Germans’ £9m Scottish laser research centre in Glasgow

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 30/05/2012 00:00

THE German technology outfit that invented the MP3 digital music file will today unveil plans to open a British base at Strathclyde University and commit itself to creating 80 jobs in Glasgow.

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Europe’s largest contract research firm, will use the centre to develop lasers for use in the energy, healthcare and transport industries, building on scientific research already going on at the university.

Some £9 million will be invested in the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics over the next five years, with £6m coming from public sources and £3m from the company itself.

Ten jobs will be created over the coming year, rising to some 80 staff and post-graduate student posts within five years.

Glasgow joins a growing list of cities across Asia, Europe and North America where Fraunhofer has opened bases, with the most recent being at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The Scottish unit will be based within Strathclyde’s Technology & Innovation Centre (TIC), which was opened last year to forge stronger links between academics and industrialists.

Professor Jim McDonald, the university’s principal, said: “It is fitting that the UK’s first Fraunhofer centre is dedicated to lasers, a thriving industry in which Scotland has excelled for decades.

“The plans have already been endorsed by our partners in industry and we look forward to working together to innovate, design and develop the products and services of tomorrow.”

Opening the centre in Glasgow is the latest in a series of partnerships that the university has forged with industry.

Earlier this month, Strathclyde was selected as the only European partner for the South Korea government’s global research and commercialisation programme.

Business Secretary Vince Cable also chose the institution to host two of the UK’s “catapult” centres to develop technology for both the high-value manufacturing and offshore renewable energy industries.

Over the past year, the university has signed research and training deals with wind turbine maker Gamesa and Spanish banking giant Santander.

Fraunhofer’s inventions range across the computing, energy, health, security and transport fields and have included consumer products such as personalised weather forecasts on smartphones and music identification systems such as Shazam, which runs on Apple’s iPhone.

Professor Ulrich Buller, a senior vice-president and executive board member at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, said: “Fraunhofer is extremely pleased to have this opportunity to collaborate more closely with Strathclyde University.

“The university has an excellent reputation for industrial engagement and specifically for photonics research and commercialisation via its Institute of Photonics and other research groups.

“Consequently, Fraunhofer has been eager, for some time, to create a research centre in Glasgow in conjunction with Strathclyde.”

Lena Wilson, chief executive at Scottish Enterprise, added: “Fraunhofer centres excel in helping companies to develop new products from research.

“Having this centre in Scotland will bring significant benefits for our companies, helping them to invest in their growth, sharpen their competitive edge and compete in global markets.”