Mission Profile

iSLI sits at the critical interface between the academic and commercial engineering worlds. The Institute is focused on knowledge transfer in enabling technologies, our vision being to increase the value and extent of company engagements in high level R&D. We strive directly to bridge the research exploitation gap, encompassing Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 3 to 6, by engaging both industry and academia individually and in common projects. The enabling technology, on which we focus, is applied across a very wide range of end applications, meaning we probably have the skills and technology to help in whatever business a client has needs. Our approach is predicated on the belief that today’s adopters of ‘mundane technology’ will become the research-engaged companies of tomorrow.

iSLI has evolved hugely, since being founded in 1998 at the Alba Centre, Livingston, Scotland, as the world’s first centre of excellence to concentrate on postgraduate education and research in the methodology and applications of system-on-chip design, system level integration and related software and hardware technologies. Our focus remains steadfastly on the issues of integrated systems and creating application value from knowledge. As the activities and skills in our home economy have shifted from large scale SoC application to technologies such as FPGA, embedded processing and wireless communications, so have we.

Our skills, both in-house and through our founding academic partners, encompass:

• Analogue, digital and ASIC electronics
• FPGA, DSP and image processing implementation
• Silicon MEMS [stand alone and with integrated CMOS]
• Embedded software
• Wireless

Our offering and approach includes:

• Scoping of up-skilling activities
• De-risking potential new technology routes for companies
• Company Technical Mentoring
  • Technology assistance, not services
  • Working with client
  • Developing their solution and their capability

The Institute is a unique academic collaborative venture of four of the UK’s leading universities: Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Glasgow and Strathclyde, and with links to the University of the West of Scotland and Lancaster University who bring key skills in the use of MEMS technology. iSLI draws on the academic expertise of the university departments of computer science, electronic and electrical engineering and informatics to deliver leading edge research as well as first class postgraduate lecturing.

Funding for iSLI is underpinned by a financial commitment from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s economic development agency.

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