurative cracks are rapidly appearing. ̽��ֱ��London Infrastructure Plan 2050, launched in 2014, states that the capital should be able to accommodate its growth, at least until 2025, within existing boundaries, but estimates that £1.3 trillion will need to be invested in the city’s infrastructure between 2014 and 2050, an amount more than half of the UK’s current GDP.

“Infrastructure, both existing and future, is of paramount importance for supporting economic growth and productivity – and so we must anticipate and plan effectively for the changing needs of society,” says Professor Lord Robert Mair of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.

“We can’t just build our way out of this – we simply don’t have enough space,” adds Dr Jennifer Schooling, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC). “We have to use the existing infrastructure we’ve got and get more and more out of it, and when it’s appropriate, we can build new infrastructure alongside that.”

CSIC, an Innovation and Knowledge Centre jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Innovate UK, works to bridge the gap between ̽��ֱ�� research and industry in the area of ‘smart’ infrastructure.

Thanks to technological advances over the past two decades, sensors can now be embedded directly into the fabric of our cities, providing valuable information about the ‘health’ of a particular road, tunnel, bridge, building, or any other piece of infrastructure. This information can help identify problems before they become serious, and help get the most out of existing infrastructure, which is particularly important in a small, crowded country like the UK.

CSIC works with different companies and organisations throughout the complex infrastructure supply chain: from owners and operators, designers and builders, to contractors and maintenance personnel, helping them maximise the potential of sensing technology and, by extension, that of the infrastructure we rely on every day.

Since it was founded in 2011, CSIC has built up a network of more than 40 industry partners, including some of the biggest companies in the construction industry, including Laing O’Rourke, Arup and Atkins. It has also worked on some of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK, such as Crossrail and the National Grid power tunnels.

“Because the construction industry is judged on reliability and safety, it is a conservative one, and so we have to really demonstrate our technologies and approaches, to show that they work,” says Schooling. “A conservative industry finds it difficult to grab hold of complex projects, and so we’ve worked really hard to develop consistent methodologies so that we can train industry to use the technologies we’ve developed.”

One of CSIC’s major industry partners, the construction and development company Skanska, has recently established their own company that will make CSIC-developed technology available commercially, after having successfully used it on a project they recently undertook in London. ̽��ֱ��company was demolishing a 12-storey building to replace it with a 16-storey building in central London, on top of a complex subterranean web of tunnels, transport, foundations, sewers and more.

Skanska worked with CSIC to embed fibre optics in the building pile foundations before it was demolished to determine whether the existing piles could be used again or had to be completely replaced to support the new building. ̽��ֱ��fibre optic data showed that the foundations did not have to be completely replaced, as is common practice, which not only saved the company £6 million and six months in added project time, but also won the company a sustainability prize for avoiding pouring the massive amounts of concrete required for completely new piled foundations.

Another CSIC project maximising the value of existing infrastructure is one that is looking to extract the heat from the London Underground to heat and cool the buildings above it. Researchers in Dr Ruchi Choudhary’s group in the Department of Engineering are modelling the amount of heat that can be extracted from the Tube, how many buildings can be heated or cooled, and how that might be affected by future climate change. These geothermal systems offer a potential energy-efficient cooling solution compared with energy-intensive conventional cooling.

“A city’s infrastructure generates many waste streams: the heat generated in the London Underground is a classic example, leading to severely overheated Tube stations,” says Choudhary. “Simulation models allow us to quantify the waste energy that can be usefully harnessed through geothermal boreholes, which makes it possible to demonstrate feasibility and the benefits of operating our infrastructure in more synergistic ways.”

“If there’s one thing we really excel at in this country, it’s making our Victorian infrastructure – such as that designed by Joseph Bazalgette – work well,” adds Schooling. “We need to think about the value that infrastructure brings to our cities, which will help us figure out where and when we should be making new investments, and what impact that will have on a city. If we really understand our infrastructure through data, there’s a huge opportunity to really make a difference to how our cities perform in the future.”

Adds Mair: “Our cities will define the future of society, and smart city infrastructure equipped with modern sensors is essential to achieve the required transformational impact.”

Inset image: geothermal modelling; credit: Ruchi Choudhary.

̽��ֱ��Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction is building on advances in sensing technology to learn everything possible about a city’s infrastructure – its tunnels, roads, bridges, sewers and power supplies – in order to maintain it and optimise its use for the future.

Infrastructure, both existing and future, is of paramount importance for supporting economic growth and productivity

Professor Lord Robert Mair

Crossrail

Crossrail tunnel

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Cambridge awarded EPSRC funding for doctoral training centres in sensing and analysis

lw355 — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:24:27 +0000

̽��ֱ��two new centres providing postgraduate training are the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) CDT in Sensor Technologies and Application and the EPSRC CDT in Analysis.

̽��ֱ��CDT in Sensor Technologies and Application builds on CamBridgeSens, the ̽��ֱ��'s strategic network in sensor research. Professor Clemens Kaminski of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Director of the CDT said: “Sensors are a pervasive technology now, impacting on every aspect of our lives, and markets are already thought to exceed £300bn globally. There is enormous potential here for UK industry and academia to capitalise on these developments, but there are challenges too. Sensor innovation requires foundations in incredibly diverse fields. Traditional, single-discipline PhD programmes are not suited for this task. ̽��ֱ��CDT will act like a ‘virtual superdepartment’ in sensor technologies to educate the next generation of sensor champions.”

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Centre for Analysis also comes on the back of previous high achievement in this area. “We are happy to be able to build on the success of the last four years – and look forward to training some of the best mathematical talent around in the next five cohorts of our CDT,” said Director of the CDT, Professor James Norris of the Department of Pure Maths and Mathematical Statistics.

̽��ֱ��EPSRC and other research councils have been able to fund these new Centres, a total of 22 across the country, following a £106 million investment announced in the Budget. ̽��ֱ��support of industry, universities and charitable partners, on top of the funding for 91 centres previously announced by EPSRC, now brings the total investment in training for future scientists and engineers to over £950m.

Chief Executive of the EPSRC, Professor David Delpy, commented: “ ̽��ֱ��CDT model has proved highly popular with universities and industry and these new Centres will mean that the UK is even better placed to maintain the vital supply of trained scientists and engineers.”

Two new Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) are to be funded as part of a package unveiled by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ̽��ֱ��Rt. Hon George Osborne MP, today (March 28 2014).

̽��ֱ��CDT model has proved highly popular with universities and industry and these new Centres will mean that the UK is even better placed to maintain the vital supply of trained scientists and engineers.

Chief Executive of the EPSRC, Professor David Delpy

Alzheimer's Research UK

One of the CDTs focuses on sensor technologies and their applications (laboratory of Clemens Kaminski shown here)

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Yes

Bridging the sensor gap

tdk25 — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We live in a world aided by sensors – devices that measure a physical quantity, convert the measurement to a signal, and interpret and act on the result to provide real-time information about the world around us. Their uses are as diverse as the science that goes into making them: monitoring environmental change and the state of our health; enhancing process control and product assessment in industry; providing security and safety information – in short, sensors affect how we live, work and make decisions. ̽��ֱ��value of the global sensor market has passed the £100 billion mark already and market projections predict enormous future growth.

World-leading research at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is pushing the limits in sensor technology – ever smaller, cheaper, more sensitive and robust – reflecting the great strengths in sensor research in the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science and technology. But to allow the quantum leaps forward that many believe are possible, it is becoming crucial to connect the disciplines and bridge the gaps. This is the goal of CamBridgeSens, a new initiative sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

‘We aim to fundamentally change the way sensor research is conducted in Cambridge by creating an environment where researchers are able to explore their most adventurous and creative ideas. We also seek to connect the tremendous expertise and skills that exist here, to put us in a leading position to tackle even the most challenging problems in sensor research,’ said Dr Clemens Kaminski, of the Department of Chemical Engineering, who leads the project with Professor Lisa Hall of the Institute of Biotechnology.

From sandpits to kindergartens

A key issue in bridging disciplines is to develop a common language, as Professor Hall explained: ‘Because this initiative has at its heart a shared vision of traversing the boundaries of traditional sensor research and invoking unique interfaces between disciplines, a basis for communication needs to be achieved early enough to engage its partners and broaden the experience and appreciation of students.’

Underpinning this cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration will be a diverse group of ‘Research Ambassadors’, comprising leading researchers at Cambridge plus industrialists, all of whom are recognised world leaders in the sensor field. ̽��ֱ��programme will be managed ‘from the bottom up’ and major drivers will be future students engaging in sensor-related research. ‘ ̽��ֱ��quality of the studentship at Cambridge is a great asset,’ said Dr Kaminski. ‘By enabling young researchers to realise their ideas through ‘sandpit’ brainstorming events, research competitions and secondment opportunities (as well as through offers of real cash!), radically new approaches to sensor research will emerge.’

Through a ‘kindergarten’ programme, students will receive research experience in a variety of disciplines in their first or second year. Early-career researchers will be encouraged to undertake discipline-hopping secondments and industrial exchanges, supported by Research Ambassadors promoting interactions at the grass roots.

Breaking down barriers

̽��ֱ��scale of CamBridgeSens is ambitious: under the steerage of Dr Mica Green, coordinator of the project, at least 50 research students will participate, and 20 Research Ambassadors have agreed to provide solid foundations for what is set to become a network of international excellence.

But the implications of the initiative stretch wide and have the potential to transform the training and research culture in Cambridge. ‘By breaking down discipline barriers and creating identities between researchers with common research goals that transcend departmental affiliation,’ said Professor Ian White, Chair of the School of Technology, ‘Cambridge can play a powerful role in responding to challenging problems of the future.’

For more information about CamBridgeSens and how to participate, please visit www.sensors.cam.ac.uk/

CamBridgeSens - a strategic initiative to bridge gaps across disciplines, departments and research cultures - launches this summer.

We aim to fundamentally change the way sensor research is conducted in Cambridge by creating an environment where researchers are able to explore their most adventurous and creative ideas.

Dr Clemens Kaminski

Credit-T Laurila

Chemical Engineering

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Yes

CUE help young entrepreneurs make ‘sense’ of business

bjb42 — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:06:15 +0000

What happens when you bring together a licensed amateur radio operator, a short film director, a young man who spent most of his childhood ‘rescuing’ busted electronics from dumpsters and a business competition? A revolution in sensing technology that takes chemical detection into the 21st century.

̽��ֱ��Owlstone detector is a unique, penny-sized device that can be programmed to detect a wide range of airborne chemical agents even in extremely small quantities. Using leading nanofabrication techniques, this complete chemical detection system is a hundred times smaller and a thousand times cheaper than existing technology. ̽��ֱ��detector is manufactured exclusively by Owlstone, a ‘spin-out’ company of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, which was founded by three engineering researchers, Andrew Koehl, David Ruiz-Alonso and Billy Boyle.

With double-digit growth forecast in US Government spending on chemical detection over the next decade, Owlstone’s success continues to gather momentum. However, Billy Boyle is the first to admit that their entrepreneurial spirit and vision for the next generation of chemical sensing applications were not enough in the beginning. ‘We knew we wanted to set up a company but didn’t know how to go about it,’ he explains.

In 2003, the trio entered the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Entrepreneurs (CUE) Business Creation Competition with the idea for a company developing revolutionary miniaturised chemical sensors to detect chemical warfare agents and explosives. They had a firm idea for the technology and identified a strong market demand in the light of terrorist attacks worldwide. But with no business experience, the friends looked at how CUE might be able to help.

Billy asserts that the Competition was an important stepping stone on the road to establishing Owlstone. Not only did the workshops develop essential business skills, but mentoring from experienced professionals further inspired and motivated them. As Billy explains, ‘ ̽��ֱ��contest provided us with a structured framework to find the answers to our questions and a support network of people who had already started up their own businesses. It’s one thing to read a book on the theory but to learn from other people’s real life experiences is invaluable.’

Advice and practice on how to pitch to potential investors has also proved a critical experience for Owlstone. As Billy points out, ‘You can have the best technology but if you can’t pitch the whole proposition then it won’t matter. ̽��ֱ��quality of the pitch will often make or break a deal.’ It is clear that the business acumen Billy and his colleagues acquired through the Competition has stood them in good stead. At the end of 2003, they finished runners-up, armed with a business plan and a network of mentors and potential investors. Within six months, they successfully secured $2 million in first round funding from the venture capitalists, Advance Nanotech, Inc. Since then, Owlstone have continued to go from strength to strength (www.owlstonenanotech.com).

̽��ֱ��range of applications for their chemical sensing technology is virtually limitless. ̽��ֱ��solid-state detector is based on patented innovations that allow a complete analytical sensor to be built on just two silicon chips – one for the sensor itself, and the other for its associated electronics, together with an ionization source. With this patented technology – known as Field Asymmetric Ion Mass Spectroscopy (FAIMS) – gas is ionized and passed through the sensing chip. By programming the device with suitable drive signals, individual gases can be detected quickly in very small quantities. ̽��ֱ��detector’s drive signals and signal processing can be ‘fine tuned’ to recognise the unique signature of virtually any gas – or range of gases – whether airborne or dissolved in water or other fluids. Initially Owlstone technology is being targeted at areas of defence and security. However, the sensor also has many potential non security applications – say as a smoke detector or a breath tester for diseases.

Owlstone continue to maintain strong links with the Business Creation Competition. As well as sponsoring the event, Billy has also been a speaker at subsequent contests and recognises the importance of this. ‘One of the biggest boons of the Competition was that we heard talks from people who had already started companies a year or two ahead of us. It proved that entering the Competition is not just an academic exercise – that setting up your own successful business is achievable.’

̽��ֱ��CUE Business Creation Competitions focus on team building, writing business plans, pitching for investment and raising the funding to create a business. They take place during the Lent and Easter terms and have two categories: 3P and CUEBiC. Both categories reward propositions that show practicality, financial viability and strong teams.

̽��ֱ��3P (People, Planet, Productivity) Business Creation Competition rewards propositions which focus on creating social or environmental benefits. These businesses may be either for profit or not for profit. CUE will award one prize of £5000 which is tied to the creation of the business. ̽��ֱ��CUE Business Creation Competition (CUEBiC) rewards high growth propositions that show a strong likelihood of receiving venture capital or business angel investment. CUE will award up to three prizes of £5000 – the prize monies are tied to the creation of a business.

̽��ֱ��CUEBiC winners also have the opportunity to pitch onstage to a panel of business angels and early stage investors to win money from the CUE Angel Prize Fund and also for investment funding. ̽��ֱ��deadline for 3P & CUEBiC First Round Submissions is 19 February 2007.

For more information, please go to www.cue.org.uk

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Entrepreneurs (CUE) organise the most successful student-run business planning and creation competitions in Europe. Since 1999, CUE has had over 450 entries and has awarded £280,000 in grants to 31 business ideas. These companies have raised more than £8 million of further funding and are currently valued at more than £22 million.

̽��ֱ��Owlstone detector is a unique, penny-sized device that can be programmed to detect a wide range of airborne chemical agents even in extremely small quantities.

Dr Billy Boyle

Owlstone technology

Winners of the 2005/2006 CUE Business Creation Competitions

CUEBiC

CamStent: incorporated in 2006, CamStent Limited is a Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� start-up that is commercialising a non-stick coating technology for coronary artery stents. For more information, please go to www.camstent.com

MARGO: MARGO Technologies was founded in 2006 as a spin-out from Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Engineering Department to design and deliver audio restoration solutions to the wireless industry.

m-clic: m-clic offers a secure, standardised and network-independent financial transaction system for mobile devices. For more information, please go to www.mclic.com

Bunot Co.: Bunot Co. aims to develop a soil erosion control net made from waste coconut husks. This enterprise is environmentally friendly and will benefit the coconut farmers in the poor rural areas of the Philippines by generating revenue in the rural economy and providing new livelihood opportunities.

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