WELSH ACHIEVEMENTS [ IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING ] ‘Our vision in Wales is of a learning country, where highly- skilled and highly-qualified people are employed in high- technology, high added-value companies.’ Professor John Harries, first chief scientific adviser for Wales, speaking in 2011 at the Welsh universities collaboration, research knowledge and expertise programme – Welsh Crucible. This publication is also available electronically from business.wales.gov.uk/innovation To discuss your innovation needs please call Business Wales on 03000 6 03000 or visit business.wales.gov.uk. Print ISBN 978 1 4734 0171 6 Printed on recycled paper Digital ISBN 978 1 4734 0169 3 WG16613 / G/MH/4578 / 0813 © Crown copyright 2013 2 On a global scale Wales is a small, but smart country, in which every opportunity has been taken to optimise resources, designs and processes. Shaped by landscape and culture it made its mark on the world through the maximisation of the great natural mineral wealth found here. Wales continues to make its mark through in-depth scientific and technical understanding and commercial innovation. From the past to the present an impressive list of achievements, many of which are the first of their kind in the world, have given Wales a great momentum for the future. CONTENTS 02 Foreword 05 Bioscience and Health 13 The Built Environment 20 Telecommunications and ICT 26 Creative Industries 35 Energy 41 Engineering 45 Environmental Sciences 50 Materials 56 Transport 64 People 74 Milestones 86 Conclusion 1 The modern world is increasingly made up of the products of the application of science, technology and engineering. Wales and the contribution Wales may not have hosted of the Welsh people in any of the ‘big science’ projects the field of discovery and of modern times, from the invention has underpinned wartime Manhattan Project many such applications – the to the CERN Large Hadron theory of natural selection, Collider but it has played a the early development of significant part in both. The crystallography, the discovery top secret Valley Works at of free radicals and meson Rhydymwyn in Clwyd, originally decay through to inventions of established to produce mustard world-wide significance – the gas, began conducting research steam railway locomotive, the for Britain's atomic bomb fuel cell and the microphone. project in 1941. Scientists More recently ground-breaking working there before work research into embryonic stem was assigned to the Manhattan cells is underway and the Project in the USA included work undertaken by Welsh Rudolf Peierls and Klaus Fuchs. computer scientists ranged Fast forward some sixty years from the technology necessary and we find Aberdare born to underpin the World Wide Dr Lyn Evans project leading Web to developments in the commissioning work for the operating systems for the Large Hadron Collider touchscreen smartphones and a team under Professor and tablet computers. Mike Charlton of Swansea University working on the ALPHA experiment at CERN. To foster and continue this scientific tradition the Welsh Government has invested FOREWORD 2 £50 million in the Ser Cymru of such order. Inspiration (Stars Wales) programme. and innovation often travel This will build on Wales’s together and environments established track record in the that stimulate, encourage and ‘Grand Challenges’ of: recognise good ideas, can only bring economic benefits. l Life sciences and health; The Welsh Government lays l Low carbon, energy and great stress on the value of environment and innovation in maintaining l Advanced engineering and improving the prospects and materials of Welsh companies for growth, as recognized in the From ‘big science’ to everyday Innovation Wales Strategy. In science the role of innovation is Wales a range of initiatives, crucial. competitions and activities Innovation knows no are in place to encourage boundaries. The thought innovation from primary to processes which lead to ‘new’ tertiary education and industry. ideas can come from anyone Outputs have already been and whilst research and translated into viable economic development is structured projects. Welsh universities to progress logically towards form part of the world-leading innovative processes and science base of Britain, which products, the ‘Eureka’ is second only to the USA in its moment does not necessarily share of global citations. come about as the result 3 Most innovations bring about As this publication incremental changes to an demonstrates, Wales has existing process or product. It an enviable track record for is comparatively rare for the incremental and step changes major step changes to occur resulting from the application but when they do, they can of innovative ideas. Initiatives truly bring about a revolution are in place at all levels to in our standards of living and encourage individuals and quality of life. We cannot all organisations to engage in recognise the double helix of lateral thinking to develop DNA for the first time nor bring and commercialise their microwave technology into ideas. Humans are naturally the home but we can all come curious and by creating an up with ideas for improving environment that encourages everyday life. that curiosity, Wales is already feeling the economic benefits. In an international study, Thomson Reuters ranked The following pages Wales among the world’s include past and current top 20 countries in terms of accomplishments and also citations per scientific paper, some that could be said to be whilst other research shows the ‘just on the horizon’ in terms number of articles authored by of realisation. Wales based researchers has grown at a rate outpacing the Watch this space... UK and world averages. Wales has an enviable track record. 4 BIOSCIENCES AND HEALTH The Welsh Life Sciences Fund is one of the biggest per capita commitments made by any country into a fund of this type. Nuclei of Endothelial Cells Courtesy of Cardiff Metropolitan University 5 Morvus Technology, established in 2007 to develop anti-cancer drugs, has embarked on collaborative ventures with Cardiff University School of Medicine in the development of diagnostic tests. The Bioscience and Health sector is an important one in Wales. It is home to one of the UK’s most well established bioscience clusters with its longstanding reputation for scientific and academic excellence, over 250 companies choosing Wales as their base. With increasing demands are engaged in work that and expectations for further may lead to life-style and improvements in healthcare, pharmacological interventions market opportunities have to slow down the development encouraged numerous spin- of aging-related vascular outs to emerge from the pathologies. The group has university sector where closer discovered that one of the links between the various mammalian proteins called disciplines such as medicine, Sirtuins protects cells that biosciences, electronics, form the inner lining of blood chemistry and computer science vessels. are producing world-class The team led by Professor Ole developments. Petersen at Cardiff University’s Led by Professor Jorge D. School of Biosciences has Erusalimsky, the Cellular discovered a protein that could Senescence and Vascular lead to new treatments to Biology Group at Cardiff reduce the risk of pancreatic Metropolitan University cancer. 6 Powys based Alzeim Ltd are the University of Wales College extracting a natural chemical of Medicine – UWCM) and called galantamine from indigenous companies in the daffodils which slows the sector. In addition, Wales also progress of Alzheimer’s disease. boasts a strong and stable skills base, purpose built Telemedicine diagnosis infrastructure and a firm programmes for commitment to the sector by ophthalmology, such as the Welsh Government. retinopathy screening, have been pioneered in rural Wales The development of new as a pilot along with parts of drugs, the way in which they Canada, Australia and India. can be delivered to the active sites in the body and their The diagnosis of adverse health mode of action are major conditions has benefited research areas at the Welsh greatly from the convergence School of Pharmacy. Small of different scientific disciplines molecules and much larger Increasing miniaturisation of polymer-based molecules are test equipment now enables being devised and evaluated to self-testing kits and telemetric combat diseases such as cancer, systems to convey results to the viral and bacterial infections surgery and hospital without and tropical diseases. the patient having to attend in person. The Wound Healing Research Unit at Cardiff University Many diagnostic tests are being was the first in the world to developed and manufactured specialise in this subject and in Wales to detect, for example, five Schools in the University diabetes, osteoporosis, are also combining in the thyroid disorders, anaemia Cardiff Institute of Tissue and infectious diseases. The Engineering and Repair (CITER) continued success of the for the early application of sector has been built upon research results into clinical the links between renowned practice. academic institutes such as Cardiff University (including 7 At the more fundamental Hair samples are being level, the Institute of Medical used to identify historical Genetics has contributed to the exposure to drugs in maintenance of the Human humans in an analytical Gene Mutation Database service developed by at Cardiff Wales Gene Park, Concateno Tricho Tech putting Wales at the forefront of Cardiff, the longest