Since 2007, Innovate UK has invested around £2.5bn to help businesses across the country to innovate, with match funding from industry taking the total value of projects above £4.3bn.
Innovate UK has helped 8,500 organisations create around 70,000 jobs and added an estimated £18bn of value to the UK economy. In the period 2019/2020, Innovate UK received 5,794 applications for grant funding and made 949 awards. £645,886 was awarded in terms of grant funding, 24% of the total amount applied for.
Arqit Limited Industry Sector: Quantum Technology
Arqit Limited is an expert in the field of quantum technology. Arqit Limited applied to Innovate UK for grant funding in respect of a collaborative R&D project that aims to create the capability to manufacture the next generation of space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) payloads in the UK. A consortium, led by Arqit, aims to establish the world’s first commercial QKD satellite constellation.
The first satellite is being built under contract with the European Space Agency, with a quantum payload being manufactured by European partners. There is an opportunity for the UK quantum technology industry to leapfrog other countries by creating a capability to manufacture the next generation of space QKD payloads here in the UK.
The “Quantum Payload Factory” project will work with organisations across the UK to progress the state of the art of promising quantum communications technologies, understand their potential to enhance the performance of Arqit’s global QKD system, validate their capabilities and technology readiness, engineer them to become “space ready” and develop an enhanced performance payload design that brings these new UK technologies into the second generation of Arqit satellites.
This was a collaborative R&D project that received £4,505,983 from Innovate UK.
Erodex (UK) Limited Industry Sector: Product Safety in Aerospace & Industrial Gas Turbine industry
Erodex (UK) Limited is a company that specialises in areas that include graphite machining, EDM wire, EDM wire spares and copper. The company applied to Innovate UK for grant funding for a collaborative project with NPL Management Limited that aims to outline a standard for Valid8 (see below) that Erodex and the industry as a whole can use for validating equipment manufactured for the Aerospace and Gas Turbine industries.
Valid8 is an innovative machine that addresses key measurement problems that are inherent to the manufacture of turbine blades, nozzle guide vanes and segments. The project goals are aimed at improving product safety within the Aerospace and ndustrial Gas Turbine industries by offering automated, extremely accurate and repeatable scientific solutions to current inspection pain points, whilst improving efficiency by driving down the current TAKT times associated with manual methods currently used.
The project received £33,008 by way of funding.
Deep6 Limited Industry Sector: Marine/subsea technology
Deep6 Limited is an innovative company that specialises in marine inspection systems. The company applied to Innovate UK for grant funding to support a collaborative R&D project that aims to lower the barrier to entry of submerged inspections; significantly reducing costs whilst also improving the success rate and quality of data captured by unmanned submersibles.
To date Deep6 have developed a unique, cost effective unmanned submersible design to be launched from an autonomous surface vessel. Now the objective is to develop two new subsystems for their submersible; to enable it to realise its goals as a compact and low cost, yet powerful inspection tool. Deep6 has received Deep6 Limited Industry Sector: Marine/subsea technology Deep6 Limited is an innovative company that specialises in marine inspection systems.
The company applied to Innovate UK for grant funding to support a collaborative R&D project that aims to lower the barrier to entry of submerged inspections; significantly reducing costs whilst also improving the success rate and quality of data captured by unmanned submersibles. To date Deep6 have developed a unique, cost effective unmanned submersible design to be launched from an autonomous surface vessel. Now the objective is to develop two new subsystems for their submersible; to enable it to realise its goals as a compact and low cost, yet powerful inspection tool.
Deep6 has received £50,225 by way of funding. by way of funding.
To download a copy of these Aerospace, Defence and Marine case studies, please click here
