Organisation Description

iSLI was set up in 1998 by Scottish Enterprise, the Univeristies of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot Watt and Strathclyde. Our main activites include technology transfer between the academic and commercial worlds plus research and education services to the mircoelectronics community. iSLI act as a two way conduit for our 4 partner Univerisites to reach the commercial base and thus creates a route for information to flow. In addition, iSLI has its own Research and Development team who spevcialise in RF Sensor network platform development and optical MEMS research via SRDG funding.

Product/Research Description

iSLI is about making technology relevant and attractive to the commercial sector, therby enabling the success of new companies and products. iSLI’s primarly technical interests are silicon MEMS, electronic systems (in a broad sense from ASIC to embedded computing), RF communications and the intergration of these into new systems.
We support industry through grant collaboration, free to the user starter support and direct development contracting across our whole technology portfolio. We also offer specific services in MEMS as part of the UK MNT network delivering intergrated CMOS MEMS design.
We further research through our University engagements, particulary in the intergration of MEMS with electronics, photonics, optics and microfludics.

New Products

iSLI is not a product company, we support others to realise their own products. That said, we have engaged with many companies.
• We have completed 10 TTOM projects, including one with Oligon (now part of Wolfson) which resulted directly in the filing of an international patent.
• We worked with Ewgeco to take their product from conceptual mock up, though to the first fully functional demostrator system. This formed the basis of their product launch (held at Isli) and placement in the Carbon Netural Home.
• We are active in both our own right , and through engagements with the aerospace sector, in developing future generations of sensor networks for monitoring complex engineering systems.

Main Markets

Our largest geographic engagement is within the central belt of Scotland, but we engage across the UK, Europe and indeed globally; completing contracts in the US amongst other countries.
We engage primarily based on technology rather than application; as electronics is a ubiquitous underlying element in modern systems.
Our key technical interests are in radio communications for sensor networking, MEMS sensors, embedded processing and automation.

Services Offered

• We deliver the Electronics Design Support Service on behalf of Scottish Enterprise – a free at the point of use advisory instrument in technology adoption and expolitation.
• We provice the UK MNT network with a design portal for intergration silicon MEMS and CMOS circuitry in conjunction with the SemeMEMS foundry initiative and other UK manufactures.
• We provide direct design consultancy engagement to companies wishing to access our experts.
• Our MSc in System Intergration provides a route for Professional up-skilling.
• The engineering doctorate we deliver provides companies with an extremely cost-effective route to engaging engineering to carry out product development at a PhD level of innovation.
• We have an extensive portfolio of face to face and on line Continuing Proffesional Development materials and courses.

Specialised Skills and Facilities

• Support, advice and technical diligence on a range of technologies.
• Analogue and digital circuit design, both ASIC and board level.
• Embedded processing and system automation.
• Silicon MEMS for sensors, actuators and micro-fluidic applications.
• Intimate links to the research in 8 university departments
• Extensive links into academic research providing a wealth of cutting edge expertise.

Collaboration Sought or Offered

• All flavours of technology development and transfer in the area of our core skills.
• Partnering in longer term research proposals such as TSB, EU, EPSRC etc.
• EngD engagment with companies seeking to make a strtegic commitment to their medium term R&D.
• End users and systems intergrations in the field of remote sensing, conditionbased monitoring and micro-scale technologies.