Warwick Clean Room
The Scanning Probe Energy Loss Spectrometer (SPELS)
Whole Body Scanner on the Health Research Bus
The Science City Research Alliance is a strategic union between two of the top research universities
in the UK, the University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick. The Alliance was formed
under the Birmingham Science City initiative and has benefited from a multi-million pound
investment by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund in the
technology areas of Advanced Materials, Energy Futures and Translational Medicine, in which
both universities have a critical mass of expertise.
The investment has funded joint equipment and research
infrastructure at both institutions, as well as specialist personnel such
as Technical Facility Managers and Business Engagement Managers.
The principal aims of this Alliance are to pool expertise and work
collaboratively on research and to engage with business and industry
- giving access to the latest research and state-of-the-art equipment
in science and technology.
the companies that the Alliance is assisting to develop their own
technologies. Spin-out companies have been formed, the first is
Anvil Semiconductors, which develops silicon carbide power device
manufacturing technology for more energy efficient and robust
power conversion, and Interface Spectra Ltd, a spin-out company
established to manufacture instruments for analysing chemical
information of sample surfaces.
The Science City Research Alliance is working in partnership with
many companies across the UK and overseas such as Jaguar Land
Rover, Johnson Matthey, Ford, Shell, Proctor and Gamble and Unilever,
through provision of consultancy services and delivery of research
projects, testing and analysis. Many regional SMEs are among
A team of six Business Engagement Managers facilitates and manages
the initial interaction between businesses and academics. These
managers have considerable industrial experience and expertise and
will guide businesses through each stage of the engagement process.
If you would like to find out more about becoming involved with the Science City Research Alliance,
please contact one of our Business Engagement Managers.
Karl West
Mobile: 07824 541172 | Office: 024 76 150585
Email: k.s.west@warwick.ac.uk
Richard Simpson
Mobile: 07595 894256 | Office: 0121 414 9544
Email: r.simpson.1@bham.ac.uk
www.birminghamsciencecity.co.uk/research-alliance
Raman Microscope undertaking chemical mapping of pharmaceutical products
Testing the performance of solar photovoltaic panels
Optimisation of product formulations
Science City researchers at the University of Birmingham have
been working with Unilever UK to investigate the distribution of
active ingredients for the application for personal hygiene products.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast-moving
consumer goods. Their three global divisions cover foods, home care
and personal care. Within the personal care market, they are global
leaders in products for skin cleansing, deodorants and antiperspirants.
Unilever employ 179, 000 people in 100 countries worldwide and
invest €1 billion every year on research and development.
Test and comparison of photovoltaic panels
Award-winning business New World Solar, based in Solihull, supplies
and installs a range of renewable energy technologies and has
completed over 1000 nationwide installations to date. The company
has embarked on a collaborative research and development project
with the Science City Research Alliance at the University of Warwick
to evaluate the actual performance of a range of solar photovoltaic
panels utilising state-of-the-art Science City solar energy evaluation
and testing facilities. The project will enable the company to
introduce a new type of solar power panel into the UK market.
The work with Unilever has made use of one of the many state-ofthe-art pieces of equipment that have been made available as part of
the Science City programme, a confocal Raman microscope. Raman
microscopy, and in particular confocal microscopy, has very high
spatial resolution and Raman imaging is a powerful technique for
generating detailed chemical images based on a sample’s
Raman spectrum.
“The relationship with Science City has been of
great help in supporting our business and we are
looking forward to continuing collaboration with
the University of Warwick in evaluating solar panel
performance.”
Raman spectra were acquired using an infrared laser source
together with two-dimensional maps of the distribution of product
ingredients. A wide variety of Raman images were created, which
take the researcher well beyond what the eye can see. This analysis
has provided beneficial information for the future optimisation of
effective product formulations.
Mark Clemson, Sales and Marketing Director - New World Solar
“Working with the researchers at University of
Birmingham has been a real benefit to our business
and their expertise invaluable. We look forward to
continuing this relationship.”
Nick Ainger, Unilever R&D, UK
www.birminghamsciencecity.co.uk/research-alliance