The UK is a driving force in the world’s knowledge economy, capable of hitting above its weight in terms of population size. With just 1 per cent of the world's population, we fund 4.5 per cent of the world's science, and produce 8 per cent of the world's scientific papers. Getting those innovative ideas and inventions out of the lab and into the market is a complex process, but one that is vital to the continued growth of the UK economy.

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has invested both in the development of emerging technologies, and in the processes that enable them to be successfully commercialised. From funding research into Quantum technologies and nanofabrication techniques, to establishing a course to train technology transfer professionals, our work is helping keep the UK at the forefront of the global knowledge economy.

Industry in the Quantum Age

Quantum theory is little understood outside the scientific community, but it offers huge potential for industry and society. In future, quantum devices such as computers, clocks and communications systems could all be more powerful - by an order of magnitude - than today’s conventional systems. Realising the commercial opportunities of quantum will require a high degree of interdisciplinary collaboration, and greater public understanding so the Cambridge-MIT Institute has brought together the Quantum Technologies Group – a network of pioneering scientists at Cambridge and MIT, who work with industry, investors, government agencies and other universities to accelerate the commercialisation of this revolutionary new technology.

In addition to working with the US National Institute for Standards in Technology to establish a set of industry standards for quantum information processing systems, the Quantum Technologies Group are also pursuing a number of lines of research including the development of quantum communication systems, the construction of semiconductor nanostructures for the coherent processing of information, the development of quantum sensor technology, and the exploration of quantum control techniques.

Knitting with Nanotubes

First created in 1991, carbon nanotubes are just a few billionths of a metre across and incredibly strong. They have a broad range of potential applications, from super strong cables to chip coolers. However, organising the nanotubes into useable structures has proved difficult and has limited their commercial potential. To overcome this barrier to innovation, the Cambridge-MIT Institute funded a team of researchers at MIT and Cambridge University to further develop this new class of materials.

The team brings together MIT’s expertise in nanocomposite development with Cambridge University’s expertise in carbon nanotube synthesis and processing. The MIT researchers have found that their nanotubes are both water resistant good for transferring heat away from its source - a unique quality and one the scientists hope to capitalise on. Meanwhile, their colleagues at Cambridge University have developed a method for producing and spinning the carbon nanotubes into a fibre and onto a spool in a continuous process - a pioneering breakthrough that has brought the use of carbon nanotubes for industrial production closer to fruition.

The nanotube fibre developed by the team is currently about the same strength as a typical clothing fibre, but the team aims to increase its strength by ten fold over the next year. The commercial potential for this research is enormous. Composite materials containing a high percentage of the fibre could be used to coat other surfaces, revolutionising materials science and creating products with innovative new properties.

Making Light Work

In future, telecommunications systems will depend upon wireless photonic devices to transmit light signals via laser optics. The UK is a potential world leader in photonics and nanotechnology, so the Cambridge-MIT Institute funded a team of scientists at Cambridge and MIT to produce voltage-tuneable photonic devices, using ferroelectric nanotubes.

The team at Cambridge University deals specifically with the fabrics for the nano-structures, and their counterparts at MIT focus on the measurements involved. By bringing these different areas of expertise together, the Nanoscale Array group have been able to pioneer a fabrication technique where ferroelectric crystals in liquid form are heated to form nanotubes. Tiny electrodes are then added, allowing the nanotube to be “tuned” by applying an electric field. These ferroelectric nanotubes have a number of potential applications besides telecommunications systems, including memory devices for use in digital mobile telephones, “smart" cards and computer games.

Developing Microgrippers

Over the past 20 years, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems – otherwise known as MEMS - have emerged as an important area of product innovation. Already, microscopic biomedical devices are available that allow scientists to test drugs on arrays of individual human cells, making drug testing cheaper and faster. Inkjet printer-heads with nozzle diameters that are just a fraction of the width of a human hair offer much faster, higher-resolution printing than their larger counterparts. And inside the accelerometers in cars are micro-sized sensors help detect collisions, and send a message to fire off the airbag within a fraction of a second.

But these devices have generally used materials drawn from the existing microelectronics industry, and new materials now need to be developed to allow for future innovation. To accelerate this development process, the Cambridge-MIT Institute funded a research project to examine the use of materials including silicon, polymers and diamond-like carbon. The researchers developed a microgripper less than one hundred millionth of a metre using a polymer, metal and Diamond-Like Carbon tri-layer structure. The microgripper opens and closes when a minute electric pulse is applied, and is suitable for trapping and holding a biological specimen such as a cell without damaging it. The Cambridge-MIT Institute’s funding of this research led to the development of the first MEMS community at the University of Cambridge, and the foundation of a new course in Materials Design and Processing at Cambridge University’s Engineering Department.

Transferring Technology

Technology transfer is the process of getting new technologies out of the lab and into the market place, and over 2,000 people work on this process for UK universities and public sector research labs. Three years ago, the Cambridge-MIT Institute recognised the need for a bespoke training course for the UK’s growing ranks of “Tech Transfer” professionals, and following a highly successful collaboration between the technology transfer offices of both universities, provided the seed-corn funding for Praxis.

Praxis delivers training on topics ranging from developing intellectual property to setting up spinout companies and in the three year’s since its foundation, has trained almost half of the UK technology transfer profession. In 2004, Praxis spun-out of the Cambridge-MIT Institute as an independent not-for-profit company, and its model is now being adopted abroad, with joint training sessions hosted in Europe with the Association of Science and Technology Professionals. Praxis recently secured £100,000 funding from the London Development Agency to fund technology transfer and innovation training for London’s universities and NHS Trusts, as well as small and medium sized businesses seeking to exploit research.