Easy Access IP

By News

The University of Birmingham is pleased to announce today that it has recently become the first Midlands University to be part of the Easy Access Innovation Partnership, which promotes new ways of transferring intellectual property (IP) to industry.

The University recognises it has a significant role in supporting economic recovery and stimulating innovation and it is therefore committed to working with industry to maximise the transfer of knowledge for public benefit.

Joining this initiative will make it easier for businesses to access the University’s research. Through its technology transfer agency, Alta Innovations Ltd, the University will be providing some of its IP portfolio for free using simple, standard agreements to make the whole process of IP exploitation much faster.

As well as making the adoption of its research and technology simpler the University anticipates this will be a mechanism to encourage new and longer-term relationships with business and to open up new areas for collaboration.

Professor Adam Tickell, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Transfer) at the University of Birmingham, said:

“I am very pleased that we are now a partner in the Easy Access IP initiative. Although the University of Birmingham has always worked closely with industry we realize that for some businesses a University may seem like a complicated partner for collaboration. This initiative will enable businesses to access and adopt our IP very quickly. It’s an exciting step forward in our commitment to engage effectively with business and encourage use of the hard-won knowledge from our research for public benefit”.

The University of Bristol, King’s College London and the University of Glasgow are co-founding partners of Easy Access Innovation. Professor Steve Beaumont, Vice-Principal for Research & Enterprise at the University of Glasgow, said:

‘We are delighted that the University of Birmingham is joining the growing number of universities that have adopted the Easy Access approach to their Intellectual Property. We look forward to working closely with them on this exciting project which is raising awareness of the vital role universities have in stimulating innovation.”

Notes to editors’ section in press:

Easy Access IP

Easy Access IP is a collaborative project to promote new ways of sharing intellectual property and to adopt new approaches which make it easier for universities and industry to work together. The Easy Access IP Partnership includes King’s College London and the Universities of Glasgow, Bristol, Ottawa, Copenhagen, New South Wales, Mid Sweden and Staffordshire. Through the partners’ portfolios of free Easy Access IP it provides a fast-track route for the transfer of knowledge and expertise from universities to industry, so that it can be developed for the benefit of the economy and society.

www.easyaccessip.org.uk

Alta Innovations Ltd

Alta Innovations Ltd is the technology transfer agency of the University of Birmingham and is responsible for commercializing the University’s IP through licensing, spinouts and academic consultancy. http://www.alta.bham.ac.uk/

IP News: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

By News

Until now the development of water-based cathode inks for use in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) has been unsuccessful but work taking place at the Centre for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research at the University of Birmingham has made a significant breakthrough.

Driven by the need for environmentally friendly energy generation there is a growing market for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) that have a strong industrial focus. SOFCs offer an efficient, fuel flexible, low emission and relatively low cost means of producing electricity. The commercial applications of SOFCs include combined heat and power plants for homes and offices, stationary power generation and smaller mobile units for civil and military use to name but a few.

One of the most popular methods for producing the cathode of the current generation of SOFCs involves the use of organic solvent based inks; using solvents such as acetone or iso-propanol. These inks can provide a number of challenges when used, and scientists at the University of Birmingham have been looking to find a more efficient and environmentally friendly solution.

A new water-based ink has been developed, which is less volatile than the inks currently used in the manufacture of SOFCs. This means the new ink can be stored for longer and also that dip-coating can take place without any surface drying issues. This new water based system could also overcome the problems around handling solvents and potential environmental issues around using solvents. Furthermore, the electrical performance of fuel cells made with this new ink system, have outperformed previously-used acetone-based systems in laboratory conditions.

Katie Howe, who has led the research at the University of Birmingham said “Development of this technology should lead to easier manufacture of cells because the ink needed can be handled, stored and applied more easily. Using water instead of an organic solvent also lowers the cost and increases availability.”

This is just one example of a technology available for license through the University of Birmingham’s technology transfer company, Alta Innovations Ltd www.alta.bham.ac.uk.

Note to editor:

Alta Innovations Ltd is the technology transfer Office of The University of Birmingham and is responsible for the commercialisation of research undertaken at the University. Alta Innovations links academic research with business through licensing and spinout activity, collaborative research and consultancy projects to generate the new ideas, technologies and processes required to achieve competitive advantage.

For more information contact:

John Pearson
Business Development Manager
Alta Innovations Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)121 414 8632
[email protected]
www.alta.bham.ac.uk