Microlease, the leading test and measurement equipment management company, along with Keysight Technologies, the University of Portsmouth, the University of Southampton Science Park (USSP) and the Future Solent Green Growth Programme have invested £500,000 in two centres of excellence to support innovation and start-up companies in the Southampton and Portsmouth region of the UK.
The Wireless & Digital Development Hubs, housing state of the art wireless and digital test equipment, are located in dedicated lab spaces at the USSP’s Science Centre and in the University of Portsmouth’s Innovation Space. This project is supported by the Regional Growth Fund.
“The University of Portsmouth and the USSP along with the Future Solent Green Growth Programme are doing superb work to support early stage companies and innovation in the region,” said Peter Collingwood, CEO, EMEA at Microlease. “The two new development hubs will provide first class facilities and training that would otherwise be unavailable to young companies and entrepreneurs developing advanced technologies. We are delighted to invest in this exciting project with all the partners.”
The Development Hubs are being kitted out by Microlease with equipment exclusively from Keysight Technologies. Systems available include Wireless Generation and Analysis tools including a 26 GHz Spectrum Analyser with 160 MHz real-time analysis bandwidth together with an 8 GHz real time bandwidth oscilloscope with 10 bit ADC, and Battery Drain Analysis equipment. These capabilities offer testing potential for almost all modern wireless standards such as 4G, LTE and LTE-A and emerging 5G standards, WLAN and ZigBee, as well as modern digital standards such as PCIe, USB, HDMI and DDR.
Alan Scrase, SETsquared incubation centre manager at the USSP said “We are delighted to be part of this exciting initiative. The labs will not only support the Future Solent Grant winners but the Park residents and the wider Solent LEP business community.”
Sarah Duckering, Head of Business Engagement at the University of Portsmouth added, “This is a great project, bringing together the resources of the two Universities and we hope that these new facilities allow the businesses in our region to develop new and innovative products.”
To further support the Hubs, Microlease and Keysight will be offering a variety of seminars and workshops to encourage target applications such as the Internet of Things, Wireless Connected Devices, Automotive, Aerospace and, Green Energy. The first event to be held in May will cover RF Fundamentals. The Wireless & Digital Test Hubs can be booked through Microlease by companies and individuals on a flexible and short-term basis.