(Credit: National Portrait Gallery)
Set up by Prince Albert in the wake of the Great Exhibition, the Commission supports emerging technologies and the people behind them. Each of the fourteen individuals selected for this year’s fellowships will receive up to £80,000 to help commercialise their research. The technologies include a super resolution ultrasonic imaging for inspection of defects on safety critical naval components, a data transmitter to standardise next-generation quantum communications, and new ceramic coatings to improve the durability and environmental impact of small modular reactors.
“Ensuring Britain’s young scientists and engineers are supported is crucial to ensuring that the UK is at the forefront of innovation in the years to come,” said Bernard Taylor, chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
“Our Industrial Fellowships are designed to fund and commercialise the most promising technologies that could shape our society in the future. This year, we have awarded more Fellowships than ever before, and the breadth of technologies we are supporting, from artificial intelligence, to clean power and potential cures for deadly diseases demonstrates that the talent in the UK is only growing.”
Amongst this year’s recipients is Dina Abdulaziz, a Syrian national who left her country in 2016 to come to the UK for the first time and complete her research to help victims of the Syrian Civil War. Dina aims to create new biosynthetic materials that surgeons could use to fill large missing spaces in bones following serious injury or trauma.
Current bone transplants use material from the patient or a combination of animal or cadaver bones with the patient’s own tissue. Risk of infection increases with these types of procedures, leading to delays in healing and subsequent costly treatment. Dina’s new materials will minimise these issues.
More information on this year's recipients can be seen below. Applications for the 2018 Industrial Fellowships are now open and details can be found here.
The full list of 2017 Industrial Fellows
Elsa Noaks, Autolus Limited and UCL: Purify T-cells that will be genetically modified to target and kill cancer cells
Chao Jiang, UCB Celltech and the University of Oxford: Reactivating stem cells in ageing bones to treat osteoporosis
Shaun Mansfield, Biovault Technical Ltd and UCL: Improving stem cell yield from umbilical cord blood to drastically improve blood-based cancer and novel emerging treatments
Dina Abdulaziz, GTS Limited and the University of Leeds: Manufacturing alternative synthetic bone materials for transplants that don’t trigger autoimmune responses
Miss Laurence Devesse, Verogen and King’s College London: Using Massively Parallel Sequencing to improve DNA identification in forensics and estimate physical characteristics from genetic material
Ben Janes, Allen & Heath Limited and Plymouth University: Artificial intelligence-based ‘Smart Mixing’ system to assist sound engineers during live performances
David Dearlove, TdeltaS and the University of Oxford: Research into how a ketogenic drink can improve metabolic health in humans
Andrew Anderson, Oxford nanoSystems and UCL: Development of a practical method for manufacturing heat transfer surfaces on commercial heat exchangers
Timur Avkiran, LifeArc and the University of Warwick: Developing improved Tuberculosis treatments using small molecule drugs
Sascha Ruggaber, Autocraft Drivetrain Solutions Limited and the University of Strathclyde: Creating new technologies for the remanufacturing of automotive engines through the sustainable reclamation of components
Joshua Elliott, Rolls Royce plc and Imperial College London: Super resolution ultrasonic imaging for inspection of defects on safety critical components for naval programmes
Iestyn Stead, Dearman and the University of Birmingham: Reduction of energy losses in zero emissions liquid air Dearman Engines
George Roberts, Toshiba Research Limited and the University of Cambridge: A data transmitter to standardise next-generation quantum communications
Ed Williamson, Rolls-Royce plc and the University of Surrey: New ceramic coatings to improve the durability and environmental impact of next-generation nuclear reactors (Small Modular Reactors)
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