Written evidence submitted by Professor
Marc Desmulliez (TIC 08)
DECLARATION OF
INTEREST
Please note that this document reflects only my personal
view and does not necessarily reflect the views of my University.
I have been involved for over two years in the preparation of
a "Fraunhofer-UK Centre in Agile Micro-Manufacturing"
in collaboration with the following Fraunhofer Institutes: ILT
(Aachen), IPK (Berlin), IPA (Stuttgart) and IMS (Druisburg). I
am to be the future Director of the James Watt Institute for High
Value Manufacturing, the only EPSRC funded Innovative Manufacturing
Research Centre in Scotland and North of England.
ANSWERS TO
COMMITTEE'S
QUESTIONS
1. What is the Fraunhofer model and would
it be applicable to the UK?
1. The Fraunhofer model can be summarised by
the simple funding formula:"1/3, 1/3, 1/3". In its steady
state of funding, the Institute receives 1/3 of its turnover in
terms of funding devoted to core research funding. This funding
comes from institutional funding, which is, in this model, the
Headquarters of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Muenich. This funding
ensures that the various Fraunhofer Institutes stay at the cutting
edge of the technology and provide novelty to industry with an
horizon of five years before productisation. The second third
comes from European grants or other national grants obtained competitively
to allow research with an horizon of two to three years before
translation into products. The last third comes directly from
industry, especially SMEs, for rapid (less than one year) translation
of knowledge into industry with foreground Intellectual Property
(IP) belonging in general to the industry for the particular applications
paid by the SMES. Institutional funding obeys a non linear relation
with respect to the income received from industrial funding: too
much or too little funding from industry will see a decrease of
the amount of institutional fundin to force stakeholders to re-adjust
their strategy. Surplus generated by the Institute goes back to
the Headquarters.
2. There is close collaboration between Universities
and Fraunhofer institutes with academic staff members of a University.
These members of staff are contracted in and out the Institutes
in a seamless fashion depending on the research to be translated.
No wall exists therefore between research and commercialisation
of knowledge. Note that members of Fraunhofer Institutes are not
obliged to publish and are not subject to research assessment
exercise.
3. The fact that discussions are underway to
establish Fraunhofer-type Institutes between some Fraunhofer Institutes
in Germany and chosen Universities in the UK bode well to the
applicability of the model that could satisfy Universities priorities
whilst fulfilling the ethos of the Fraunhofer vision.
2. Are there existing Fraunhofer-type research
centres within the UK, and if so, are they effective?
4. There are no Fraunhofer-type Research Centres
in the UK. Carnot Institutes have been created in France to work
on a project basis with some dedicated Fraunhofer Institutes such
that these French organisations can learn from their German counterparts
without having to necessarily embrace the full philosophy of the
Fraunhofer Institutes.
5. Various Research Institutes or Research &
Trade Organisations in the UK (NPL, TWI, AFRC, MTC, etc.) would
like to claim such status but their business model is radically
different from the Fraunhofer one. The various Research Institutes
in the UK have proved to be wasteful, defective and inefficient:
they have little interaction with Universities, have a greater
than wise reliance on state type funding (EPSRC, TSB) and do not
interact effectively with SMEs for short term projects. Overheads
associated with projects from these institutes are also far too
high for the technical work actually achieved. These institutes
also do not translate research outputs originated from universities.
3. What other models are there for research
centres oriented toward applications and results?
6. I cannot think of any other model which has
proven so efficient and effective than the Fraunhofer Institute.
By blurring the boundaries between Universities and Research Centres,
these Institutes have managed to create over the last decades
an effective pipeline of knowledge exchange which has put German
academe and Deutschland Gesellschaft at the forefront of European
manufacturing and applied research. The feedback control loop
in terms of institutional funding has also ensured that these
Institutes do not become too dependent on state funding or dedicated
laboratories of specific companies.
4. Whose role should it be to coordinate research
in a UK-wide network of innovation centres?
7. It should be the role of TSB but its remit
is far too broad. An independent legal entity similar to Fraunhofer
GmBH would be the best vehicle.
5. What effect would the introduction of Fraunhofer-type
institutes have on the work of Public Sector Research Establishments
and other existing research centres that undertake Government
sponsored research?
8. The impact would be of immense with applied
research finding a clear path into industry and industry rallying
around such institutes that can satisfy their demands on a short
time scale. The other Research Centres would have to adjust their
business model to justify their state funding, provide real value
for money and serve SMEs efficiently.
Prof Marc Desmulliez CEng, MInstP, CPhys, MIET,
MIEEE
EECE Research Co-ordinator
Head of MIcrosystems Engineering Centre (MISEC)
Heriot-Watt University MIcroSystems Engineering Centre
29 November 2010
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