INDUSTRY EXCLUSIVE FEATURE SENSOR CITY
Alison Mitchell is executive director at Sensor City, a new global hub for sensor technologies. Here, she explains how the venture is helping to bring new sensor technologies to the global market
S
ensor City is a new global hub for sensor technologies, situated
in Liverpool. It offers budding entrepreneurs, existing companies and SMEs the specialist facilities, equipment, business support and technical expertise needed to bring their innovative sensor technologies to the global market. A joint venture between Liverpool
John Moores University and the University of Liverpool, Sensor City is also a University Enterprise Zone, one of only four in the country, which helps to drive the interaction between industry and academia. Sensor City has received £5m in government funding, and is expected to create around 1,000 jobs in the region over the next ten years and nurture up to 300 start-up tech businesses. Professor Joe Spencer explains more on
how the venture came about: “Consultants worked with the LCR Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to identify how it could best achieve both short-term ‘quick wins’ and long-term competitive advantage
through developing its industrial strategy. The ‘Making It’ project brought together a wide group of stakeholders from academia, government and industry to review the opportunities, and to produce a shared vision and an agreed plan for the future of advanced manufacturing in the region. The report identified a strong vertical link in sensor technologies from research and through to manufacturing. The LEP, supported by the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and over 100 businesses, responded to an open competition from BIS for a University Enterprise Zone. The Liverpool “Sensor City” bid was one of four successful bids.”
INNOVATION SPACE Sensor City is establishing a community of tech companies that are pushing boundaries in the sensor field and innovation space. The building provides a natural home for these companies, where they can access the facilities they require to develop their novel concepts into prototypes with speed and accuracy. Innovators and inventors can design,
build, test and improve their products all within one building, which massively reduces time and money by removing the need for steps such as sending circuit boards to Europe to be tested, which is often the case. Sensor City also offers access to the business support necessary to help the
SENSOR INNOVATION AT SENSOR CITY
So far, there are five tenants at Sensor City. These are: Aqua Running – Founded by former Liverpool player, Terry Nelson, Aqua Running is a body suit
designed to provide highly effective, no impact training in water. The only fitness aid of its type in the world, the suit has been endorsed by Santas Real Madrid Medical Services. Uplec Industries Ltd – A North Wales based business focusing on the design and development of a range
of specialist electronics products. Uplec is using Sensor City’s facilities to work on flagship research and development projects, trialling remote physiotherapy technologies to the UK’s healthcare market. Fatigue Management International - Works to improve driver safety through the detection of fatigue
via sensor technology. FMI is focused on the fatigue science market, in particular - for the transport, mining and heavy trucking industries. The company has developed ASTiD, an early warning system designed to help drivers become more aware of their own limitations and to empower them to monitor and manage their fatigue risk, preventing them from falling asleep at the wheel. Sensor City also recently welcomed its latest tenants - Chanua, a business working in the health sector, and Lozio, developers of a personal grooming product.
Alison Mitchell, executive director at Sensor City
commercialisation of their ideas, whilst the building’s design encourages the sharing of ideas and collaboration. It is all about the fostering and nurturing of great ideas into amazing innovations and products.
SOPHISTICATED LABORATORIES AND WORKSHOPS Sensor City is home to some of the most sophisticated laboratories and workshops for sensor and IoT technology in the UK. These facilities allow entrepreneurs and businesses to produce robust prototypes and proof of concept devices, letting them demonstrate new developments and speed up the process of bringing their products to market. Software laboratory – This provides access to high resolution graphics and printing, CAD CAM software, as well as electronic, mechanical, optical and software design suites. Mechanical laboratory – This
provides everything needed to make that first prototype. CNC machining tools, 3D printing and laser cutting facilities are manned by highly trained technical support. Optical laboratory – This lab allows
the development and testing of optical sensors, with access to an optical bench, a spectrum analyser, a high speed camera, a Keyence microscope and calibration light sources. Electronics laboratory – This includes a £250,000 machine which prints circuit boards onto 3D objects, which is the only one in the UK outside of car factories. Sensor City’s electronics lab also offers support for the design of novel sensors via highly skilled technicians.
OPPORTUNITIES AT SENSOR CITY Sensor City has a number of office and lab spaces available to let, as well as hot desking space. Corporate partner and membership opportunities are also available to those who wish to interact more closely with novel innovations and early stage technologies to help them to increase their speed of innovation. Anybody with an interest in developing sensor and IoT technology can take space or membership at Sensor City.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Sensor City is looking forward to engaging with more and more exciting companies and filling the space remaining within the building. Most importantly, the hub wants the future to see more of these innovative SMEs become the stars of the sensor sector’s future with its support.
Sensor City
www.sensorcity.co.uk
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