Innovation Centre makes European connection
Loughborough Innovation Centre cemented its position as a leading light in business development this year, when it was accepted as an Associate Member of the European Network of Business Innovation Centres (BICs). BICs have been set up across Europe to develop high quality centres where small to medium sized companies can be supported. The network gives access to a large number of potential business partners in Europe.
Further recognition for Loughborough Innovation Centre came in March, when HRH The Duke of York, the Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, visited as part of a regional tour to find out more about Leicestershire’s successful exporters.

Funds help to advance innovation
Two new innovation prize funds were established this year to help entrepreneurs further their ideas. A £15,000 fund was set up in memory of Loughborough Professor Peter Smith, who was co-founder of the Da Vinci network and leader of the Health Technology Research Group. The fund, which aims to encourage innovation in healthcare delivery in the East Midlands, is open to university researchers, healthcare practitioners and small to medium sized companies, including start-ups. The second fund, the University’s first ever Enterprise Fund, was launched to accelerate the progress of projects exhibiting exceptional commercial potential. Open to all Loughborough staff and students, grants, typically up to £15,000, will be awarded to enterprising initiatives.

New technique could help to speed up patient recovery
A new technology being developed by spin out company Dialog Devices is aiming to cut the number of amputations and the need for costly re-grafting in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. With the disease, blocked arteries in the leg reduce the supply of blood to the feet and lower leg muscles. The condition is an important risk marker for heart attacks and strokes that may be preventable by earlier diagnosis. Severe blockages can be treated using minimally-invasive techniques but critical blockages require a bypass graft using donor or synthetic veins. When these therapies fail, amputation may be required. Currently post-operative patients are regularly checked by manual foot pulse examination or by expensive magnetic resonance imaging. The new technology aims to automate the process of monitoring bypass grafts. If impending bypass graft failure could be detected earlier, drug therapy or other interventions could be performed to restore blood supply and save the graft.

Daniel’s idea floats up, up and away
An inventive range of products to illuminate balloons, for decorative, entertainment or promotional purposes, secured Industrial Design and Technology student Daniel Currin a much sought-after place on a national entrepreneur development scheme. Daniel was one of just 18 people from across the country selected to take part in the scholarship programme designed by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – a leading US centre that works to advance entrepreneurship. Daniel will spend six months in the States at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and at a university.

Daniel’s invention also earned him first prize in this year’s Loughborough business planning competition, in which students develop a business plan to demonstrate the financial potential of their idea. Second place went to Nick Gilbert for Fresher’s Flu, a student-run marketing company focusing on practical and fun advertising products for the student population. James Lock was awarded third prize for developing Zuma, a new sports brand aimed at competitive swimmers, runners and cyclists.

Suit offers insight into osteoarthritis
The world’s first osteoarthritis simulation suit, developed by Loughborough’s Ergonomics and Safety Research Centre (ESRI), is offering new insight into the pain and frustration felt by the UK’s 8.5 million sufferers. The suit mimics the characteristics of the debilitating condition, which is the most common form of arthritis in the UK and the leading cause of physical disability in the elderly. The suit was developed with funding from Napp Pharmaceuticals and support from healthcare professionals and patient case studies.

In a spin
A technique developed by spin out company Sports Dynamics Ltd, that enables the magic formula of the perfect football strike to be captured in an instant, was launched on the market in July. The QuinSpin system uses distinctive balls with a unique arrangement of reflective dots, to measure the 3D spin of a ball. Sensors are triggered the moment the ball is kicked, instantaneously capturing its flight characteristics as well as providing slow motion action replay. The system will provide coaches, managers and players with crucial data, allowing a fundamental football skill to be quantified for the first time.

Inventions granted US patents
Loughborough spin out Cool Acoustics continues to flourish, with its pioneering foamed polymer technology for use in acoustic guitars and other musical instruments now having been granted a US patent. Cool Acoustics’ technology allows designs and specifications that cannot be achieved in wood to be developed in plastics. Guitars are the first embodiment of this innovation but the technology is also applicable in other instruments, such as violins. Two routes are planned to bring the technology to market: through small-scale manufacture of limited edition versions of the company’s showcase instruments, for sale to the public, and through collaborative R&D and licensed manufacture – Cool Acoustics has already been working with two major global brands this year.

Also granted US and European patents this year was a practical low-cost solution to office building air conditioning. Developed from research in the Department of Civil and Building Engineering, the cooling system has the potential to halve the running costs of air conditioning in the workplace.

Technique allows easier 3D shape recognition
A new technology developed by spin out Phase Vision, that allows images of 3D shapes such as people’s faces to be captured quickly and affordably, could prove invaluable to the security and medical industries. The new system does not require surface contact and is capable of delivering results up to 100,000 times faster than conventional systems, meaning images can be captured quickly and more efficiently. The medical profession is increasingly using 3D shape capture systems to diagnose problems and plan treatments, for example in cosmetic surgery or in the design of bespoke prosthetics, while the world market for biometric identification, or face recognition, is growing strongly in response to global security concerns. Such technology could be utilised for ID cards, passports or building access systems.

Companies put their business ideas to the test
Loughborough’s business students this year urged companies to bring their latest ideas and technologies to the University to enable their business potential to be assessed. Using a cutting-edge technique developed in the US, students on the MBA programme evaluated the potential of the technology or idea and suggested ways to aid its commercialisation. The ‘HiTech’ programme was brought to this country, and adapted for the MBA programme, by Loughborough University staff, working in association with colleagues at North Carolina State University. At its heart is a framework, or algorithm, that explores the interaction between technology, products and markets. This method of assessing business potential has been responsible for the creation of more than 250 jobs in existing companies and spin out ventures in the US, which have attracted over $120m in venture capital.