Entice Technology Ltd
a knowledge exchange case study
Research to look at developing thermal climatology using statistical, measuring and modelling techniques; linking road weather research and boundary layer meteorology.
The principal investigator's and the company's knowledge has been used to develop information systems that can be used by a wide range of parties. The programs can be used to predict where to spread grit and which rail routes might have major problems at certain time of the year (eg buckling rails in summer and icing in winter).
The research is especially useful to:
- railway authorities
- highways agencies
- local authorities
- city councils
The original work was funded through NERC's URGENT programme, and subsequently a Small Business Research Initiative Award (top-sliced from URGENT funds) for the spin-out company Entice Technology Ltd in Birmingham.
The SBRI award was to develop the company further and the specific technologies they use, namely sky-view factor measurement by GPS proxy and three-dimensional cold air pooling using digital terrain models, to produce a data delivery system using Geographical Information Systems and the Internet.
In addition, a product trial run by Entice and Glasgow City Council will compare the technology with existing solutions and prove its suitability for market. When the research and trials are complete, the solution for predicting road ice should be immediately suitable for licensing to meteorological companies worldwide.
NERC participated in the Small Business Research Initiative scheme by running an annual competition between 2000 and 2005.