Sail - Swansea University

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Swansea means business Supporting the Knowledge Economy Examples of how Swansea University has accessed EU convergence funding to support skills development and knowledge transfer activity include: • Steel Training Research and Innovation Partnership (STRIP): a £7 million initiative that involves Cardiff, Bangor, and Glyndwr Universities. STRIP will support the creation of a sustainable steel industry in Wales. • Software Alliance Wales (SAW): a £13 million initiative over five years, involving four other Welsh HEIs. The aim is to support the development of a vibrant software industry in Wales by setting up a network for software developers in Wales. • Advanced SusTainable ManUfacturing Technologies (ASTUTE): a £25 million initiative involving every HE Institution in Wales with an interest in advanced manufacturing and associated technologies. The project will support firms to invest in, utilise outcomes of R&D, and develop new and improved products and processes. LEAD Wales The School of Business and Economics runs the LEAD Wales programme, a five-year, £8 million training initiative designed to equip owner-managers of small to medium-sized enterprises with the skills necessary to take their businesses to the next level. “ Many companies find they have gone as far as they can with their product range or company structure. Part of the LEAD programme encourages delegates to look for new opportunities and find synergies with other businesses. That’s tough to do when the weight of the business rests on your shoulders. But with LEAD Wales, you’re working with other entrepreneurs who can inspire you to think in new directions. ” Sam Munn, Managing Director, Samatrix Ltd LEAD Wales is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund, and is available in Wales’ Convergence Areas (formerly EU Objective One regions). Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating While a 2011 Royal Mail survey found that Swansea is the second best location in the UK for business growth, in the form of start-ups, relocations or developing additional sites, the Cities Outlook 2011 report published by the Centre for Cities included Swansea as one of “five vulnerable cities which may not feel the full benefit of national economic recovery for some time”, due to its reliance on public sector employment and susceptibility to government spending cuts. There is clearly an urgent need for Swansea to provide employment opportunities outside the public sector. In large part, this can be achieved through the development of high-tech and high-value added, skills-based jobs alongside the creation of a vibrant, knowledge-based local economy. As a research intensive university, Swansea University is engaging with this process to promote economic development, stimulate investment, and create jobs. In recent years the University has made exceptional progress in supporting the Knowledge Economy by: • providing skilled graduates • undertaking collaborative research with industry • supporting companies and businesses through consultancy and skills development programmes • teaching entrepreneurship and innovation skills • generating spin-out companies to exploit the University’s intellectual property • encouraging graduates to create start-up companies • facilitating graduate placements. One of the principal mechanisms Swansea uses to help the business community is through “technology transfer”, where practical commercial applications are developed from the University’s research. For instance, the Institute of Life Science (ILS), a £50 million partnership between the University, IBM and the Welsh Government, carries out world-leading research into radical ways of treating diseases such as cancer and diabetes, and delivering health care. The development of bioinformatics, visualisation and virtual reality techniques gives the Institute potential to create economic wealth through research, intellectual property licensing, spin-out companies and inward investment. ILS is also home to the Boots Centre for Innovation, which helps researchers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop new products for Boots Alliance plc in areas including pain relief, skin treatments and healthy ageing. In its first two years alone, ILS generated more than 100 new patents or trademarks, 110 collaborative research projects, and supported the creation of 105 new companies. The second phase of the project, ILS2, is currently under construction. The £30 million, state-of-the-art research centre will play a major role in developing new products and services for the health-care industry, and will triple the space available to grow related businesses. The University’s international reputation for world-class engineering research has yielded a major collaboration with Rolls-Royce plc and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council. The £50 million Strategic Partnership in Structural Metallic Systems for Advanced Gas Turbine Applications programme harnesses academic expertise via a three-way collaboration between the universities of Swansea, Cambridge and Birmingham. Over the next ten years, researchers at Swansea’s Rolls-Royce University Training Centre (UTC) will undertake fundamental materials research to improve the efficiency and environmental sustainability of gas turbine engines, and will help train the next generation of world-class materials scientists and metallurgical engineers. The UTC will be based at the University’s proposed Science and Innovation Campus. The 70-acre site will facilitate a step change in the University’s interaction with industry by providing an intensive, open-innovation environment that accommodates industrial R&D, academic research, and postgraduate students. The campus will also be designed to facilitate the growth of high-technology clusters in the region by including consultancy, access to business support, and incubator facilities. The No City Left Behind report published by The Work Foundation in July 2010 notes that: “Growth over the next ten years will be driven by knowledge-based industries and jobs will increasingly demand high level skills. This means universities and the further education sector will play a crucial role in the recovery.” In applying its research expertise to the issues and challenges that face industry on a daily basis, Swansea University is making a direct impact on the Knowledge Economy and is contributing significantly to the development of new skills and theories that enable innovative ideas to become a commercial reality. In turn, the University’s research is leading to job creation, and is making a real difference to the health, well-being, and prosperity of countless people in Wales and beyond. The Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating (WCPC), based in the College of Engineering, gives print companies access to the very latest research, technology and training with the aim of helping them to improve their competitiveness. “ WCPC resources go above and beyond what we can achieve ourselves. Their reports provide a lot of detail but with clear conclusions to allow confident practical implementation. Their information is valid to assist management decision making understandable for workers and has assisted in the change of attitudes and habits for the better. ” Norman Faulkner, Technical and Systems Manager, Cambrian Printers Dragon Innovation Partnership A collaboration between Swansea University, Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity University College Carmarthen, the Dragon Innovation Partnership allows businesses in West Wales access to experts who can support their development and training via tailor-made support packages. The initiative recently published a pocket guide to business funding and support. “ Without the pocket guide we wouldn’t have known about the assistance available to us. We are now working with a fantastic business mentor who has helped us put together our business plan for the first three years. And we’re excited to put the grant towards computer software and equipment for the business to make sure that we can offer a complete civil engineering service from conception to completion. ” Kate Lane, co-owner, Saplane Civil Engineering Ltd Sail – 04 Sail – 05
Campus transformation on the horizon Swansea University (the UK’s first campus-based university) was established in 1920 at the request of local industrialists, and has equipped tens of thousands of students with the skills necessary to forge successful careers. The Singleton Campus is currently the smallest pre-1992 university campus in the UK and is not large enough to support the University’s future development. However, the University estate is set to undergo transformation as part of a six-year strategy approved in 2010. Earlier in the year, former Deputy First Minister for Wales Ieuan Wyn Jones formally announced that the Welsh Government is providing £15 million to develop the proposed Science and Innovation Campus, the most significant development opportunity for Swansea University for 50 years. The University forecasts that the project will contribute more than £3 billion to the regional economy over the next 10 years, creating thousands of jobs. The new campus is expected to include a research and testing facility operated in partnership with Rolls-Royce, integrated teaching and research facilities for Engineering, Business and Economics, Maths and Computer Science, residential accommodation for up to 4,000 students, and a multi-use auditorium/theatre building for large lectures, conferences and exhibitions. Professor Iwan Davies, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University said “We are at an exciting stage in the development of Swansea University’s proposed Science and Innovation Campus. The University also aims to enhance a range of other facilities at Singleton, including: research institutes for the College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Human and Health Sciences; a Graduate Centre, comprising of predominantly social and support space; improvements to the mosque; an improved main entrance and reception, as well as upgrades to individual buildings, site circulation and campus links. Feedback from the National Student Survey, and advice from Students’ Union sabbatical officers, informed priorities on improvements to Fulton House, IT provision and teaching spaces (including lecture theatres). Improvements are also being made to the study hall in the library. Reference material will be moved to free up space whilst additional PCs and loanable netbooks will be provided, together with an increase in the number of plug points. There will also be purpose-built study areas and better facilities for visually impaired students. A display screen system showing PC availability will help students find machines more quickly. The pace of change at Swansea University, together with these major developments affecting the University estate, will have a transformative affect on the student experience. The growth of major research and development facilities designed to encourage industry to work side by side with researchers, academia and students will place the University at the forefront of collaboration with industry, government, and Higher and Further Education funding bodies. In turn, students will benefit from an unrivalled student experience which also equips them with the skills they need to succeed long after they have graduated. Left: Artist’s impression of Fulton House refectory Below (top): New plan for the refectory Below (bottom): New plan of study area in the library Following a detailed evaluation, potential partners will be invited to participate in a competitive dialogue that will result in the selection of the preferred supplier and the award of a contract to develop and construct one of the largest knowledge economy parks in Europe with a significant impact on the south west region of Wales.” Essential space will be freed up on the 46-acre Singleton site to maximise the outstanding natural features of the campus environment – by the beach and within a parkland setting. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard B. Davies said: “This is a bold and innovative project. It promises to be a global exemplar of universities and industries working together, creating high technology clusters and hugely enhancing the career opportunities for students.” At the same time, the Singleton Campus will be upgraded to meet the University’s agenda for change and to provide a long-term base for Arts and Humanities, Human and Health Sciences, Law, Medicine, Physics, Geography and Biosciences. The continued development of an innovation hub for Life Science will build on the Institute of Life Science (ILS) delivery model of integrating commercialisation and business incubation with inter-disciplinary research activity in Human and Health Sciences, Engineering and Nanohealth. Furthermore, the development of ILS2 will house state-of-the-art clinical research facilities, an imaging suite, Europe’s first Centre for NanoHealth, and the Centre for Health Informatics, Research and Evaluation (CHIRAL). Former Health Minister Edwina Hart AM commented that “this significant investment from the Welsh Government demonstrates the importance we place on medical research. The Institute puts Wales at the forefront of research and development for tackling many life threatening diseases. The developments that are devised here could transform the way we care for patients and help boost the economy.” Sail – 06 Sail – 07
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Sail - Swansea University

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