Five University projects have been awarded a total of just under £900K under the second round of Proof of Concept funding from Scottish Enterprise.

PROJECT ONE

A SYSTEM FOR TAILORED ANTI-CANCER DRUG SCREENING

Prof Malcolm Hodgins, Dr Mike Edwards, Dr Dave Greenhalgh

As the incidence of human cancers increases, the development of systems designed to accurately mimic human cancer is highly desirable, as they can potentially establish test systems to evaluate novel treatment modalities tailored to the causal mutation or be employed in safety evaluation to test suspect carcinogens.

Human cancer is a multistage process whereby normal cells acquire the properties of malignancy in a step-wise manner. Using experimental animal systems, three distinct stages of initiation, promotion and progression have been identified, and these can be reproduced, to some extent, by cells in tissue culture.

However, many assays for testing carcinogenic potential are based on use of primary cultured cells which have significant problems in terms of experimental reproducibility and flexibility. Hence, improved systems are needed to refine and reduce the requirement for animal testing, while having the flexibility to take advantage of the explosion in information on the genetic causes of cancer. Therefore, in a novel approach, we will develop an anti-cancer drug screening system that will produce data highly relevant to major human cancers.

Once established, it is envisaged that this technology will provide the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors with a highly flexible approach to screen compounds which utilises state of the art post-genome resources to develop standardised, cost-effective, genetically-defined alternatives to animal tests for both mechanism-based drug development and safety evaluation.

PROJECT 2

Novel Target Stroke Therapy Development

Prof Moira Brown, Prof Jim McCulloch, Dr Mhairi McRae

Prof Brown and her colleagues have identified new proteins that play an important role in cerebral ischaemia. This research could lead to a range of medicines that offer an effective treatment for people who suffer a stroke.

Ischaemic damage to the brain is a feature of stroke. Presently there is only one drug on the market for this event and for clinical reasons this is available to only a small percentage of patients. Two-thirds of the people who survive stroke are left debilitated: half of these are dependant on professional round-the-clock care and the rest get by with some form of assisted living. There is an urgent need for novel effective therapeutics.

The research team are currently working to validate the significance of the proteins and to develop the rationale for a clinical development program. The success of this approach will lead to the creation of a new class of medicines for use as first line treatments that limit the damage associated with stroke, such as paralysis, loss of sight or hearing, and speech impediments.

In addition, these medicines may also find use in other neurodegenerative diseases such as head injury, Alzheimer_s and Parkinson_s.

PROJECT 3

Software tools for creating "cloned" human characters

Dr Paul Siebert & Mr Stephen Marshall

A research team at Glasgow University is leading the development of a suite of software tools that will allow animation and games companies to quickly and easily "clone" individuals to create realistic animated characters.

Synthetic human characters are becoming a key technology in the new digital creative media. However, current approaches to creating computer animated human characters are not only of limited realism but also extremely time-consuming and hence expensive to create. So computer animators need tools that will give greater realism and that can improve the efficiency of an extremely labour-intensive process.

Most animation and games development companies do not have the resources to develop these tools in-house. The research team is working in collaboration with Edinburgh University to develop a suite of software tools to allow real-world 3D whole-body data, collected from specific individuals, to be combined with parameter-based human modelling to create an animatable synthetic character that is a "clone" of the scanned individual.

The new technology will dramatically improve realism through the addition of real-world 3D data and will also cut considerably the time and effort required to produce lifelike synthetic characters by introducing a high degree of automation to the creation process. The team is developing software tools that both demonstrate the effectiveness of this new technology in meeting these requirements and are sufficiently engineered that they are suitable for integration by software developers into commercial products.

PROJECT FOUR

Real-time ion-beam profiler for precise implant control

Dr Mahfuzur Rahman

A research team in the University of Glasgow is developing a unified, real-time detector system that can measure both beam current and beam profile in ion beams. Presently, two separate systems are used to make these measurements. These measurements are essential to the manufacture of the next generation of silicon devices.

The ever-decreasing dimensions of silicon devices is expected to continue over the next decade or so. The aggressive scaling has demanded progressively tighter controls on all lithographic processes and parameters.

The use of ion implanters has been a vital contribution to the scaling, with control over both shallow and deep implants being the crucial factor. The implant depth dictates the required ion energy, and the design of the implant machine depends on both the ion energy and current.

Within implanters, a beam of ions is extracted from a plasma discharge and transported to the target through an isotope selector. To achieve implant uniformity samples are scanned through the beam. Ion transport is possible only above ~2 keV as beam stability is space charge limited at very much lower energies.

To achieve very low energies, <2 keV, a trick may be used. The ions are transported towards the target at a higher energy, say 3 keV. They then pass through a deceleration lens (a retarding field) which slows them down to lower energies, down to <100 eV if necessary, just before hitting the target.

The very shallow implants that result, followed by rapid thermal processing, permit the formation of the very shallow junctions that are required in the next generations of silicon devices. To achieve good process control the ion beam characteristics in the implanter must be well known.

Beam current determines total dose and beam profile determines uniformity of implant. Present machines use different schemes to reconstruct or infer the beam profile from Faraday cups, wires, or slits swept through the ion beam. Dosimetry is usually separate from beam profiling, and is for example achieved with a current monitor connected to the beam dump.

The research team is addressing the issue of profiling and dosimetry to develop a detector system that combines the two functions into a single system.

PROJECT FIVE

Development and Demonstration of Fully Packaged RTD-EAM Devices for Optical Communications

Prof. Charles Ironside, Dr Simon Hicks

Optical modulators are used in telecommunications systems to convert electronic data into a modulated light beam for subsequent transmission through optical fibres. The modulator systems presently available are expensive, require expensive and bulky drive circuitry and require bulky and expensive external matching and filter circuitry, these being the main obstacles to wider deployment.

A new type of optoelectronic modulator, a Resonant Tunnelling Diode Electro Absorption Modulator (RTD-EAM) has been developed at Glasgow University. Laboratory tests at Glasgow have shown that RTD-EAM devices have many potential advantages over commercially available devices. Glasgow has patents pending on the device structure.

The aim of this proposal is to realise the commercial potential of this technology by bringing together University IP and know-how in the Optoelectronics Research Group, the Ultra Fast Systems Group and the MBE Research Group to enable the development and optimisation of several technology areas including the III-V wafer design and growth, the III-V fabrication process, the facet coating, the filter and matching circuitry and the fibre alignment.

Through these developments, we will prove the concept of fully packaged RTD-EAM devices, including integrated monolithic matching and filter circuitry, operating at 40GHz with drive voltages less than 100mV for 1550nm fibre optic communication applications. The main concepts to be proven include;

o The design and growth of III-V wafer structures on semi-insulating substrates optimised for high frequency performance.

o The design and fabrication of monolithic matching and filter circuitry integrated with the optical modulators to extend the high frequency performance and to eliminate costly and bulky external matching and filter components.

o The integration of the above components with suitable high frequency electronic and optical packaging technology to demonstrate the full high frequency potential of RTD-EAM devices in 1550nm telecommunications.

The ultimate aim of this project is to achieve the developments that will allow the creation of a strong spin-out venture. This spin out venture will utilise the strong research base and skilled workforce available in Scotland to further develop and manufacture a wide portfolio of optical components aimed initially at the telecommunications sector. Scotland is becoming recognised as a high growth area for optoelectronics-based companies and this venture will add significantly to that portfolio. We aim to create a strong Scottish-based development and manufacturing company that will create local employment opportunities, will create significant wealth for Scotland, will invest in the research base, and will add significantly to the creation of a Scottish Optoelectronics Cluster.

Comenting on the outcome, Professor Peter Holmes, Vice-Principal for Research, said: "The University of Glasgow is delighted that five of its bids have been supported in this latest round of Proof of Concept funding. This scheme, which is an extremely effective way of getting technology from the laboratory bench to the market place, is making a most valuable contribution to the commercialisation of Scotland's leading edge research, to the benefit of the Scottish economy."

Further information for the media is available at:

http://www.newsdesk.gla.ac.uk/pressreleases

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

PROJECT ONE

Contacts:

Prof Malcolm Hodgins

tel: 0141 330 4009

email: m.b.hodgins@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Dr Mike Edwards

Tel: 0141 330 4007

m.edward@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Dr Dave Greenhalgh

Tel: 0141 330 6914

dag6g@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Mr Brian McGeough

Commercialisation Manager

Tel: 0141 330 3120

b.mcgeough@enterprise.gla.ac.uk

PROJECT TWO

Prof Moira Brown

Tel: 0141 201 2512

smbrown@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Mel Anderson

Commercialisation Manager

Tel: 0141 330 4266

mel.anderson@enterprise.gla.ac.uk

Prof Jim McCulloch

0141 330 5828

gpna03@udcf.gla.ac.uk

PROJECT THREE

Dr Paul Siebert

Tel: 0141 330 3124

psiebert@dcs.gla.ac.uk

Mr Bryn Williams

Commercialisation Manager

Tel: 0141 330 3133

b.williams@enterprise.gla.ac.uk

PROJECT FOUR

Dr Mahfuzur Rahman

m.rahman@physics.gla.ac.uk

Gordon Macmillan

Commercialisation Manager

Tel: 0141 330 3721

g.macmillan@enterprise.gla.ac.uk

PROJECT FIVE

Charlie Ironside

0141 330 4796

c.ironside@elec.gla.ac.uk

Simon Hicks

0141 330 4869

s.hicks@elec.gla.ac.uk

Bryn Williams

Commercialisation Manager

Tel: 0141 330 3133

b.williams@enterprise.gla.ac.uk

First published: 9 April 2001