Innovation New Anglia

The Innovation New Anglia project led by Hethel Innovation, ran from 2015 to 2018, offering a wide range of free business support to SMEs and start-ups in the region.

The Innovation New Anglia project led by Hethel Innovation was delivered alongside partners Norwich Research park and Norfolk & Suffolk County Councils, providing business support built around engineering and scientific excellence to SMEs, leaders, researchers and students, to help them continue to grow and innovate. The project supported over 300 businesses and contributed to the creation of 140 new jobs, branding the project a success. Businesses were able to have access to one-to-one sessions with knowledgeable advisors providing bespoke support, along with innovation workshops, conferences, masterclasses, other events and opportunities to form a collaboration. The project aimed to reach as many parts of Norfolk and Suffolk as possible by delivering support and events wherever needed, as well as from hubs such as Hethel Engineering Centre, Scottow Enterprise Park and Innovation Martlesham. With a broad spectrum of partner expertise, the project was able to support businesses from a variety of sectors, in particular biotech, cleantech and manufacturing and engineering. , not only helping businesses to map and identify new customer markets, but to enable new products, processes and services to be developed for such markets.

Case Study – Tuneltek and University of Hertfordshire, School on Engineering and Technology

Tuneltek required CAD drawings of a prototype museum to be completed, to which they collaborated with the University of Hertfordshire, School on Engineering and Technology. The project objectives were to explore the current landscape and find technologies which could be used in the sound tunnel and then present a conceptual design integration a range of pre-set requirements.

A team of 7 students from a variety of courses within the School of Engineering and Technology, from Aerospace to Automotive, researched existing building technologies producing several reports on suitable options for the construction of the museum. Following this research, the students produced CAD designs of the tunnel.

Both Tuneltek and the students are delighted with the project and felt they benefited from taking part.