Innovative development hub to advance UK engineering

A new collaboration between the University of Southampton and the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) – a leading industry organisation for electronics – is set to provide new opportunities for businesses and advance UK engineering.

The ‘impactech’ Hub will provide NMI member companies with access to the University’s world-leading research expertise. The Hub bring together experts and businesses from across a wide range of sectors, including autonomous systems, nanotechnology, smart sensing, communications, electronics, data and security, allowing collaboration and development of innovative solutions.

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Southampton, said: “We’ve worked closely with NMI for many years and are proud to now be working together on this innovative partnership.

“We believe in the excellence of our research, our teaching and our students. We feel the new hub has great potential to extend the support and capabilities of the University towards wider industrial engagement, particularly with SMEs, where there are well-documented challenges to overcome.

“This has been enabled through EPSRC Impact funding and I want to take the opportunity to recognise this key investment. We believe this new partnership model can deliver significant returns.”

A main focus of the hub will be to hold regular networking events, which will provide opportunities to hear about the latest challenges and development in key areas of University research, as well as from companies working in those areas. With over 80 per cent of the industrial base being SMEs, the ultimate goal of impactech is to increase their visibility and market penetration, and provide support with their technical development.

Collaboration funding will be available as well as access to funded research activities such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and opportunities with Innovate UK, Local Area Partnerships and Horizon 2020. The Hub will build networks of SMEs with common interests, provide access to student projects and to targeted recruitment of graduates, and provide a common access point for companies to engage with the University across the range of these activities.

Researchers and prospective industrial partners are invited to the Hub’s launch event, which will be held at the University of Southampton’s Boldrewood Campus on Wednesday 21 September. The event will include a series of presentations focusing on the role of research in advancing intelligent embedded systems.

Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, said: “I am delighted to see the continuing success of NMI and welcome its members to this exciting new partnership with the University. We have the highest hopes and expectations for its future success.”

For more information on the NMI-UoS Hub, contact Dr Ghaithaa Manla at the University of Southampton on gm504@soton.ac.uk.

Register your place at the Hub launch event now through the NMI website.