University hosts Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Vince Cable was given a glimpse of the Forum, the stunning new £50 million centrepiece for the Streatham Campus. In the Forum, he was given a demonstration of the facility’s state-of-the-art surface computing tables which aid the new technology-rich learning spaces.

The Business Secretary was then presented with two projects which from University spin-out company Arkiris. He was shown RFID antennas, which will enable tags to be detected in previously challenging applications, and VTRAM licensing which is a very thin absorber material that is thinner, more robust, and lower-cost than other solutions already on the market. This was followed by a visit to the University’s Aquatic Resources Centre where Professor Rick Titball and Dr Gregory Paull showed Dr Cable the new aquarium facilities and explained how new research using green-glowing zebrafish is helping us understand the damage pollution causes to both wildlife and human health.

The visit was rounded off with a tour of the Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM). CALM enables business, entrepreneurs and researchers to harness the potential of ‘3D printing’. This is a new production technique that can create complex or bespoke parts by building them up one layer at a time in specialist machines. CALM brings a unique set of facilities to the South West, opening up a wealth of opportunities for businesses in the region and across the UK.

The visit took place on 12 September 2012.