Ten years ago fire ripped through the University of Southampton’s Mountbatten Building gutting the building and destroying valuable equipment and research.

A decade later and the award-winning Mountbatten Building successor has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Providing £120m worth of specialist facilities and equipment, the Mountbatten Building now enables world-leading researchers to continue their pioneering work tackling many of the key challenges facing society today.

The new Zepler Institute Cleanroom Complex houses a revolutionary suite of research facilities. Home to the UK’s best set of nanoelectronics and photonics fabrication capabilities, including the Southampton Nanofabrication Centre, the Complex is driving forward some of the most innovative explorations in optics and nanotechnology research.

Professor Nick Jennings, Head of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), said: “The fire which destroyed the old microfabrication cleanroom gave us the opportunity to create a facility which is unique and internationally leading as a place to research and develop the next generation of electronics and multidisciplinary applications.

“The Southampton Nanofabrication Centre cleanroom facility is both grounded in existing state-of-the-art nanofabrication technology and exploring the next generation of fabrication methods, materials and devices. Research in the facility covers the creation and characterisation of nano-electronic devices, functional materials and nanophotonics, spintronics, quantum and memristive devices, bio-inspired devices, microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip systems, and NEMS devices.”

Here we look at the key milestones in that led to the reconstruction of the Mountbatten Building:

Fire devastates Mountbatten Building - October 30, 2005 A massive fire devastated the Mountbatten Building. Firefighters were called at 6.30am and battled until mid-afternoon to extinguish the blaze. No-one was injured in the fire which was believed to have started accidentally. The University’s then Secretary and Registrar John Lauwerys said: “This is a huge loss to the University and the fire has destroyed one of our key research facilities of international importance.” While former University Vice-Chancellor Bill Wakeham pledged the day after the fire: “We are committed to rebuilding, and that out of these tragic events will emerge something bigger and better.”

Rebuilding work begins - October, 2006 A year to the day after the fire, demolition teams move on to the site to prepare for the construction of the new building.

Boris Johnson MP tours construction site - June, 2007 Boris Johnson MP, the then Shadow Minister for Higher Education, toured the construction of the new £55m Mountbatten Building. He remarked on how impressed he was by the scale of the building and the potential of the work to be carried out there.

New equipment ordered - October 2007 More than £6.5m worth of key equipment is ordered for the new Mountbatten Building, including a Jeol JBX 9300 FS electron beam lithography system, costing £3.3m - a significant tool for top down nanotechnology research. The order also includes deposition and etch equipment that deposit thin layers of semiconductors and insulators, and etches patterns that have been written by the e-beam lithography system.

Topping out ceremony – November 2007 The new Mountbatten Building’s topping out ceremony marked the fact that the building had reached its highest point. University Pro-Chancellor Dame Valerie Strachan was accompanied by University Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Wakeham, and representatives from the construction company, the project management team, the design team, and architects and engineers.

Eye-catching fractal pattern added to building - December 2007 The dynamic fractal pattern, inspired by the University’s research into optical nanotechnology, is added to the glass panels of the new Mountbatten Building. The fractals form an ornamental design on the glass of the new building and are a reflection of the innovative research being carried out by Electronics and Computer Science and the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) to create new optoelectronic devices that could enhance optical communications and reduce the cost of solar energy.

New building opens doors to staff and students – October, 2008 Three years to the day after the devastating fire, the imposing building that has taken its place opened its doors to students and staff. Occupying the same footprint as its predecessor, the new building is one of Europe’s leading multidisciplinary and state-of-the-art cleanroom complexes. It provides flexible research space for world-leading technology development in nanotechnology and photonics. At the time former Head of ECS Professor Harvey Rutt said: “We have a truly fantastic facility that positions us at the cutting-edge of nanotechnology,” while ORC Director Professor Sir David Payne said: “This magnificent cleanroom building is unique and world leading in its imaginative vision for the integration of nanoscience, photonics and optical fibre technology.”

Mountbatten Building wins top architecture award – May 2009 The new Mountbatten Building wins a prestigious award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The awards are made annually and are highly prized for buildings that have high architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment. The RIBA judges praised the Mountbatten Building’s simple, dynamic forms with a design that embodies 21st century scientific research in a sustainable, academic setting. The building is a bold and modern design and features an impressively spacious atrium. Its glass curtain walls allow those outside to view the research taking place in the cleanrooms.

Unique Spectra detector commissioned – July 2009 A unique Spectra detector on the Zeiss Orion beam instrument was commissioned. The detector was the first of its kind to be installed and measures the energy of the helium ions that bounce off a sample.

Southampton Nanofabrication Centre opened – September, 2009 Southampton’s Nanofabrication Centre – one of Europe’s premiere cleanroom complexes – was opened. The £100m facility was launched by Professor Ian Diamond, Chair of Research Councils UK who said the new building would place Southampton as part of an excellent UK network better than anywhere in the world. The state-of-the-art facility for microfabrication and high-spec nanofabrication has a uniquely broad range of technologies, combining traditional and novel top down fabrication with bottom up fabrication.

Mountbatten Building officially opened – January, 2011 The new Mountbatten Building was officially opened by the Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science. Mr Willetts paid tribute to all those involved in the reconstruction of the building and in ensuring it was bigger and better than before. He also announced £7.2m of investment in research that could revolutionise the Internet. Led by Professor David Payne, Director of the ORC, the Photonics Hyperhighway project brings together world-leading scientists from the universities of Southampton and Essex and industry partners to pioneer new technologies capable of making broadband Internet 100 times faster.

Zepler Institute opened - September, 2013 The Zepler Institute - the UK’s largest photonics and electronics institute – was launched. The Institute is a unique multidisciplinary research centre that brings together leading expertise in photonics, advanced materials, quantum technologies and nanoscience to build on the University’s reputation in photonics and electronics delivering solutions to the key global challenges of the future.

REF confirms world-leading research in electrical and electronic engineering - December, 2014 The University of Southampton comes out top in the UK for the volume and quality of its research in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) results. The REF considered case studies showing the impact of our research including work on the latest advances in nanotechnology and micro-devices to deliver new remote therapies to patients.

International Consortium in Nanotechnologies launched – September, 2015 The Lloyd’s Register Foundation International COnsortium in Nanotechnologies (ICON) is launched. Led by Dr Themis Prodromakis, the multi-million pound project will bring together some of the world’s brightest early career researchers to find new ways of using nanotechnologies to improve safety at sea, on land and in the air.

A group of five students from the Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton received academic scholarships for €300 each to present their various engineering and computer science projects at the second Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) WomENcourage conference, this year held in Uppsala, Sweden.

The ACM WomENcourage conference is an international celebration of women in computing; a scientific and career networking event bringing together researchers, students and professionals to present and share their experiences and achievements. More than 200 people attended from 38 countries and conference sponsors included Google, Inria, Oracle, Cisco, Bloomberg, Facebook, Intel, and Microsoft Research.

The ECS students attending were (pictured from left to right): Ayse Sunar, third-year PhD student in the Web and Internet Science research group (WAIS); Olja Rastic-Dulborough, recent MComp graduate in Information Technology in Organisations; Olivia Ojuroye, first-year PhD student in the Electronics and Electrical Engineering research group; Adriana Wilde, Mayflower Teaching Fellow and final-year PhD student in WAIS; and Dorota Filipczuk, fourth year MComp student in Computer Science and the ECS Society Academic President.

The students are at various stages in their careers and they all benefitted from disseminating their work to a broader audience, acquiring specific skills through a range of workshops and networking with other researchers and professionals. Adriana Wilde commented: "I'm pleased that for second time we were able to take a strong team to WomENcourage, representing ECS all the way from second year undergraduates to doctoral researchers. We were very fortunate to receive sponsorships from ACM, complemented with funds from the ECS Athena SWAN Chapter, which enabled us to attend this international conference.”

The quality of research was recognised at the conference poster session where ECS had the highest number of posters accepted for presentation. These included Olivia Ojuroye part III project "SIRI on your Wrist: Making your home smart". Olivia was delighted, saying: "The technical calibre of the female attendees were staggeringly high. If these women are part of the future STEM industry, then the world has a lot to look forward to; I was pleased to be recognised as having the same virtues when invited to present my poster at the conference."

The conference also featured a number of talks and workshops including a Data Mining session led by Adriana and a Learning Analytics session, led by Ayse Sunar and supported by Olja Rastic-Dulborough. Ayse thought very highly of session she led; "The attendees were from various backgrounds, including a teacher from Singapore, a PhD student studying agent-based learning systems and an experienced learning analyst. We discussed the use of learning analytics in the classroom as well as online learning at small and massive scale."

Dorota Filipczuk, representing the student society that promotes women's participation in the department commented: "The conference was truly inspiring and gave me new ideas of the direction our ECSWomen society should follow."

Alexander Wolf, ACM President, said at the opening of the event: "We wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't a problem in our community ... but this is not a women's problem, this is a community problem. It takes everyone to solve this problem". The University of Southampton’s Electronics and Computer Science department has been recognised for its work tackling the problem of gender inequality in science and engineering with an Athena SWAN Bronze Award. For more details, visit www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/athenaswan

The University of Southampton has appointed JP Rangaswami, the Chief Data Officer at Deutsche Bank, as an Adjunct Professor.

Adjunct Professor is a new honorary title conferred to business and industrial leaders who contribute towards enterprise activities at the University. JP Rangaswami’s position as Adjunct Professor will see him working within the department of Electronics and Computer Science for a three year period to Summer 2018, with a particular focus on Web Science.

As part of the University’s Distinguished Lecture series, JP recently gave a talk to the Web Science Institute entitled "Mother's Home Cooking", using metaphors of ingredients, method and recipes to consider how we trust and consume data.

JP says: “‘When I first heard about Web Science I could immediately see the reason for this new approach and wanted to be part of it. We need multidisciplinary, multi-jurisdictional views, drawn from collaboration and working together across disciplines. If I were asked the one reason why the Web exists, I would say “collaboration”. Web Science must be about the ability to collaborate at a meta-layer, beyond disciplines, rather than augmenting and increasing the science in a single discipline. I look forward to working together with students in the Web Science Institute, as well as supporting the Web Science project in the future.”

JP Rangaswami is Deutsche Bank’s Chief Data Officer, responsible for enhancing the Bank's data quality and controls. Originally, an economist and financial journalist, JP has over 30 years of experience in information technology, primarily in the financial sector. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, JP was Chief Scientist at Salesforce.com. He was previously at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, he was named CIO innovator of the year by the European Technology Forum in 2004 and CIO of the Year by Waters magazine in 2003. He is a fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a Trustee of the Web Science Trust and a Trustee of the Computer History Museum. He is also a venture partner for Anthemis Group and an advisory board member of Byte Night, a charity or young homeless people.

The University of Southampton is launching a Cyber Security Academy to help make government, businesses and consumers more resilient to cyber-attack.

The Southampton Cyber Security Academy (CSA) is a partnership between the University of Southampton and world-leading industry and Government partners to provide a focal point for cyber security research, education and outreach. The first partners of the Academy are the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Northrop Grumman and Roke Manor Research with further partners across a range of industries joining as the Academy grows into a vibrant community of businesses, centred in the South of England but with global influence.

The CSA was announced at a special signing today (Monday 9 November) during the IA15 event in London, hosted by GCHQ and Department for Culture, Media and Sport and supported by leaders from across Government, industry and academia. The CSA is one of the first examples of the UK Government’s CyberInvest initiative, also announced at IA15.

Professor Vladimiro Sassone of the Agents, Interaction and Complexity research group within Electronics and Computer Science is Director of the Academy. He said: “The increasingly alarming statistics on cyber-attacks and crime on a variety of targets, such as the recent TalkTalk data hack, make the Academy a timely initiative fully aligned with the UK National Cyber Security Strategy.

“The span of problems is huge, including the protection of critical infrastructures, of industrial and economic processes, of government, businesses and users’ data, privacy and interests. There is a pressing demand for cyber security, and in the next 20 years cyber research will have the same kind of momentous social and economic impact as medical research had in the twentieth century.”

David Cole, Managing Director of Roke, said: “In order to meet the demands of an increasing cyber security threat, the UK needs a continual flow of high quality engineers and consultants to protect our critical infrastructure and enterprises, and to protect personal data. The Cyber Security Academy partners will work together to drive forward the UK’s cyber capability and talent - attracting and developing world class experts into the cyber security industry, facilitating technology innovation, creating new opportunities and driving UK productivity.”

The CSA will provide a stream of cyber security graduates to industry and train existing workforce through an industry-relevant CPD program in Cyber Security. It will also lead innovative research, consultancy and enterprise activities, creating new employment opportunities by attracting companies and talented individuals interested in cyber security and related sectors.

Professor Sassone added: “With society growing ever more cyber-dependent, cyber security poses tremendous challenges and tremendous opportunities for the cyber industry. It also calls for systematic innovation that will have to pass through research and recruitment of fresh cyber talent. In other words, through a closer interaction between industry and academia.”

The Cyber Security Academy, based in the Academic Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) at the University of Southampton, is due to formally launch in early 2016. For more information about the Academy and how to participate, go to: www.southampton.ac.uk/csa

The University of Southampton is one of just 13 Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, leading the national agenda to protect against cyber threats. The University of Southampton was awarded ACE-CSR status in November 2013 by GCHQ with a remit to extend knowledge through original research and provide high-quality graduates in the field of cyber security. ECS' MSc in Cyber Security is one of just 12 in the UK to be awarded Provisional Certification against the GCHQ Certified Master's degree in General Cyber Security standard, subject to a specific set of modules.

Professor Paul Lewin has been elected the 2016 IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) President. Paul is only the second person from outside of North America to hold this position in the 52 year history of the Society.

He has been a Vice-President of the DEIS since 2012 and was officially elected as President for 2016 on Tuesday 20 October, during the recent Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. “My major objective as President, will be to work with the members of the Society to translate our agreed strategic plan into specific future projects and activities; that ultimately will further increase the value of society membership and ensure that the DEIS continues to be both highly relevant and successful worldwide” said Paul, following confirmation of his appointment.

Paul is Professor of Electrical Power Engineering within Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), where he is also Head of the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory and Deputy Head of ECS for Education.

The IEEE – the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – is the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology and has 39 Technical Societies including the DEIS, which has more than 2,200 members from 82 countries. As a technical society, the DEIS organizes and supports conferences and workshops around the world every year, publishes the IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation (TDEI) and the IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine (EIM) as well as developing and maintaining relevant IEEE standards and presenting awards in recognition of significant technical achievement. Over the last two years, Paul Lewin has had responsibility for overseeing the development of new DEIS conference and workshop activities in Asia. “Both manufacturing and research activity in high voltage plant and electrical insulation has significantly increased in Asia over the last decade and in response to this the DEIS has worked with national societies and universities to further develop its conference programme in Asia”, said Paul, “as a result new fully sponsored DEIS conferences include the International Conference on High Voltage Engineering to be held in 2016 in Chongqing, China and the International Conference on Electrical Materials and Power Equipment to be held in 2017 in Xi’an, China.”

As an active member of the DEIS, Paul has been an Associate Editor of the TDEI since 2008, has been a member of the DEIS Technical Committee on Condition Monitoring since 2011 and in June 2015 was the General Chair of the 33rd IEEE Electrical Insulation Conference (EIC) held in Seattle, Washington, USA, becoming the first chair from outside of North America in the 57 year history of the conference series. “I am confident that my wide experience of the Society’s technical activities and interests will be of great assistance when facing the challenges of leading the Society over the next 12 months,” said Professor Lewin.

For the fifth year in succession – and since the competition began – ECS students will feature as finalists for the title ‘United Kingdom Electronic Skills Foundation Scholar of the Year’.

The two ECS students competing for the title this year are Josh Oldfield, final-year student on the MEng Electronic Engineering programme, and Dominic Maskell, who is in his third year of the same programme. The annual competition involves students from all the UK’s leading engineering departments, and the winner will be announced at the National Microelectronics Institute annual dinner in London on Thursday 19 November.

Josh has held a UKESF Scholarship since 2013 with ARM, and this summer completed a placement with the company as part of the programme, working with the Processor Implementation Department in Cambridge.

He is positive about the opportunities created by the UKESF programme. ‘The opportunity has really helped my development as an engineer,’ he said. ‘It gave me a chance to develop and test my skills in the engineering workplace, as well as developing my interpersonal skills, and helping the next generation of students start their engineering careers.’

Dominic spent his summer placement at Selex.

Five previous ECS students have been named as finalists for this prestigious title since it was instituted in 2011. In that year two ECS students were named as finalists, with the title won by Adam Malpass, with Tom Dell runner-up; in 2012 Samuel Hipkin was runner-up, and in 2013 the title was won by Ashley Robinson, who graduated from ECS in 2014. Josh appeared in last year’s final, the only student so far to have reached the finals twice.

‘We are very proud of our students’ achievements in UKESF,’ said Professor Nick Jennings, Head of ECS. ‘They have an excellent record in achieving Scholarships, with 66 applications made this year alone, and to have seven students reach the finals of Scholar of the Year is outstanding recognition of their ability to transfer their skills from the classroom to the industrial context.

‘As a department with close links to the UK electronics industry, we thoroughly support the aspirations of UKESF in highlighting the outstanding career opportunities that are open to electronic engineering graduates. We work closely with the leading companies in the UK and worldwide, and are extremely proud of the contribution that our graduates continue to make to the development of electronics.’

Over the summer of 2015 ECS spent over £5M in upgrading its teaching labs for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and for Computer Science. The new facilities now rank with the best in Europe.

UKESF is a collaboration between industry, universities and the public sector, which promotes the electronics industry and its value to society and the economy, and aims to secure a sustainable supply of quality and industry-prepared graduates. It offers a sector-specific programme for employers in the electronics sector to engage with young people at school and university through to graduate employment.

Jo Johnson MP, the Minister of State for Universities and Science, formally opened new world-leading teaching and computing facilities at the University of Southampton today (23 November).

The Minister officially opened the recently refurbished multi-million pound Teaching and Computing Laboratories for Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), which will ensure current and future students will use the latest technology and state-of-the-art facilities to support their degree programmes and prepare them for industries of the future.

A £4m investment, funded by the University and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), enabled the undergraduate and MSc labs for Computing and for Electrical and Electronic Engineering to significantly increase capacity and enhance capability. This included the creation of a new 300m2 project lab for senior undergraduate and MSc students.

The Minister also opened the new experimental fluid dynamics building on the University’s £140m Boldrewood Innovation Campus. The building hosts world-class research infrastructure including an anechoic wind chamber, advanced fluid dynamics experimental facilities and a 138-metre towing tank, which will be used across a range of disciplines including aerospace, civil engineering, infrastructure and maritime engineering.

Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson said: “It was a pleasure opening the new Fluid Dynamics lab and the impressive Teaching and Computing Laboratories at the University of Southampton.

“It is a great example of how many Universities are focusing on high quality teaching and the student experience and integrating this with their research and industry engagement.”

During the opening of the Teaching and Computing Laboratories labs, ARM, the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, announced its continuing commitment to a partnership with the University with a further three years of funding to the ARM-ECS Research Centre.

The Centre, founded in 2008 following successful research collaboration over a number of years focuses on leading-edge research on advanced design methods, architectures and their practical applications for energy-efficient and dependable processor systems.

The partnership between ARM and the University of Southampton was recognised last week (19 November) with the University Research Group of the Year Award at the NMI Awards in London, UK. As the UK and Ireland’s Electronic Systems Industry association, NMI annually award and showcase excellence within the industry rewarding the innovation, expertise and ambition of businesses.

Dr Stephen Pattison, vice president of public affairs at ARM, said: “ARM values the collaboration with Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton as it is helping to push leading edge technology innovation. The new teaching laboratory facility opening today will provide a valuable boost to the department’s work with its modern facilities and equipment. It will help the university to develop the talent of the engineering graduates and researchers they are nurturing.”

Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, said: “These new facilities will enable us to build on the world-leading research and education which takes place here in Southampton. They are great examples of how the University collaborates with business to generate unique projects and initiatives, benefiting our students, our research and the companies themselves.”

Staff and students from the University of Southampton won two prestigious awards at the National Microelectronics Institute annual dinner and prizegiving event, held last week (19 November) in London.

Final-year Electronic Engineering student Josh Oldfield was named ‘Scholar of the Year’, the third time this title has been won by a student from Southampton’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at Southampton over the last five years.

The annual competition involves students from all the UK’s leading engineering departments and is sponsored by the UK Electronics Skills Foundation. Josh’s award recognized his commitment to the UK’s electronic industry and his achievements – both as a student in Electronics and Computer Science and as an intern at his sponsoring company, ARM. he runner-up for the title ‘Scholar of the Year’ was also a student in ECS – Dominic Maskell is in the third-year of his degree in Electronic Engineering, and is sponsored by Selex ES.

Five previous ECS students have been named as finalists for this prestigious title since it was instituted in 2011. In that year two ECS students were named as finalists, with the title won by Adam Malpass, with Tom Dell runner-up; in 2012 Samuel Hipkin was runner-up, and in 2013 the title was won by Ashley Robinson, who graduated from ECS in 2014. Josh appeared in last year’s final, the only student so far to have reached the finals twice.

ECS, in partnership with ARM, also won the title ‘University Research Group of the Year’ – sponsored by Thales for excellent liaison and partnership in electronic systems with industry. The ARM-ECS Research Centre was founded in 2008 following successful research collaboration over previous years between Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi's research group and ARM. Centre researchers work at ARM or at ECS with internships at ARM. It is co-directed by Professor Al-Hashimi and Dr David Flynn (ARM Fellow, Visiting Professor at ECS). The Centre focuses on leading-edge research on advanced design methods, architectures and their practical validations for energy-efficient and dependable single-core and multi-core processor systems.

The citation read: ‘This year’s winner has demonstrated a very strong portfolio in electronics design built on world-class research partnerships with companies. The Centre has proved to be an exemplar of a cross-industry electronics research centre, which has delivered important collaborative ventures, such as the £5.6M PRiME project.’

"It is a great honour to have received two awards from the UK’s microelectronics industry at this prestigious event," said Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Southampton. "We place a very high value on our links with industry, and our collaboration with ARM has been particularly successful, enabling research at the highest level, as well as the transfer of knowledge and practical applications. It has also led directly to the development of significant research projects, such as the PRiME programme."

In the last week ARM, the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, has also announced its continuing commitment to a partnership with the University with a further three years of funding to the ARM-ECS Research Centre.

The University of Southampton is to lead one of two £10 million research centres that will transform the UK’s manufacturing industries through the use of photonics, the science and technology of light.

Photonics manufactures the critical components inside our mobile phones and enables the internet and the optical storage technologies that underpin the digital world. It helps manufacture cars, navigates airliners probes individual human cells and helps defend the nation.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) National Hub in High Value Photonic Manufacturing was announced by Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson. The second Hub in Future Liquid Metal Engineering is based at Brunel University in London.

Dr Martin Charlton of Electronics and Computer Science is a co-investigator on the the Future Photonics Hub which brings together the expertise of Zepler Institute researchers in the Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology Research Group and Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), alongside the ESPRC National III-V Centre at the University of Sheffield. This new Hub will provide national leadership in manufacturing for the next-generation of photonics technologies. With more than 40 companies providing guidance and resources, the Hub is solidly focused on improving UK manufacturing efficiency.

The Future Photonics Hub, which is funded for seven years, will accelerate growth of the UK’s £10 billion photonics industry and support the £600 billion of UK manufacturing output that depends on photonics. It will be the go-to place for the UK photonics industry by:

• improving existing manufacturing processes for production of photonics components;
• supplying prototypes and sub-systems to their designs;
• being a one-stop-shop for trialling user ideas and developing new manufacturing processes.

Hub lead Professor Sir David Payne, Director of the Zepler Institute and ORC, said: “The ORC has been at the forefront of photonics for over 40 years. We know from experience the astonishing range of innovative ideas that emerge when scientists and engineers think about manufacturing. The key is to work with industry to understand the opportunity not only to improve existing manufacturing methods but to develop entirely new ways of making things.”

The primary economic impact of the Hub will be to aid rapid commercialisation of emerging technologies. This will result in new products and services in both the photonics industry and in the industries enabled by photonics. Supporting companies across the UK have so far promised a total of £12.5 million in markets that include defence and security, communications, space, semiconductor manufacturing and healthcare.

The investment in the Future Photonics Hub by EPSRC will be further enhanced by £3 million from the two universities.

Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science, said: “From cars to smartphones our world-leading research drives innovation and growth in the UK’s manufacturing industries. With this investment, these new manufacturing hubs will develop the next generation of high tech products in communications and healthcare, as well as tackle industry challenges such as rising materials costs."

Over five decades, the University of Southampton has maintained a position at the forefront of photonics research. Its long and well established track record in the fields of optical fibre, lasers, waveguides, devices and optoelectronic materials has fostered innovation, enterprise, cross-boundary and multi-disciplinary activities.

Through the ORC, the University has built strong links with industry, research institutions and universities around the world, from informal collaborations to large-scale funding. In 2014, it launched The Photonics Institute with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Ten spin-out companies, including Fibercore, Fianium, SENSA, SPI Lasers and Stratophase have commercialised ORC research, while its extensive outreach programme has brought lasers and optical fibres into schools across the country.

Southampton was one of five universities selected to participate in the first Open Data Mashup Day, themed on 'Enhancing the Student Journey', and held in London last week.

The event, organised by Universities UK in partnership with the Open Data Institute (ODI) and JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), challenged developers in universities and digital industries to produce a demo of a mobile app that used open data to help university students through their learning journey.

Southampton was represented by Llorenç Vaquer (PhD student) and Dr Luis-Daniel Ibañez (Research Fellow) of the Web and Internet Science (WAIS) group in Electronics and Computer Science. Their app - 'Find my Uni Match’ - focused on one of the most fundamental aspects of the university experience: choosing your course.

The app provided users with information on universities that best fulfilled their preferences from a range of both academic and non-academic variables. “Events like this, with ideas pushed forward by university students and staff, help to make the case for opening universities’ data," said Dr Ibañez.

Other apps from the five universities represented - Coventry, Sheffield Hallam, Leeds, Lancaster and Southampton - helped users find somewhere to live, identify books needed for their course, manage their timetable, and find job opportunities. During the challenge each team developed an elevator pitch for their idea with the help of members of the audience.

The full-day workshop also featured keynote addresses from Sir Nigel Shadbolt (University of Oxford), Chris Gutteridge (Southampton), Tony Hirst (Open University), and Jonathan Waller (Higher Education Statistics Agency), as well as hands-on sessions with experts from the Open Data Institute. The workshop concluded with a panel on Open Data in universities led by Sir Ian Diamond (Aberdeen University) and Paul Feldman of JISC.

The prize of £5000 of development support was won by the ‘Bookmarket’ app from the University of Lancaster.

Dr Elena Simperl, Director of ODINE, the Open Data Incubator for Europe, and associate professor in the Web and Internet Science group in ECS, commented: “Southampton has always been an open data pioneer. Our own data.southampton.ac.uk portal was one of the first to open up some of our administrative data to the public and it's great to see that something we've been advocating for a long time is gaining momentum.

“The challenge offers our team, as well as other researchers in the UK, the opportunity to demonstrate that opening up data can have tremendous advantages in terms of transparency and efficiency. “