BQ2 SCOTLAND Education & Business

SPECIAL REPORT: education and business innovation driver Powerful partners bring technology to the fore commercial break Keeping Scotland’s spin out successes flowing brand and deliver Emerging opportunities for image conscious universities

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CONTENTS

CONTACTS

04 on the record

room501 ltd Christopher March Managing Director e: chris@room501.co.uk Bryan Hoare Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk

Why it’s time for Scotland to follow America’s lead on quality

06 news

EditorIAL Kenny Kemp BQ Scotland Editor e: editor@bq-scotland.co.uk Andrew Mernin e: andrew@room501.co.uk

The latest from Scotland’s universities and education-focused businesses

10 KNOWLEDGE SHARING Why scottish businesses are embracing academics

16 overview Just how safe are the systems within your business?

20 innovation hub How one university is keeping new ideas flowing in Glasgow

32 success platform South African project keeps GCU’s international reputation on track

40 centre of gravity Head of groundbreaking facility looks forward to future collaborations

46 brand and deliver Universities expert urges Scotland to take a leaf out of the Harvard book

COME ON, LET’S WORK TOGETHER

34 EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

SPECIAL REPORT:

Education AND business

WELCOME Welcome to Business Quarter’s special report on universities and business.

We hear a great deal about Scotland’s universities regularly punching above their weight on the international stage. For a small country, this is a heartening achievement.

But there is now a breed of university leadership, people such as Sir Jim McDonald, Sir Timothy O’Shea, Sir Ian Diamond and others, who understand the necessity of keeping up and building upon this momentum. The opening of the University of Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre in 2014 is a fine example of this collaborative working between universities, the corporate world and policy-makers.

It’s a theme which Susan Deacon takes up in her interview on how Scotland can create more open space for a return to the kind of broadband thinking which once characterised the advances of the Scottish Enlightenment.

What is clear is that across Scotland our universities and places of learning are open for stronger business relationships.

And, as long as this does not dilute, interfere or compromise the need for independent, intellectual endeavour, then this can only be beneficial for Scotland.

Kenny Kemp, Editor of BQ Scotland

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While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All information is correct at time of going to print, September 2013. room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

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SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

ON THE RECORD

AUTUMN 13

>> Quality must begin at home Kevin Dorrian believes it’s time Scotland followed the American model and started taking business excellence and quality improvement to its heart When management talks about business improvement, business excellence and quality procedures, staff might appear to grasp the gist of what's being discussed - they are buzzwords we tend to understand - but few would admit to having any grasp of how to

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effectively manage the process.

It all seems so intangible. These 'issues' cannot be considered a product, nor could they really be identified as a fundamental 'core' service.

Moreover, cynics may suggest they have no real impact on the 'bottom line'. Some

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might even say, they are just another layer of management procedural diktat that adds no tangible value.

However, Scotland's smart and savvy organisations are getting the message that in order to truly succeed in the public, private

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or voluntary sectors, we need to sharpen our thinking on becoming 'excellence' businesses.

Quality Scotland's vision is to get more businesses and organisations thinking about quality and business improvement measures and how they can have a profound impact on how we go about our daily business lives.

It becomes even more apparent when we see that the Scottish Awards for Business Excellence are now in their 22nd year.

Organised by Quality Scotland, standard bearers for quality and business improvement, this year's awards keenly demonstrated how Scotland punches well above its weight when we tap into the diverse organisations across the country that are underpinned by a continuous goal of 'best in class' improvement and excellence.

The awards are presented to organisations that are recognised for significant achievement on their journey for excellence - making a difference in Scotland and overseas. An audience of over 300 attended this year's event which was held at the Crown Plaza Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh. Presided over by the chairman of Quality Scotland, Sir Andrew Cubie, the Awards recognised 48 organisations from across the country who were 'Committed to Excellence' (C2E), those who spread a true culture of continuous improvement in line with Quality Scotland’s mission to make 'excellence a national characteristic of Scotland'.

Over the years, Quality Scotland has taken pride in supporting communities in developing continuous improvement in small local organisations. This reflects Quality Scotland's vision by not only working with large and medium size organizations across the three sectors (private, public and voluntary), but by supporting small local community businesses.

There is variable support for small, often micro organisations that are vital to wealth creation and employability in their communities, as well as providing essential services to citizens.

In 2012, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) calculated that the third sector contributed £4.5bn to national GDP. The efficiency of the sector touches everyone across Scotland.

In his opening address, Sir Andrew Cubie outlined the extra impetus that strong

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

ON THE RECORD

In order to truly succeed in the public, private or voluntary sectors, we need to sharpen our thinking on becoming ‘excellence’ businesses collaborative partnerships provides in helping Quality Scotland achieve their vision - partners like EFQM - the European Foundation for Quality Management, who work tirelessly with Quality Scotland in developing the 'excellence' model and driving improvement procedures to organisations - exceptional service-dominant past winners like Fife Council Education Service, Glasgow Housing Association, Gleneagles Hotel and radar defence system company Selex.

The awards, of course, are not just the preserve of these large organisations - the majority of winners, particularly those who have been Committed to Excellence (C2E) winners, but now challenging for Recognised for Excellence (R4E) acclaim are in the public or third sector. Charities such as Penumbra, Scottish Association for Mental Health, Turning

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Point and Alzheimers Scotland were notable R4E winners.

This year's overall winner of the Scottish Award for Business Excellence went to North Ayrshire Council Housing Services. The team was recognised as a sector leader in the delivery of excellent, value for money housing services to customers, clients, tenants and those on housing waiting lists. It was praised for its innovative approach in a number of areas, including leadership, policy and strategy, people, partnerships and resources and products and services. The Scottish Awards for Business Excellence signifies that there is a true culture of continuous improvement across Scotland to be among the best in Europe, which is very much in line with Quality Scotland’s mission to make Excellence a national characteristic of Scotland. n

SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

NEWS

AUTUMN 13

Rise of the robots, Scottish students officially the happiest, global exchange students fly in, challenge heats up for finalists, McKay joins welfare team, and breakthrough for Pathfinder pioneers >> Rise of the robots Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh have jointly secured £6m of UK Government funding for research into robotics and autonomous systems.

The funding is part of a wider £85m investment in three technological areas identified in the pre-budget statement by The Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the Government’s ‘eight great technologies’ to drive UK growth.

Speaking at the Global Intelligent Systems conference in London, David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, announced the results of a call for proposals issued by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Funding will be made available to more than 20 universities across the UK to support and strengthen existing research in the areas of robotics and autonomous systems, advanced materials, and grid-scale energy storage.

Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts said: “For Britain to get ahead in the global race we have to back emerging technologies and ensure our universities have the latest equipment. This capital investment will help scientists make new discoveries and take their research through to commercial success. It will drive growth and support the Government’s industrial strategy.”

We have to back emerging technologies and ensure our universities have the latest equipment

SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

in 2013 is equal to the overall satisfaction rating recorded in the 2012 survey. Scotland’s universities also recorded improved or equal levels of satisfaction from their students in 20 out of 22 measurements assessed in the survey including how stimulating students found their courses and satisfaction with the learning resources available and access to specialist equipment and IT resources.

>> Classroom challenge

>> Dame’s new title Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC was due to be installed as its new chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland at a ceremony in Paisley on 12 September.

The ceremony is taking place at Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church, the venue of the University’s Paisley Campus graduation ceremonies. As Chancellor Dame Elish will represent the university at the highest level and hold formal powers to confer degrees, diplomas and other academic distinctions.

>> Happy campus Full-time students studying in Scotland’s universities have a higher overall satisfaction with the quality of their course (86%) than students studying in England and Wales (both 84%), according to the National Student Survey 2013. The 86% overall satisfaction rating for Scotland’s universities

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Two Robert Gordon University students in Aberdeen, who founded their own corporate team - building business earlier this year, have designed and created a new virtual challenge for Scottish schools.

Management with marketing student at RGU’s Aberdeen Business School, Csilla Balint, and Robert Totok, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in management with finance, created B&T Corporate Team Building in February.

As students, the pair participated in various team-based competitions including the University Business Challenge (UBC) where they twice reached the semi-finals, becoming the highest ranked Scottish team, and X Culture.

At X Culture, Csilla and her team competed against 300 teams from across the world and came first worldwide.

Using this springboard, Csilla and Robert have now designed and created a new challenge called Virtual Firms – Business Challenge for secondary schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

They twice reached the semifinals, becoming the highest ranked Scottish team EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

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NEWS

>> Hungary for success Timea Tabori studied undergraduate Computer Games Technology at Abertay University in Dundee and started work as an Engine Programmer at Rockstar North, home of the Grand Theft Auto series, before she had even graduated.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in games. Back in Hungary, there were no universities offering relevant courses, so I knew I had to move country to achieve what I wanted. When I was 16 I moved to Ireland to finish the last two years of my school studies, improve my English skills and most importantly acquire qualifications that would be more easily recognised in Britain.

“During my final year at school, I had the chance to go on a one day ‘internship’ at Microsoft Ireland, where I met developers and could ask for their advice. It was there that I was recommended Abertay and its game development courses. I chose Abertay because I thought it would provide me with the experience and knowledge needed to pursue my chosen career.”

I knew from an early age I wanted to work in games

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

>> Global exchange students fly in Students from one of the world’s most prestigious international exchange programmes arrived in Glasgow to take part in a summer school at the University of Strathclyde.

Strathclyde and the University of Dundee are hosting the first Fulbright Scotland Summer Institute in a unique partnership between the two institutions.

Nine students from universities in the United States have secured the opportunity to spend five weeks in Dundee and Glasgow for an intensive programme of lectures, seminars and cultural visits on the theme ‘Scotland: Culture, Identity and Innovation’.

The group arrived in July and spent the first two weeks of their visit in Dundee. The Fulbright Scotland Summer Institute is being led by historians in Strathclyde’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences in collaboration with staff at the Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS) at Dundee.

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SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

NEWS

AUTUMN 13

>> Final countdown begins The Converge Challenge supported by the Scottish Funding Council and Scotland’s eight research intensive universities, reaches its conclusion on 24 September.

The final six entrants, having spent the summer months honing and fine turning their business plans and participating in a raft of structured business mentoring programmes, get their chance to persuade the judging panel why they should be crowned Converge Challenge Champion for 2013.

The final is being held at Edinburgh Conference Centre at Heriot Watt University in front of an audience of almost 300 business people, academics and other intermediaries.

While the names of the finalist were still under wraps as BQ went to press, their ideas will again reaffirm that Scotland continues to punch above its weight in academic innovation and entrepreneurship.

The entrants this year were of an exceptionally high calibre and that seems to be the year-onyear case with the Converge Challenge.

Moreover, it underlines that anyone working in a Scottish University or Research Institute really does have the capability of reaching this stage of the competition, to exploit the commercial viability of their inventions and where a lucrative £60,000 first prize in cash and in-kind

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business support awaits the winner.

As mentioned, The Scottish Funding Council has pledged £525,000 of funding alongside Scotland’s eight research universities offering financial support to the tune of £360,000 over the same period, financially securing the Converge Challenge for the next three years.

According to Stuart Fancey, assistant director of Research and Innovation at the Scottish Funding Council, Converge Challenge has far reaching benefits as an ‘enabler’ for Scotland’s aspirational academic entrepreneurs.

“The extent to which Scotland’s universities have made a significant contribution to enterprise creation, helping to stimulate and drive economic growth, should not be under-estimated.

“University research has led to the creation of hundreds of spin outs in Scotland – a figure that rises annually and business competitions like Converge Challenge help stimulate this ‘new economy’.

“What makes Converge Challenge so attractive to the Scottish Funding Council is not just the competition element. What sets this apart is the structured business mentoring; training and support are key planks in the Converge Challenge offering.”

By providing business mentorship and hands-on business training, these aspiring academic entrepreneurs can bring new products and services to market, helping Scotland’s economy, grow and prosper and learn about effective market research, business development, IP and product development, financial and legal advice and develop skills in how to pitch a business idea.

All this has been designed to take entrants from being students and researchers to innovators by giving them the skills and know-how to turn a bright idea into a viable business proposition.

The exponential growth of Converge Challenge in 2013 is important to Scotland.

The expansion of the Converge Challenge programme beyond its origins in HeriotWatt University to be run for the entire higher education sector comes at a time when Scotland’s government is increasingly interested in entrepreneurship.

The profile of entrepreneurship support has never been higher and the ‘Big Picture’

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challenge is to take full advantage of the excellence of the academic community in Scotland and its support for business start-ups.

Converge Challenge is a wonderful example of the opportunities, having the potential for jobs growth and a direct downstream economic impact which is very valuable to the country.

Olga Kozlova, director of Converge Challenge says: “Converge Challenge has become a very effective stepping stone for nurturing and developing tomorrow’s new generation of entrepreneur.

“The Gala Dinner Final on 24 September will offer a springboard enabling the lucky winner to embark on a very remarkable journey.”

John Swinney MSP, cabinet secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth, will be the keynote speaker at the Converge Channel final.

What sets this apart is the business mentoring; training and support are key planks in the challenge >> McKay on welfare team The Scottish Government has invited Professor Ailsa McKay to sit on the Expert Working Group on Welfare, which is developing recommendations for a welfare system which could be introduced in the event of a yes vote in next year’s independence referendum. Professor McKay, director of Glasgow Caledonian University’s Women in Scotland’s Economy Research Centre, is one of five new appointments to the committee, which is made up of leading figures in welfare and care provision, business and academia.

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

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COMPANY PROFILE

University unites industry and academics In today’s world, developing innovative products, technologies and services is vital if companies are to thrive. At the University of Strathclyde, a new approach is transforming the way academics innovate together The Technology and Innovation Centre will transform how academia and industry work together. Working in partnership, our skilled teams will find solutions that are vital to economic regeneration in Scotland and further afield.

All this will happen in a state-of-the-art building in the heart of Glasgow – developed with industry, for industry.

Researchers, engineers and project managers from academia and industry will work side-by-side, on projects spanning: • Energy • Health technologies • Manufacturing • Future cities Commercial partners and funders SSE, the Weir Group, Technip and ScottishPower – these are some of the major partners the centre has already attracted.

And while large corporations are important, we’re also looking to attract small and medium sized partners who embrace innovation.

At almost £90 million, the project is the University of Strathclyde’s single-biggest investment in research capacity. The centre has attracted financial backing from Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council.

The city, the building and the opportunity Glasgow is renowned for its roots in engineering and energy. Today it is carving a global reputation as a creative and innovative city.

The Technology and Innovation Centre is the cornerstone of Scottish Enterprise’s new International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone. This global economic hub brings innovative businesses to the heart of Glasgow, and sits alongside the University of Strathclyde.

The landmark building will house specialist, shared and flexible laboratory facilities. Here, world-class researchers respond to real problems in partnership with industry, government agencies

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

The Technolgy and Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde will change the way acadmics and industry collabotate together and other organisations.

The building is a catalyst for a step-change in the ways industry and researchers work together. It’s also informing the development of research and education across the campus. Multidisciplinary teams are being brought together to combine strengths in engineering, science, business, humanities and the social sciences.

How we can work together Partnering with our researchers and academics could transform the way you work. This brochure covers just some of the projects we’ve carried out with organisations across a broad range of sectors – and highlights our focus on delivering real, measurable results.

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To find out more about the Technology and Innovation Centre and how we could work with you, please get in touch on 0141 548 2413 or email tic@strath.ac.uk www.strath.ac.uk/tic

SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

NEWS

AUTUMN 13

>> Pathfinder pioneers

>> Royally rewarded

Scientists at the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR) have successfully reached another important milestone and look firmly on course for a launch in 2015.

Its heart, the optical bench, has now been further integrated into the core assembly of the satellite.

The optical bench of the LISA Pathfinder (LPF) mission is the super-sensitive heart of a technology demonstrator which will pave the way for a future spaceborne detector to measure gravitational waves. These ripples in spacetime are caused by massively violent astronomical events, such as the collision of black holes and the explosion of dying stars.

The IGR team in the School of Physics and Astronomy demonstrated that the high-precision sensor system is ready to survive tremendous forces of up to 35 times the gravitational acceleration on Earth during rocket launch, and still maintain its exquisite alignment.

Dr Christian Killow, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance Advanced Fellow at the University, said: “With the optical bench now in place, we have reached an important milestone. The sophisticated laser interferometer performs superbly and is ready for its job in space. We are really excited that the LISA Pathfinder mission is now well positioned for launch in 2015.”

LISA Pathfinder is a European Space Agency (ESA) technology test mission that aims to prove essential key technologies for future space-based gravitational-wave observatories, which cannot be tested on Earth, but only in space.

For this purpose, one laser arm of a planned large gravitational wave mission is reduced from millions of kilometres to 40cm to fit into a single spacecraft. The optical bench tested at the IGR in Glasgow is the heart of LPF. It is now in Astrium Germany and on course for a launch in 2015. LISA Pathfinder is paving the way for a large-scale space mission designed to detect one of the most elusive phenomena in astronomy – gravitational waves. Gravitational waves measured by a large mission in space will allow scientists to trace the formation, growth, and merger history of massive black holes. It will also enable scientists to test General Relativity with observations, and will probe new physics and cosmology.

LPF is an ESA led mission. It involves European space companies and research institutes from France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and UK and the US space agency NASA. The concept and details of the optical sensing scheme for LISA Pathfinder have been developed at the University of Glasgow, based on the initial work at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Hanover, Germany. Its director Karsten Danzmann is Co-Principal Investigator of the mission and shares the scientific leadership with Stefano Vitale, University of Trento, Italy.

In order to build the optical bench the IGR scientists, led by Dr. Harry Ward, developed a silicate bonding technique to allow robust, sub-micron optical component positioning – an enabling technology that is now finding additional uses in ground and space based activities, and in both academic and industrial endeavours.

The research and development at the IGR has been funded by the UK Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC), by the UK Space Agency, by ESA, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance and by the University of Glasgow.

The Duke of Edinburgh, now 92, presented medals at the Royal Society of Edinburgh in August. It was his first engagement since undergoing surgery two months earlier. The Duke presented medals to Professor Sir John Cadogan, the former head of research at BP; Professor Mike Ferguson, dean of research in life sciences at Dundee University, and Sir Ian Wood, the former chairman of the Aberdeenbased oil and gas services company Wood Group. The Royal Medals are awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s 230-year-old academy of science and letters, in recognition of outstanding achievement, having been instituted by the Society’s patron, HM the Queen, to mark the Millennium.

SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

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With the optical bench now in place, we have reached another important milestone >> Geoscience centre deal A new Shell Centre for Exploration Geoscience is being established jointly by Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. (Shell) and Heriot-Watt University at the Edinburgh Campus. The centre, headed

by Professor John Underhill, a renowned geoscientist, represents a £3m investment by Shell over a five-year period.

Based within the University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering, the Centre will establish a seismic interpretation and exploration geoscience research group. Researchers will deploy the latest technologies, data, and industry insights to further understand some of the world’s major petroleum systems, including the UK Continental Shelf.

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AUTUMN 13

>> Reaping rewards of global pull The economic benefit of attracting international students to Scotland is estimated to be around £337m every year in fees and an estimated £441m in off-campus expenditure, according to a new report which underlines the social, cultural and educational value of overseas students to Scottish universities.

The report, Richer For It: The positive social, cultural and educational impact of international students of Scotland points out that this also enriches the experience of home students as a result of learning alongside international students. It develops an international outlook among home students and builds a vast network of alumni around the world which main strong and long-lasting connections with Scotland.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond, chair of Universities Scotland’s International Committee and Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, said: “Scottish universities have a very strong record of attracting international students and have the world-leading technical and research credentials needed to compete successfully in a fiercely competitive and truly global recruitment environment.”

“The true value of international students is much greater than can be quantified in monetary terms alone. The social, cultural and educational benefits gained from having international students study and live with us are immense. This is something I see every day at my own institution, he University of Aberdeen where we have over 120 nationalities represented, and I know it to be the case at every university in Scotland.”

NEWS

Professor Diamond has welcomed the International Education Strategy, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which includes a target for growing the number of international students in higher education by 15-20% in the next five years.

The true value of international students is much greater than can be quantified in monetary terms alone

Designed for Business.

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Better business, brighter futures.

To find out more, visit www.gcu.ac.uk/business

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

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Business Glasgow Caledonian University is a registered Scottish charity, number SC021474

SPECIAL REPORT | autumn 13

OVERVIEW

AUTUMN 13

Just how safe are your business systems?

Many smaller firms appear oblivious to the increasing dangers of cyber-crime. Yet businesses are being targeted by well organised global crime gangs using massive computing power. Kenny Kemp found the Scottish Business Resilience Centre is using Scottish students to fight back

SPECIAL REPORT | AUTUMN 13

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EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

AUTUMN 13

It is enough to provoke the most lurid tabloid headline: ‘Scottish police pay hackers to attack businesses’. This is, indeed, happening in Scotland today. Thankfully, it is all strictly legal and has a value for society in that undergraduates and post-graduates from cutting-edge university courses are helping in the fight against cyber-crime.

A team of cyber-security auditors, all from Abertay University, managed to crack into the finance mainframe server of a leading Scottish financial institution, which showed up gaping holes in the company’s security. Nothing was lost in this arranged attack but potentially any credit card transaction details could have been taken for identity fraud and business accounts accessed, changed or erased.

This kind of attack is deeply alarming for Scottish business.

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre is a unique organisation combining contributions from the Police, the Scottish Government, the fire and rescue services, the Scottish clearing banks and businesses in Scotland. Established as the Scottish Business Crime Centre in 1996 it was involved in collaboration, secondments and a sharing of information to safeguard the economic wellbeing of the country.

The centre’s remit has increased to cover e-crime and cybercrime – it estimates crime is costing £5bn a year in Scotland - and it realised it required more up-to-date assistance from young people who were experts in hacking. The centre approached Abertay University researchers in Dundee who then recommended students who were suitable and eligible to work on some legallysanctioned hacking programmes.

All the students involved are covered by full disclosures.

BQ2 met three students, all with different backgrounds who have been assisting with the project and working as cyber-security auditors.

Duncan Atkin, a third year ethical hacking student at Abertay, is a specialist in Cloud computing and the security risks that come with this.

“Hand in hand with my work is password cracking. I’m looking at how criminals are using very cheap online Cloud services to

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

OVERVIEW

The Cloud makes the processing power required to break passwords a lot more readily available to anybody. Passwords are easy to break today - unless they are very secure break passwords and the risk associated As undergraduates, Ross and colleagues with companies placing their data online,” created a virus which could be established in he explained. external systems for fun and credibility – and Shelley Jackson, a third year digital forensic it developed from that point. student at Abertay, had been working in an “Doing the virus stuff was an eye opener.

IT business for nearly 20 years before taking After we’d pulled off a couple of pranks it a break to have her son. She then decided to wasn’t so interesting and then we decided sign up for the programme. to look at how we stop something like this.

“I’ve been looking at all the digital media It is far harder to stop a virus, than it is to involved in a crime. I’m looking for patterns of start it.” digital behaviour which indicate that a fraud Duncan Atkin obviously enjoyed the challenge. or a crime might be undertaken. It might “It’s been great fun. We’ve been going into involve accessing laptop, camera, smartphone major Scottish businesses and even if they records or bank account transactions,” have had professional tests in she said. the past, there are always Digital forensic specialists are problems. Often it involved in the retrieval is the things >> of evidence from hard discs, emails and Changing your passwords browser history, that can be used to put every 30 days is less secure criminals in court. than having one good strong The topic is so password and sticking with fresh that in her it. The tendency is that when fourth year she people change their password is tackling digital they are fed-up and make it phone forensics. very simple adding a year or Ross Paterson, a incremental number, post-graduate in which isn’t safe. computer networks, is a recognised hacking expert. “I’ve always been interested in computer hacking.

It is widespread among young people who are curious about computers and how far they can delve into big systems. When I came to university and saw what the hacking guys were doing, I thought it was really cool. It’s all about exploration and inevitably you find a security hole.”

TOP TIP

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SPECIAL REPORT | AUTUMN 13

OVERVIEW

AUTUMN 13

More and more of the organised crime is being targeted towards individuals and smaller companies rather than big corporates

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that they least expect. If you get into a finance server, then that’s a springboard to get into the rest of the network.”

How easy is it to crack the passwords?

“Advice on passwords is continuously changing. With the advent of Cloud it makes the processing power required to break passwords a lot more readily available to anybody. It is very easy to break today – unless they are very secure.”

Duncan’s advice is to ensure that it is a mix of capital letters and lower case but that now a familiar phrase or a sentence of over eight characters can be a good security move. He has permission to use a Cloud programme with massive computing power to run through the tens of millions of permutations.

“I’ve worked on Scottish businesses’ internal passwords which are meant to guard the inner workings of the system. I set off the programme expecting to wait hours and hours or not come back with anything at all – then it comes back in five minutes with the password and the entry into the whole system.”

He also says that once a cyber-criminal has access to your email, they can then gain access to passwords, which is another danger area.

Organised criminals from abroad are now using automated systems to attack passwords using the massive and cheap power of Cloud computing. And it is harder for the police to chase across jurisdiction.

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“More and more of the organised crime is being targeted towards individuals and smaller companies rather than major corporates. The bigger businesses are starting to get clued-up it, while the individuals think ‘Why would anyone want to attack me’. They might not have a big business, but they could be easy pickings for the criminal.”

“It’s a race in which the average Joe is being left behind because the big guys are improving their security while the criminals are increasingly sophisticated. Smaller businesses are being left behind.”

Mandy Haeburn-Little, director of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, said: “It has been amazing having these smart young people helping us. They are very committed to the work and they have shown us that businesses need to be more vigilant. It’s been a major success working with Abertay.

Duncan is thinking of setting his own business up after graduating, Ross is also considering a legal hacking and research consultancy, while Shelley is considering joining the police or prosecution service. For Abertay University, these are qualified people that the business world needed now. And for the Scottish Business Crime Centre, a key link has been created between research and the issues of the real world. n www. enquiry@sbrcentre.co.uk

EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

The Scottish Business Internship Initiative Resolve your business challenges by accessing expertise from three of Scotland’s leading universities through the new Scottish Business Internship Initiative. An exciting new internship programme has emerged as part of the Business Innovation Exchange (BIE) partnership* to provide innovative thinking for companies looking for solutions to their business challenges.

The Scottish Business Internship Initiative will help improve your business competitiveness through the placement of a student internee, supported by senior academic expertise of the host University.

The Initiative is demand led, based on the business needs of Scottish SMEs within the key sectors that each partner University is engaged in through the BIE partnership.

The programme is aimed at students from one of the BIE Partnership Universities who are within one year of the date of their graduation (both under and post graduate).

Applications will be open for 6 months – from August 2013 to the end of January 2014.

All projects must be fully concluded by April 2014.

The benefits are: • Low cost and managed access to University expertise to provide a solution to a clearly defined business issue • Access to additional University based technological, scientific or management expertise • Access to a dedicated, full-time resource to address a business issue or opportunity for three months • Access to highly qualified people to spearhead new projects • Access to high value equipment and facilities For further information please contact Lynn Crawford within the Commercial Services Office on 0131 455 6179 or by e-mail at L.Crawford@napier.ac.uk

*The Business Innovation Exchange (BIE) is a unique partnership among St Andrews, Edinburgh Napier and Queen Margaret Universities that blends the expertise of modern and ancient institutions to provide SMEs with easier access to academic know how, facilities and intellectual property. The Business Innovation Exchange focuses on addressing business needs and provides SMEs with access to innovation support across priority industry sectors.

The BIE is funded by ERDF and the Scottish Funding Council’s SEEKIT Programme.

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University makes innovation tick in Glasgow With its new Technology and Innovation Centre due to open in 2014, award-winning Strathclyde University is well positioned as a world-class institution offering industry and business a partnership that brings technological advances to the fore. BQ Editor Kenny Kemp, himself a graduate of the institution, talks to the prinicpal, Sir Jim McDonald >>

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The University of Strathclyde is flying high. It is still basking in the success of being named Times Higher Education UK University of the Year last November. It is an accolade that pleases the University’s high-tempo Principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, himself a graduate of the institution.

The judges were impressed with how the university has been working with industry in a ‘transformational year,’ investing nearly £90m in the soon-to-open Technology and Innovation Centre and other ventures such as the creation of the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, the UK’s first Fraunhofer establishment in the UK. The university enjoys a remarkable history as ‘a place of useful learning’. Many of its alumni, such as James Blyth the founder of the wind energy industry, have made significant contributions to physics, chemistry, bioscience and engineering around the globe. Established as the Anderson’s Institution in the 19th century, when industrial Glasgow was in the ascendant as the hotbed of British Empire’s engineering, it later became the Royal College of Science and Technology, before receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as one of the UK’s first technological universities. Nuclear scientist Sir Samuel Curran, who worked on the Manhattan Project which developed the atomic bomb, and was author of Energy and Human Needs, was the first principal and vice chancellor.

Sir Jim McDonald and his team are placing this Glasgow university on the international map, giving the likes of Boston’s MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Cambridge and Imperial in London a run for their money. So what would it take to put Strathclyde in the top 50 technology universities in the world? Jim McDonald, sitting at a table in his office in the McCance Building, does not miss a beat.

“Aiming for any number in a league table is a distraction. What you need to do is concentrate on your key, strategic differentiators. I have not chosen a number in any league table – and as Principal I’m not going to do that. What I am doing with my team and the university at large is focussing on our commitment to being a leading international technological university. What that means is making sure that we provide the

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best possible delivery and experience for all of our students.”

He stresses that Strathclyde has four faculties: science, engineering, business and humanities & social sciences, which offer a wider lens on the modern world.

“We’re not a technical university – we are a technological university. Humanities and social sciences are very important disciplines through which we translate the impact and benefits of science, technology and business.”

Strathclyde has always had a pedigree in

Aiming for any number in a league table is a distraction.

What you need to do is concentrate on your key strategic differentiators attracting foreign students and post-graduates from around the world. And Sir Jim sees this as an essential component for the future.

“We’re concentrating on world-class undergraduate and post-graduate programmes. Alongside this we are pursuing a very major research agenda – one in which Strathclyde has a disproportionate impact on society, economy, health and wealth.”

Professor McDonald, who recalls lectures from economic historian John Hume about the developments of science and industry in Scotland, understands the significance and context of the university’s heritage and influence.

“As the leader of this institution, I take a great deal of value from what our founder, John Anderson, set out to achieve. As the only higher education establishment set up during the Scottish Enlightenment,

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Anderson had a vision of ‘useful learning’.

We are re-interpreting that vision as a leading international technological university to be relevant for today.”

Strathclyde is certainly re-affirming this with the vision to create the stunning wedgeshaped Technology and Innovation Centre on George Street, a few minutes from George Square.

Jim McDonald’s own journey to the principal’s chair began in 1974 when he enrolled as an electronic and electrical engineering undergraduate. His family, originally from Barra where his father was a ropemaker, had settled in Govan, Glasgow’s shipbuilding district, and he was the first in his family to go to university. “It appeared an apt and welcoming place for me. It was natural for me to come to Strathclyde.”

When he graduated, he passed up an opportunity to undertake a PhD – completing his doctorate on a part-time basis later in his career - joining instead SETS, the Scottish Electrical Training Scheme, which allowed the young engineer to work with a range of industrial and electricity companies, including the South of Scotland Electricity Board, Scottish Hydro Electric Board, Ferranti and the British Insulated Cable Corporation (BICC).

“I was given a breadth of experience of working in different industries, ranging from defence electronics through to power transmission systems and largescale generation. For example, I worked at Peterhead Power Station at the time of commissioning. It was a terrific, accelerated training period as a young engineer,” he says.

He went on to work for SSEB, now ScottishPower, a part of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, in the transmission division at Cathcart. A seminal point in his career development came when SSEB sponsored his part-time Masters degree back at Strathclyde.

In 1984, the UK Government was looking to attract young talent into the universities through the New Blood Lectureship programme. This aimed to bring people with industrial experience back into the lecture theatres and engineering labs. McDonald joined up and while he had a heavy teaching workload as an electrical power lecturer, he was also able to pursue his own research.>>

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“I smile because I remembered all the difficult courses I had as an undergraduate and then faced the task of teaching those very courses to the students. Getting my head around that again certainly ruined my first summer as a young lecturer. We didn’t go on holiday,” he laughs.

He progressed through the university ranks, specialising in electrical power systems, from the grid to advanced control systems for generators. He used his knowledge of the real industrial challenges to leverage connection between business and academia.

“I made sure I made use of the industrial network that I had. When I came up with research ideas I could phone engineers directly and see if we could attract support for a PhD studentship or receive financial support. It wasn’t easy, but it was easier for me than for some of my colleagues.”

The economic history of the electrical power industry plays a part in this story. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a massive investment in electricity power supply and distribution across Europe. However, the UK’s national grid system was reaching its full capacity and then, in the late 80s and early 1990s, the utilities were being privatised by the Conservative Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

“This meant that a lot of the energy industries’ R&D started to be run down, yet the industry still required research and development to be competitive.“ McDonald and two more senior engineering colleagues and mentors, Prof Owen Farrish and Prof David Tedford, both later becoming deputy principals, took their chance. They made a bold offer to the emerging electricity companies, such as National Grid, SWEB, Scottish Power, Eastern Electricity, that Strathclyde would fulfil the strategic R&D obligations of these new share-holder companies. The Centre for Electrical Power Engineering was a winning collaboration for industry and the university. To this day, SSE and ScottishPower remain major supporters of the university, hiring many of the graduates and sponsoring many throughout their university careers.

“The Technology and Innovation Centre is really a derivative of some of these early learnings from working with the power companies.

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We made a value proposition to them saying: we will take the strategic R&D agenda from you and you will make a rolling five-year commitment to us, of PhD support and sponsorship. This became strategic rather than philanthropic.”

This allowed the university to grow its research base, plan for the future and attract a higher level of world-class researcher. But it also built

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a young senior lecturer’s profile making him a candidate – and the eventual incumbent – of the Rolls-Royce professor of electrical power systems in 1993.

“Rolls-Royce took a gamble. I was only 35.

They could have selected a more, senior candidate or professor from another institution.

I think I had that helpful mix of industrial appreciation and research that

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could be applied for the benefit of our industrial partners.” In this capacity, McDonald worked with Rolls-Royce in East Kilbride and with the Strategic Research Group in Derby, on electrical technologies such as integrated electric propulsion for ships, more electrical aircraft, and distributed generation systems.

“This was interesting because I could translate what I had done in utilities into the aerospace domain. That was a great lesson for me as a professional academic. The transferability of research capability into different domains, and the link between Strathclyde and Rolls-Royce, is stronger than it has ever been.”

“For me, Rolls-Royce is the shining light for British innovations, applied research and global engineering excellence. The catalyst for the Technology and Innovation Centre, the AFRC (the Advanced Forming Research Centre at Inchinnan), and CMAC (Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation) is embodied in the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre which we established in 1996. This had always been my ambition and this model of collaboration is now recognised globally as an exemplar of how these things should operate.”

Rolls-Royce assigns a part of its strategic technology procurement to the University Technology Centre at Strathclyde but to sustain this, the academic community has had to find new ways of working to meet industrial requirements. Phil Ruffles, Rolls-Royce’s director of engineering and technology at the time of the UTC opening, said that the benefit is the ‘access to independent thinking’ which is about ‘challenging the norm.’

McDonald is clear that this is central to the very nature of university research.

“Ambitious and innovative-led companies grasp that nettle with universities and say, ‘Tell us how to do things differently. Show us how to do things better. Tell us where the horizons are on technology and business models, so we can improve our services and product and make us more globally competitive.’ That was an important lesson for me.”

This key lesson is applied to all the industrial partners that the university is now attracting to the Technology and Innovation Centre and other research areas. He is clear that he wants his leading researchers to challenge

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the industrial partners to achieve improved outcomes, while remaining ‘independent’ in their thinking and intellectually rigorous.

The Technology and Innovation Centre is a major scale example of the university’s commitment to international technological research. It is about attracting partners for multi-partner strategic research programmes where groups of utilities and manufacturers can work together on common technological challenges. The university also has a leading space technology group working with NASA, ESA and CALT (the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology).

No one research discipline or company can address the challenges of their industries...

You need an industry approach to deal with industry-scale problems “No one research discipline or company can address the challenges of their industries. In utilities for example, you need an industry approach to deal with industry-scale problems.

Strathclyde has found itself in that niche; as well as conducting independent research with funding partners, we are also changing the way they are thinking about the industry challenges and taking on outside views. We are helping with a wider industry approach in offshore renewables, grid for the 21st century, or efficiency in new carbon policy.

We are now seen as a credible integrator of academic research and education with the

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‘grand challenges of industry.”

McDonald was one of the first in academia to see that collaboration between universities and industry can work more effectively for all involved.

And he praises the team who support him in delivering that vision.

“I have a great chief operating officer and chief financial officer and executive team. I need to spend my time on strategic direction and leadership, both within the organisation as the principal and my in external roles in other institutions (such as chairing the Glasgow Economic Leadership Board]. I am still connected to research. I’m not in the lab these days but still get involved in supporting seminars and I present at conferences. I give the occasional guest lecture and I stay close to the researchers and the university’s staff.”

There is no doubt the university is buzzing: while The Technology and Innovation Centre is the hot topic and exemplifies the Glasgow institution’s ambition, Sir Jim says he doesn’t want us to forget the diversity of his institution.

“We are European leader in power and energy; we have tremendous capability in pharmacy and bio-medical sciences’; we have Scotland’s leading business school – and one of the European leaders with a centre for entrepreneurship; we have a fantastic faculty of humanities and social sciences; a law school and a school of public policy. We have this excellent community of academics who are disciplinary experts in their own right.

Increasingly, they are working together to give the students fantastic experiences while being educated. We are broadening the educational perspective.”

Where does he see the university’s place in the wider world?

“Glasgow is our home and we’re proud of that and we take our responsibilities here in the city very seriously. Similarly, the very best institutions play a very important role on the global stage. Increasingly important is international exchange and global research challenges, such as health, energy and climate change, industrialisation, developing nation’s infrastructure and world economics.

We are now partnering with some of the best in the world. That’s a reflection of our own journey.” n

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Darran Gardner looks at how Scotland’s universities are still spinning out start-up companies with commercial futures from some of their outstanding research

A watershed for programmes after the commercial break For a decade Scotland’s universities have outperformed UK rivals in terms of company spin-out activity. While this challenging commercialisation activity is just one element of their knowledge exchange capability, it requires innovation, juggling with available resources and a strong understanding of internal academic strengths.

With a 2013 decision expected from the Scottish Funding Council on the development of a single ‘knowledge exchange office’ which aims to harmonise systems and approaches across Scottish universities, there is concern among universities that the existing and required flexibility around certain commercialisation activities could be undervalued. The University of Edinburgh had led the charge for Scottish higher education institutions, sitting at second equal in terms

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of total UK spin-out activity between 2010 and 2012. One such success story is Blackford Analysis, based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, led by Dr Ben Panter and chaired by Conrad Chin, using algorithms and software from astrophysics to help radiologists and improve PET scanning. Derek Waddell, director of Edinburgh Research and Innovation, points to an even more impressive fact about this commercialisation activity.

“Some of our companies managed to raise cash and have still failed because of the market, while others just couldn’t raise the money after spinning out. All we can do is give them the best start. But a 2012 study for the university highlighted that 81% of companies we have ever produced are still trading in some capacity.

Some have been bought over and others like Wolfson Microelectronics (spun out 1984) are

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still going strong.

“We have had five spin-outs this year and four the previous year. We aim to do about five per annum and we have a pipeline of good companies through. Money has been tighter and you can understand why - so early finance can be an issue.”

While new Edinburgh spinout Carbomap (whose technology maps and measures the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the world’s forests) raised seed money from the university’s Technology Fund and is now seeking to raise further funds via crowd funding, Waddell acknowledges that Scotland’s angel community remains an important source of early-stage funding, along with Scottish Enterprise innovation grants such as the SMART Award. Internally, the university can also invest through its Old College Capital fund >>

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and 2014 may see the launch of a £150m MTI Ventures spinout fund which links Edinburgh, Manchester University and University College London.

With approximately 50 commercial IP licensing deals annually and 60 or so patents filed, the university is seeing more deals flow from the Edinburgh Bioquarter and the College of Medicine and has recently invested in new personnel to build more value into IP developed internally. “It’s important,” adds Waddell, “that it’s strong and people recognise that not every technology should become a company.”

Dr David McBeth, director of research and knowledge exchange services at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, also reports that the institution is adopting a more commercial approach to developing new spin-outs. In addition to investing seed funding, it continues to develop its Commercialisation & Investment Advisory Board and commercialisation panels (in energy and healthcare) to improve market knowledge, access to funding and support spinout development from the earliest stage of opportunities. With ambitious internal targets to double its commercialisation revenue by 2015 (the university was fifth in terms of UK spin-out activity between 2000 and 2010), McBeth is also focused on increasing the pipeline of prospects. One potential source, Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concepts funds, has also seen new application numbers drop, largely due according to McBeth to the Enterprise organisation’s demanding growth expectations for fundable projects and “a degree of scepticism about anyone’s ability to pick winners from such early-stage prospects.”

“Our advisory boards and networks can gather market knowledge as early as possible, enabling us to move the situation from being technology push to market pull as often as we can. It’s also critical to get the right management in as early

as possible.”

With the funding environment still challenging, adds McBeth, there are inevitable limits to what local angel money can achieve. Often “drip-feeding” investments, lacking the ability to provide significant follow-on funding or possessing relationships with international VCs, “Scottish finance, welcome as it is, can only take you so far and it is not always connected to the outside world.”

While Strathclyde’s commercialisation team is optimistic about the prospects of new spin-outs such as smart labelling firm Insignia Technologies and planned portable life support system spin-out, Rathlin Medical, McBeth is also confident that the university’s focus on industrial partnerships and industry-led research facilities such as the Power Networks Demonstration Centre and the Advanced Forming Research Centre will offer new commercialisation opportunities.

“Entrepreneurial start-ups are not the bread and butter of corporates, but industry can be good investors and joint venture partners.

Yes, we will need to learn their cultures, but it will be an alternative to the limits of angels, as they can be patient and supportive venture partners.” At Aberdeen University, Dr Elizabeth Rattray, deputy director of the research and innovation department, reports that its two spin-outs a year record remains stable, with life sciences a strong focus, alongside computing science. While Rattray admits that fundraising and building strong management teams remain challenges, the decision to work with Edinburgh and Glasgow universities, the European Investment Fund, the Scottish Investment Bank and Strathclyde Pension Fund to partner with VC firm Rock Spring Ventures on the creation of a £50m life sciences and health technology fund, was designed to better support the long-term >>

Scottish finance, as welcome as it is, can only take you so far and it is not always connected to the outside world

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funding demands of life sciences start-ups.

“The expectation is that new fund will not help directly with the management issue, but developing well-funded companies should help create a stronger network. I also don’t think academic interest in spin-outs has diminished.

They just need to realise it doesn’t happen overnight and the time they will need to put into it. I also think with the growth of the Innovation Centres universities are working more collectively and they are sector-wide vehicles bringing together academia and industry. There’s no shortage of ideas – it’s always about executing them.”

Like its Scottish rivals, Aberdeen’s patenting and licensing activity remains stable, albeit with a reluctance to carry on funding patents on a speculative basis.“If you seek industrial partners at an early stage, they can pick up patent costs.” With Edinburgh’s Napier University generating recent spin-outs such as the biofuels business Celtic Renewables and software firm ZoneFox, Napier’s innovation manager Dr Aileen Wood recognises that the institution’s links with industry remain a key strength that keeps its innovation closer to the market. With four informatics prospects in the pipeline, its latest planned spin-out is focused on the development of an innovative information sharing solution. The university is also addressing its IP licensing capability, assessing the options via the Easy Access IP route (essentially involving free transfer of university IP utilising simple agreements) and using grant funding such Scottish Funding Council and Technology Strategy Board innovation grants to connect with businesses and develop relationships which help develop university IP. Dr Andrew McNair, Glasgow Caledonian University’s acting head of research, innovation and enterprise, also recognises that a focus on select industrial partnerships can reap dividends. “Our IP and technology can ultimately help develop industrial partnerships, giving companies such as FMC Technologies and Doble Engineering comfort that we have the capability and knowledge to deliver.

Commercialisation models can be shaped by the partnerships.”

For Glasgow Caledonian with a relatively small commercialisation team, says McNair, this can mean industry joint ventures, using Easy Access

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We currently have five or six new venture projects in everything from technology to drug licensing and our goal is to spin out two or three a year

IP and licensing through University Technology, an online database of technology licensing and technology transfer opportunities. With Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh focused on two spin-outs annually, new life sciences spinouts such as micropump developer Accufluidics and pulse laser specialist Chromacity, join existing companies such as communications network firm Optoscribe and wideband sonar system specialist, Hydrason Solutions. Robert Goodfellow, Heriot-Watt’s knowledge exchange manager, says the university can point to over 100 IP licence deals since 2010, with 53 alone

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in 2012/13 focused on the software sector.

“But with spin-outs,” he says, “it’s about raising the right money and finding the right management.” Activity at the University of Glasgow, including new spin-outs in the shape of digital diagnostics business SAW Dx and preclinical contract research firm Clyde Biosciences, tends to be multi-disciplinary acknowledges its head of IP and commercialisation, Mel Anderson. “We have five or six new venture projects in everything from technology to drug licensing and our goal is to spin out two or three a year.”

The university’s relationship with early-stage investor IP Group plc is unique in Scotland, resulting in a recent £750k investment (alongside the Scottish Investment Bank) in ozone creation and handling company Anacail.

Along with traditional IP licensing, the use of the Easy Access IP model to support a number of new start-ups, says Anderson, allows people to access the university’s expertise and exploit it where the institution doesn’t have the opportunity to do so. Dundee University can also claim recent spin-outs – drug design data analytics firm, ex scientia and drug discovery developer Kinetic Discovery – and a strong focus on knowledge exchange with SMEs through its Innovation Portal and BioPortal.

Dundee IP also played a key role in the University of St Andrews’ established sonar imaging spin-out, ADUS UK, which recently received investment from Norway’s Deep Ocean Group. Ewan Chirnside, the university’s knowledge transfer director, highlights a number of new prospective spin-outs as well as recent marine sector ones such as Genuswave and fish genetics technology firm, Xelect. But, adds Chirnside, St Andrews has favoured repeat IP licence deals with established industrial partners, while creating subsidiaries of its venture arm, Scottish Oceans Institute Group instead of spin-outs. The SOI Group currently has a turnover of over £3m.

“As a knowledge transfer unit our role is not commercialisation, it’s about getting what’s in the university out,” Chirnside concludes.

“But all universities have different objectives and motivations in undertaking this type of activity and no one should count us as the same thing. If we try to be the same, then half will fail.” n

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GCU on platform for success in South Africa SPECIAL REPORT | AUTUMN 13

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Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) is certainly on the right track when it comes to working with international businesses.

Last year South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma announced in his State of the Nation Address that the country’s rail system, Transnet, would invest more than R300bn in infrastructure development to rejuvenate the economy, create jobs and address poverty and inequalities.

This was great news for GCU’s Business Academy which was finalising a five-year agreement with Transnet Freight Rail, the country’s largest freight rail company. GCU Business works with business and public sector clients who have technology or capacity challenges. The university offers access to specialist facilities and expertise, helping clients develop their business through a tailored approach.

The university is already involved with First ScotRail in a £126,000 Knowledge Transfer Project, supervised by Dr Babakalli Alkali of the Department of Mechanical, Electrical and Environmental Engineering, to improve the reliability and efficiency of services in Scotland.

The South African agreement followed a pilot programme for a BSc Railway Operations Management running in South Africa, with Transnet Freight Rail.

Transnet will enrol 220 students per year as part of a flagship talent management programme led by Transnet’s School of Rail.

The programme is designed by GCU’s Scottish Centre for Work Based Learning in partnership with the Institution of Railway Operators and was rolled out in South Africa in partnership with the University of Johannesburg. Transnet Freight Rail is the largest division of Transnet, with approximately 25,000 employees. More that R201bn has been channelled to Transnet Freight Rail to expand its rail infrastructure to create capacity and increase cargo volumes.

Johannes Makhusha, head of Transnet’s School of Rail, says: “We are responsible for building the skills that are required by Transnet Freight Rail.”

This involves training, re-training and building the skills pipeline to ensure that our organisation can compete effectively by leveraging the skills of our workers.

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We relish this opportunity to be part of the School of Rail’s transformation agenda in the rail sector

“The Market Demand Strategy seeks to ensure that Transnet Freight Rail continues to contribute to the development of our country.

Many of our youths are unemployed and unskilled and so cannot necessarily access employment. What we seek to do is ensure we create opportunities, the infrastructure and environment that will support the skills Transnet needs.”

“We want to partner with international universities such as Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Johannesburg to offer education that is world-class and that can assist us in building the necessary competencies for our organisation. The Railway Operations Management programme is our flagship programme. The relationship between GCU and Transnet Freight Rail is extremely important.”

Fiona Stewart-Knight, director of business

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academies at GCU, says: “This is a considerable project in the context of human capital and workforce development for Transnet and of significant scale for GCU. We are proud to be a partner of Transnet Freight Rail. We relish this opportunity to be a part of the School of Rail’s transformation agenda in the rail sector and to engage with Transnet’s staff and the University of Johannesburg within the context of the programme.” GCU is also one of the university partners in CENSIS, an Innovation Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems (SIS). It is an innovation hub which will act as a single contracting point for companies to access research capabilities in Scotland’s universities and research institutions. n www.censis.org.uk www.gcu.ac.uk/bsuiness

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Come on, let’s work together Susan Deacon is a former Scottish health minister who now crosses business, civic and academic life. She talks to BQ editor Kenny Kemp about Scotland’s need to work across divides, curb individual ego and learn to collaborate better >>

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Susan Deacon is a rare bird of flight in Scotland’s crowded and cacophonous aviary of civic, academic and business life. She is a former MSP and government minister – she was devolved Scotland’s first minister of health – before making a neat move into a portfolio life spanning academia, corporate business and public policy.

Her roles with the University of Edinburgh, as a non-executive director of ScottishPower, and with her not-for-profit work - as well as a mix of consultancy and advisory roles in leadership and change, give her a unique perspective on our complex world. And she is clear that we all need to work harder to cut away the duplication, clutter of policy-making and constant re-invention of the wheel to attain new levels of growth and sustainability.

“One of the most exciting things about working across a range of sectors and issues is being able to spot synergies, to broker connections and to find new and different ways of bringing people and ideas together,” she says.

There is a growing recognition that if Scotland is to be successful in meeting the challenges – and exploiting the opportunities – of this interconnected world, we have to work differently and more collaboratively than we have in the past. So what stands in the way?

“I think a lot of people are still struggling with how to do that in practice. For me, personally, working at this interface has become a way of life. I increasingly view the world as a series of Venn diagrams, thinking constantly about where the intersections are and what we can do to get more people into that shared space and then encourage and support them to do things in that space and to enlarge it.

Deacon, who wears the hat of assistant principal of corporate engagement at the University of Edinburgh and is a professorial fellow with the University’s Academy of Government, is passionate about the potential to build greater connectivity and collaboration whether between the private, public and third sectors, practitioners and policymakers, researchers and industry groups, community groups or politicians.

It is testament to her personal skills, as well as her breadth of professional experience, that she has become a high-level networker, facilitator

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and a stimulator of dialogue helping in ‘Joining the Dots’, an apposite phrase because it was the title of her acclaimed report on Scottish children’s early years development for the Scottish Government in 2011.

“I don’t think we can shy away from asking the tough questions about our rewards systems, funding streams, our approaches to policy making, training, education and the like.

There are still too many ingrained attitudes and practices that only reinforce silo thinking

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and behaviour but sometimes, it’s as simple as introducing two people from different backgrounds whose paths might otherwise not have crossed and who, together, can make things happen.

“I think we need to do much more to drive a real step change in how we bring people and ideas together, how we share knowledge and expertise and how we foster a shared responsibility to tackle some of the big real world issues we face. Universities have a key

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role to play here – not just through research and teaching, but also as brokers, enablers and facilitators of discourse and thinking,” she says.

“I feel that an awful lot of collaborative effort – whether that be business to business or between research and business or indeed with government or its agencies, is still very bounded and ‘transactional’. In other words, it’s about a specific project, contract or issue. Of course, that matters, but there also needs to be a much wider and freer flow of thinking and effort.

Most of the issues we face are interconnected and messy - and so need a real mix of skills and insights,“ she says.

Her years in politics as a Labour MSP and as health and community care minister working with first ministers Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish have forged her thinking that the constant ‘adversarial’ nature of tribal politics is ultimately damaging for a small country such as Scotland. She has developed good working relations with Scotland’s nationalist leadership and is respected as an ‘independent’ thinker with a wider field of reference.

“The constitutional debate – whether around devolution in the past or now independence has consumed a lot of time and energy. And it has often masked potential areas of agreement – not least among politicians. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, there’s a need and an opportunity to regroup. We’re all going to have to work really hard to rebuild relationships and to find ways of working together to address the economic and social challenges we face,” she says.

“I’ve long felt that too much of our political and public discourse ends up in either manufactured difference or in cosy consensus. We need to rediscover how to have honest and challenging debate, where people don’t just default into party groupings or vested interests. As David Hume said ‘the truth arises from disagreement amongst friends’. At the University of Edinburgh, principal Sir Tim O’Shea, has given Professor Deacon the remit of working across the university to help build external relationships with business and policymakers and to bring diverse groups of people together to discuss wider issues and how they might be resolved. She remains genuinely consensual in her approach, seeking neutral territory on which to build a commonwealth of ideas that

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can be pushed into action.

“It is no use just sitting in corners pointing fingers at each other. There’s far too much of that that still goes on. We’re awfully good at playing the blame game when something doesn’t happen or isn’t working. She cites the energy debate: all too often the public and political debate gets lost in a fog of claims and counter claims, defaulting into a simplistic ‘for or against’ different energy sources. Too often industry, academics, economists, environmental groups or political parties are pitted against each other in adversarial exchange.

“We need to get people around the table - not across it - if we’re going to keep the lights on, ensure security of supply, have affordable energy, protect our environment and reduce carbon emissions. That needs a really concerted collaborative effort.”

She applauds the work of Scotland’s 2020

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University, bringing together the best of the three establishments. Coupled with this kind of physical collaboration, Deacon feels there is clearly a leadership challenge to face.

“We need to be much more focused on achieving real world impact rather than just ticking boxes or getting plaudits. There has been far too much time and energy spent on rediscovery and reinvention. We need to get better at acting on the knowledge we have and driving forward progress in real time.”

Deacon repeats a long-held frustration that she has aired in other contexts.

“It is still too easy to get stuck in the groove of stacking up research, strategies and reports without getting on with the business of doing.

Paralysis by analysis isn’t just a snappy slogan – it happens.”

An Edinburgh University graduate – first in social policy and politics, and later an

We need to be much more focused on achieving real world impact rather than just ticking boxes or getting plaudits

Climate Group which has been making a meaningful contribution by bringing different people and perspectives together.

“Our universities are playing a key part working with industry in, for example, the development of renewable technologies and are helping to inform thinking and policy too. The Edinburgh Centre on Carbon Innovation, for example, is doing pioneering work in getting academia, business and policymakers together to explore and shape our energy future as well as finding ways of getting wider public involvement in that discussion,” she says. The ECCI, run by Dr Andrew Kerr, is moving to the 17th century Old High School building, refurbished by the acclaimed Edinburgh architect Malcolm Fraser, and is due to open officially in the coming months. ECCI is an ideal example of what Deacon is talking about; a hub hosted by the University of Edinburgh, in partnership with Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh Napier

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MBA – Deacon’s early career spanned local government, management consultancy and higher education – she was director of MBA Programmes at Heriot-Watt University before entering Parliament. Deacon is keen to tonedown the perpetual need for individuals and organisations to be applauded for achievement, which was part of a collaborative and iterative process. In terms of leadership and the frailty of human ego, she quotes Harry S. Truman’s adage: It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

“That’s a powerful statement and an essential element of truly collaborative working. A lot of brilliant folk struggle with working that way.

Sometimes ego gets in the way – after all, we’re all human!“ She recognises too that there are wider systems and cultural issues which militate against this collaborative approach. Increasingly, individuals and organisations are expected to trumpet >>

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and broadcast their supposed accomplishments.

There is too much pressure to demonstrate that they have ‘achieved things’ and to earn peer recognition, she says. Yet the truth is that some of the most effective change and innovation taking place is when people work under the radar.

“It’s a different way of working – a different type of leadership – and we need much more of it. We need to get better at valuing and investing in people and organisations that help to make things happen – even if their name plate isn’t ‘on the door’.”

While Scotland’s universities are increasingly being pressed to exploit their commercial science and technology, Deacon is clear that those who plough the furrow of pure research and independent, intellectual rigour must always be given space to think and breathe. “I am convinced that some of the transformational change that is taking place around us is where people are just getting on and doing things – whether in the lab, the classroom, in business or in the community - where they genuinely don’t care who takes the credit but rather just want to make positive change happen.”

For Deacon, it remains about people, trust and relationships.

“When Professor John Kay published his review of the UK Equity Markets, one of his overarching conclusions was that trust relationships had been displaced by a culture based on transactions and trading. I don’t think that just applies to our financial markets. It’s a metaphor for what has been happening slowly but surely, at times almost imperceptibly, across many areas of business, education and policy making. We need to invest more time and effort in building trust and relationships and valuing people who are good at it. Too many well intentioned initiatives designed to foster greater collaboration, say between universities and industry, or between the public sector and the third sector, are overly prescriptive and have unintended consequences.

“People spend an awful lot of time chasing pots of money, jumping through hoops and inventing projects just to access funds. We need to be much more focused on practical, real world change. Our universities must continue to be models of collaboration. And I know

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the academic research community is getting better and better at working together across disciplines and in commercialising research.

Edinburgh University, for example, has a terrific track record in developing leading edge international research partnerships and spin out companies which are resulting in major innovations in science, medicine and other fields.”

But she feels there need to be more rewards and incentives in the system to encourage and support academics to engage in a wider range of joint working. “I constantly talk with academics who would love to spend more time working with business and policymakers for example – or getting out into schools and communities – but feel under immense pressure to publish – because that still is what gets funding and often career advancement.”

Deacon sees one of her big ideas as making the movement between disciplines from business to academia and vice versa should be much easier

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– and more fluid.

“There are practical things we can do to help foster collaborative working and build shared understanding. In the United States, it is much more commonplace for people to move in and out of academia so they combine teaching, study and research with experience in, for example, business or government. Of course, this is happening here now, but a lot more could still be achieved.” On this theme, Deacon says more cross fertilisation - across sectors and businesses - through secondments, placements and work shadowing, can be enormously beneficial – sometimes transformational – both to individuals and the organisations. Practical partnerships evolve she says, you can’t design them from the top down.

“One of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I’ve turned my hand to in recent years was as founding chairperson of the Hibernian Community Foundation – the charity set up

by Hibernian Football Club. Football has the

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I’m struck by the baggage and prejudices we carry around and the way we define ourselves and each other by the job that we do

ability to reach people and places that other things just don’t - especially when it comes to getting men involved. We put together all sorts of quirky and creative partnerships that really made a difference. A community learning centre was created at Easter Road Stadium which has helped to transform the lives of lots of people by giving them access to skills, qualifications and job opportunities – as well as boosting their confidence and self-esteem. That involved a combined effort of the football club and Jewel and Esk (now Edinburgh) College, and contributions in cash and kind from businesses large and small - including a bank, a recruitment company and an international outsourcing company.

“You could never have designed and prescribed that from ‘on high’. Rather, it came about through a combination of imagination, commitment, personal contacts and relationships. You can’t design something like this from the top down. It grows and happens and it really does make a difference.” Is there an issue that talk is just too cheap? Deacon has been a keynote speaker at hundreds of conferences, and chaired more than her fair share of seminars over the past 20 years.

“We probably need far fewer big set-piece conferences and events where hundreds of folk pay hundreds of pounds to sit in a room listening passively to shiny speeches and powerpoint presentations. Instead let’s invest time and energy in bringing together smaller, action-focused gatherings where, through facilitated discussion and exploration, people can share knowledge and experience and, critically, work through real world issues and build a shared responsibility to take forward meaningful practical change.”

She returns to her theme of interested people from different walks of life coming together to

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start to understand each other’s perspectives and challenges better.

To see the world through other lenses and to find a common language to discuss and explore issues together. It is almost a re-invention of the intellectual Scot of the Enlightenment who was able to discourse on a range of science, philosophy and economics.

“There are still too many gatherings and strands of activity which are organised by sector or profession so it’s hardly surprising that we don’t have enough joined up thinking going on. We have the ability to create more spaces which bring together ‘mixed groups’ – rather than the preponderance of sector or interest group gatherings. I think our universities have a key role to play here. There’s been a lot more investment and effort in knowledge exchange over recent years – and that’s good. But still too much of this, in my view, defaults into a traditional model of academics sharing and disseminating their research, rather than a more multi-faceted, multi-stakeholder discourse where different forms of knowledge and expertise are shared and valued.”

To do this, Deacon is keen that we challenge - or at least widen – our conventional notion of who is an ‘expert’. She believes knowledge, insight and understanding resides in many places, not just in the hands of researchers and professionals. Within this increased world of collaboration there will be room to tackle the bigger issues with more coherence.

“By creating this new space, we open up fresh thinking and discourse about issues which for a variety of reasons often don’t get properly aired. For example, the future funding and direction of the NHS or our universities. Or how we get better at raising children, reducing drug and alcohol abuse or developing the skills and workforce we need for the future. These need

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to be wider societal conversations - not just owned by professionals and experts or be the stuff of polarised politicised debate.”

Deacon believes attitudes and culture have a big part to play. “I’m struck by the baggage and prejudices we carry around and the way we define ourselves and each other by the job that we do, the profession we come from or the sector we work in. How often do you hear statements - even in serious, formal, intelligent discussion - like ‘politicians are only interested in winning elections’, ‘academics don’t really understand what goes on in the real world’, ‘businesses are only interested in making a profit’, ‘the public sector doesn’t understand business’, ‘the media’s only interested in bad news’ and so on. And we don’t just do it about sectors but professions too - lumping people together as if all lawyers, engineers, business people or whatever are some kind of homogeneous group.” She is increasingly intolerant of such sweeping generalisations and stereotypes that create barriers at a time when Scotland needs to be breaking them down.

“We need to build shared understanding and mutual respect and to focus more on finding common ground based on ethos, values and shared goals. If we can join the dots between committed and effective leaders, thoughtful and creative people - wherever they’re located - magical things can happen.”

Deacon remains confident that Scotland can keep up the pace if it embraces new levels of collaboration.

“We are a small country. We have strong networks and personal relationships that span all walks of life. I’ve long believed we could do more to capitalise on that. There are different and better ways of doing discourse, dialogue and decision making. It’s already happening but all too often we don’t hear about them – because they work and don’t end up in public rows, disagreements and grandstanding.

In concluding, she turns to Martin Luther King and the recent anniversary of his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech with its resonances extending beyond the issue of civil rights and equalities.

“We would do well to heed his exhortation to judge people ‘by the content of their character’ in all that we do. I believe that’s a wonderful thought that is worth holding onto in all that we wish to achieve in Scotland.” n

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INSIGHT

A technology centre of gravity Dr Steve Graham, the director of the new TIC in Glasgow, talks to Darran Gardner about his expectation and the excitement of future collaboration between industry and academia

Glancing over his shoulder, Dr Steve Graham can keep a close eye on the construction of the Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) rising rapidly across the road from his University of Strathclyde office. Almost 2,500 tonnes of steel forming the skeleton of a new building which promises to reshape how academia and industry collaborate.

“I have experienced that precarious balancing act with industry involving new technology and this is also a challenge for academia.

What’s exciting about this project is its significant scale and scope,” admits the centre’s executive director.

“Scottish universities already punch above their weight in securing UK research money and generating intellectual property and knowledge. If we can help solve the valley issue then we will have a powerhouse for Scotland.”

Like Graham, few doubt the funding and technical difficulties faced by emerging companies or sectors in surviving until real growth starts to emerge. The hope is that the £89m investment in the Technology and Innovation Centre – known as the TIC - is part of the solution.

Based in an area of Glasgow city centre dubbed the International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone or ITREZ, the construction is the cornerstone of a public and private sector initiative to create a global R&D and inward investment hub where business and academia collaborate on the innovation required to develop a successful Scottish offshore renewables sector. >>

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I have experienced that precarious balancing act with industry involving new technology

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While the final build is expected to be completed by summer 2014, industry partners are already in place in the shape of utilities SSE and ScottishPower, as well as engineering services firm, Technip and Weir Group plc. A number of other global energy sector players and innovative SMEs are also set to join as industrial partners, eventually sharing research facilities with the likes of Europe’s largest application-oriented research organisation, Fraunhofer.

The Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, created in 2012 with funding from Fraunhofer, Strathclyde, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council, will be based at the new facility, providing laser research and associated technologies for the security, healthcare, energy and transport sectors.

Graham highlights that TIC research programmes have already kicked off at the university, initially focusing on offshore electrical networks, asset management operations and maintenance, offshore foundations and installation. New programmes will emerge over time, including health, manufacturing and ‘future cities’ research aimed at helping population centres such as Glasgow become more resource and energy efficient. Such programmes will harness the experience and skills of over 1,000 academics, researchers and project managers to the benefit of industry.

These collaborative activities, acknowledges Graham, will not be without their challenges: “The university is just one voice on the TIC >>

The commercial nous of Scots never fails to amaze me

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board – we need industry partners to give us strategic direction and we then need to deliver projects that work on their timetables.

“The challenges of meeting low carbon economy targets for 2020 to 2050 in Scotland and the UK are clear. We believe that Scottish universities can play a significant role in the sector and have a key role to play at a strategic level. With offshore renewables, for example, there are many technology and supply chain challenges and the delivery timetables are very optimistic.

“A lot of large organisations struggle with skills and introducing new technologies in a way that works for shareholders. That’s where the opportunity is for us, getting the university relationship embedded and helping them look at key risks and actions. Industry will come to speak to leading academics at the TIC and we will put project managers in place alongside them to make sure we deliver what we said we would.”

Incentivising academics involved in engineering, science or business with new sources of research money and industry resources, argues Graham, as well as highlighting the

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opportunities to publish high-quality research to an international audience, should be a strong proposition.

Graham himself, with decades of business experience gained in the private sector with Unilever, ICI, Allied Domecq, made the transition to the public sector when he was approached to set up Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS). An approach from Strathclyde’s persuasive principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, and a pitch on the scale of the TIC’s ambitions was enough to persuade him to take on a new challenge. As with Strathclyde’s other major research facilities aimed at delivering world-class industry academia collaboration, such as the Advanced Forming Research Centre and the Power Networks Demonstration Centre, Graham’s aim with the TIC is clear: develop a centre for excellence with industry, for industry.

“The commercial nous of Scots never fails to amaze me. That’s why the nature of the challenges ahead really excite me and why I’m really positive about seeing Scotland succeed.” n

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With offshore renewables there are many technology and supply chain challenges and the delivery timetables are very optimistic

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COMPANY PROFILE

Scottish Technology company reaps benefits of academic partnership Businesses and academia seek recognition through Interface Excellence Awards Midlothian-based Advanced Microwave Technologies (AMT) Ltd, the winner of two categories at last year’s inaugural Interface Excellence Awards, has seen business boom in the 10 months since its success at the Awards. AMT Ltd was introduced to Queen Margaret University by Interface – The knowledge connection for business in 2009 to develop new ways of extending the shelf-life of food products using microwave technology. The successful collaboration, recognised as Sustained Partnership and Innovation of the Year in 2012, has led to significant new business deals and the creation of two new jobs for further technology trialling within the company. Following last year’s success, Interface - The knowledge connection for business has announced its second annual series of awards to recognise excellence in partnerships between businesses and academia, acknowledging the significant contribution that knowledge exchange is making to Scotland’s economy.

Dr Sue Gordon, Sales, Marketing and Trials Manager at AMT Ltd said: “The Interface Excellence Awards are a great way of bolstering business. Without Interface’s support, our company would not be in the position it is in today - winning two Excellence Awards last year was a massive boost for the company and has opened doors for business growth and lucrative new networking opportunities. As a direct result of the award, one of the UK’s biggest food and drink companies approached us for help extending the shelf-life of a juice product.

“Last year was a very successful year for AMT and, because of the number of enquiries that we received, we took on two new members of staff this summer. Taking a new technology to market is challenging on so many levels and to have public recognition of our achievements has been invaluable.”

The three categories of the Interface Excellence Awards 2013 are open for entry, with a deadline of Wednesday 2 October 2013:

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Des Brady - Senior Food Technologist collecting apple pie filling that has been processed using the technology.

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD Businesses are invited to nominate an innovative product, process or service that has been developed over the past three years. Applications should demonstrate how the academic partnership has been fundamental in supporting the innovation.

SUSTAINED PARTNERSHIP AWARD Interface is inviting joint applications for an academic - business collaboration that has demonstrated a long term partnering and benefits to both the business and the academic teams through knowledge exchange

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AWARD This award is to recognise an individual in academia, business or business support organisation who has made an outstanding contribution and played a pivotal role in the promotion of knowledge exchange within Scotland.

Applications should demonstrate how the nominated individual has ‘gone the extra mile’ to catalyse real outcomes.

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‘Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, said: “The Interface Excellence Awards are an opportunity for businesses and academia to showcase the success of their collaboration. Not only do these collaborative partnerships boost the nation’s GVA, they also create and safeguard jobs while enhancing Scotland’s reputation on the global stage by developing export opportunities.

“Scotland is setting the benchmark for knowledge transfer and AMT’s success since the Awards is testament to the value of academic collaboration.

Our academic and research institutions are among the best in the world and, when matched with businesses, the impact these partnerships have on our reputation and prosperity is substantial. These awards celebrate knowledge exchange in Scotland, and we’re confident that the entries will be of the highest calibre.”

Entry forms are available to download from www. interface-online.org.uk/Awards2013.

The winners will be announced at the Interface Excellence Awards 2013, hosted at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday 21 November 2013 from 5.30pm. Revolving around a unique, interactive debate between leading figures from academia and industry including; Alasdair Northrop, Editor of Business Insider; Prof Lesley Sawers, Vice Principal & Pro Vice-Chancellor Business Development, Enterprise & Innovation at Glasgow Caledonian University and Colin Brown, Director of Research & Quality Development, Mentholatum Company Ltd; the event provides an ideal platform to share and challenge ideas on the value of knowledge exchange and its importance to the Scottish economy.

To reserve a place at the Interface Excellence Awards Ceremony email marketing@interfaceonline.org.uk or phone 01463 244 465.

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overview

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Brand and deliver – the opportunity for Scotland’s universities

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overVIEW

Leonard Forman, an adviser to universities across the UK, says our academic institutions must take a leaf from the Harvard book to develop their international standing As academic brands go they don’t get much better than Harvard. It sits at the top of almost all the world league tables and attracts the brightest students and staff from America, Asia and across the globe.

Earlier this year I travelled with a colleague to the leafy Cambridge campus to discover how Harvard leverages its archives and heritage to support its brand and philanthropic giving.

After our meetings and tour of the campus we found ourselves standing in front of Massachusetts Hall - the oldest surviving red brick building at Harvard and the second oldest academic building in the US. Built around 1720 as a student dormitory, it now houses the offices of the university leadership including the president and the provost.

In a democratic move to place the students at the forefront of the university mission, the top floor of this four-storey building is one of the most sought after dorms for college freshmen. The fortunate students who win themselves a coveted place here can say they have lived in the same quarters as one of America’s founding fathers John Adams and the Academy-award winning lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. Stories of belonging are at the heart of what makes Harvard the number one academic brand in the world.

Harvard is top of an elite group of ‘super-

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brands’ – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), universities of Oxford and Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University – the leading players in the Top 100 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2013. Reputation is what drives these institutions. They are playing to their strengths and building networks around the world. They link the stories of their past and heritage to contemporary voices, exploring enduring values including diversity, internationalism and leadership.

The more they tell the world who they are, and what they think, the more they become recognised and able to compete in the modern global education market.

I remember not so long ago when even the mention of a university as a brand to some members of the academic faculty would be met with doubt and disgust. It simply wasn’t

possible, they would tell me, to reduce the idea and long view of a great university into a few words and a logo.

But they were missing the point entirely.

Brand and reputation go hand in hand, and the universities who do well are the ones who pro-actively consider their interaction with the world and place it at the centre of their academic story. Great university brands are not simply labels but living things communicating a clear purpose that will flourish and thrive on the oxygen of external engagement. But, as Bob Dylan sang, the times they are a changing, and there is growing recognition that a strong and well-managed reputation helps institutions forge partnerships and build new relationships.

Universities who want to succeed need to be sure that their diverse groups of stakeholders – from politicians to philanthropists – understand their ambition and their public value. The

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OVERVIEW

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University of Edinburgh is the only Scottish institution to make it into the top 50 of the world reputation rankings. It has the benefit of being Scotland’s largest university with around 30,000 students and a reputation derived from an extraordinary arc of international research tackling global problems from world peace to bird flu.

Despite their absence in the reputation rankings, the rest of Scotland’s universities are making their way in the world.

According to Universities Scotland, the body that represents the country’s universities and higher education colleges, seven institutions out of 19 have campuses in Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, India, USA, and Hong Kong and others with overseas liaison and recruitment offices in China and Brazil.

Some of Scotland’s distinctively modern universities believe that a global reputation can be built through success and collaboration without having to lean on several hundred years of history.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vicechancellor at Strathclyde, wears his ambition on his sleeve. He is passionate about the role his institution plays in engaging with industry and academic partners to create a reputation that is compelling and accessible to business and, importantly, investors.

Strathclyde has a staggering portfolio of partnerships with around 200 collaborative agreements with more than 50 countries and an estimated 2,000 informal links around the world.

Meanwhile, Professor Pete Downes, principal and vice-chancellor at Dundee, is one of the most cited bio-scientists in the UK. His ambition is to tell the story about how his university transforms lives. The timing is crucial as the city of Dundee is in the midst of a £1bn transformation of its waterfront including a new V&A museum.

Earlier this year Strathclyde and Dundee came together to launch the first ever FulbrightScotland Summer Institute – a three-year programme for American undergraduates to live and study in Scotland for five weeks.

Fulbright is the flagship international educational exchange programme sponsored by the US Government.

The two universities devised a rich syllabus of

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Not so long ago even the mention of a university as a brand would be met with doubt and disgust lectures and study visits around the country on the theme of Scotland’s culture, identity and innovation.

First minister Alex Salmond and cabinet secretary Mike Russell hosted a reception at the first minister’s official residence Bute House, and several of Scotland’s national institutions from Scottish Opera to the National Galleries to the National Library of Scotland supported the institute with guest

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speakers and tours.

The institute embodies how, with the right strategy and ideas, Scotland’s universities can collaborate to connect with globally recognised and respected brands like Fulbright.

But perhaps the strongest indicator of whether a university is operating at an international level is its capacity to recruit and retain talented staff and scholars.

About ten years ago Sir Duncan Rice, the former principal at the University of Aberdeen, put in place an ambitious campaign to hire the best scholars in strategically important areas. Out of around 50 new professors and senior appointments something like 30 or so were from outside the UK, and many came to Aberdeen for the space to think across disciplines. His view was that building an intellectual community of scholars and worldclass facilities would underpin Aberdeen’s reputation for the longer term.

Rice was a lone voice when he returned to Scotland from the vice-chancellorship at New York University in the late nineties. Yet he had played a leading role in the transformation of NYU from a regional university to a global name with the ability to attract the brightest minds and star students.

I remember how some Aberdeen worthies looked at him in disbelief when he launched the biggest UK university fund-raising campaign outside Oxbridge to raise over £150m from philanthropic gifts to achieve his vision.

But he set about the task of literally rebuilding Aberdeen in the minds of students, staff, stakeholders and donors at home and overseas. Today, Aberdeen has one of the finest university campuses in the UK with an international sports village and an iconic library.

So as Scotland prepares to make the biggest decision on its place in the UK and the world in 300 years, its universities must think deeper about their global reputation. The future belongs to those with the vision to see it.

Leonard Forman is the founder of the strategic consultancy Forman & Partners, and a former special adviser at the University of Aberdeen.

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An £80M boost from knowledge sharing Scottish firms increasingly understand the benefits of engaging academics to help grow their companies. Interface, the not-for-profit organisation, is helping to stimulate such connections. Kenny Kemp speaks to its director Siobhán Jordan Scottish businesses are latching on to the diversity of knowledge and commercial assistance now available in our universities.

And Interface, the organisation set up to facilitate and bridge the divide, reports a healthy 10% year-on-year grow in the number of projects and enquires being made.

Not only this, but an independent impact study calculates that up to £80m a year will be added to the Scottish economy over the next three to five years through projects that have been brokered by the Interface team across Scotland.

“This is a significant amount of help,” says Dr Siobhán Jordan, director of Interface. “This represents an 85% increase on an earlier impact report on our work. One of the reasons is that companies have perhaps been at proof

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of concept stage and ideas take a few years to come forward through the system. Now we are seeing many projects coming to fruition with products launched and sales being made.”

Interface has introduced over 1,550 Scottish businesses to academic partners with over 760 collaborative projects now being undertaken or completed. Three quarters of the companies

have not worked previously with an academic partner. 95% of businesses also expect their turnover to increase.

“We offer a free and impartial service for businesses to link into expertise and knowledge within Scotland’s 24 universities and research institutions. Our role is to go out and identify businesses who haven’t worked previously in a collaborative >>

Now we are seeing many projects coming to fruition with products launched and sales being made

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Increasingly, the universities are looking for industry-focused projects as part of their course work.

project with academia to be able to translate their needs and requirements into an opportunity that would be of interest to the academic institution,” says Dr Jordan.

Interface, established in 2005 and with funding from the Scottish Funding Council, is involved in all sectors of Scottish business and across the whole geography. Mirroring the Scottish economy, there have been strong initiatives in food and drink, tourism, and manufacturing.

Interface also receives financial support from the Scottish Government under the SEEKIT programme to support the participation of Research Institutes, European Regional Development Funding, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

“The outcomes are a series of collaborative projects that can be short-term that last a few months or more established and longer-term relationships. What we are seeing is a new cohort of businesses that have not had a track record of engaging previously with academics that has now established strong connections with universities and research establishments.

“We’ve seen a significant growth in supporting food and drinks companies and some of the projects are surprising. For example, a company wanted to make a low-fat cream that whipped better and is working with a physics department with expertise in complex fluids to look at emulsions. A lot of the changes in food and drink are driven by regulators, supermarkets wanting fewer E numbers and eating habits in food and drink, such as gluten free. The sheer scale of our work in the food and drink industry never fails to amaze me.

“Equally, we are supporting lots of other kinds of companies. For example, in social enterprises, we are working with housing associations to take on the latest sensors to help with their older residences to have a safer and more secure living environment.”

How easy is it for businesses to work with

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Interface? “The first stage is that they get in contact with us. We have staff throughout the length and breadth of Scotland. We have someone who is local to where the business operates. There is a free informal chat with the business and we look at how best we can understand their requirements. After that, there is not form-filling until we identify the academic partners. We will facilitate the introduction between the company and the partner of choice. There might be two to three universities that want to work with the business and the company can decide which one is best for them.”

There are a range of opportunities if the marriage is a successful one. Interface provides a range of services including business

support: research and technology capabilities; contract research and collaboration, specialist expertise, access to equipment and facilities, consultancy;,industrial placements, training, support and development, strategy, marketing & planning support.

Scotland’s company benefits from new products and services; job creation; increased sales and improved turnover.

“We are working with a large number of businesses with five to 50 employees but collectively the impact taken together is substantial.”

In some instances, the businesses might want to pay for the projects themselves through consultancy fees and there might also be the opportunity to undertake student based assignments.

“Increasingly, the universities are looking for industry-focused projects as part of their course work. That is really helping graduates with their employ-ability particularly if they are doing a thesis, dissertation or fourth-year project. This goes a long way in the student being able to have a more meaningful outcome from their learning.” n

Interface challenge Ask the team at Advanced Microwave Technology about the Interface Challenge. They were the 2012 winners along with Queen Margaret University and were delighted to be part of the process.

Dr Sue Gordon, sales, marketing and trials manager at Advanced Microwave Technologies, winner of the Interface Excellence Awards 2012 said: “The Interface Excellence Awards are a great way of bolstering business. Without Interface’s support, our company would not be in the position it is in today - winning two Excellence Awards last year was a massive boost for the company and has opened doors for business growth and lucrative new networking opportunities. As a direct result of the award, one of the UK’s biggest food and drink companies approached us for help extending the shelf-life of a juice product.

The company, based at the Midlothian Innovation Centre, in Roslin, was founded by Douglas Armstrong and Yuriy Zadyrka in 2007 and have been commericalising the technology. The company boasts some for the best engineering capability in the world in its sphere of delivering microwave energy into liquids.

The Interface Excellence Awards 2013 are still open for entries – but time is running out.

Applications are invited for Innovation of the Year; Sustained Partnership Award and Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge. To apply for any of the above, you should complete an application forms by 5pm on Wednesday 2 October. Send it to marketing@interface-online.org.uk The judging goes on throughout October and November with the awards ceremony at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday 21 November at 5.30pm.

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We need to be much more focused on achieving real world impact rather than just ticking boxes Susan deacon, university of edinburgh

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