International partnerships

Researchers at the James Watt School of Engineering's Autonomous Systems and Connectivity Research Division are working with telecomms giant Virgin Media O2 and partners with expertise in technology innovation models at the Adam Smith Business School on a range of exciting design, development and commercialisation projects. Centred on 5G, satcom, and autonomous vehicles, they combine commercial know-how and academic expertise in hugely impactful ways that give us all a glimpse into the future.

Professor Muhammad Imran and Dr Yusuf Sambo have contributed to use-cases for the application of electronic communications technologies in healthcare settings, where they have significant expertise, to products developed by industry partners and commercialised in accordance with business models developed by Professor Nuran Acur from Adam Smith Business School and her team.

One of these is based on the DARWIN project which was sponsored by Telefonica, the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. As its website explains:

"The project aims to explore the integration of satellite communications (satcom) into the fifth generation mobile (5G) ecosystem with a focus on Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs)" to "demonstrate how 5G and satcom will allow autonomous vehicles of various kinds, with diverse uses cases, to communicate within an ecosystem based on monitoring and control by a central platform regardless of their geospatial location."

The Benefits of Collaboration

In these collaborations, researchers and industry partners get the chance to learn from each other. Industrial actors can explore the theories, research and equipment at play within academic laboratories, which may still be exploratory or uncommercialised. Academics in turn get the advantage of commercial expertise and know-how, solving problems while being able to demonstrate impact. These partnerships are increasingly important, benefitting individuals, businesses and teams. Professors like Nuran Acur sit at the inter-section of what were previously distinct schools of thought.

Dr David Owens, Head of Technical Trials at Virgin Media emphasises:

being committed to building a network for the future means that collaboration is key. Partnerships, like the one that we have with the University of Glasgow, allow us to solve real world problems and focus on projects that can have truly transformative effects on society.

The project team also intend to address a wider range of mobile and wireless communication challenges. Alongside 5G teleoperation, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) offer exciting prospects. This management of innovative potential sets to work young 5G technologists and graduate engineers from both the commercial and academic sides of the partnership. As well as transportation and logistics, applications exist in the healthcare sector.

Check out the video below to find out more:

https://youtu.be/N9E7oLR9w6U

Healthcare Applications for Autonomous Vehicles

Professor Imran and Dr Sambo are leading the Connected Digital Health Innovation System for COVID-19 (CODIS) project. The team have been working in collaboration with Telefónica's Darwin Innovation Group developers and other stakeholders on the Connected Mobile Health Clinic (CMHC). This clinic on wheels is supported by a 4G/5G mobile network and connected to a cloud-based fleet and inventory management platform. It is designed to visit care homes for remote testing of residents and delivery of essential medical supplies. COVID-19 test results of the care home residents are sent to a secure cloud server via the mobile network for real-time epidemiological and management analysis. It is hoped that the scaled model will be used in future for other types of remote diagnostics, health management and tele-consultation for the NHS. The project has received £34,723 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account.

Professor Acur is academic lead for the DARWIN project (2019- current) and she is responsible for developing business models and collaborative innovation frameworks for different use cases in sectors such as public, retail, transportation, and health. As part of this project, University of Glasgow opened the DARWIN innovation laboratory to provide an interactive learning and collaboration space. Its purpose is to support design teams to analyse the market and current regulatory trends to inform the future landscape, conduct technology road-mapping, and discover, select and validate new business model prototypes. Its projects have already supported two post-doctoral students and three PhD students.

Credits and Thanks

With thanks to Kirsty Bright (Director of Network Innovation, Strategy and Transformation at Virgin Media O2), Dr David Owens (Head of Technical Trials at Virgin Media O2) and Paul Binney (former Network & Technology Communications Lead at Virgin Media O2) for contributions to this article.

Special thanks also to Professor Nuran Acur for her invaluable time and significant contributions.

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First published: 20 February 2023