• Institute of Photonics, University of Strathclyde
• Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, Univesity of Starthclyde
• Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow
• Microsystems Engineering Centre, Heriot Watt Univesity
• Institute for System Level Integration

Institute of Photonics, University of Strathclyde

The Institute was founded in 1995 to work at bridging the gap between academia and industry in the area of Photonics Technology and has grown in the interim to its current level of ~40 staff. It role is been to perform applied research in photonics of international standing, but in particular in areas which support transfer of advanced knowledge to existing companies or promise to set the future commercial agenda in this field. This agenda is being constantly re-defined by our interactions with our industrial collaborators, of which we have had ~100 to date, through mechanisms including consultancy, staff and student training, patent licensing, teaching company scheme, DTI LINK programmes, one-on-one and consortium R&D contracts.

The Institute members were responsible for the initial generation of the idea of the Consortium and are thus leading the administration as well as undertaking aspects of the research. The two research teams at the Institute closely linked with this project are looking at optical semiconductor sources, micro-optical components in hard, high refractive index materials and the applications of the evolving devices to a range of challenges. A strong focus of the applications work will be into the life sciences.

Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, University of Strathclyde

The Centre for Microsystems and Photonics (CMP) is a research grouping within the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, with expertise in optoelectronic and photonic sensors and systems, active and passive photonic devices, MEMS, microsystems and free-space microphotonics. The Centre has been active in the field of optoelectronic sensor research since 1984, and has contributed extensively to theoretical and practical developments in the field of fibre optic and guided wave optic sensors; fibre lasers; and micromechanics, microsensors/actuators and microtechnology. Over the last 20 years, staff from the Centre have been involved in varied research activities including collaborative research with industry and in knowledge transfer to industry. The research philosophy is to expand our industrial collaboration, whilst at the same time ensuring that fundamental research and generation of new knowledge is also actively pursued. Support and personal development of students is an important University activity – our postgraduate student population consists of a mix of both home and international PhD students, many of whom have gone on to establish successful careers in photonics within industry and academia. The Centre has also acted as host to a steady stream of short-term international visitors who have contributed immensely to our research activities, and whose contributions are hereby acknowledged.

More information is available at http://cmp.eee.strath.ac.uk

Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow

The Bioelectronics Research Group focuses its research on developing analytical methods in DNA, proteins, cell and other diagnostic devices. A variety of platforms are used in these investigations ranging from Lab-on-a-chip formats to fabricated devices with nano-scale features. Our laboratories are equipped with an extensive range of optical microscopes, manipulation tools, electrochemical, spectroscopy and (bio)chemical synthesis apparatus and comprise both dark-rooms, cell culture facilities and wet-laboratory areas. Aside from collaborative activities within the Department, we have a significant number of on-going projects with groups in the Biological, Physics and Chemistry Departments in Glasgow and elsewhere. For example, we are already currently closely involved in an IRC with the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Medical Research in Bionanotechnology. We also collaborate widely with industry.
As part of the infrastructure associated with the Group, there are extensive cleanrooms, dry etching and fabrication tools for the development of Lab-on-a-Chip devices containing either micro- or nano- scale features. Within the last month a new £10M integrated cleanroom facility has been opened, which has dedicated areas for our research in lab-on-a-chip and biosensor fabrication. These facilities are well maintained by a complement of technical staff with researchers being able to fabricate devices in a hands-on system. The equipment within the cleanrooms includes mask aligners (e.g. a Carl Zeiss MA-6), two electron-beam metal evaporators, two Leica electron-beam lithography tools, 6 dry etching machines, SiN and dielectric deposition tools. Inspection tools such as SEM, AFM and optical microscopy, as well as a flame hydrolysis glass deposition for producing planar silica used in integrated optics fabrication, are also sited in the facility.

We have recently been awarded £10M as part of a new IRC in Proteomic technologies (www.rasor.org.uk) using Lab-on-a-Chip and optical methods to study the quantitative distribution of proteins in single cells.

Summary of Research Interests:

o Bionanotechnology and Single Molecule Spectroscopy;
o Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics;
o Cell Screening (including Novel Single Cell Methods using Microsystems);
o Analysis of Functionalised Surfaces (Neutrons/EQCM/SPM/XPS/FT-IR);
o Sensors and Sensory Interfaces (including Electrochemical and Integrated Optical Systems);
o Optical Tweezers for Biological Manipulation.

Microsystems Engineering Centre , Heriot Watt University

The MIcroSystems Engineering Centre (MISEC) is an organisation that regroups the expertise in microsystems and microwave engineering of 7 permanent members of staff and over 25 PhDs and RAs. The annual research income of the research group is around 1 million pounds. The group is specialised in RF-MEMS, design of MEMS, LIGA and LTCC based processes, as well as turbines and microactuators. The group has currently over 20 projects running in parallel funded by EPSRC, EU and the industry.

Details about the group can be obtained at the Heriot-Watt website address http://www.hw.ac.uk

Institute for System Level Integration

Founded in 1998, the Institute for System Level Integration is the world’s first centre of excellence to concentrate on postgraduate education and research in the methodology and applications of system-on-chip design, system level integration and related technologies.

The Institute is a unique academic collaborative venture of four of the UK ’s leading universities: Edinburgh , Glasgow , Heriot-Watt, and Strathclyde, and with links to Lancaster University . ISLI draws on the academic expertise of the university departments of computer science, electronic and electrical engineering and informatics.

The objective of the Institute’s activities is to produce highly skilled design engineers and researchers to meet the needs of the rapidly changing global semiconductor industry.

Industrial collaboration critical to the Institute’s success is a key element for all ISLI’s teaching and research. Excellent links with industry ensure that the Institute has access to the latest design tools, state of the art facilities via industrial collaboration, and dedicated information systems.

The Institute is located in the Alba Centre on the Alba Campus in Livingston , Scotland .

More information is available at http://www.sli-institute.ac.uk