Building agile capability
Our ÂŁ1 million Innovation Fund supports new avenues of research which arise in response to the evolving demands of industry. Our dynamic model is achieved through regular thematic calls for proposals to stimulate new industry-focused research partnerships with academia. This ensures that the Hub remains agile and responsive to emerging industrial needs and helps drive the UK photonics manufacturing ecosystem. Since launching the fund in 2016, we have run two calls for proposals seeking to increase the depth and breadth of our existing capabilities in alignment with our four Technology Platforms and the Grand Challenge of Integration. From 41 applications, nine projects have been funded to date, to a total value of ÂŁ0.5 million*. 2016-2018 Innovation Fund projects: n Measuring
lung inhomogeneity by paediatric cystic fibrosis, University of Oxford
n Large-scale
manufacturing of metamaterials with direct laser writing, University of Southampton
n Integrated
graphene on Ge/Si platform for mid-IR photodetectors, University of Cambridge
n Chiral
light sensor fabricated by chiral light, University of Oxford
n Low
cost manufacturing of integrated LIDAR arrays, University of Southampton and Imperial College London
n Parallel
micro-assembly of quantum cascade lasers on germanium, University of Strathclyde
n Manufacturing
process of laser fibre depolariser, University of Southampton and Phoenix Photonics
n 3D
interconnect technologies, Heriot-Watt University
n All-dielectric
surface wave devices for light generation with 2D material, University of Bristol
*Grants funded at 80% FEC
28
