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£1.4 million innovation prize for Scotland's smartest small firms
30/12/1999
Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Henry McLeish today announced the winning companies in the second round of the 1999 SMART: SCOTLAND Competition.
Mr McLeish outlined the key role SMART plays in helping to build a vibrant and successful knowledge economy in Scotland by helping small companies develop leading edge products and processes.
Mr McLeish said:
"If Scotland is to compete and win in today's global economy, we must maximise our strengths in knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial flair.
"We have to spot market demands and opportunities that can be met by advanced technologies and processes, and be the first to market them.
"This is where SMART funding can be crucial for small companies, who often face financial barriers at the early stages of their research and development projects. By providing this early stage finance, SMART provides the kick-start needed to ensure a fast-track to market. It also provides a highly-effective commercialisation route for the world class research which goes on in Scottish Higher Education Institutions and Research Institutes and the rest of our science base.
"I am extremely encouraged by the quality and range of projects which have come through the latest round of the competition. In industry after industry we have men and women of vision and flair who continue Scotland's proud history of innovation."
BACKGROUND
1. A full list of all Award winners from the second round of the 1999 SMART:SCOTLAND Competition is given below. Media may directly approach the companies for further information. The event has produced another 10 winning companies. Projects ranging from the recycling of electronic waste to a stimulation system for stroke patients have attracted funding of just under £0.5 million for the feasibility stages of their research and development projects. Further funds of almost £1m million are available to take the projects through to the pre-production, prototype stage.
2. Entries for SMART:SCOTLAND can be submitted at any time of the year by individuals planning to start a business in Scotland and by existing small firms/groups with less than 50 employees. Applicants should have either an annual turnover not exceeding EURO 7million (approx. £4.9million) or a balance sheet total not exceeding EURO 5million (approx. £3.5million). The aim is to help small businesses improve their competitiveness by developing new, highly innovative and commercially viable products and processes to the benefit of the national economy.
3. There are three rounds of judging each year for entries received by the second Mondays in January, May and September. Winners receive a grant of 75 per cent of the costs of carrying out a technical and commercial feasibility study lasting between six and 18 months. The maximum Award is £45,000. Winners who successfully complete their projects, and who require additional assistance to develop a pre-production prototype, can apply for further funding under the second stage of SMART. This stage is non-competitive and grant is available up to 35 per cent of the net eligible project costs, subject to a maximum grant of EURO 200,000 (approx. £141,000) for both stages. Second stage projects should last between six and 36 months.
SMART:SCOTLAND 1999, ROUND TWO WINNERS
1. Biomedical Monitoring Ltd, Wolfson Centre, 106 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NW
Tel: 0141 552 2840 Fax: 0141 552 6098 E-mail: malcolm@biomedical-monitoring.com
Contact: Dr Malcolm Granat, Company Secretary
Biomedical Monitoring will use the SMART Award to develop a stimulation system for correcting drop-foot, one of the significant mobility impairments that affects stroke victims. The device will consist of a microprocessor controlled stimulator with a feedback sensor that will adjust to the time varying properties of the neuromuscular system. The device will be of such dimensions and characteristics that it will be integrated into a sock. This device will be a significant advance on the systems currently available for treating drop-foot.
2. Borealis Consultants Ltd, 6 Golden Square, Aberdeen AB10 1RD
Tel: 01224 261200 Fax: 01224 648088
E-mail: s.mcintyre@borealis-abz.co.uk
Contact: Stuart McIntyre or Stephen Booth, Directors
The company aims to improve the performance of pipelines by reducing their cost and making them more reliable. One way of doing this is to provide an internal plastic lining that is corrosion resistant, thus eliminating the use of expensive stainless steels, or unpleasant corrosion inhibiting chemicals. There are difficulties in doing this, caused by gas pressure building up over time in the tiny space between the liner and the steel. This SMART Award will allow the development of a vent device, which will remove this obstacle to the plastic lining of pipelines.
3. Freelight Systems Ltd, Merchiston Tower, Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT
Tel: 0131 455 2398 Fax: 0131 455 2414
E-mail: b.mcguckin@napier.ac.uk
Contact: Dr Brendan McGuckin, Director
Freelight Systems Ltd is a spin-out company from Napier University. The prime business focus is as a vehicle for the commercial exploitation of University expertise in fluorescent dye doped polymer materials. Markets include but are not limited to toys, games novelty goods and in information signage and in solar power applications.
4. Intense Photonics Ltd, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LT
Tel: 0141 330 6690 Fax: 0141 330 4907
E-mail: ham@elec.gla.ac.uk
Contact: Dr Craig J Hamilton, Technical Director
Intense Photonics Ltd aims to commercialise the leading edge high power diode technology developed at the University of Glasgow. Presently the packaging technology available to die-bond these devices cannot provide both reliable long-term operation and suitable thermal management of laser diode. A SMART Award will enable the company to advance this current technology and develop a process that is robust in nature while meeting the high technical requirements.
5. Highland Innovation Centre Ltd, 16 Blackpark Terrace, Inverness IV3 8NE
Tel: 01463 222911 Fax: 01463 711864
E-mail: david.watmough@lineone.net
Contact: Dr David Watmough, Director
A new strategy for treating cancer is to attack the blood vessels on which the tumour depends for nutrients and oxygen. Already 300 angiogenesis inhibitors have been discovered and 40 angiogenesis inhibiting drugs are presently in clinical trials. The principle is to administer a drug to stand making them more reliable. One way of doing this is to provide an internal plastic lining that is corrosion resistant, thus eliminating the use of expensive stainless steels, or unpleasant corrosion inhibiting chemicals. There are difficulties in doing this, caused by gas pressure building up over time in the tiny space between the liner and the steel. This SMART Award will allow the development of a vent device, which will remove this obstacle to the plastic lining of pipelines.
3. Freelight Systems Ltd, Merchiston Tower, Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT
Tel: 0131 455 2398 Fax: 0131 455 2414
E-mail: b.mcguckin@napier.ac.uk
Contact: Dr Brendan McGuckin, Director
Freelight Systems Ltd is a spin-out company from Napier University. The prime business focus is as a vehicle for the commercial exploitation of University expertise in fluorescent dye doped polymer materials. Markets include but are not limited to toys, games novelty goods and in inin fabrics. The technology presently uses a 2 dimensional process method and is applied to the production of inserts for gloves and boots. The company aims to develop a 3 dimensional process method which would greatly reduce the operations and costs involved in production and would produce a higher strength bond enhancing both the quality and properties of the product.
7. MicroEmissive Displays Ltd, Napier University, School of Sciences, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT
Tel: 0131 455 2211 Fax: 0131 455 2290
E-mail: j.wright@napier.ac.uk
Contact: Dr Jeff Wright, Director
The SMART Award will enable MicroEmissive Displays to develop a process for manufacturing very small, high resolution displays. These are needed in portable electronic products, such as mobile phones, so that the user can see good quality colour web page images, or high resolution games graphics, similar to those seen on a desk-top computer monitor. Using the revolutionary new display technology of organic light emitting diodes(OLED), the display consists of a few, very thin layers of highly specialised plastics, built directly on a silicon chip. The plastic squares, called pixels, emit bright coloured light when electrically stimulated.
8. Moock Environmental Solutions, Unit 6a, Mid Road, Blarilinn Industrial Estate, Cumbernauld G67 2TTl
Tel: 01236 451748 Fax: 01236 733408
E-mail: Kmoock@compuserve.com
Contact: Dr Klaus Moock, Managing Director
Moock Environmental Solutions is an R&D company involved in developing environmentally friendly solutions for the recycling of waste heavy metals. The SMART Award will allow the company to develop an innovative metal recycling process based on modern ligand chemistry and electrochemical methods. This process is particularly relevant to the modern problem of ever increasing amounts of electronic waste.
9. P.A.C.T. Engineering (Scotland) Ltd, 87 Waterloo Quay, Aberdeen AB11 5DE
Tel: 01224 585300 Fax: 01224 574888
E-mail: pact@lineone.net
Contact: Tim Derval, Managing Director
P.A.C.T. Engineering (Scotland) Ltd will use their SMART Award to develop the world's first autonomous device capable of traversing any length of pipeline against and with the flow of product, without external power connections or external aids. The unit will be capable of maintenance and will be able to carry instruments and tooling to perform inspection tasks within an operational pipeline, using its own on-board controls and flow generated power. This device will significantly impact on CAPEX and OPEX of future and present subsea field developments.
10. Petrology Ltd, River Clyde House, Erskine Ferry Road, Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow G60 5EU
Tel: 01389 801700 Fax: 01389 801111701
E-mail: ibpetro@compuserve.com
Contact: Iain Barnes, Finance Director
A SMART Award will enable Petrology Ltd to develop their Flexible Clamping System for use in pipeline fabrication. Conceived to provide pipeline contractors with the means to align and weld a greater range of pipe diameters and wall thickness combinations using only a single system, the 'FlexiClamp' will provide internal backing for butt welds made using mechanised welding systems.
News Release: SE1798/1999
30 Dec 1999