One Singaporean company and four businesses based in England will collaborate with Scottish universities on new projects following funding from the Inward Investment Catalyst Fund.
The academic institutions include ScotlandIS members Heriot-Watt University, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of St Andrews.
The Catalyst Fund was launched by the Scottish Government and Interface, the Edinburgh-headquartered organisation supporting innovation and knowledge exchange, to support businesses not yet located in Scotland to work with Scottish academic institutions.
From advancements in hydrogen energy technology to a remote robotic training system, the projects in this latest funding round help support a net-zero, health, and wellbeing economy.
The five funded projects, businesses, and Scots universities include:
Extend Robotics (England) and Heriot-Watt University. Awarded £9,559 to study the impact of a remote robotic training system used by non-technical operators in various industry settings.
Green Flow Energy (England) and Glasgow Caledonian University. Granted £9,894 for a feasibility study into developing technology that captures kinetic energy through airflow created by electric buses to increase its operating range.
Simul Software Ltd (England) and University of St Andrews. Given £10,000 to further develop their Teleport protocol for apps using extended reality in the cloud by testing the protocol in commercial gaming systems and the heritage sector.
SunGreenH2 (Singapore) and Heriot-Watt University. Provided £10,000 to validate their solar photovoltaics (PV) integrated electrolyser performance in green hydrogen generation, accounting for seasonal differences.
Okoform (England) and University of Strathclyde. Awarded £9,759.60 to model the effect of their heated desks on energy usage and office air temperature through an advanced thermal modelling framework across various scenarios.
Speaking on the fund and this latest round of investment, Richard Lochhead, minister for small business, innovation, tourism, and trade, said: “The Inward Investment Catalyst Fund is not only paving the way for great collaboration between prospective investors and our highly esteemed universities and academia, but also helping deliver on our ambition for Scotland to be an increasingly attractive location for inward investment.
“The early impacts of the fund have been extremely positive and I am pleased to see another successful round of applications set to support more exciting projects. Through the delivery of the Inward Investment Plan, the Scottish Government will continue to help ensure we make the most of our competitive advantages and strengths to maintain our position as a leading destination for inward investment.”
Howell Davies, Interface’s head of strategic programmes and funding, also commented, saying: “I am delighted to see another round of strong applications which has yielded five innovative projects marrying ambitious companies who value Scotland as a place of opportunity with the excellent academic expertise and facilities we have here.”
Source: DIGIT