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TWI Innovation Network: Unifying Industry Collaboration

The TWI Innovation Network (TWIIN) was officially launched in 2018 to bring together the innovation initiatives and activities of TWI, and its industry and academic partners, in the preceding nine years.

The first academia-industrial partnership established by TWI under what was to become TWIIN, was with Brunel University London and led to the creation of the Brunel Innovation Centre in 2009.

The National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) was founded next, in 2012, with partners BP and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. NSIRC marries academic research by leading universities with industrial experience at TWI to deliver new PhDs, MScs and MBAs.

Subsequent years saw the introduction of two international partner programmes focused on facilitating innovative R&D to generate new technologies, systems, products and services: the Private Technology Innovation Partnerships (PTIPs) model, designed for major international companies and organisations, and the Technology Acceleration Programmes (TAPs) model for small to medium sized enterprises (SMES).

Underpinning the various schemes are three core TWIIN services: Technology Innovation Management, which works with SMEs, research and technology organisations (RTOs), TWI Industrial Members and TWI’s technical experts to unlock public funding for collaborative projects to deliver next-generation technologies; Innovation Consultancy which works with individual companies and organisations to unlock their full R&D and technological potential; and the TWIIN Subscription, introduced in 2020, which provides subscribing companies with one-to-one commercial development support and tailored networking opportunities.

TWIIN also runs an extensive annual agenda of events, webinars and workshops designed to encourage international collaboration, innovation and networking.

Aims

The objectives of TWIIN are to:

  • Make a positive impact on society and the economy by driving innovation
  • Support businesses of all sizes to develop new technology concepts and turn them into commercial successes
  • Provide universities with access to world-leading technology, laboratories and expertise
  • Co-deliver innovative new products and services based on collaborative research and development (R&D), and investment
  • Leverage the knowledge base of world-leading science and engineering communities
  • Train skilled people to realise their potential and contribute to the world’s economy

Approach

At the heart of TWIIN lie its: unwavering focus on innovation; collaborative approach to R&D based on partnerships and networks; and its track record in winning public funding to enable new projects to come to fruition. Underpinning these is its unique process for moving new technology concepts through Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 1-9, which starts at NSIRC with PhDs on proprietary subjects, continues through joint R&D between TWI’s Innovation Centres, technical staff, Industrial Members and TWIIN partners, and ultimately leads to commercialisation via collaborations with leading industrial companies, for example Fullagar Technologies Ltd, a joint venture between Lloyd’s Register and TWI, which delivers innovative inspection systems, products and services.

PTIP: work being undertaken in the NIC permeation laboratory
PTIP: work being undertaken in the NIC permeation laboratory

Solutions and benefits

 

TWIIN’s centres, programmes, initiatives and services consistently demonstrate that they successfully address the demands and challenges of industry, bridge the gaps in technology to enable true product, process, service or system innovation, and unlock vital funding for R&D. Some of the ways in which TWIIN is making a difference are:

NSIRC

  • Enabling 280 postgraduate research students to work within industry, develop their careers and make scientific breakthroughs
  • Contributes to the economy by creating new jobs in industry and academia; 100% employment within one year of graduation
  • 184 PhDs and 148 MScs completed by students in an industrial setting resulting in engineers of the future
  • Promotes inclusion in engineering: 31% of NSIRC PhD students are female, compared to a UK engineering workforce representation of 11%
  • Addresses skills shortages by partnering with over 40 universities, UK and overseas, to deliver new industry-focused PhDs, MScs and MBAs that strengthen academia-industry ties

Innovation Centres

  • 14 Innovation Centres established, facilitating cross-fertilisation of academic and industrial R&D to achieve new technologies that meet socio-economic and environmental challenges
  • Contributes to advancements in the following: industries – additive and digital manufacturing, healthcare, renewable energy and composites; engineering / technology areas - social science, artificial intelligence, robotics and sensors, fatigue and structural integrity, and joining 4.0; and global initiatives - decarbonisation and hydrogen power, and industrial net zero
  • Enables eight university partners to strengthen their links with industry, and demonstrate wider economic and societal impact
  • Collectively won £45m of public funding for collaborative technology projects with SMEs and RTOs by 2021

PTIPs

  • The first PTIP to be established was the Non-metallic Innovation Centre (NIC), founded by Saudi Aramco Technologies Company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and TWI in 2019. The NIC:
  • Instigates R&D with academia, RTOs, composites materials manufacturers and industry operators spanning TRLs 1-6 to enable wider deployment of non-metallic materials in oil and gas
  • Promotes innovation through disruptive technology to create non-metallic materials that address challenges in oil and gas
  • Contributes to expanding the commercial availability of non-metallic products while reducing the costs associated with pipes and pipelines
  • Projects include creation of a bespoke medium-scale permeation rig for non-metallic pipes and joints, a multi-scale modelling methodology for assessing the risk of electrostatic discharge occurrence in non-metallic pipes, and the “Guideline for Design and Qualification of Composite Tubing and Casing for Downhole Applications” joint industry project with TWI Member companies

TAPs

  • Collaborations between SMEs, TWI and its Industrial Members that move innovative concepts through to commercialisation
  • Provide UK and European SMEs with new knowledge, expertise, skills and R&D infrastructure leading to businesses that are more competitive and likely to grow, contributing to their local economies
  • Facilitate innovation at TRLs 4-9 with viable projects that result in a successful application, system, product or service through joint R&D

Tailored innovation support

  • The Technology Innovation Management (TIM) team assists SMEs and university partners with accessing public funding to turn new technology concepts into collaborative projects. Since 2008, the TIM team has been instrumental in securing around 445 funded projects via public funding, to the value of circa £513 million, involving over 1,000 individual partner organisations across the UK and Europe
  • Innovation Consultancy Services (ICS) provides tailored support to unlock business opportunities and new market entry. Deliverables include technology road mapping, product innovation, trends analysis and future focus development
  • The TWIIN Subscription model offers companies a cost-effective way to benefit from TWI’s extensive experience of industrial innovation going back over 50 years, optimising supply chain performance and meeting industry demand for new products, systems and services

 

 

Conclusion

TWIIN continually focuses on creating value for TWI, its Industrial Members and international networks, and individuals seeking to forge a career in engineering. In the coming years it will continue to focus on making a positive impact on society and the economy by driving innovation for the international engineering community.

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