The University wants to make it easier for potential partners to use its research capabilities
Newcastle University hopes to help more entrepreneurs, businesses and investors turn ideas into growing companies with the launch of new scheme.
Bosses say Newcastle Innovations will be a single “front door” to the University’s expertise, talent, funding pathways and commercial support for those developing business ideas. The work intends to build on the university’s success in the field with 42 active spin-out companies that are said to have attracted more than £90m of investment in the past two years alone, and created more than 370 jobs.
The team there are appealing to those who want to co-develop new technologies, access specialist research facilities, commission applied research, invest in high-growth spin-outs or build skills for the future workforce.
Estelle Blanks, director of Newcastle Innovations at Newcastle University, said: “From a business perspective, the idea is simple – a clear route into expertise, talent, facilities, and partnerships. We are responding directly to feedback from industry, so that more companies can access our support and expertise to accelerate growth, attract investment and create a skilled workforce.”
Prof Jane Robinson, pro‑vice‑chancellor for business, partnerships and place at Newcastle University, added: “Partnership working is at the heart of what we do. Newcastle Innovations is about removing barriers to turn ideas into impact.
“We are making it easier for organisations to collaborate with us locally, nationally and internationally, to deliver innovation and growth and tangible benefits for businesses, communities and society.”
At an event launching Newcastle Innovations, the university pointed to its partnerships with a wide range of businesses, from small firms and scale-ups through to global names such as Procter & Gamble and Siemens. And to evidence that its National Innovation Centre for Data and Arrow programme, which provides innovation support to SMEs, had delivered productivity gains for businesses.
Among those business partners is outdoor clothing maker Pentland, the owner of the Berghaus brand. The firm used Newcastle University expertise to develop new legwear technology that can adapt to women’s bodies and support them to feel more comfortable when exploring the outdoors.
Biomechanical modelling and physiological analysis was carried out at Newcastle University’s advanced sport and exercise research facilities to refine the final design of the new product, and Berghaus is now incorporating ZonalAdapt into all of its legwear.
Sam Munson, new product development lead at Pentland Group, said: “Our collaboration with Newcastle University has been a fantastic example of how industry and academia can work together to better solve challenges real people experience in the outdoors. Working with Newcastle University brought a level of scientific rigour and technical expertise that was invaluable to this project, helping us to push our innovation further and better support women as they hike.”


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