Living Laboratory

UNIVERSITIES BY THEIR very nature are complex, operating like mini cities with their own buildings, sports facilities, car parks and transportation links. Many of their citizens are there to develop ground-breaking and lifechanging research that has real-world impact. It’s hardly surprising, then, that in its quest to become a functioning smart institution of the future, Nottingham Trent University is accelerating the rollout of digital innovation with its new Smart Wireless Innovation Facility (SWIFt) on its Clifton campus.

Developed in partnership with the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, the £1.6m facility is based within the university’s new £23m engineering building. This also houses its Institute of Digital Innovation, where students can work on real-world business challenges.

SWIFt itself has been designed as a “living lab” for researchers, businesses and policymakers to showcase and demonstrate how cutting-edge technologies can be translated and applied to everyday life situations and scenarios, and commercialised. There is also the opportunity for students within Nottingham Trent University to benefit from these networks, with engineering students already taking advantage of the possibilities on offer and designing products of the future as part of their degree.

Digital Catapult was another key partner in the development and construction of SWIFt, ensuring that the tools, facilities and features needed by industry and academics were incorporated within the facility. Ray Lambe, chief operating officer at Digital Catapult, said: “I am very pleased that Digital Catapult was selected to partner with Nottingham Trent University to design and commission the state-of-the-art SWIFt facility, encompassing

IoT and 5G indoor and outdoor testbed capabilities. This facility and the university team offer great potential to drive impactful innovation and economic growth in the region, aligned with Digital Catapult’s mission to accelerate industry adoption to drive growth and opportunity across the economy.”

Central to SWIFt’s functionality is the design and installation of a private 5G network internally and externally on a non-standalone and standalone basis, using equipment from Nokia, Airspan and Druid Software. By operating on a trial and development licence from Ofcom, SWIFt can work with partners who want to develop or trial their solutions in a safe real-world environment. The SWIFt testbed includes low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) capabilities. More specifically, the network protocol that was provisioned is LoRaWAN, which is designed to connect wirelessly resource-constrained devices to the internet over very long distances at very low power. These networks have laid the foundation of the smart campus and provided the backbone to fast-track innovative solutions that have technological and societal value.

To complement the technological infrastructure, SWIFt is equipped with the latest electronic hardware to support organisations developing and testing components and prototypes. Equipment and workshop space is available to book, with access to the facility’s onsite 5G and IoT fulltime technical specialists always available. One of the most exciting facilities available to businesses is the demonstrator zone, a specialist showcase area for any organisation that wants to demonstrate its products or solutions working seamlessly in a real-life environment.

To help create and lead on the vision for SWIFt, Nottingham Trent University turned to Stuart Fenton, a former University of Surrey/5GIC and Department of International Trade 5G specialist who has been appointed as managing director of SWIFt. Fenton brought with him a wealth of experience in industry, academia and government, as well as a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve and help to build. “I am delighted to have joined SWIFt and to bring the vision I set out to the executive team at Nottingham Trent University to reality,” he said. “The pandemic has shown us that the blurring of the line between the physical and the digital world has rapidly accelerated. I believe we will continue to see vast investment from the UK government into technologies such as 5G and the use cases and innovation that it will bring.

I believe SWIFt will play a huge part not only in the economic growth of the East Midlands/ D2N2 area but nationally, and really help fly the flag for UK plc.”

One of Fenton’s first tasks was to appoint a strong team that would help to push forward the vision he and the university share for SWIFt. To this end, Ivan Marjanovic has joined as technical director, a vastly experienced 5G expert who has worked with the Scottish government and for the 2012 Olympic Games, and recently delivered 5G projects at the University of Strathclyde. “We have an excellent team at SWIFt and I am delighted to be at the forefront of this important work,” Marjanovic said. “It builds on my experience of universities and industry joining forces to bring about change, and I am excited by the possibilities it opens up for Nottingham Trent University.”

Owing to the pandemic, the launch of SWIFt was delayed, but we are now in an exciting transition phase as it begins to launch in full. SWIFt is keen to work with partners across the UK who have an interest in developing or testing on the testbeds or who are looking to work collaboratively on research grants. The facility has been designed to drive economic growth and fast-track digital innovation by enabling organisations to develop and trial solutions securely in a realworld environment.

Local small and mediumsized enterprises are already taking advantage of this by installing their equipment across the Clifton campus and working with the technical specialists to help to innovate their products further. The belief is that such innovation will lead to higher-value jobs in the region, increased foreign direct investment and a raft of new innovations that will be empowered by 5G. Dritan Kaleshi, director of technology, 5G, and co-director of SONIC Labs at Digital Catapult, said: “The cutting-edge technologies that SWIFt will provide will be of huge benefit to the academic community as well as local businesses and entrepreneurs, furthering the ability of organisations across the East Midlands to test, explore and create innovative and transformative products and services powered by 5G and IoT.”

One key area of interest for SWIFt is utilising the research power of Nottingham Trent University and its expertise in key areas to deliver innovative solutions to real-world challenges. Examples include exploring agritech on the university’s Brackenhurst campus - which doubles as a real-life working farmand digital health innovations developed in coordination with its Medical Technologies Innovation Facility - located next door to SWIFt on the Clifton Campus - in areas such as cell therapy research and development, MedTech product design and nanofabrication. A further area of interest is the creative sectors, particularly in the fields of games, media, music and electronic sports, where the university’s Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies is a leading specialist education provider.

For the university, its community of research-active students and academics, local and national businesses and the economic interests of the region and beyond, SWIFt is ready to provide the tools and expertise that will unleash the potential of 5G technology. And there’s real excitement about the next generation of innovation and collaboration that SWIFt makes possible.

For more information about SWIFt and the range of facilities and expertise available, go to https://www.swiftlabs.co.uk/