Useful small-scale technologies
This is Cenamps first online blog. Just as blogging enables new ways of communicating and is changing the future of news, information and publication sectors, Cenamps is about creating and commercialising new technologies that will utimately enhance the quality of our everyday lives, improve our health and establish smart work and home environments. Technologies that benefit society and create value for businesses.
We are a not-for-profit organisation established by One NorthEast during 2003 as a national centre for emerging small-scale technolgies, we are based in one of the UK's fast growing science cities - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Situated in the North East of England, Newcastle is a city famous for its bridges and is no stranger to science, technology and engineering. It is home also to the Sage. Recently opened during 2005, the Sage houses two of the world best concert halls - just the venue for relaxing and listening to modern, contemporay and classical music.
Technology is the bedrock of economc development. At Cenamps we focus on stimulating technology research, development and commercialisation. We are about tiny or small-scale technologies often refer to as nanotechnologies and microtechnologies or collectively known as MNT. By stimulating technological innovations our aim is to strengthen the regional economy. In doing so our projects and activities are national and international in focus.
Hence, want really interests us are useful small-scale technologies. The emphasis here is on the word "useful". These are technologies that have potential to help solve known problems and global challenges as well as technologies for innovating new products and processes. So we are very much into collaboration, responsible innovation and market-led R&D. Gaining insights into business, economic, government and consumer trends and needs is crucial to us in identifing useful new technologies.
Polymer electronics is one such technology. Polymer electronics will transform the next generation of consumer electronic products - for example in innovating a plamtop with a flexible screen or an electronic newspapers that can simply be folded into your pocket.
Another useful set of technologies are mobile medical diagnostics and genomic technologies. These technologies have the potential to transform healthcare service to one that is more patient-centric, shifting the focus from "cure" to "prevention". They can also shift healthcare away from central hospitals to one where healthcare services are more pervasive and customised to our individual genetic makeup.
In all there are four interralated specific areas form our technology footprint:
- Flexible Function Materials - including Polymer Electronics
- Ambient Instelligence - smart objects and environments
- technologies that improve the quality of our everyday lives at home, work and during recreation
- Healthcare technologies for preventative, early-stage diagnosis and personalised medicine
These four technology areas are set to transform the world we lives at home, work, city spaces and environment.
Shak Gohir
Business & Programme Manager
Labels: Healthcare, Nanotechnology
posted by Cenamps at Tuesday, June 27, 2006
2 Comments:
Speechless at the moment, but more comments to follow...
My particular interest and expertise amongst these small scale technologies is in the emerging field of nanomedicine.
Nano- or molecular medicine is set to revolutionise healthcare. Whereas traditionally we look for a disease (by spotting symptoms), and then try and do something about it before it's too late, now we are starting to have the opportunity to preserve and actively enhance our health and wellbeing by understanding our own personal strengths and weaknesses - physical and mental - and through that knowledge, slowly to take control of them. It's early days, but already we are starting to see this new type of medicine developing.
What is particularly relevant from Cenamps' perspective is that nanomedicine lies at the intersection of all four fields of our technology footprint.
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