This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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SMART support for Scottish innovators
09/01/2007
A company working on a breakthrough for the CCTV industry is among the projects being supported by the Executive's SMART:SCOTLAND programme.
This latest round of awards involves 19 research and development projects which will receive a share of £950,000. The awards are designed to help new and existing businesses with less than 50 employees improve their competitiveness by developing leading-edge products or processes that have real commercial value.
Deputy Enterprise Minister Allan Wilson said:
"Innovation is critical to Scotland's ability to compete in an increasingly global market and it is vital that our small companies have access to meaningful research and development resources to bring innovative products and services to the marketplace.
"We are glad to support the diverse projects included in this round with grants totalling £950,000.
"One of the companies, Codestuff in West Lothian, will use its SMART Award to develop technology which has the opportunity to be a first within the CCTV industry.
"These Awards present real prospects for smaller companies to get ahead commercially by using research and development to the fullest."
The 19 projects included in this round are:
1. AIMS (INT) Ltd, South Queensferry
DEVELOPMENT OF A TEST SYSTEM FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
The company will use their SMART Award to develop hardware and software to produce a new digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) simulator for the next generation of very high bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL2) telecommunications equipment. The test system will allow the telecoms industry to address the increasing user demand for high speed digital data transfer. Website: www.aimsint.com
2. Ann Marie Shillito, Edinburgh
DEVELOPMENT OF A TOOL FOR THE RAPID CREATION OF NOVEL 3D HAPTIC MODELLING APPLICATIONS
The SMART Award will enable a new company to be formed to develop innovative state of the art "middleware" to enable the rapid creation of 3D haptic applications which will plug in to leading 3D modelling and animation tools. This application, which will meet commercial software standards, will present a radical and potential internationally significant innovation for the world's first true haptic middleware development system.
3. Calico Jack Ltd, Dundee
DEVELOPMENT OF A CONVERGENT CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Calico Jack Ltd will use their SMART Award to develop a multi-modal Convergent Call Management system designed to organise information about conversations. The technology will enable telecoms carriers to extract value from call records and is intended for deployment as a foundation for new revenue generating services. Website: www.calicojack.co.uk
4. Calscience International Ltd, Edinburgh
TO ANALYSE A PLANT EXTRACT AND DETERMINE ITS POTENTIAL AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION
Calscience International Ltd will use its SMART Award to characterise the active component and anti-inflammatory properties of a plant extract and to determine its potential as a therapeutic intervention. The technology promises to be applicable for human use in important disease areas.
5. Calton Hill Ltd, Edinburgh
DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FOR SECURE MEDIA CARDS
Calton Hill Ltd will use its SMART Award to create a method to register removable Secure Media Cards to enable content to be truly portable between mobile devices.
6. Cascade Technologies Ltd, Stirling
DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST MERCURY GAS SENSOR
Cascade Technologies Ltd will use its SMART Award to develop a low-cost blue green diode laser gas sensor for monitoring mercury chloride and mercury oxide for continuous emissions monitoring. The technology will have specific applications, for example, in monitoring emissions associated with coal-fired power plants. Website: www.cascade-technologies.com
7. Codestuff Ltd, West Calder
REAL-TIME 360° SCENE MAPPING WITH MOTION DETECTION
Codestuff Ltd will use its SMART Award to develop a novel system to harness the power of high speed, high frame-rate cameras to monitor, record and detect movement in real-time within a complete 360° panorama. Working in a similar fashion to RADAR, movement within a 'protected' 3D space will be automatically monitored and alarms triggered. The system will detect relative motion while the camera itself is moving, representing a first within the CCTV industry. Website: http://www.codestuff.net
8. David Eckersall, Glasgow
DEVELOPMENT OF RAPID IMMUNOASSAYS FOR SERUM AMYLOID A FOR ANIMAL DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS.
The SMART Award will enable a new company to be formed to develop rapid immunoassays for Serum Amyloid A protein. This technology will have the potential to provide a significantly more sensitive and rapid Serum Amyloid A detection system to those currently available and will have specific applications, particularly in the field of animal diagnostics.
9. Douglas Macdonald, Glasgow
DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST INTELLIGENT VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.
The SMART Award will enable a new company to be formed to develop an intelligent video surveillance system. The technology will consist of inexpensive smart cameras capable of tracking human motion in indoor environments and promises to offer a low-cost solution to the large retail security market.
10. Dundee Cell Products Ltd, Dundee
DEVELOPMENT OF A MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF ISOTOPE-LABELED CELLS FOR PROTEOMICS
Dundee Cell Products Ltd will use its SMART Award to develop a manufacturing process for the large-scale production of metabolically-labeled cells incorporating isotope-tagged amino acids and associated reagents for customers wishing to use quantitative proteomics technology. This would result in ready-to-use mammalian cell products for quantitative proteomics research undertaken in academic, biotech and pharmaceutical company laboratories.
11. Dynamo Games Ltd, Dundee
DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM TO ALLOW UPDATING OF MOBILE PHONE GAME DATA RESOURCE
Dynamo Games Ltd will use its SMART Award to develop a system to allow the updating of mobile phone game data resource, particularly for games requiring large amounts of data to be delivered. The proposed Connected Content Update system would allow updateable game content to be created efficiently, which could then be downloaded into an existing game client. Website: www.dynamogames.com
12. Frances Flood, Glasgow
ENTERPRISE PRODUCTIVITY SUITE
The SMART Award will be used to establish a company to develop software capable of analysing and comparing computer user actions against set objectives, and to correlate user activities and other relevant documents in order to assist users in co-working and locating information locally or remotely. The technology will build upon an earlier collaboration tool called ePlace and offers the potential to improve enterprise productivity. Website: http://www.transgnosis.com
13. Funky Moves Ltd, Stirling
DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
The SMART Award will enable Funky Moves Ltd to investigate the feasibility of developing a robust, low power wireless communication platform with exceptional radio transmission. The new technology will have the potential to be incorporated into a number of products offering solutions to education and sports professionals. Website: www.funky-moves.co.uk
14. Immunosolv Ltd, Edinburgh
DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE DEVICE FOR REMOVAL OF DEAD CELLS/ DEBRIS FROM CELL CULTURES
Immunosolv will use its SMART Award to produce specifications for the first demonstrator device to remove dead cells and sub-cellular debris, which will markedly improve the viability and productivity of cell cultures. This will enable devices applicable to biomanufacturing to be developed to enhance the productivity of biopharmaceuticals, an industry whose capacity is saturated by current demands. Website: www.immunosolv.com
15. Integrated Intelligent Monitoring Ltd, Glasgow
REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEM
Integrated Intelligent Monitoring Ltd will use its SMART Award to investigate the potential of developing an optical current sensor and novel interrogation system. The technology will be used in conjunction with an existing voltage sensor and offers the potential to provide a comprehensive condition monitoring and control system for remote electrical plant. This will be particularly amenable to the oil and gas, subsea and industrial pump markets with other long-term opportunities within distributed power generation, electric marine and aerospace.
16. Mobile Healthcare Networks Ltd, Edinburgh
CUTTING-EDGE WIRELESS NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES TO ACCESS PATIENT INFORMATION AT THE POINT OF CARE.
Mobile Healthcare Networks Ltd will use its SMART Award to develop accessible patient information at the point of care through development and application of cutting-edge wireless network technologies. The project will attempt to address issues of availability and human error through the development of wireless network technology to provide a ubiquitous and stable network platform for clinical information systems.
17. Nick Wood, Glasgow
DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL SIGNAL TRANSITION METHOD ON AN EXISTING LOW-NOISE AMPLIFIER CHIP DESIGN.
The SMART Award will be used to establish a company that will develop a novel waveguide translation for an existing low noise amplifier design. This technology, which will be based on a metamorphic HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) process, will enable the production of high frequency, millimetre wave components with greater manufacturing yield and low cost.
18. Mather Technology Solutions, Selkirk
FLEXIBLE SOLAR CELL INTEGRATED ON A CONVENTIONAL TEXTILE FABRIC.
The SMART Award will be used to establish a company to develop a flexible solar cell for generating electricity directly from sunlight that will be integrated on a conventional textile fabric. If successful, the technology promises to have a number of applications including electrical supply in remote areas and disaster relief. Website: www.mathertechnologysolutions.com
19. Traak Systems Ltd, Edinburgh
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENT AND SELF-LEARNING ENGINE FOR RFID AND SENSOR NETWORKS.
Traak Systems Ltd will use their SMART Award to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a new intelligent and self-learning engine for RFID and Sensor Networks. Using real-time processing and highly optimised algorithms, the software engine will process as much RFID and sensor data as possible at the edge of the network. The major benefits include minimising the amount of network traffic and maximising the business value of the data. Website: www.traak.com
Background:
Entries for SMART:SCOTLAND can be submitted by individuals planning to start a business in Scotland, and by existing small firms / groups with less than 50 employees.
There are three rounds of judging each year with closing dates for applications in January, May and September. The Government meets 75 per cent of the project costs and the maximum award payable is £50,000. Projects last between 6 and 18 months.
Winners who successfully complete their projects and require additional assistance to develop a pre-production prototype can apply for further funding under the SPUR scheme. SPUR is a non-competitive scheme and grant is available at 35 per cent of the eligible project costs, subject to a maximum grant of £150,000. These projects should last between six months and three years.