The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) has announced that 12 research projects are set to receive in excess of £15m toward the development of more energy efficient lighting, lasers and displays.
TSB is contributing £7m in funding with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council adding nearly £1m to five of the projects.
The projects will see businesses working collaboratively with other businesses and academic institutions to develop and deploy technologies in areas such as more efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, white light fibre lasers and holographic optics. Other projects will see the integration of new and existing component technologies into working systems.
Iain Gray, chief executive at TSB, said: ‘We are committed to stimulating the development and deployment of technologies which, as well as benefiting society, also represent major business opportunities for the UK.
'Advanced light and laser sources are an area where the
He added: 'Major investment in innovative research and development, by the private and public sectors working together, such as the £15m announced today, will enable us to develop world-leading technologies that have global market potential.'
Projects that will benefit from the funding include MENDIPs (Manufacturing Emissive Nanotechnology Devices in Polymers) and ENDVIEW (Enhanced Display Viewability Using High Efficiency Advanced LED Backlight Arrays).
MENDIPs, whose partners include PolyPhotonix, Sanko Gosei, and Centre for Process Innovation, will create a sustainable controlled pilot manufacturing capability for the production of PLED devices. MENDIPs will also facilitate new device applications as a result of reproducible and repeatable manufacturing processes being created.
ENDVIEW will deliver enhanced display viewability of dynamic images through the application of high-performance LED arrays and novel optics systems. Partners in the project include GE Aviation Systems, Greenwich University, University of Abertay Dundee, the National Physical Laboratory, Thin Film Solutions, Raymarine, NCR Financial Solutions Group, and Design LED Products.
PMI falls as manufacturers feel the squeeze
17 months or two and a half years - which is it?