iSLI

You are invited to this lunchtime seminar hosted by the Centre for Health Science in association with iSLI and Interface.

If you are an organisation operating in a dynamic marketplace and are frequently wondering “What technology is best for my needs, what skills will I require, how much will it all cost and how long will it take? This is a seminar you must attend!

You will hear two presentations followed by a networking lunch and 1:1 meetings if anyone wishes to discuss specific needs / ideas.

iSLI – Delivering enabling technology into products

The plummeting cost and skyrocketing capability of electronics, sensors and wireless
communications to deliver critical market advantage is evident for all to see. Mark Begbie, Director at iSLI, will explore how you can harness the power of electronic enabling technologies to take your products to the next level. The presentation will tackle the subject by looking at the trends involved and how the commoditisation of technology has delivered, and continues to trigger, disruptive market change.

Interface – the knowledge connection for business

David Chapman from Interface will highlight how companies can benefit from tapping into the world-class expertise, technology and facilitates within all of Scotland’s higher
education and research institutes. Interface offer free and impartial, face-to-face advice, to help businesses to increase their competitiveness, develop new products and exploit new market opportunities by connecting them with academia. Whatever your size or sector your organisation can gain from utilising the services of Interface; including guidance on funding opportunities and support to potentially access these.

Who should attend?

This will be of particular interest to companies / individuals with an interest in electronics and for those with ideas that could benefit from more ‘smart’ or ‘integrated’ technology. Also relevant to those wishing to access or discover more about cutting edge technologies in the research base.

To register for this event or if you would like to pre-arrange a 1:1, please email.

The event will take place on Tuesday 28th June, 12 – 13.30 (lunch provided) at the Centre for Health Science, Old Perth Road, Inverness, IV2 3JH.

A range of circumstances, from demographics to the current economic crisis, is driving enormous change in healthcare across the globe.  Improving efficiency is crucial and innovative technology solutions will play a key part in this.  This event focuses on introducing innovative technology businesses to a burgeoning healthcare market they never have considered entering and will bring together healthcare professionals, clinicians, academics, inventors, investors and technology companies.

iSLI will be there to provide advice and suggestions as to how your innovative idea can be taken to the next stage of development. Please come along to our stand on the day and we will be more than happy to discuss your idea further.

The event will see key note presentations from the likes of Dr Peter Donnelly, CEO Bio Business, Connecting Health with Technologies – does it provide solutions? Others will include:

Telehealth in Scotland - Eunice E Muir, Executive Nurse Director NHS 24 Developing World Class Facilities – Margaret Duffy, COO, NHS Forth Valley

Four breakout sessions will follow the keynote addresses, of which attendees will attend only 3 of the 4 breakout sessions:

Remote Management of Long Term Conditions – Ian Flynn, Independent Living Scotland and Elaine Gemmell, Scottish Health Innovations Ltd

Technology for Living at Home – Dr Thilo Kroll, Alliance for Self Care Research, Colin Black, Tunstall and Kevin Wilson, Innova Partnerships

Introducing New Technologies to the NHS – Dr Colin Morton, NHS, Scott Johnstone, Scottish Life Sciences Association and Allyson Bailey, NHS Forth Valley

Population Health – Preventative Medicine – Murdo Black, Axis-Sheild and Thea Ni Loinnain, Sporting Chance Initiative

Exhibitors fee is £100 + vat which includes two free delegate passes, an exhibition stand with one 6 foot trestle table and two chairs, an entry in the showcase exhibitors booklet and all refreshments. Whilst the delegate cost is £35 + vat per person. NHS delegates can attend free of charge but you must provide a valid NHS email address to enable a FOC place when registering online.

Due to limited exhibition space at the event, in the first instance all exhibitor enquiries should be made to Judy Rudd on 0141 330 5381 or email j.rudd@nexxusscotland.com.

For general enquiries regarding this event, please contact Jacqueline McCafferty on 01506 532460 or email jacqueline@edtc.org.uk.

Registration is being taken via the Edinburgh Napier University Online Store.  You must have a credit/debit card to make payment, if you do not have a credit card please contact Jacqueline McCafferty on 01506 532460 to discuss alternative payment options.  Please note only one registration can be made at any one time. You must create a login and password to register using the Online Store.

This event is brought to you by EDTC Technology Gateway, Scottish Health Innovations Ltd, Wellness & Health Innovation, NEXXUS, SUIPand Sporting Chance Initiative.

The Technology Strategy Board’s newly launched platform, _connect is now providing an effective and powerful way to collaborate online, network and share knowledge with other innovators.

Case in point, a recent discussion in the Technology and Innovation Centres Forum surrounding the issues that arose from the outlined criteria in the Hauser Report which identified many areas that could benefit from a technology and innovation centre.

In particular, discussion fell upon whether centres could support and drive economic growth as part of a coordinated investment in innovation. And in this current economic climate there was recognised a need to start pursuing a phased approach in ernest.

In particular, the questions of which technology areas really need a technology and innovation centre was raised and what should the technical focus be?

This issue is particularly relevant to iSLI as within electronics, photonics and electrical systems there is a huge emerging market in sensors, with one of the latest market reports, highlighted by the EPS KTN and dealing only with a subset of ‘smart’ sensors, predicting growth to $6Bn by 2015. Figures for the upcoming new build fleet of civil nuclear reactors alone indicate a sensor equipment market of $8Bn. Smart sensors (wireless, mesh, energy autonomous, intelligent…) are the new black, sure, but that’s rooted in a genuine major ramp in market opportunity.

This is a good example of a truly enabling technology that cuts across a wealth of end use sectors. We ourselves see activity in health, medicine, renewable energy generation, energy supply, energy management, structural health monitoring, condition monitoring, environmental monitoring and control, the list goes on.

Attention was also placed on whether a TIC can make a real difference. Firstly there is a core of skills needed in the underlying, relatively mature, enabling technologies. To build a successful offering you need skilled, capable and efficient commercially aware developers covering mixed signal embedded electronics and signal processing, wireless systems and architectures, and robust embedded software development. Above all, these members of staff need to be highly experienced, highly adaptable and outcome focused. They are used to version control, technical audit trails and commercial confidentiality with Chinese walls versus open dissemination. This should encapsulate what is at the core of any TIC offering.

The TIC then adds industry staff who bring problems, markets, real world complexity and nastiness. They deliver resources to field and test development systems and also to provide development support tailored to their markets and regulatory environments. They demand demonstration outcomes which are engineered for reliable deployment and future transition through cost and product engineering. In smart sensing, this is largely founded on a small set of base technologies and protocols. There can be substantial reuse between end applications, reducing risk and time to outcome, which is why the TIC makes sense to the users.

Nonetheless, smart sensing needs genuine advancement in many areas to be successful and this is why academia is so crucial in the space. New sensor technologies are a major driver in markets like health, drug discovery and environmental monitoring. How you achieve energy autonomy, where you can afford to put data processing and how you achieve local event recognition are key to some long term installations for example in structural and condition monitoring. How we achieve efficient self healing networks capable of supporting high numbers of nodes with widely different requirements in latency, bandwidth and quality of service is another area that will have a significant effect on the smart sensing landscape. These are all areas where the UK has strong academic representation.

Much of the smart sensor implementation work (required to prove and derisk potential solutions) is not of sufficient research value to be attractive to universities. Much of the emerging technology and solutions is not sufficiently derisked for (sub-multinational) industry to take it forward and develop it. If only we had some sort of organisation that could develop relevant research outcomes into commercial trials and build a reusable core of value that could be deployed by different end user segments…

Technology transfer institute iSLI and IMAPS-UK have announced a rescheduled date to host the technical seminar “Making MEMS Work – BIG Ideas For Small Devices” which will see a keynote presentation from Yole Développement.

Yole Devéloppement has been announced as the keynote “Making MEMS Work” presenter at the IMAPS-Uk technical seminar, which will now be held on 27th January 2011 at the Institute for System Level Integration (iSLI), Edinburgh. At the Seminar, leading Companies and Institutions including BAE Systems, Unisem, Teradyne, Optocap, Semefab, iSLI, Heriot-Watt University & Selex Galileo will investigate the MEMS product development chain from Research, Design and Development through to Packaging and Test.

UK Microelectronics Packaging Society (IMAPS-UK) is holding a one day technical seminar and industry networking event in conjunction with the Institute for System Level Integration (iSLI) and the event will provide the opportunity for:

* Updates on the latest MEMS developments & technologies
* Networking between end-users, supply chains and technology providers
* Business development opportunities for your Company & its products

So how do we make MEMS work? This IMAPS-UK Technical Seminar will investigate the MEMS product development chain from design and development through to packaging and test, exploring techniques which help to address these challenges. Presentations include:

* Heriot-Watt University – SMART MICROSYSTEMS: a flagship project from the IeMRC
* BAE Systems – Producing MEMS devices for niche applications in modest volumes
* Optocap – Packaging of MEMS
* Teradyne – Testing of MEMS Devices
* Semefab – Requirements for MEMS Manufacture
* iSLI – MEMS and Wireless sensor networks for condition monitoring applications
* Unisem – MEMS Manufacturing in the UK Achieving Excellence
* Selex Galileo – Taking MEMS to new markets

Who Should Attend:
End Users, Research & Development Engineers, Scientists, Production & Manufacturing Engineers, Supply Chain Companies, Process Engineers, Product Designers & Students

Table Top Exhibition:
In addition, there is a complementary tabletop exhibition showcasing leading companies in the field (some spaces may now be available due to rescheduled date).

Registration & Seminar Fees:
The event is open to all including non IMAPS-UK members but space for the event is strictly limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Location: iSLI (Institute for System Level Integration), Edinburgh EH14 4AP

For more information on the event:
To register visit: http://www.imaps.org.uk
Email: mems-event@imaps.org.uk

iSLI was thrilled to have eleven of its MSc students graduate last week at Heriot-Watt University.

The eleven graduates originate from France, Spain, Nigeria, India, Dubai, China, and Taiwan. Many of whom enjoyed their time at iSLI and Scotland so much so that they have sought employment here.

French student Bruno Izern previously studied his undergraduate at the University of Strathclyde and whilst at iSLI won iSLI’s Best Poster Award for his project poster. A friendly and eager to learn student, Bruno enjoyed his time in Scotland and at iSLI and is now seeking employment in Scotland.

Similarly, Diego Jose Manas de Miguel from Spain was a keen student at iSLI, secure and confident in his work, and has now secured a position at Imagination Technologies in Kings Langley. In fact, Diego was so keen to join iSLI that he personally came and completed his application in the presence of iSLI staff, as he said he wanted to convey how keen he was to study with the Institute. A great, dedicated student but with a lovely laid back approach.

Nigerian native Wahab Adetunji Lawal also enjoyed his time in Scotland, especially the snow-packed winter months so much so that he wished to stay. He has now successfully secured a position at Broadcom.com in Bristol. A very friendly and eager to learn individual, Wahab was always ready to help and assist his fellow classmates.

Divyarani Mangeshkar was also a very focussed and hard working student, very keen to learn and develop her skills. Originally from India, she combined her studies at iSLI with working for Sykes, and many of the faculty at iSLI agree in unison that Divya was a joy to have as a student, a happy and eager individual. Following the graduation, she will return to India to pursuit her dream in engineering.

Also from India, Yazharasan Moorthy was a hard working student at iSLI from 2008/09.

He completed his project in 2009/10, successfully graduating with the class of 2009/10.

Alongside him, Sree Ram Naidu Kanna, also an Indian student, was a great student who worked extremely hard. He had worked in industry prior to coming to study at iSLI which was apparent in his maturity on dealing with in-class situations.

Robert Dailey studied for his MSc via distance learning while also working full-time at Synopsys in Livingston. Beginning his studies with iSLI in 2006 and completing in 2010, Robert was a very studious and diligent student, and was awarded the MSc in System Level Integration with Distinction.

Mohamed Saleh, from Egypt but raised in Dubai, studied his undergraduate at Manchester University before joining iSLI for his Postgraduate MSc. A fantastic character, he was known as the life and soul of the classroom, and would make everyone excited about every lesson. All agree, he has a very promising career and life ahead of him.

Chinese Mu Fang, but brought up in his later years in Scotland, was a very sociable and helpful student. Originally Mu joined the iSLI EngD programme but decided the MSc programme was more suited to him at that time.

Also from China, Haihan Zhu was a very clever and studious student, who has secured a PhD at the University of Edinburgh working alongside Dr Khalid Benkrid. A very polite and respectful student, Haihan was awarded the MSc in System Level Integration with Distinction.

Yung-Yu from Taiwan was a very happy and keen student and has deservedly secured a place with Foxconn in Taiwan. Yung-Yu was so keen to join iSLI he attended the english classes over the summer of 2009, making sure he met the criteria. And meeting them he did, as his project was awarded a distinction.

All eleven graduates were extremely hard working, very focused individuals who made the most of their experiences at iSLI and Scotland. The staff at iSLI wish them every success in the future!