Cashing in on UK strengths in R&D
30 Oct 2008
Nigel Perry has much explaining to do in his role as chief executive of the Centre for Process Innovation Ltd, which has a stated aim of becoming "the lead driver of innovation in the UK's processing sector" and a major presence in the world industry for four areas: advanced processes, low carbon energy, functional materials and printable electronics.
The UK is a world number four or five in terms of its science base, but has not focused enough on innovation for a long time, believes Perry. "The transfer of knowledge from universities to business is not working as well as it should do. There is a [technology] push, but a pull is needed here as well and that's what CPI can establish," he said in an interview at CPI's base at the Wilton Centre on Teesside.
Launched four years ago, and loosely modelled on the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, CPI aims to become "a centre of excellence that is international in outlook and world class in output," said Perry. Its business plan, he added, will be driven by revenue streams based on public sector contracts, private sector trading revenue and licensed IP, as well as spin-out companies and JVs.
To date, CPI has grown turnover to £12 million, with about 80% coming from public funding - compared to 100% two years ago - and is moving to a 60/40 split over the next few years and to become self-financing in the longer term.
"The first thing CPI is interested in is getting its hands on private money so that we can drive innovation to the private sector," said Perry. "That means we are market-led and industrially focused. We need to be in the minds of the people making the decisions in the four areas of technology that we target. We want to be ranked in the top two, three or four [centres] anywhere in the world. So that if you want to do printable electronics, for example, Singapore, the North East of England or US East Coast are the places that you do it and that's where the private money is attracted."
Perry went on to emphasise what the CPI does not do: "There are a lot of things that we don't cover, for example basic research or measurement science. That's quite deliberate, as if we set out to be the best at everything we would not succeed."
Nor, it seems, does CPI offer a retirement home for engineers nearing the end of their careers. The workforce, said Perry, comprises more than 75 high calibre scientists, engineers and support staff. "We have some of the best talent in the industry that we can [attract]. These are people at all stages of their career with a unique approach to stimulating market-led innovation, with a passion about exploring ideas and doing things differently.
The CPI boss sees his main role as releasing this talent. "The culture here is somewhere between university and a leading edge manufacturing operation. Everyone here is ex-private sector and has a fabulous track record. What we are creating is a cluster of high calibre people so that firms will look to place their research and development with us and, in time, their manufacturing with us. That's the long play."
As well as its North East base, CPI has interests across the regions, with offices in London and Cambridge and close working relationships with Newcastle University, Manchester University and Liverpool University. "An acid test for us is to prove to people that this is a national play," the CEO commented.
Reviewing CPI's work with multinationals, Perry cited an on-going project with glass and ceramics major Corning Inc., which is working with the Centre to develop a new microreactor for the speciality chemical and pharmaceutical industries. CPI's input involves building a customised microreactor test facility at the Wilton Centre that will be open to US and European clients.
Corning developed the continuous reactor to reduce manufacturing costs while increasing the product consistency within speciality, fine, and pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing. The glass structure resists corrosion, unlike many metallic reactors, and can withstand pressures of 18 bar and temperatures of -60°C to +200°C, making it suitable for highly reactive processes.
CPI designed the test facility and it enables prospective industrial clients to assess the reactor for their processes and products before taking the risk on a large capital outlay. The unit features an adaptable test facility, equipped with multi-feed systems and a special "plug-and-play" downstream processing feature for trialling new processes in the microprocessing system.
"Processing methods are changing as companies look for new techniques to improve their output and reduce costs," commented Sophie Walton, advanced processing business development manager at CPI. "Traditional methods of production using batch reactors can prove inconsistent and waste a significant amount of energy and heat."
In a separate project, regional development agency One NorthEast has provided funding of £432,000 for CPI to lead North East Energy 2015 (NEE 2015) - a low-carbon energy initiative that has been launched with an ambitious remit to generate over £80 million of investment over the next seven years. NEE 2015 targets include the creation of large-scale demonstration activities based on novel process technologies, including fuel cells and energy-from-waste.
Announcing the funding, One NorthEast highlighted CPI's ability to accelerate the region's on-going development of sustainable technologies for the chemicals industry. The project is targeted at attracting major investment by private sector investors, both nationally and internationally, with a number of large projects expected to be worth over £10 million each.
Summing up CPI's role in the process sector, Perry said: "In this industry, to go from research to commercialisation, you must reduce risk. For example, if you are going to invest £50 million in a process plant, you need to make sure it is going to work. You need to have assets and somewhere to do the project.
"That's where CPI comes in. It is not often easy or even possible to put such assets in a university. We provide the intermediate, risk-reducing step in the innovation process that sits between academia and industry."
The UK is a world number four or five in terms of its science base, but has not focused enough on innovation for a long time, believes Perry. "The transfer of knowledge from universities to business is not working as well as it should do. There is a [technology] push, but a pull is needed here as well and that's what CPI can establish," he said in an interview at CPI's base at the Wilton Centre on Teesside.
Launched four years ago, and loosely modelled on the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, CPI aims to become "a centre of excellence that is international in outlook and world class in output," said Perry. Its business plan, he added, will be driven by revenue streams based on public sector contracts, private sector trading revenue and licensed IP, as well as spin-out companies and JVs.
To date, CPI has grown turnover to £12 million, with about 80% coming from public funding - compared to 100% two years ago - and is moving to a 60/40 split over the next few years and to become self-financing in the longer term.
"The first thing CPI is interested in is getting its hands on private money so that we can drive innovation to the private sector," said Perry. "That means we are market-led and industrially focused. We need to be in the minds of the people making the decisions in the four areas of technology that we target. We want to be ranked in the top two, three or four [centres] anywhere in the world. So that if you want to do printable electronics, for example, Singapore, the North East of England or US East Coast are the places that you do it and that's where the private money is attracted."
Perry went on to emphasise what the CPI does not do: "There are a lot of things that we don't cover, for example basic research or measurement science. That's quite deliberate, as if we set out to be the best at everything we would not succeed."
Nor, it seems, does CPI offer a retirement home for engineers nearing the end of their careers. The workforce, said Perry, comprises more than 75 high calibre scientists, engineers and support staff. "We have some of the best talent in the industry that we can [attract]. These are people at all stages of their career with a unique approach to stimulating market-led innovation, with a passion about exploring ideas and doing things differently.
The CPI boss sees his main role as releasing this talent. "The culture here is somewhere between university and a leading edge manufacturing operation. Everyone here is ex-private sector and has a fabulous track record. What we are creating is a cluster of high calibre people so that firms will look to place their research and development with us and, in time, their manufacturing with us. That's the long play."
As well as its North East base, CPI has interests across the regions, with offices in London and Cambridge and close working relationships with Newcastle University, Manchester University and Liverpool University. "An acid test for us is to prove to people that this is a national play," the CEO commented.
Reviewing CPI's work with multinationals, Perry cited an on-going project with glass and ceramics major Corning Inc., which is working with the Centre to develop a new microreactor for the speciality chemical and pharmaceutical industries. CPI's input involves building a customised microreactor test facility at the Wilton Centre that will be open to US and European clients.
Corning developed the continuous reactor to reduce manufacturing costs while increasing the product consistency within speciality, fine, and pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing. The glass structure resists corrosion, unlike many metallic reactors, and can withstand pressures of 18 bar and temperatures of -60°C to +200°C, making it suitable for highly reactive processes.
CPI designed the test facility and it enables prospective industrial clients to assess the reactor for their processes and products before taking the risk on a large capital outlay. The unit features an adaptable test facility, equipped with multi-feed systems and a special "plug-and-play" downstream processing feature for trialling new processes in the microprocessing system.
"Processing methods are changing as companies look for new techniques to improve their output and reduce costs," commented Sophie Walton, advanced processing business development manager at CPI. "Traditional methods of production using batch reactors can prove inconsistent and waste a significant amount of energy and heat."
In a separate project, regional development agency One NorthEast has provided funding of £432,000 for CPI to lead North East Energy 2015 (NEE 2015) - a low-carbon energy initiative that has been launched with an ambitious remit to generate over £80 million of investment over the next seven years. NEE 2015 targets include the creation of large-scale demonstration activities based on novel process technologies, including fuel cells and energy-from-waste.
Announcing the funding, One NorthEast highlighted CPI's ability to accelerate the region's on-going development of sustainable technologies for the chemicals industry. The project is targeted at attracting major investment by private sector investors, both nationally and internationally, with a number of large projects expected to be worth over £10 million each.
Summing up CPI's role in the process sector, Perry said: "In this industry, to go from research to commercialisation, you must reduce risk. For example, if you are going to invest £50 million in a process plant, you need to make sure it is going to work. You need to have assets and somewhere to do the project.
"That's where CPI comes in. It is not often easy or even possible to put such assets in a university. We provide the intermediate, risk-reducing step in the innovation process that sits between academia and industry."
