UK business excellence

This brochure provides examples of:

• world-class UK companies developing leading-edge and globally significant technological products

• the UK’s globally renowned universities that continue to be at the forefront of society’s key technological advancements

• the UK’s internationally prestigious research and development organisations involved in undertaking cutting-edge technological projects for the world’s top businesses

• UK scientists recognised globally for their achievements in pushing back the boundaries of technological knowledge in fields as diverse as theoretical physics through to the development of the World Wide Web.

ARM

ARM is the world’s leading semiconductor intellectual property supplier.

ARM technology is at the heart of advanced digital products that range from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices.

The company's technology has been incorporated into iconic products such as the Apple iPhone and iPod and the Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

ARM designs and licenses intellectual property (IP) solutions that enable developers to create next-generation products both rapidly and cost-effectively. The company’s comprehensive IP and tools portfolio includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products.

Wolfson Microelectronics

Wolfson Microelectronics is a global leader in the design and supply of high performance mixed-signal integrated chips for the digital consumer market.

The company is 100 per cent ‘fabless’ ensuring that its world-class expertise is focused on its tightly defined core competencies of product definition and design.

Wolfson Microelectronics has created more than 100 products that are essential to a variety of consumer applications such as digital televisions, set-top boxes, hi-fis, DVD players, mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, scanners, copiers and in-car navigation and entertainment systems. The company’s high-performance semiconductors have been integrated into a range of iconic products that have been developed by leading international consumer electronic brands that include Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Canon, Hewlett Packard, Samsung, LG and TomTom.

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce, the iconic provider of power systems and services, operates in four global markets – civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.

The company has a total of 54,000 gas turbines in service worldwide and a broad customer base that comprises 600 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,000 marine customers (including 70 navies) and energy customers in 120 countries.

To keep it at the forefront of technological development, Rolls-Royce has established innovative research partnerships with universities across the UK entitled University Technology Centres (UTCs). These include a UTC in performance engineering at Cranfield University which carries out research on stationary, marine and aero gas turbines and in overall aircraft performance, and a UTC at Imperial College London which focuses on rotating machinery vibration, testing and analysis methods.

Surrey Satellite Technology

From its beginnings as a university research group, Surrey Satellite Technology is now the world’s leading small satellite supplier.

Surrey Satellite Technology has world-class expertise in developing small satellite missions from first concept through to in-orbit operations. The company specialises in adapting advanced terrestrial technology to the space environment, delivering missions with a high ratio of performance to cost.

To date, Surrey Satellite Technology has launched 27 small satellite missions including the TopSat high resolution Earth observation satellite for the UK government and the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation satellites built for the Chinese, UK, Algerian, Nigerian and Turkish governments. The company has also contributed subsystems to Space Shuttle experiments, the International Space Station and the European Space Agency’s ‘Rosetta’ and ‘Galileo’ programmes.

Diamond Light Source

The Diamond Light Source synchrotron is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 40 years.

The synchrotron produces X-ray, infrared and ultra-violet beams of exceptional brightness. These highly focused beams of light enable scientists and engineers to probe deeply into the basic structure of matter and materials, answering fundamental questions about everything from the building blocks of life to the origin of our planet. Synchrotron light is an indispensable tool in many research areas including physics, chemistry, materials science and crystallography. In addition, synchrotron light is increasingly being exploited in areas such as medicine, geological and environmental studies and structural genomics.

The new facility provides the best medium-energy X-ray source in the world and is optimised to produce X-rays with energies between 100 electron volts (soft X-rays) and 20,000 electron volts (hard X-rays).

Roke Manor Research

Roke, one of the world’s leading electronics and telecommunications research companies, specialises in developing innovative products in networks, communications and sensors for a wide range of worldclass clients in both the commercial and government sectors.

Roke invests significantly in the commercial development of its own intellectual property and was recently the highest ranked UK company for the number of patents filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office. Roke’s innovative developments have included VigilanceTM, a multilateration product that is a proven alternative to Secondary Surveillance Radar for accurate aircraft location; the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, which recognises number plates from more than 25 countries and reads more than 20 million licence plates each month; and Hawk-Eye, the innovative motion-tracking system that has revolutionised decision-making in international sports such as tennis and cricket.

QinetiQ

Cerberus, the high frequency wideband diver detection sonar, is just one example from the range of leading-edge technological solutions designed and developed by QinetiQ.

With over 13,500 employees contributing to its intellectual capital base, QinetiQ provides innovative technology-based products and services to address defence and security problems faced by businesses, governments and society worldwide. QinetiQ’s range of clients includes both the UK and US governments and international commercial customers.

Cerberus represents a significant step forward in underwater surveillance in limited visibility. With sonar returns interpreted by its sophisticated tracking system, Cerberus is able to make accurate decisions on the nature of an approaching target, ranging from schools of fish to stealth divers. In 2006, Cerberus formed part of the security measures to protect the America's Cup, the world's most prestigious yachting trophy.

Sir Harry Kroto

Sir Harry Kroto was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996, alongside his two American colleagues, for the discovery of the C60 Buckminsterfullerene, a new form of carbon.

The revelation that long chain molecules existed in space could not be explained by the then accepted ideas on interstellar chemistry. It was during attempts to rationalise their abundance that C60.

Buckminsterfullerene was discovered. Laboratory experiments, which simulated the chemical reactions in the atmospheres of red giant carbon stars, serendipitously revealed the fact that the C60 molecule could self-assemble. This completely changed the world’s perspective on the nanoscale behaviour of graphite in particular and sheet materials in general.

Sir Harry’s current research focuses on Fullerene chemistry and the nanoscale structure of new materials. This has led to a wide range of new nanostructured materials, the first insulated nanowires and new perspectives on nanotube formation.

Cambridge Display Technology

Cambridge Display Technology is the world’s leading developer of technologies based on polymer light emitting diodes (P-OLEDs). The company started as a spin-out from the University of Cambridge and is now part of the Sumitomo Chemical Group.

P-OLEDs are set to replace existing display technologies in a wide range of applications including information management, communications and entertainment. P-OLED technology has been licensed to various companies worldwide including Panasonic, MicroEmissive Displays, Plastic Logic and Add-Vision.

With a world-class portfolio of intellectual property centred on light emitting diode technology, Cambridge Display Technology continues to invest heavily into the development of materials, processes and devices to enable the commercialisation of superior display and lighting products.

The University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge, ranked as one of the top three universities in the world, has been awarded more Nobel Prizes than any other institution globally.

Many of society’s most significant technological advances have been made at the University of Cambridge including the discovery of the electron and the deciphering of the structure of DNA.

The University of Cambridge is the catalyst behind the on-going development of Silicon Fen, the high-tech business cluster in and around Cambridge where there are now over 250 start-up companies, worth around US$6 billion, with direct links to the University. These include companies such as Autonomy (a global leader in business infrastructure software), Cambridge Display Technologies (the leading developer of polymer light emitting diodes) and Plastic Logic (the global leader in the development and production of flexible active-matrix displays).