Talking sense about Technology transfer

Technology transfer may prove one of the cornerstone engines for growth as the UK emerges from recession over the coming months. Sensor Technology in Oxon are virtually addicted to the habit, so we asked their Tony Ingham how it has shaped the company’s development and what the future holds.

Wireless became one of the buzzwords of the late Noughties, and ‘wireless’ got our grandparents’ generation excited too in the 1940s. But between those periods the word was not much used – except at Sensor Technology around the turn of the Millennium.

“We’d identified a way to measure the torque in a rotating shaft without maintaining physical contact.” says Tony Ingham. “Doing away with the traditional slip rings would be a big advantage in many potential applications, and we kept thinking of more and more reasons to develop the concept.”

Sensor Technology had been investigating the use of Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs) or Rayleigh Waves, when we noticed on our instruments that SAWs react to strain, and that they could be addressed by a wireless connection and this opened up many practical possibilities.”

“We protected ourselves with patents, but we needed a spread of application projects to work on; some easy, some tough; some commercial, some academic; some mainstream, some specialist. The technology proved itself again and again in fields as diverse as aerospace, marine, nuclear, pharmaceuticals, packaging, pumping, conveying and mixing. Soon Sensor Technology shifted its focus to developing variations of the basic theme.

Another technology transfer is now underway. Sensor Technology is developing a load sensor, which it is building into helicopter cargo hooks. A wireless connection feeds real time data through to the pilot, and also logs it for later management analysis.

“The wireless-ness is a massive advantage, because it means the hook is legally not a part of the aircraft. Therefore users don’t need to spend time and money getting Aviation Authority approval for its installation. The datalogging means exact billing to customers, while an integral GPS means spraying or similar tasks can be done with utter precision.

“The commercial flying community is very excited about the idea and coming up with more and more avenues for us to explore.”

“This all seems a long way from the drive shafts and industrial plant we usually deal with,” says Tony. “But it’s a not-unusual technology transfer scenario!”