NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

21
THE SCIENCE ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE FOR NORTH EAST ENGLAND ISSUE 7 AUTUMN 2008 PRINTABLE ELECTRONICS ISSN 1753-6677 RADICALLY REDUCING THE COST OF SOLAR ENERGY HLBBshaw... NEW FIRM ON THE BLOCK REVOLUTIONISING THE LIGHTING INDUSTRY CREATING SUNSHINE ON A RAINY DAY

description

NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Transcript of NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Page 1: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

THE SCIENCEENGINEERING &TECHNOLOGYMAGAZINE FORNORTH EASTENGLAND

ISSUE 7AUTUMN2008

PRINTABLEELECTRONICS

ISSN 1753-6677

RADICALLY REDUCING THECOST OF SOLAR ENERGY

HLBBshaw...NEW FIRM ON THE BLOCK

REVOLUTIONISING THELIGHTING INDUSTRY

CREATING SUNSHINEON A RAINY DAY

Page 2: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

With the completion of the Printable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) atNETPark, the North East has a welcome addition to an astonishing array of scientificexcellence.

The Institute for Ageing and Vitality in Newcastle, the North East Stem Cell Institute,the National Industrial Biotechnology Facility at Wilton, and the Centre for New andRenewable Energy are just four of the region’s world-class facilities for science andinnovation.

And at NETPark itself, the Durham University Research Institute supplies instrumentsthat have to be right first time every time to major telescopes around the world.

Sometimes it can be easy to remember that the North East once led the world incertain industries and just as easy to forget that it still does – the spirit of innovationnever went away, it was just transferred into different industries.

PETEC is the UK national flagship for printableelectronics, a technology that could make thelaptop I’m using obsolete and replaced withsomething I can fold up and put in my pocket.Technology that can print electronics into flexiblematerials will fundamentally affect how we interactwith our electronic devices and will be even moredisruptive than the iPod.

Fortunately, the North East is ahead of the game – the location of PETEC at NETParkwas an acknowledgement that we have the expertise and also the nous to translatethat expertise into technologies that create new products, new markets and newjobs. Even though PETEC is only just becoming operational, the Centre, NETParkand Durham University have already saved 600 jobs from going overseas and italready houses two new companies.

So the potential of this technology to benefit the region is enormous and that is whatthis issue of NETWorks celebrates.

Editor Catherine JohnsScientific Advisor Professor John Anstee Deputy Editor Rob Heslop

NETWorks is published by Distinctive Publishing LtdAidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 3HUTelephone 0191 4788300

Managing Director John Graham Creative Director Martin WilliamsonSales Director John Neilson

For all enquiries including editorial, subscription and advertising please contactDistinctive Publishing.

With thanks to all our contributors.

NETWorks is supported by NETPark www.uknetpark.net

Front cover image courtesy of IRIS.

Letter from the Editor

01

Page 3: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

The Beijing Olympics vividly demonstrated that to wina gold medal it is essential to focus on a few areaswhere resources can be used most effectively. It isalso necessary to measure performance against worldstandards and to have the infrastructure and theexpert support people available who can help win themedal. It is the same for a region that wants to win theeconomic race.

Here in the North East it is necessary to choose thoseindustry sectors that have long-term growth potentialand where the region can build significant competitiveadvantage. It is then necessary to consistently invest inthe infrastructure required by the sector and to attractthe people, companies and researchers at the leadingedge. The measure of performance must always beagainst world standards.

That is exactly what we are doing in the North East ofEngland. The region’s Science and Industry Councilselected a small number of areas to drive economicgrowth in the 21st century. One of these areas isPrintable Electronics: NETPark and the PrintableElectronics Technology Centre (PETEC) is the focal pointfor investment in the sector, not only for the region butfor the UK.

PETEC at NETPark is a major facility for the developmentand exploitation of direct write technologies and flexiblefunctional materials. This revolutionary technology ispredicted to be a $16 billion industry by 2015 and couldpotentially be even more disruptive than silicon-basedelectronics.

Printable electronics have inherent properties that classicsilicon semiconductor technologies can never offer. Theirflexible form means that they can be used to builddisplays and panels that can be rolled-up or laminateddirectly onto surfaces using low cost production facilities.They are already being incorporated into consumerproducts and will lead to a new generation of productssuch as real-time electronic newspapers, electronic tags,intelligent interactive packaging, handheld medicaldiagnostic devices, flexible e-paper for interactive e-books, reports and advertisements, electro-textiles forsmart fashion and sportswear and energy in the form offuel cells, solar cells and batteries.

What about an electronic book that can bend? A flexibledisplay to hold patient medical records that can attach tothe wrist of the patient? The label on medicine to flashwhen it should be taken? Curtains or wall coverings inyour home that change colour based on your mood thatday? Plastic sensors woven into clothing that can

monitor your temperature and health? A credit card witha display for adverts?

These opportunities are not just for big multinationalcompanies although many large companies willparticipate. The ability of this technology to change theway current products are used by consumers providesthe smaller company a chance to compete in nichesegments. It gives the North East the chance to growsmaller companies targeted at these opportunities. Thechange in design and functionality of the new productscan lead to opportunities for the region’s design skills.

Imagination will be the only limit to the possibilities. Wewant entrepreneurs to start thinking now about the newbusiness opportunities that can be generated from thistechnology. We say to them, come to the incubators atNETPark to start your business and use the expertiseand critical mass of PETEC to help you develop yourproducts.

We already know that this will be a major world industry.We also know that this is an area where the North Eastis leading the way globally and we must keep remindingourselves that international competitiveness is essential.The NETPark Advisory Group and the CPI Board (whichis the owner of the PETEC facility) are aligned in requiringthat the new centre must be of international standard.The Printable Electronics focus of the North East mustbe able to achieve a reputation in the top three or foursimilar facilities in the world. Today it is our investment inthe basic infrastructure that counts but in future it is ourcareful selection of the sub sectors where we can be inthe top tier in the world that will make the difference.

Going forward the NETPark Advisory Group will be keento ensure that first and foremost the development ofPETEC is always business led, that attractive andappropriate sub sectors are pursued and that leadinguniversities from all over the world are active participants.We want major industrial partners to be involved but weare also keen to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit thatthis technology allows and we want many new smallbusinesses to be created.

If we do this, then the world will beat a path to our doorand NETPark will be known as the place to do businessin printable electronics. On that day we will have won thegold medal.

Bob Coxon OBEChairman, NETPark Advisory GroupChairman, CPI – The Centre for Process Innovation

GOING FORGOLD...

Bob Coxon is a member of the Board of Directors ofseveral international businesses in the chemical andprocess industries.

He is a non-Executive Director of AZ ElectronicMaterials, a speciality chemicals supplier to thesemiconductor and flat panel displays industrieswith manufacturing in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China,Germany and the USA.

He is a non-Executive Director of PQ Corporation aPhiladelphia based manufacturer of silicas, silicates,zeolites and catalysts. It is a global enterpriseoperating in 19 countries on five continents.

He is a non-Executive Director of Stahl, the world’sleading speciality chemicals supplier to the leatherfinish industry with manufacturing in Holland, USA,India, Singapore and China.

He is a non-Executive Director of Ensus, a companyestablished to produce fuel grade bioethanol for thetransport industry. The first Ensus plant, which iscurrently under construction on Teesside, will be thelargest production facility in Europe. It will producebioethanol by the fermentation of wheat grain.

Mr Coxon is a Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group,one of the world’s largest private equity firms, withmore than $89 billion under management. Mr. Coxonassists Carlyle in developing strategy andidentifying investments in the chemicals andprocess industry sectors. He is based in theirLondon office.

He is also a Director of The Whitehall & IndustryGroup (WIG) a charity that fosters senior levelrelationships between major companies andWhitehall departments.

In the North East of England he is Chairman of TheCentre for Process Innovation (CPI), Chairman of theNE Process Industries Cluster (NEPIC) thatrepresents over 400 companies in the region. He isalso Chairman of NETPark and is a member of theNorth East Science & Industry Council.

Mr Coxon was awarded the OBE in the 2008 NewYears Honours List.

BOB COXON OBE, CHAIRMAN, NETPARK ADVISORY GROUP

03

Page 4: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

10

02 05

12

17 18

22 26

30 32

GOING FOR GOLD

NORTHERN GASNETWORK

KEEPING ENERGYSUPPLY SAFE AND

SECURE

SUNSHINE ON ARAINY DAY

ABOUT NETPARK

DURHAMUNIVERSITY

TALKING ABOUT AREVOLUTION

THORN LIGHTINGREVOLUTIONISING

THE LIGHTINGINDUSTRY

NORTHUMBRIAUNIVERSITY

RADICALLY REDUCETHE COST OF

SOLAR ENERGY

UNIVERSITY OFTEESSIDE

TRANSFORMINGHEALTHCARE

LATEST HEADLINES

CELSBUSINESS FOR LIFE

AWARDS

08

14

20

28

34

IRISAN EYE FOR

SUCCESS

HLBBshawHLBBshaw IS HERETO PROTECT YOU

UDLUSING

INTELLECTUALPROPERTY TO HELP

YOU SURVIVE

POLYPHOTONIXLIGHTING

TECHNOLOGYRETURNS TO ITS

BIRTHPLACE

C.C. JENSENSOLUTIONS IN OIL

FILTRATION

SUNSHINEONARAINYDAY

Experts predict the printable electronics sector has thecapability of being a $7 billion dollar industry by 2010.In the latest of our quarterly NETWorks debates, a panelof leaders in this field lift the lid on potentially one of themost disruptive technologies to emerge in recent years.Mike Parker was in the audience.

05

Contents

Page 5: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

PROFESSOR John Anstee wobbles a sheet of plastic inhis hand, demonstrating its flexibility to the audience. Atfirst glance it looks somewhat unspectacular - a thin,rectangular object. But, with a flick of a switch a warmlight courses through the film and sparks tremendousenthusiasm and vigorous debate between the luminariesaround the table.

The former Senior Pro Vice Chancellor and Sub-Warden atDurham University is graphically illustrating an earlyprototype of printable electronics, a forerunner of what iswidely predicted to be the future of lighting in our homes,our offices and our cars.

This is printable electronics in its raw infancy, a technologythat has scientists extremely excited by the sheer potentialof its applications, scalability and disruptive qualities. Thesheet is a light source, capable of bending and flexing,offering up no heat and needing only minimal energy topower its glow.

In next to no time, the debate has suggested, it couldreplace the humble barcode, revolutionise televisionmanufacturing, provide a high-tech safety solution toprevent car accidents caused by tiredness and work as anoptical bandage for the treatment of skin cancer.

Professor Andy Monkman of Durham University, a specialistin research of light-emitting organic materials, adds thatplastic electronics could even brighten our lives on thedarkest of days: “You will be able to use it to make anumbrella light up so, when it is raining and miserable, youcan have sunshine under your umbrella.”

Its versatility is incredible, and thus developing itscommerciality is a crucial next step. And, the North East isat the forefront of efforts to investigate its full potential.The North East Technology Park (NETPark), of which ProfAnstee is also Scientific Director, is home to the new £9.5mPrintable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) that wascreated as the UK headquarters for the commercialisationof this technology. Owned and managed by the Centre forProcess Innovation, the PETEC facility is an ideal platformfor both start-ups and larger manufacturing companies toget prototype and pilot-scale production up and running,with the aim of de-risking industrial research anddevelopment in printed electronics.

Its director, Dr Tom Taylor, is chairing the panel debate andhe is convinced that printable electronics has the capabilityto re-industrialise the North East. He explains: “I think thatthe North East has revolutionised itself in the last 20 yearsfrom large manufacturing industries that, because of capitalinvestments, could not adapt to what was happeningglobally, into a far more dynamic economy.”

It is a sentiment echoed by Prof Anstee who says thathaving one of only four centres worldwide with theexpertise in this area is a leap forward that could see theregion revisit its past glory days when it was a world-leaderin ship-building and steel making.

He says: “Having a facility of this type is a major coup andperhaps for the first time since the industrial revolution theNorth East has something that is no longer playing catch-up.”

But, it is one thing to identify a technology with greatpotential and it is something completely different to turnthat potential into commercial reality.

Also sitting round the table in the Rivergreen Centre inDurham City, in the heart of North East England, is GeoffWilliams of Thorn Lighting who is heading a £3m+ projectinvestigating ways to make solid state lighting a mass-usesolution for the future.

The environmental benefits, including the ability to runlighting from low voltage DC batteries as opposed to 240vmains, will give the opportunity to “think of lighting in adifferent perspective”, he points out. “Lighting from thepoint of view of long life time, low maintenance, thinproducts, mercury free devices with low material usageand zero landfill contribution.

“The opportunities are significant for those who have theexpertise and knowledge. Having that in County Durhamis a distinct benefit.”

Dave Wall of DuPont Teijin Films, makers of plastic filmwhose global R & D facilities are based at Wilton onTeesside, is another person passionately engaged by thissubject. DTF is developing products for use in theprintable electronics supply chain and Mr Wall seesgrowth in areas that provide the customer with a newexperience.

“The first types of applications will be those that allow youto do something with this technology that you cannot dowith present technology,” he points out.

One hot topic in the gadget world is the development ofe-readers – plastic displays capable of storing thousandsof books at one time that simulate an invention that hasbeen around for many centuries.

Has it the potential to replace paper, asks Dr Taylor? “No”,is Mr Wall’s straight-forward answer. However, the abilityto take one e-reader on a plane with a library of booksrather than face lugging a bag full of books is just oneexample of ways that he sees the technology will becomeembedded.

Amid the excitement, the debate moves on to considerthe threats to the development of plastic electronics.

Prof Monkman says: “The main threat is like most threats,the incumbent technology keeps improving itsperformance. As long as the performance matches therequirements that end users need then we are fine.Ultimately, this is the most disruptive technology there is.”

Mr Wall adds a practical observation: “It must produce atscale and in volume.” Yields would have to top 90% formanufacturers to start seriously to progress their productson to printable electronics.”

Two companies have already opted to base themselves atPETEC to start work on this issue, one of which,PolyPhotonix, has enlisted Dr Williams as a specialistadviser.

As Dr Taylor explains, to have companies already up andrunning at PETEC is a major step to keeping CountyDurham at the forefront of this technology: “We have gota head start in this area and we believe we havepositioned ourselves to meet the challenges.”

The next debate will feature nanotechnology and will be atNETPark in early November. If you wish to attend pleaseemail [email protected]

07

“THE MAIN THREAT IS LIKEMOST THREATS, THEINCUMBENT TECHNOLOGYKEEPS IMPROVING ITSPERFORMANCE. AS LONGAS THE PERFORMANCEMATCHES THEREQUIREMENTS THAT ENDUSERS NEED THEN WE AREFINE. ULTIMATELY, THIS ISTHE MOST DISRUPTIVETECHNOLOGY THERE IS”

Professor Ifor Samuel’s light emittingbandage, referred to in the debate.

Page 6: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

HLBBshaw IS HERE TOPROTECT YOU

09

“An incredibly knowledgeable patent attorney with thescientific expertise to help us make the most of the newIntellectual Property being developed in printableelectronics.” That comment, made at the recentPrintable Electronics Technology Expert Panel debate,came totally unprompted from one of the panelmembers. HLBBshaw, as represented by Dr AlexTurnbull, was the recipient of such high praise. Alexspoke to NETWorks about the company’s new presenceat NETPark.

Although a comparative newcomer to the North East,HLBBshaw is an internationally respected firm of patentattorneys. One look at the technologies they have dealtwith tells you the depth of knowledge they possess –neural networks, ink jet in hyperthermogelling agents,wireless communications, plastic moulding, fuel cells and(my own personal favourite) crystalline hydrate forms ofpaclitaxel are just six of the hundreds of technologies thatHLBBshaw has helped its clients to protect.

Alex’s own personal technology experience is incommercialization of research from physics which makeshim ideal to have as “the man on the ground” at NETPark.Alex is a senior patent attorney and joined HLBBshawfrom Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) Ltd, where hewas involved in the management of the company’s patentand trade mark portfolio. CDT was an early pioneer in thecommercialization of polymer light emitting diodes andformed a joint venture with the Japanese chemical giantsSumitomo Chemical to create Sumation. CDT wasrecently bought out by Sumitomo Chemical, but that’s awhole other story.

Alex subsequently project managed a three million poundjoint development legal agreement between DurhamUniversity, Thorn Lighting and Sumation: Project Topless.This was the catalyst for deciding to have a presence inthe North East.

“HLBBshaw is a national company – we have offices allover the UK from London to Leeds. However, theexplosion of new technologies coming from the NorthEast drew our attention – we all know that the North ofthe country is innovative but the pace of innovation hasaccelerated during recent years.

“We also knew that One NorthEast, the RegionalDevelopment Agency, had a very highly focusedeconomic strategy which would mean significantinvestment in our sectors of expertise: process industries,healthcare, and energy. And that NETPark was going tobe the location of the UK national flagship (PETEC) for awhole new technology platform, printable electronics, outof which would come new products in these sectors. So itwas an obvious decision to come to the North East andNETPark and it’s been great to see the construction ofPETEC progressing. Now there are companies in thereand projects with multinationals, it’s even more exciting.There are also well established network groups – ourfavourite is the Bridge Club run by Caroline Theobald, andshe has helped in making connections.”

And what about the competition?“It’s always something you deal with when entering a regionfor the first time, but I was already known for my work withDurham University and Thorn and, to be honest, I’ve beendelighted with the welcome I’ve received. There is morethan enough work for all of us, believe me!”

(The editor of this magazine can vouch for this – everypatent attorney she has met in the North East has beenmore than willing to co-operate with the new firm on theblock. In fact, they may even do a workshop together in thefuture at NETPark on all aspects of IP protection – to keepinformed, please email [email protected])

There was a high level of investment in the Thorn Lightingproject but this is business as usual for HLBBshaw. Andquite possibly the reason the firm is so successful.

“People still underestimate the value of Intellectual Property.An interesting trend recently is that new companies,especially university spin out companies, are usuallyincredibly savvy about their IP because they get so muchmore support now. They know that the future of theircompany depends on proper IP protection. That futurecould be creating a product that creates hundreds of jobsin manufacturing therefore hundreds of jobs depend on thatproduct being properly protected. Another version of thatfuture could be that the IP is sold to a large multinational, inwhich case their bank balance relies on the IP beingproperly protected. Either way, they are certainly motivated.

“And the converse is true – companies which have beenaround for years forget that their IP is valuable and needsconstant monitoring to see who is operating in their field,what patents are being filed and, potentially, howtechnologies could be married together to create evenmore new products. Interestingly, the current economicsituation has made many companies scurry back to thisissue as IP tends to be the heart of a company’s value.”

This is where HLBBshaw shines – patent prosecution is themainstay of the firm and it has significant experience indealing with difficult cases and successfully defending andenforcing its clients' IP rights. Being a UK and Europeanpatent attorney, Alex can advise on the drafting of patentspecifications, patent prosecution, portfolio management,and opposition practice.

What’s next for Alex in the North East?“In the short term, we are supporting the Durham Universityproposal for a Doctoral Training Centre in PlasticElectronics. This is being led by Professor Andy Monkmanand if successful would mean around 50 PhD studentsproviding the necessary energy and capacity to establishDurham and the North East as the leaders in plasticelectronics. Many students go on to become entrepreneursand HLBBshaw will be contributing to educating thestudents about the basics of innovation, IP protection andcommercialization.”

For further information, please visit www.hlbbshaw.com oremail Alex at [email protected]

Project Topless stands for Thin OrganicPolymeric Light Emitting SemiconductorSurfaces and is headed up by Dr GeoffWilliams of Thorn Lighting. It’s a three year£3.3M project with an aim to produce awhite light emitter from a single polymer.Alex is pictured here with John White,Knowledge Exploitation Manager of DurhamUniveristy and one of the parties to Topless.

Page 7: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

TALKING ABOUT AREVOLUTION

Professor Andy Monkman, Director of the Photonic MaterialsInstitute at Durham University, explains the science behind therevolution of printable electronics and why your mobile phonebattery will soon last weeks instead of days.

A new generation of electronics is starting to make its presencefelt – electronics that can be embedded in a credit card asopposed to a computer, using organic semiconductors insteadof silicon based transistors and memory.

Organic molecules and polymers can be used to make simpledevices such as displays to be used in mobile phones andPDAs. MP3 and personal video players are now starting to bemade from organic semiconductors which emit light whencurrent is passed through them. Very quickly, these Organic LightEmitting Displays are displacing liquid crystal displays at thesmaller end of the market.

Why this sudden revolution? These organic devices are simplerand cheaper to manufacture and, in the case of OLED displays,give much higher quality and rapid refresh rates, ideal for highdefinition TV.

The benefits of using organic molecules and polymers stemsfrom their ease of fabrication into thin film devices and the simplearchitecture of the devices. In the case of polymer materials,these can be dissolved in simple solvents and printed down,using ink jet printing to define the required pattern. The use ofdigital printing also makes the process infinitely reconfigurableand so very cheap for small niche runs and a wide range ofproduct designs. Printing of semiconductors also is a lowtemperature low energy process and so manufacturing costscan greatly be reduced.

For more complex devices, such as active matrix OLED displaysfor phones etc, small organic molecules are used, deposited byvacuum sublimation. This fabrication technique allows multiplelayer structures to be built up very quickly, with each layer beingon average only a few nanometers thick. For a 2 inch TV screen,the total screen thickness is dominated by the glass substrate onwhich the OLED is fabricated but still can be thin. As recentlydemonstrated by Sony, an 11 inch XEL-1 HDTV has a screenonly 2mm thick.

Organic electronics offers totally new design and fabricationmethods, low energy, low waste manufacture, and incrediblenew opportunities to both SMEs and large scale multinationals.

OLEDs are a fairly new discovery, dating back to work at Kodakin the early 1980s. Although there are many earlier reports ofobtaining light from organic molecules by passing 1000s of voltsthrough them, Tang and Van Slyke were the first to realise aproper ‘diode’ architect for their organic molecules such thatthey achieve light generation from only a few volts applied, usingvery thin vacuum deposited films. Their initial work was slowlypicked up, mainly in Japan, but major advances came as Koreatook up the technology.

As with much of organic-based materials technology, specialistspin-out companies from universities have had the major impact:Universal Display Corporation in the USA discovered that the useof phosphorescent emitting molecules in displays increased theirefficiencies from a few percent to over 20%, far higher than canbe achieved with inorganic LEDs. Another company, Novaled inGermany, developed high mobility charge transport layers toefficiently channel current from device electrodes to the organicemitting layer, such that they have achieved record power

efficiencies of more than 150 Lum/W. To put this in context, themost efficient light source we currently have is the small diameterT8 fluorescent tube which can only manage 70-90 Lum/W.

In the UK a complementary technology based onsemiconducting polymers was developed, first at CambridgeUniversity in the group of Professor Sir Richard Friend, beforebeing taken up by a spin-out company Cambridge DisplayTechnology (CDT). Unlike the OLED technology which usesvacuum deposition to fabricate the required thin films, thepolymers are soluble and so can be deposited by a range oftechniques to yield high quality ca. 50 nm thick films, such asspin coating, ink jet printing and gravure printing. CDT dominatesPLED technology making major strides forward both in materialsdevelopment and fabrication as well as device design.

Last year the company was bought by Sumitomo Chemicals ofJapan which is now developing the first products based on thispolymer solution processing technology. Because of the greatpush in materials synthesis and purification, along with far betterunderstanding of the photophysics of these emissive materials,device lifetimes now surpass a million hours for red emitters andmore than 25,000 hours for blue. For display applications, powerefficiency is vital. In the case of LCDs (which are of course a formof organic electronics in their own right) only some 5-10% of thelight from the backlight emerges out of the front of the display,the rest is lost within the display as heat. This is why your mobilephones battery lasts such a short time. OLED based mobilephones will have far longer battery lifetime because they aremuch more power efficient, as well as lighter and thinner. As onlylow temperatures are required during fabrication, plasticsubstrates can also be used. This is an exciting developmentespecially coupled with printing fabrication.

Major research projects throughout the world are currentlyunderway to develop this. In the North East DuPont Teijin and thePrintable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) are leading theway. Finally, with such high power efficiencies the use of OLEDsand PLEDs as white solid state lighting is very enticing.Combining PLED technology with printing onto large area plasticsubstrates is the holy grail and in the North East we lead the UKwith project TOPLESS, led by Thorn Lighting in Spennymoor in aGovernment funded collaboration with Sumation CDT andDurham University. In America GE Corp is also very active inorganic solid state lighting and has been the first to demonstratelarge area lighting panels and more recently the world’s first reel toreel production of printed organic lighting elements, usingSumation CDT materials. Panasonic Matsushita and KonicaMinolta in Japan are also very active in lighting applications.

A step further back from production is the use of organicmaterials in thin film transistor applications. The mainapplications here are in back plane drivers for displays. Fordisplays with greater than about 64,000 pixels, each display pixelhas to have its own drive circuit buried beneath the pixel toactively switch the pixel on or off. At present, these back planesare made from thin film silicon deposited onto the substratewhich is expensive and requires high temperatures, incompatiblewith plastic substrates. This is where organic materials step in.

Several companies are currently ramping up production of firstgeneration organic backplanes for E-paper device. These will beused as electronic books and newspapers. Plastic Logic andPolymer Vision (Philips) are busy setting up new factories toproduce E-books using these back planes and electrophoreticE-ink displays. Many others in Korea, Japan and the US are also

developing similar products. In the North East, research anddevelopment of new production techniques using printing andnovel deposition is headed at PETEC at NETPark wherecompanies and research groups will be able to test designconcepts and novel materials for a variety of products includingoTFTs for flexible displays along with Solid State Lightingapplications and Organic Photovoltaic cells (OPVs).

In Germany, the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden has made greatstrides on the mass production of simple organic circuits,lithographically printed onto plastic substrates in a continuous rollto roll process, much like printing newspapers. Christened‘sloppy electronic’ by Dago de’Leew in Philips, these circuits areaimed at very simple applications such as RFID tags, credit cardchips etc., where many millions of units need to be producedrapidly at cost levels of less than a cent per unit. Roll to rollprinting of organic electronics is ideal for this requirement. Muchof the polymeric material development and supply comes fromMerck, based in Southampton.

The final area of major interest which is just breaking intoproduction is organic photovoltaic cells. Here again the roll to rollprinting of very large areas of OPV on plastic at low cost is themain driver. They would also be much lighter and cheaper thansilicon PV cells so ideal for roof installation and third worldapplications where cost is vital if they are to be persuaded to

replace their reliance on fossil fuels. Two technologies are beingactively pursued at present. Gretzel Cells, named after their Swissinventor, combines organic dyes with titanium oxide particles intothin film solar cells. This mixture is printable and so againcompatible with roll to roll fabrication onto plastic. Efficiencies ashigh as 10% have been reported in the laboratory, howevercurrent mass production techniques reduce the efficiency. G24I inCardiff is the first to successfully commercialise this technology,offering an alternative approach to Gretzel, based on thepolymeric semiconductors, very similar to those used in PLEDtechnology. Konarka in the US is very active in bringing flexiblepolymer OPV to the market place along with Gretzel cell andhybrid approaches. In the North East, Durham University andPETEC aim to bring research and development of OPV to theregion next year, as in the longer term this technology will play amajor role in any high technology-based economy.

‘Plastic Electronics’ or more properly organic electronics isbooming. Given the innovative production possibilities along withlow energy and flexible manufacture, organic electronics will enablecountries like ours to compete on a manufacturing footing with thelikes of Korea and China because we can concentrate on lowervolumes with more rapid response times and combine the UK’sdesign and innovation flair into our manufactured products.

www.durham.ac.uk

Andy completed his degree and PhD at Queen Mary College University of London and then moved to aLectureship in Durham in 1988. He is now a senior member of staff in the Physics Department at DurhamUniversity and Director of the Photonic Materials Institute. His research interests include organic light emittingdisplays, ultrafast laser spectroscopy materials characterisation, optical spectroscopy, and development of newspectroscopic techniques. He has published over 300 academic papers and is currently engaged in acollaborative research project with Thorn Lighting and Sumation CDT around the potential of organic lightemitting diodes.

PROFILE: PROFESSOR ANDY MONKMAN, DIRECTOR,PHOTONIC MATERIALS INSTITUTE, DURHAM UNIVERSITY

Blue PLEDs fabricatedon a reel to reelprocess (GECorporation)

First ever reel to reelproduction of polymericsolid state lighting, ‘the

printed light bulb’ (GE Corp)

Sony demonstrated a 2.5inch VGA TV screen madeon plastic, the world’s first

flexible television

Plastic Logics earlyelectronic paper reader

11

Page 8: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

There is a considerable demand for the creation ofintelligent diagnostic systems that can provide, in a lowcost and easy manner, chemical, biological and physicalinformation about our environment. Such products willhave use in a variety of areas including health,environment, security, and food. Work at the University ofTeesside involves the development of intelligentdiagnostic devices on common low cost media such asplastics using fabrication approaches that are amenableto large scale volume manufacture.

In healthcare, simpler and faster diagnostics close to thepatient, i.e. at the point-of-care, will improve patients’quality of life as well as reducing the financial load onhealthcare systems which are under increasing pressuredue to the ageing population. Intelligent diagnosticsystems will also aid the process of drug discovery toallow individualised treatments of patients rather than onesize fits all.

Food represents a further sector in which intelligentdiagnostics can play an important role since food safetyfrom the farm to the table is a critical issue forconsumers. Food-borne infections remain a major publichealth problem. Food contamination can occur in manydifferent parts of the food chain and can happen,amongst many other reasons, because of improperstorage and poor cleaning regimes of processingequipment. There is, therefore, a need for an intelligentapproach to monitor food contamination. Otheropportunities include monitoring of food freshness andsafety indicators as part of the food packaging.

The development of intelligent diagnostic systems thathave high functionality, are reliable and low cost, requiresnew volume-scale manufacturing techniques and/or theadaptation of existing approaches. These manufacturingtechniques can be developed as part of batch and sheet-based processes or alternatively, for very high volumes,as part of roll-to-roll continuous processing. Themanufacturing approaches include adaptation of cleanroom microfabrication technologies such asphotolithography, wet and dry etching and sputtering.

Other technologies that can be employed, in combinationor independently, are laser microstructuring, embossingand additive printing approaches such as flexography,gravure, screen printing and inkjet printing to create thefunctional components. Such techniques are required to

embed a variety of components including conductors,resistors, transistors, light sources, photodetectors,optical elements and bioactive molecules. The integrationof a variety of different processes is key to achievingreliable functional modules and devices.

As an example of the work that is being carried out atTeesside, we lead the EU FP6 DVT-IMP project that isdeveloping a point-of-care device to contribute to thediagnosis of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and PulmonaryEmbolism (PE) (www.diagnosingdvt.com). Deep VeinThrombosis (DVT) is a condition where blood clots in oneof the body’s deep veins, typically in the leg. DVT and theassociated condition of pulmonary embolism, where theclot lodges in the lung, are the most common causes ofunexpected death in developed countries.

The DVT/PE point-of-care device is based on measuringthe concentration of the d-dimer molecule found in thepatient’s blood. High levels of d-dimer indicate a highlevel of blood clotting. The device itself comprises a metalelectrochemical transducer on a polymer substrate ontowhich is immobilised a bioactive component to recognisethe d-dimer. The electrochemical transducer is integratedas part of a microfluidic cartridge device that is used toprocess the blood. The microfluidic cartridge device isitself inserted in a reader device to carry out the test. Theelectrochemical transducers have been implementedusing photolithography, etching and sputtering processes.

The top layer of the microfluidic cartridge, which is used tohandle the fluids, has been created using hot embossingand micro-injection moulding. In the case of hotembossing, the fluidic architecture is created by pressing,in a highly controlled manner, a metal mould onto aheated polymer substrate. The mould itself can be createdusing a variety of methods including micro-milling. TheUniversity of Teesside is able to create high precision metalmoulds using a photo electroforming approach.

The device will transform diagnosis of DVT - currentlydiagnosis is confirmed by an ultrasound test but this isexpensive and can result in long time delays. The devicebeing developed by the project will be able to indicatewhether the patient is suffering unusually high blood clottingactivity and so predict whether they may be suffering fromDVT and speed him or her on their way for treatment.

www.tees.ac.uk

TRANSFORMINGHEALTHCARE

WITHINTELLIGENT

DIAGNOSTICS

Professor Zulf Ali of the University of Teesside examines how printable electronicswill speed up diagnostics in healthcare and the food sectors.

Professor Ali obtained a BSc in Chemistry and subsequently a PhD in Instrumentationand Analytical Science from the University of Manchester. After a short spell as aResearch Fellow at the University of Warwick he gained an academic position in theDepartment of Pharmacy at the University of Brighton. He Joined the School of Scienceand Technology at the University of Teesside in 1996 and is now Assistant Dean in theSchool with responsibility for Research and Innovation. Prof. Ali is the Project Coordinator for DVT-IMPand has interests in nano-microfabricated systems.

PROFILE: PROFESSOR ALI

13

Page 9: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Printed Electronics used in theinterior of a Jaguar C-XF 200

PLED type printed electronics in useat Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5, 2008

And who thinks manufacturing in the UK is dead whennew manufacturing companies like PolyPhotonix arestarting up?

Richard Kirk, the previous MD of Elumin8, has foundedan exciting high technology lighting company in NorthEast England.

PolyPhotonix will be located in the Printable ElectronicsTechnology Centre (PETEC) at NETPark. He has beensupported, on a technical consultancy basis, by GeoffWillliams (Project Topless) to establish the company, amanufacturing business aimed at producing lighting productbased on ultra thin films of plastics (polymeric organic lightemitting diodes - POLED) which emit high quality white light.These films are thin, 1/2000 the thickness of a human hairand a 1kg bag (less than an average bag of sugar) will coata massive 10,000 square metres.

POLED technology is the first really big advancement ingeneral lighting technology since the introduction offluorescent tubes in the 1940s, and a return to thebirthplace of the first electric incandescent light bulb, bythe North East’s Joseph Swan in 1878.

Timing is everything – and PolyPhotonix seems to bewith the zeitgeist.

The plastic electronics industry is at a tipping point. The

transition from laboratory investigation and research ismoving to real applications and meeting real needs.

PolyPhotonix has recently been created to demonstrateto the wider industry how to manufacture POLEDdevices in large volumes and with very high yields.This is a crucially important step and, without it, theindustry will take far longer to come to market.

POLED is effectively a flat printed light source. It can beprinted to glass or plastic and is very energy efficient. Amajor advantage of the technology is the fact that beinglow voltage DC driven it is the perfect solution to lightwith renewable energy sources (PV, OPV, wind etc) thatall deliver DC power.

PolyPhotonix will be manufacturing devices for theautomotive, architectural lighting and medical industries.These markets are attracted to the physicality of POLEDbeing flat and eventually flexible. This means that it isextremely easy and cost-effective to update a number ofapplications – from displays within a car dashboard tothe whole interior of the car itself. Designers willultimately decide this as they start to use the newmaterials that PolyPhotonix is manufacturing.

For further information, please contact PETEC on 01642455340

POLYPHOTONIX: LIGHTINGTECHNOLOGY RETURNSTO ITS BIRTHPLACE

Page 10: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

The consortium is currently researching the materialsthat will help to make solar generated – or photovoltaic –electricity competitive with retail electricity prices by theyear 2020. The £6.2m grant from the Engineering andPhysical Sciences Research Council is the second roundof funding for the PV21 SUPERGEN consortium, whichreceived £4.5m in 2004.

The money will be distributed between the eight membersof the consortium to fund a four-year cycle of research.

The £850,000 funding to Northumbria’s PhotovoltaicsApplications Centre (NPAC) is to continue itsinvestigations into introducing low-cost materials to theproduction of thin-film photovoltaic cells to reduce theirthickness and help bring down their manufacturing costs.

Copper indium gallium diselenide is the highestperformance photovoltaic material currently used in thin-film cells. However, over the last four years indium andgallium costs have reached up to $1,000 per kilogram.

The costs of these materials make up over 30% of theprice of the cells, posing a possible barrier to thecompetitiveness of this technology.

The Northumbria researchers are working on reducingand replacing gallium and indium with materials that costless than $10 per kilogram, such as aluminium, giving amassive saving in cost which could eventually reduce theprice of photovoltaic materials energy by a staggering93%.

Dr Ian Forbes, the Principal Investigator for the project,from the Northumbria Photovoltaics Applications Centre,said: “The announcement of this new round of funding isfantastic news for both NPAC and the School ofComputing, Engineering and Information Sciences.

“It enables us to continue with our research and build uponthe achievements we have made over the last four years toreduce the costs of thin-film inorganic solar cells.

“These thin film devices are less than 100th of thethickness of crystalline silicon, which is currently thedominant photovoltaic material used in the production ofsolar cells.

“Crystalline silicon currently makes up around 90% or moreof the current photovoltaic industry. However it is nowrecognised by many in the field that the thin-filmtechnology is the best route to bringing photovoltaicgenerated electricity to the commercial market, making it

competitive with retail electricity prices in the next 10-15years.

“Simply by reducing the thickness of materials, we haveproduced cells that deliver 70% of the performance ofgallium free devices whilst using less than 40% of thematerial.

“And using aluminium as an alternative to gallium, wehave already been able to make the thin-film deviceusing a scalable processing route.

“We believe we are only the fourth group in the world toproduce devices from this material and the first to do sousing this technique.

“In the renewed project, we aim to introduce the aluminiuminto the ultra-thin films to improve performance as well asinvestigating completely indium and gallium free materials.”

Professor Peter Strike, Deputy Vice-Chancellor(Research & Enterprise), said: “The announcement ofsuch a substantial grant is fantastic news for thePhotovoltaic Applications Centre and the University.

“The £6.2m award to SUPERGEN from EPSRC isrecognition of the success of this hugely importantproject in developing sustainable energy production.

“The large proportion of the grant held by Northumbriareflects the high academic standing of the team here atthe University, and the real contribution they make to thisproject, alongside colleagues from some of the bestresearch-intensive Universities in the UK.

“The success of this project, and the continuation offunding, is a tribute to the quality of Dr Forbes and histeam and a matter of considerable pride for the University.”

The SUPERGEN initiative aims to help the UK meet itsenvironmental emissions targets through a radicalimprovement in the sustainability of power generationand supply.

The other universities in the consortium are Bath,Cranfield, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial College, NEWIand Southampton.

Northumbria University has been a leading name inEuropean photovoltaic research for almost 25 years,providing expert research and consultancy services forindustrial and commercial projects.

www.northumbria.ac.uk

RADICALLY REDUCETHE COST OF SOLARENERGYNorthumbria University is part of a consortium that has been awarded a major grantof £6.2m to radically reduce the cost of solar energy.

17

Page 11: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

KEEPING OURENERGYSUPPLY SAFEAND SECURE

GAS. It’s always there. At the flick of a switch, at theturn of a control. It’s there. Available to heat ourhomes, provide hot water, cook our food. To providethe energy which fuels our businesses.

But how does it get to us; what journey does it have tomake before it makes our lives so comfortable?

Well, in northern England that’s all down to Northern GasNetworks, the company which distributes gas to 2.5million users across the North East, northern Cumbriaand most of Yorkshire. They have 36,000 km of pipesand mains, seamlessly delivering gas to where it’sneeded. Homes and businesses rely on it for warmth,water and manufacturing capacity.

Northern Gas Networks is a relatively new name on theindustrial landscape. It was created in June 2005, takingownership of the pipeline assets and associatedequipment delivering the essential fuel of 21st centurylife.

We all take gas for granted. It’s there 24 hours every day,keeping us warm and clean. And that’s the way NorthernGas Networks wants it to be. Their services are largelyinvisible – the pipes and equipment are usually buriedsafely underground. The only visible signs are the largegasholders at the edges of our towns and cities, whichprovide additional gas at times of peak demand – whenyou get up in the morning and when you’re returninghome from work at teatime.

You may occasionally see them blocking our roads,when they’re investing in our future replacing old metalpipes with the new yellow plastic ones. Theinconvenience they cause can be painful, causing delaysand frustration. But think what might happen if the oldmetal pipes were left in the ground, deteriorating overtime until they were unfit for purpose.

“Every year we replace around 500km of old pipes with

new ones,” said Basil Scarsella. He’s the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Northern Gas Networks.

“We replace them before they start to cause anyproblems, before there’s any risk, to ensure thateveryone can continue to take gas for granted,” he said.

The company works closely with local highwaysauthorities to carefully plan mains replacement works –they don’t like to disrupt people’s lives by carrying outthe replacement work.

“The next time you’re stuck in traffic, just think that thenew plastic pipes going into the ground are to ensureyou’re kept warm – and safe – in your home and atwork. We don’t plan to cause any inconvenience, but itis inevitable that there will be some as we work to keepyour gas supply safe and secure.”

Northern Gas Networks has outsourced all operationalactivities to United Utilities, which works closely with arange of operating partners to replace the region’spopulation of metal gas pipes.

“It’s not easy planning the replacement of more than500km of pipes each year,” said Mr Scarsella. “But byworking closely with local people, the councils and otherrepresentatives, we plan the work carefully andconsiderately. We put ourselves in your shoes, and thatway get the replacement work completed quickly andsafely.”

And the company is responsible for delivering the 24/7gas emergency service. “Our engineers are on callaround the clock, every day, responding to gasemergency calls from wherever they are made in ourregion. Our engineers are highly trained and their role inlife, like that of Northern Gas Networks itself, is to ensurethat the safety of gas users is always safeguarded,” saidMr Scarsella.

19

LEFT: Basil Scarsella, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Northern Gas Networks

MAIN PIC: This year Northern GasNetworks will replace 528km of old metalpipes with new polyethylene pipes acrossthe North of England

Page 12: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

IRIS Engineering and Technology is a company expertin project managing specialist facilities for hightechnology companies. Based at NETPark in thePrintable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC), IRISis a new breed of technology consultants. RobertPreston, Managing Director of IRIS, spoke toNETWorks about how customer focus has been thekey to the company’s success.

Although a young company, IRIS has already amassed animpressive array of clients including Caterpillar, NewcastleUniversity, Teesside University, Plastic Logic, SanofiAvensis, Veolia, National Semiconductor and the Atmelbuilding.

“It’s our specialism – high-tech facilities for electronicsinclude a myriad of often conflicting demands. The cleanrooms at PETEC for example are essential to developingthe new technology of printable electronics but they placea whole different set of demands on a building thanordinary laboratory space.

“It may sound obvious but clean rooms require a totally“clean” environment: for example the amount ofparticulates such as dust in our living rooms is between 1& 5 million per m3 @ 0.5 micron. In a class 100 cleanroom that drops to 3520 per m3 @ 0.5 micron. Somechanical and electrical engineering systems to supportclean rooms are complex, with factors such as high levelof extraction to take into consideration.”

It doesn’t stop there of course – there’s the human factorto consider. Humans going back and forth between cleanrooms and laboratories could potentially take with themhuge amounts of particulates in the form of dust, skincells, and exhaled particles. Hence the pictures ofscientists all wrapped in white suits. IRIS takes care ofthat aspect too.

“Yes, humans can contaminate the clean roomenvironment and destroy valuable experiments anddevelopment work if entrance and exit is not strictlycontrolled. But it’s also about protection. Clean rooms areoften used for developing such technologies asnanotechnology and so health and safety policies that arestrictly enforced are essential.

“When we first started, we decided that we would makeit easy for clients and manage the whole process forthem if they wished. Yes, we can design high techfacilities but we can also manage the installation, oversee

the development of associated policies of use of thefacilities, and manage the entire facility on an ongoingbasis.”

This focus has led IRIS to expand rapidly. IRIS hadpreviously worked for the owners of PETEC (thenCenamps, now merged with CPI) on a clean room projectat Newcastle University. The work included ConceptDesign, Project Management, Planning Co-ordinator andSpecialist Detailed Design. This package of worksencompassed the whole ethos of IRIS in that thecompany employs a team of professionals who can covermany differing aspects of a project under one contractand as such offers the client significant cost andcommunication benefit within a project scope. IRIS wassuccessful in securing the contract after competitivetender, and the works were completed successfully in co-operation with the University Estates Team. This was thefirst contract of this nature undertaken with the Universityand surpassed the expectations of all concerned.

To complete the set of services on offer to clients, IRISalso offers environmental services which include energymanagement to reduce costs, and specialist wastemanagement which takes care of potentially hazardouswaste.

While customer focus has always been a cornerstone ofthe company, IRIS has kept up with the times. IRIS alsooffers climate change, carbon footprint and emissiontrading audits to help clients become more sustainableand more aware of their impact on the environment.

What else does the future hold for IRIS?

IRIS is a company that is already benefiting from thePrintable Electronics Technology Centre. Having workedon a number of such flagship projects, the company isplanning to take on another eight members of staff by theend of the year.

“Now we’ve worked on projects like PETEC and theAtmel building, we are further developing our client basein this area. We would wish to be partner of choice forany regional business that is looking for a company thatcan add value to its business, be it in the construction orexpansion of a facility to the introduction of anenvironmental\energy policy to enable focused energyawareness with bottom line savings.”

For further information, please visit www.iriset.co.uk

AN EYE FORSUCCESS

Page 13: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

From green fields to dynamicscience park in next to no time

The first building, the NETPark ResearchInstitute was opened in 2004. 2200 sq mspecifically designed for R&D and lowvolume complex equipment prototypingand manufacture. Leased to DurhamUniversity for two world-class researchgroups: the Centre for AdvancedInstrumentation and the SemiconductorCrystal Growth and Ceramics Group.

The Innovation Village will also commencethis year. 5 bespoke R&D pods for growingand/or investing companies, developed byHelios City. The total size will be 2500 sq m -units in multiples of 250 sq m

Phase 2 of the NETParkIncubator is on schedule. Totalprojected size 2252 sq m, fundedby Durham County Council, OneNorthEast and ERDF.

Phase 1 of the NETParkIncubator followed a year later.

1600 sq m of office, work andlaboratory space and meetingrooms. Already 100% full.

This year NETPark will be the fastest-growing science park in the UK.

Construction of the Printable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) is now complete.

A 3,000 sq m national flagship facility for the development and exploitation of direct writetechnologies and flexible functional materials (FFM); revolutionary technology thatindependent forecasts predict will be a $16 billion industry by 2015. Managed by CPI, thecentre is 1 of only 4 currently being built in the world.

NETPark is North East England’s science, engineeringand technology park for the commercialisation ofcutting edge R&D. Companies thrive at NETParkbecause of:� State of the art facilities and room to grow on aprestige site� Low operating costs� Excellent transport links� A skilled workforce

Companies at NETPark have access to cutting edgeresearch from five universities within 30 minutes driveand tailored business support that enables them toachieve their potential. They are part of a like-mindedcommunity that enables each company to flourish,grow and compete with the best in the world.

NETPark’s focus is on the physical sciences,particularly printable electronics, microelectronics,photonics, nanotechnology, and their application in thefields of energy, defence, and medical-relatedtechnologies.

13 hectares (Phase 1) are already fully serviced andanother 3 hectare area is in the process of being madeavailable.

NETPark is developed by a partnership led by DurhamCounty Council including Sedgefield Borough Council,One NorthEast and all 5 regional universities.Management and promotion of NETPark is in the handsof County Durham Development Company, DurhamCounty Council’s inward investment arm. Helios Cityis the preferred developer for Phase 1.

For more information, visit www.uknetpark.net oremail [email protected]

ABOUT NETPARK...

23

Page 14: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

25

Page 15: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

REVOLUTIONISINGTHE LIGHTINGINDUSTRYEighteen months ago, Dr Geoff Williams and his teamembarked on a major project to revolutionise thelighting industry. Mike Parker discovers that halfwaythrough the three-year investigation, things are hottingup.

THE scientific world is littered with the debris of greatraces to plant the first flag in a particular technologicalrevolution. For every VHS, there is a Betamax. Thesuccessors have lived on in our daily lives, the losersbecome but a distant memory.

In the lighting industry, just such a technological battle isshaping up that will have a profound impact on the waywe illuminate our lives. Two giants of the market, Philipsand Zumtobel, are battling head-to-head to produce nextgeneration light sources – and they are using verydifferent methods to meet that end goal.

Dr Geoff Williams of Thorn Lighting, a subsidiary ofZumtobel, is the creator and leader of Project Topless(Thin Organic Polymeric Light Emitting SemiconductorSurfaces) which is producing a single polymeric materialthat will emit white light.

In layman’s terms, it is an ultra-thin sheet of plastictopped with a conductive layer that is 1/2000th the widthof a human hair which, when electricity is passed throughit, is capable of producing light similar to sunlight.

Thorn, based in Spennymoor, County Durham, is theUK’s largest lighting manufacturer and Dr Williams hasteamed up with photonics research experts from DurhamUniversity and Sumation, a joint venture betweenCambridge Design Technologies and Japanese companySumitomo.

The competition, led by Philips, is a 20-strongcollaborative group working on the OLLA (Organic LEDtechnology for Lighting Applications) project.

Where Topless aims to produce a single layer solution,OLLA is more complicated and uses small molecules inmulti-layer structures. The former uses relatively simpleprinting technology, whilst the Philips version requiresmolecules be deposited under high vacuum.

Topless started behind OLLA but has since eclipsed it inquality of light produced. Dr Williams says: “Topless isperforming extremely well. We didn’t have a single whitelight-emitting polymer when we started and over the last18 months we have developed a high-quality single light-emitting polymer with an output efficiency of 15-16lumens/watt and that is without outcoupling (optimisingthe efficient extraction of light from the device).

“Our materials are eminently exploitable and cancompete on a like-for-like basis with any other product atthis time. Nothing in the OLLA project has given uscause for concern.”

As with all emerging technologies, the ability to turnexciting laboratory developments in to commercially-viable products is the key. It has to be reliable, scalableand produced at a price consumers are prepared to pay.

Topless is now at the stage where it is ready to startstepping out of the lab and into the manufacturing plant,but this may take a little while to happen. Dr Williamsexplains: “Unfortunately, we do not yet have thecapability to do small volume manufacturing productionat this time. But, this will soon change – watch thisspace!

“It really is an exciting time in this technology platformand it is equally exciting for County Durham. There isnothing like this in the northern hemisphere and youwould be hard pushed to see it in the Far East either. It isa unique technology business opportunity.”

Efforts to begin small-scale manufacturing have beengreatly helped by the completion of the PrintableElectronics Technology Centre (PETEC) at the North EastTechnology Park (NETPark). The £9.5M facility is one ofonly four centres worldwide with the capability to provideprototype manufacturing for printable electronics. It is alsoa significant reason for Zumtobel investing in the Thornand Topless project in County Durham, having previouslyconsidered moving operations to Eastern Europe.

One of the first tenants at PETEC is a company calledPolyPhotonix which has already enlisted Dr Williams as ascientific adviser. Once established, it will be in a positionto start the prototyping process.

Dr Williams explains: “PolyPhotonix will effectively build apilot manufacturing line to demonstrate the scale-upcapability of Topless out of the research laboratory and into a manufacturing environment. It won’t have the abilityto produce high volume but it will have the ability to de-risk the technology for the next stage which will be highvolume manufacturing.”

In terms of volume, PolyPhotonix will be looking toproduce between 3,000 to 6,000 square metres of solidstate lighting a year. This production is expected tomultiply exponentially to three to six million square metresa year in high volume production. Dr Williams anticipatesproduction will start within the next 12 months andexpects high-volume manufacturing to be a possibility bythe start of 2011.

In addition to plans to begin small-scale manufacturing,Dr Williams’s team is also looking at alternative metalsthat it can use to replace indium tin oxide, a transparentconductive coating used in displays and otherapplications that is becoming an increasingly scarceresource. Project Topless is working with glassmanufacturer Pilkington to discover alternative metalsthat will give enhanced performance.

For a man that is North East born and bred, thetechnological innovation that is occurring 30 miles fromthe place where Joseph Swan first demonstrated hiselectric lightbulb is deeply satisfying for Dr Williams.

He says: “We are bringing a high-tech manufacturingbase into a region which has a strong heritage in thisarea. We are basically turning the wheel. Instead ofmanufacturing going offshore to low wage countriesthere is an opportunity to set up successful newmanufacturing technologies here in the UK.”

Despite Project Topless being only halfway through itsthree-year lifespan, Dr Williams is already having toconsider the next phase and where to secure funding.Fifty per cent of the funding for the current progammewas secured under the Department of Trade andIndustry (DTI) Technology Programme which investsdirectly in new and emerging technologies and has beendesigned to help businesses work collaboratively withacademic partners. He is hopeful that the board can bepersuaded to invest further in taking the technology theextra step necessary to make it truly commercially viable.

Dr Williams is also working closely with the likes of theCounty Durham Development Company (CDDC) – whichmanages NETPark on behalf of Durham County Council- and CPI.

There is a strong argument for such investment.

The environment has become a main staple of the politicalagenda rather than the fringe issue it once was. Artificiallighting accounts for between 20-25% of all electricityconsumption and the work Topless is doing onconduction has the ability to reduce that consumption bytenfold – dropping the amount of energy consumed bylighting to a mere 2% working off a simple DC battery.

Furthermore, it is incredibly long-lasting and a singlekilogram of active material is capable of coating ten millionsquare metres of device.

The overall environmental impact of this is clear. Not only willit reduce energy consumption, it will also reduce waste, cutpackaging and shrink the carbon footprint of companies.

Running alongside Topless is another significant researchproject. A coalition between Thorn, DuPont Teijin Filmsand the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is working ona near £1m experiment to develop polyester film with aprotective cover capable of commercialisation. ENTALS –or Encapsulated Technologies for Advanced LightingSystems – is another three-year project that willcompliment work carried out under Project Topless.

All told, the technological advances being made in CountyDurham are setting pulses racing for experts in the field.The added frisson of competition only heightens thatexcitement.

It is too early yet to tell which technology will be thewinner - or, for that matter, if only one will win out.However, it is fair to say that Project Topless is inincredible shape and, with the regional support and world-leading developments such as PETEC, it is on course totransform the way we light our lives in the future.

Durham’s laser laboratory

25cm2

light emitting panel

27

Page 16: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Scarcely a day passes without another press reportcontaining bad news about the state of the economy.The current difficult situation presents challenges forcompanies developing new technological products, inaddition to those faced by any business.

Regardless of the level of confidence in the economy,companies developing new technology are subject to thecost of raw materials and labour, and must often facecompetition from companies based in countries wherelabour costs are significantly less than in the UK. Inaddition, significant managerial and financial resourcesneed to be committed to research and development. Therecent increases in the cost of raw materials and energy,and the increased difficulty of obtaining finance will havemade it more difficult for many such companies tocompete. On top of this, reduced consumer confidencecan have the effect of reducing the number of availablecustomers, who may also be targeted by competitors.What can such companies do to help get through thepresent economic difficulties? One way is to develop newand innovative technology and to use the intellectualproperty system to protect that technology fromcompetition.

This is all fine in theory, but obtaining the necessaryintellectual property rights to enforce against a competitorinevitably involves cost, and any additional cost isunwelcome in the present climate. Worse still, failure toprotect new products could have serious consequenceswhen customer confidence recovers. Here we presentsome tips on how to use the patent system more costeffectively to try to avoid this.

The following relates to patents, since these offer the mostvaluable form of intellectual property protection forcompanies developing technical products, because theyprotect inventions which consist of technical improvementsover the prior art. Other intellectual property rights such ascopyright, unregistered design right, trade marks,registered designs and know-how may also be useful tocompanies developing technical products, but these aregenerally of most use in addition to, rather than instead of,patents, and therefore are not discussed in detail here.

It is fair to say that in the process of instructing a patentattorney to prepare an application for a patent, most of thecost is represented by the patent attorney’s time in draftingthe patent application. It follows that if some of theattorney’s time can be saved, then cost savings should

follow. Here are some cost-free steps you can take beforeinstructing a patent attorney which should result insignificant cost savings when applying for patents.

1. Do your own prior art searchIn order to be patentable, an invention must be newcompared with anything made available to the public,anywhere in the world, before the date of applying for apatent. Information made available to the public in this wayis known as prior art. Often, companies apply for patentsbefore carrying out a search to determine whether theirinventions are new, mainly in order to prevent the timetaken to do a search from delaying the filing of the patentapplication. The UK Intellectual Property Office or theEuropean Patent Office will carry out a prior art search afterthe patent application has been filed. If the invention is thenshown not to be new, the cost of preparing and filing thepatent application has been wasted.

The risk of wasting resources in this way can be reduced,by carrying out your own prior art search on one of theexcellent free databases available, such as Espacenetprovided by the European Patent Office(http://ep.espacenet.com), or the search database of theUS Patent and Trademark Office (http://patft.uspto.gov/). Asearch carried out in this way is less likely to find relevantprior art than one carried out by a firm of full timesearchers, but you may find the piece of prior art which willprevent you obtaining a patent before you have spentvaluable resources on applying.

In practice, a prior art search will show that an invention isnot new if it produces a single document disclosing all ofthe features of your invention. If no single documentshowing all of the features of your invention is located, thenthe invention is, as far as you are aware, new.

2. Consider whether your invention is inventiveAs well as being new, an invention must involve aninventive step in order to be patentable. This means thatthe invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in theart, when compared with the single most relevant item ofprior art. Let us suppose that you carry out a prior artsearch using one of the free databases mentioned aboveand find one or more documents which describe some,but not all, of the features of your invention, and which aremore relevant than the prior art of which you were awarebefore you did the search. Your invention must not beobvious to the skilled person, when compared to the singlemost relevant of these documents.

USING INTELLECTUALPROPERTY TO HELPYOU SURVIVEDIFFICULT TIMES

By considering whether your invention involves an inventivestep, using the same method used by the European PatentOffice when it examines patent applications, you can betterdecide whether it is worth committing funds to applying fora patent. The method works as follows.

Compare your invention with the most relevant single itemof prior art of which you are aware, and identify whatadvantages the new features of your invention provide overthat single most relevant piece of prior art. Theseadvantages can be thought of as solutions to a technicalproblem in the closest prior art. This problem may becompletely different from the problem you actually solved indevising the invention, since you may have been unawareof the closest prior art identified in the search.

If a person skilled in your technical field were to try to solvethis technical problem with the closest prior art, would it beobvious to that person to solve the problem in the sameway as your invention? If you are unable to think of aplausible reason why not, then this may prevent you fromobtaining patent protection. Bear in mind whether thepotentially inventive features will be present in the productyou intend to sell, otherwise you may be spending valuableresources on protection which might not be enforceableagainst your competitors. By considering this problembefore a patent application is filed, unnecessary costs canbe avoided. Although you should not base a decisionwhether a patent application is to be filed entirely on thisanalysis, it will give you a useful basis to seek advice from apatent attorney, and will save considerable amounts of timeand money. It should also provide you with a useful tool inidentifying potentially patentable inventions as soon aspossible as they are developed.

You should bear in mind that it is possible that theexaminer in the UK Intellectual Property Office or theEuropean Patent Office may find more relevant prior artthan that on which your analysis of inventiveness is based– after all, the examiner does searches like this all day,every day. However, doing your own search in step 1 andinventive step analysis in step 2 may prevent you fromwasting money.

3. Prepare a detailed description of the invention toassist the patent attorneyA patent application must contain a description of at leastone example of the invention in sufficient detail to enable aperson skilled in the art to put the invention into effect.Nobody is in a better position than you to prepare this,

since you invented the product and know it better thananyone else.

If it appears that your invention may be new and inventive,and you decide to apply for a patent, prepare a detaileddescription of your invention or prototype, explaining whatthe advantages of the various features are. By way ofillustration, the drafting paper of the qualifying examinationsof the UK Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys testswhether candidates can draft claims to protect an inventionby providing an idealised detailed description of a product,usually with a letter from a fictitious client containing varioustraps for the unwary. In other words, it is assumed thatsteps 1, 2 and 3 have already been carried out, and theexamination candidate is provided with the task of draftingclaims, and completing the application based on yourdetailed description.

As is to be expected, real life is usually very different! Often,step 1 is not carried out at all before the patent applicationis filed, and step 2 (on the basis of the availableinformation) is carried out at an initial meeting with thepatent attorney, who then asks for step 3 in order toprepare the patent application. By carrying out steps 1 to 3yourself, you can assist the patent attorney enormouslyand save considerable costs.

4. Do not try to write the claimsLet the patent attorney do this. Your time is more valuablyspent preparing the detailed description of the invention.

Carrying out steps 1 to 3 above before you consult apatent attorney will almost certainly save costs by enablingyou to identify which inventions are more likely to beprotectable, and is generally a good practice to help youkeep track of technical developments within your company.This will enable you to either reduce your patent budget oruse it to maximum effect.

This information is provided for guidance only and does notdeal with specific problems. For more information, pleasecontact:UDL, Cale Cross House, Pilgrim Street,Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6SUTel: 0191 261 8573Fax: 0191 222 [email protected]

Martin Vinsome is a Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney. UDL is oneof the UK’s largest firms of patent attorneys with offices in Newcastle, Leeds,Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Cardiff and London, with 3 qualified UK and Europeanpatent attorneys, together with technical support staff, permanently based in ourNewcastle office. We are happy to provide an initial consultation in intellectual propertymatters free of charge.

PROFILE: MARTIN VINSOME

29

Page 17: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

� The UK Parliament Select Committee for Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills for plastic electronicsengineering has been advised by Sir David King, the government's former chief scientific advisor, that thegovernment must "back to the hilt" British investment in plastic electronics engineering.

� The Joint Submission to the Committee from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department forBusiness, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform observes:

“The Plastic Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) is being established at Sedgefield as a national prototypingoperation, providing world class facilities and services to a UK-wide network in plastic electronics. PETEC will bedeveloping manufacturing processes compatible with preproduction volumes, when fully functional later in 2008, and,as such, be able to help bridge the gap between the small scale laboratory demonstrators and high-volumeproduction runs required for marketable products. The Centre should be very beneficial to small companies looking todevelop products based on plastic electronics.”

� NanoMarkets, an industry analyst firm, estimates the market for printable electronics will be worth over $7 billion in2010 driven by demand for printable displays, RFID, photovoltaics, computer memory and other printable products.

� A research group in Europe has taken a major step towards the goal of developing printable electronics that can beused for creating RFID tags. Researchers in the EU-funded CONTACT project have demonstrated that with suitableinks and printers, organic liquid crystal displays and other optical electronic devices can be printed out precisely.

� In July, Science Daily reported that market analysts are predicting a 10 fold increase in the value of the organic lightemitting display industry, from £1.5 billion to £15.5 billion, by 2014. Scientists and governments alike are keen toadvance research into "plastic electronics" breakthrough materials that have potential applications such as electronicbillboards, flexible laptops, and high-definition television screens only one centimetre thick. Other excitingdevelopments are likely to be in the field of bionics, including the development of materials sensitive but flexibleenough to replicate skin, which could be used by robots in situations where a sense of touch is crucial.

� Also in July, Gizmag reported that the addition of new printers to the PE industry's installed base will boost itsmanufacturing capacity from negligible amounts today to around 400 million square metres by the end of 2013,sufficient to produce almost $40 billion in printed electronics products.

LATESTHEADLINES

STOP PRESS!! DURHAM OUTPERFORMS NASA AND HARVARD

THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONRECENTLY LOOKED AT THE 'HEAVY

HITTERS' IN SPACE SCIENCE OVER THELAST 10 YEARS AND RATED DURHAM

UNIVERSITY NUMBER 1 IN EUROPE ANDNUMBER 4 IN THE WORLD.

Page 18: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Ceremony & DinnerThe North East’s premier healthcare business awards

Hilton Newcastle GatesheadThursday 4th December 2008

CELEBRATING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF NORTHEAST ENGLAND’S HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

Nominations are now open for this year’s awards, which promise tobe another entertaining celebration of the region’s success.

Closing date for nominations is Friday 17th October 2008. Winners will be revealed at a high profile awardsceremony on Thursday 4th December 2008 at the prestigious Hilton Newcastle Gateshead.

At last year’s inaugural awards ceremony,300 of the region’s healthcare leadersgathered to witness and celebrate the

success of regional healthcare companies.Wendy Gibson, a familiar face in the

North East who has presented BBC Look Northfor a number of years, led the evening’s proceedings as shewill again at this year’s awards ceremony, and Alan Hinkes

OBE entertained and inspired with stories of his expeditionsscaling the world’s highest peaks.

Chris Ryan is confirmed as after dinner speaker!Native Geordie Chris is now a leading bestselling author. An SAS hero, Chris holds theBritish Military record for a solo escape frombehind enemy lines, when in 1991 hetravelled 200 miles from Iraq to Syria. Hisjourney took eight days with no food and practically no water,after the infamous Bravo Two Zero mission was compromised.Chris featured in his own TV series on the BBC, "HuntingChris Ryan," and is an inspirational and entertaining speaker

� Innovation Award, sponsored by NHSInnovations North

For the development of an innovative technology,design and/or process that has produced a majorimprovement in business performance, end userand/or patient benefit

� Export Achievement Award, sponsored byUKTI

For maximising opportunities to exploit anddevelop new market and/or outstandingperformance in other areas of international trade

� Start-up Award, sponsored byMurgitroyd & Co

For newly established companies in the healthcaresector that show a promising future

� Outstanding Growth Award, sponsored bySintons Solicitors

For consistent, sustainable and profitable growthin the sector

� Partnership with the NHS Award, sponsoredby the North East Strategic Health Authority

For the development of a partnership incollaboration with the NHS that has/will havemajor impact/benefit.

The Business for Life Awards 2008 consists of five different categories:

Book your tickets now or book a table of 10 for £500 + VAT, or book a table of 10 at the reduced rate of £500 + VAT

To nominate your company and book your place at the awards ceremony visitwww.celsatlife.com/awards

Page 19: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

Established in the UK in May 1990, C.C. Jensen Ltd isdedicated to maintaining clean oil in hydraulic,lubrication, fuel, thermal and quench oil systems tominimise plant maintenance costs and maximise plantlife and performance.

C.C. Jensen Ltd specialises in the sale and distributionto the UK market place of products manufactured bytheir parent company. The parent company C.C. JensenA/S manufactures oil purification and oil managementsystems at their head office in Svedborg, Denmark.

To complement their range of CJC Filtration Equipment,C.C. Jensen Ltd can provide a comprehensive supportservice in oil maintenance to ensure that all of theircustomers can achieve optimum benefits frommaintaining clean oil systems. The service provides a freeinitial survey, can include oil analysis, interpretation andrecommendations for oil maintenance solutions.

C.C. Jensen A/S, which was established 54 years ago,is dedicated to the protection of the environment, with allof the CJC Filter Inserts manufactured beingenvironmentally friendly. General UK Sales and ServicesManager, Bryan Holden, said “We offer environmentalbenefits. We maintain the fluid in the customer’s oilsystem so they don’t have to dispose of it. An additionalvery important benefit is prolonged component life. Thefilters that we manufacture are all made from earthbornproducts, for example cellulose and cotton. There is noplastic or steel in the filter inserts. We have a reallyenvironmentally friendly product.”

The CJC Filters can simultaneously remove allcontaminants from the oil, whether it is water, particles,oxidation, acidity or any other component that is notwanted in oil. By removing these contaminants, C.C.Jensen’s customers are able to operate their systemsmore efficiently. Bryan Holden said “Our competitors willoften remove only one contaminant with one piece ofequipment, then another contaminant with another pieceof equipment, where we can do it all simultaneously.”

C.C. Jensen Ltd offers a range of CJC Filters, which aredesigned for off-line filtration, each with its owncirculating pump and motor. All the CJC Filters provideultra fine 3 µm filtration with very high dirt holdingcapacity and water absorption or separation. All CJCFilter units can be supplied as fixed installations or asmobile units.

C.C. Jensen Ltd has 4 main product lines:

CJC Fine FiltersRemove particles, absorb oxidation and absorb water.CJC Filter SeparatorsRemove particles, absorb water and separate water(continuously)CJC DesorbersRemove water from emulsified oils (can be combinedwith filtration)CJC Vacuum FiltersRemove oxygen, moisture acids and particles fromtransformer fluids

C.C. Jensen Ltd is also a member of the Institute ofDiesel and Gas Turbine Engineers, a professional bodythat serves the interests of members and promotes thesharing of knowledge of diesel engine and gas turbinetechnology, with special emphasis on users.

Bryan Holden said “We are currently concentrating on acouple of new areas, which include oxidation removalfrom gas turbines and also landfill gas filtration. Theseare two areas where we have decided that some of ourstaff should focus, which is also why we became a partof this association. We also have a dedicated personfocusing on heat treatment quench oil systems andthermal oil systems.”

For the past five years, C.C. Jensen Ltd has beenactively involved in the Wind Turbine Industry and veryforward-thinking with regards to renewable energy andpower generation. The company supplies the CJCFiltration systems for the wind turbine gear boxes andalso the pitch hydraulics.

At the moment, C.C. Jensen Ltd, whose UK head officeis in County Durham, is currently going through anexpansion, with new staff being brought in to cover all ofthe company’s operations in Scotland. Also, some timein the future, more staff will be introduced to expandoperations in the South of England. It is this continuousexpansion that has made CJC one of the leadingcompanies in the industry.

For more information on CJC or any of its products visitwww.ccjensen.co.uk, email [email protected],telephone 01388 420721 or fax 01388 420718.

SOLUTIONS IN OILFILTRATION

Page 20: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008

LEARNING TO BE FLEXIBLE FRIENDLY

Thinking about printable electronics calls to mind the television advertfor a certain credit card that ran a number of years back.

The strap line that accompanied a cute cartoon graphic was that thecard was your ‘flexible friend’.

Standing on the brink of the revolutionary flexible functional materialsthat printable electronics has the potential to create – a potential fullyexplored in this issue of NETWorks – it’s easy to see that new materialsand new products can be our new ‘flexible friends’.

We need to embrace these friends and make the mental leap fromthinking about plastic as the material of garden furniture, children’s toysand plumbing accessories to the world of "smart" electronic devicessuch as electronic newspapers, flexible laptops, high-definition televisionscreens only one centimetre thick, identification tags, programmablecredit cards ...

This month’s editor’s letter has already referred to the ‘spirit ofinnovation’ that is alive in our region and the national and internationalsignificance of PETEC has been made abundantly clear by Bob Coxon.With innovation, design flair and infrastructure in place, the region candevelop new materials and products that will have a huge impact on theway we live.

And that will also have huge implications for the world we inhabit.Lighter, thinner, more efficient materials that can actually bring downmanufacturing costs and save energy – helping the UK meet itschallenging environmental emissions targets.

And then there are the healthcare benefits. Simpler, faster diagnosticsand clothes that monitor your health. It brings a whole new meaning tothe phrase ‘you are what you wear’.

Smart technology. And the smartest thing of all is the fact that the NorthEast is leading the world in this new technology.

Stewart WatkinsManaging DirectorCounty Durham Development Company

Final word

Page 21: NETWorks Magazine Autumn 2008