PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 01 2017

19 / 28

Collaboration in action in Swansea
Cushman & Wakefield has worked closely with
Swansea University for a number of years. During
this time we have seen the £450m transformation
of a former sea-front BP site into the University’s
1m Bay Campus. The development, which
was awarded the RICS Wales Regeneration Project
of the Year 2016, highlights the economic impact of
universities at local, national and international level.
Swansea University has fully embraced
the concepts of collaborative research and
exploitation of comparative advantage identified
by Witty. Its areas of activity include alternative
energy, membrane technology, aerospace, printing
materials and medical diagnosis. Collaborations
with companies such as BP, Rolls Royce, Airbus
and Tata Steel are delivering productivity
improvements and helping to drive regional
and national economies.
– Working with Rolls Royce, the University
Technology Centre in Materials helped to
improve the efficiency of gas turbine engines,
which led to a significant reduction in fuel
consumption.
– Flite, a computational aerodynamics system,
is being employed to revolutionise the speed of
aerodynamic design work and has been used
by NASA, BAE and Airbus.
University/business clustering
Perhaps the most famous UK example of university/
business clustering is the ‘Silicon Fen’ region around
Cambridge. It is home to a large number of software,
biotechnology and electronics companies including ARM,
which was recently subject to a £24bn takeover. This
cluster of minds is helping to drive a technology sector
growth rate 32% higher than the national average.5
The University of Manchester, whose 41,000 students
make it the UK’s largest university, is hoping to derive
similar comparative advantage from the discovery of
graphene (the 2D material that is 200 times stronger than
steel and was isolated by two of its researchers in 2004).
The University is looking to create a critical mass of
researchers to drive an engineering ecosystem which will
be fundamental to the planned development of the £61m
National Graphene Institute.
Universities also help to drive economic performance
in a number of ways beyond collaboration with
multinationals. Many work closely with SMEs. Lancaster
University, for instance, has created more than 4,000
jobs by collaborating with 5,000 SMEs. It has been
awarded the Small Business Charter Gold, one of only
three nationally, in recognition of its role in driving
enterprise and economic performance.
Looking ahead
It is clear that universities will play a central role in
developing the UK’s economy over the coming decades.
The Government’s preliminary proposals for a post-
Brexit UK6 note that around half of today’s 17 year olds will
have participated in higher education by the time they are
30. In doing so, these young people will help forge the role
of universities in commercialising research and spin-out
companies, aid greater collaboration between universities
and businesses, and contribute to developing a tighter
focus on local strengths and advantages.
Today’s young people operate in an economy the
OECD recognises is built on knowledge and information.
Within this, university teaching, research and knowledge
exchange are at the heart of the process.
Universities
UK, the
representative
organisation
for the UK’s
universities,
estimates
that higher
education
accounts
for 2.8% of
UK GDP and
2.7% of all
employment
1 The Impact of Universities on the UK Economy (Universities UK)
2 Success as a Knowledge Economy (Higher Education White Paper 2016)
3 Universities and Growth: The Witty Review (2013)
4 Autumn Statement 2016
5 Tech Nation 2016
6 Building Our Industrial Strategy (Green Paper)
Source: Swansea University
7,500 workers
on site
£48.4m in research
awards for colleges at
the Bay Campus
20% increase in
students over 5 years
£162m average
annual student
spend in the region
183 contracts
awarded to Welsh
companies
40% studying
in key STEM
subjects
19
ALTERNATIVES