“There are huge benefits to be gained [from KTPs]. The academics at Queen’s have a great understanding of what KTP involves and have a particular respect for the commercial requirements of the company.”
Gareth Robinson, Chief Engineer for Hydraulics, FP McCann

FP McCann is a family-owned business based in Magherafelt, primarily producing precast concrete products and other building materials for the construction industry, with operations spanning N. Ireland, England and Scotland. The business decided to participate in KTP because the senior team had identified an opportunity for innovation in their area but didn’t at that time have the knowledge required in-house. A KTP provided a good way to engage in developmental work through a partnership with another organisation, in particular, with a university with a reputation for cutting-edge research related to their field.

Company Forges Firm KTP Links
The company has been on a journey of innovation since 2015 when they first contacted the Queen’s KTP Office. Four successful KTP projects have been completed and the company is already exploring potential further product innovations that might make the basis of future KTP project proposals. Evidence of the firm’s satisfaction with the KTP model, is the fact that the first KTP Associate they worked with, Gareth Robinson, is now an important member of the company’s team, heading up a new FP McCann in-house research and development centre at Knockloughrim, as Chief Engineer for Hydraulics. He is involved in supervising a subsequent KTP project and identifying potential new project areas, and has also fostered other links with Queen’s, including student placements and co-sponsored doctoral studentships.

Gareth outlines how FP McCann’s KTP projects are transferring the latest research knowledge across from University labs into the company’s new R&D base at Knockloughrim resulting in innovative new products being launched that are proving to be commercial successes and are cementing FP McCann’s position as a leader in precast construction products.

KTPs 1-3 Develop New Products

“The first KTP project that I worked on explored developing a new product for the company that would fit seamlessly in with their current product portfolio but would achieve an additional objective: to reduce the risk of flooding on site by creating a flow control device to fit inside the concrete drainage system,” Gareth explains. Through close liaison with the project academics in the University’s School of Natural and Built Environment and their expertise in fluid dynamics, a new product was developed and rigorously tested across the KTP project’s two-year life. Gareth even designed and built a new full-scale hydraulic test rig on company premises.  “We created a brand-new Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) product. A simple product in terms of construction, in that there are no moving parts, no mechanical components, no power sources. Instead, drawing on our knowledge of the hydrodynamic interaction between water and air, the new device operates passively and once installed requires minimal maintenance,” he added. FP McCann now sells the new product branded as StormBrake™.

While Gareth worked on his KTP project, the company took on a second KTP Associate, Philip Crossett, who drew upon new techniques developed at the same Queen’s partnering School to explore the effects of Compressive Membrane Action in reinforced concrete slabs. A successful new box culvert design was developed as the result that reduced the proportion of steel required in its manufacture, thereby achieving a significant cost saving for the company.

A third followed, when Muddasar Anwar joined as an Associate with specialist skills in complex fluid dynamics simulation from the aerospace industry to work on the design and development of a new advanced hydrodynamic separator, another SuDS project.  Once again, a state-of-the-art new product resulted from this successful KTP project. Now commercially available as  StormCleanser™, the new separator removes pollutant particles from stormwater runoff thereby reducing environmental damage to our water, with enhanced product performance providing best in class treatment efficiency and cost savings.

Each new product was also independently verified by the Water Research Centre, an industry body.

Gareth adds that the research and development capabilities of the company have expanded and now include a large indoor hydraulic test rig, a new concrete test lab that also includes 3D printing of concrete, a robotics hub and machine learning and AI design facilities. Both Philip and Muddasar have also remained with the company and are using their specialist expertise to further refine and improve existing products and find new ones; additional specialist colleagues have also joined the team.

KTP 4 - improving Quality Control and Predictive Maintenance
Computer vision was the focus of the fourth KTP project. It involved the use of sensors to take images of concrete products and assess their quality using deep learning, which has significantly enhanced quality control processes and also reduced waste by being able to detect at an earlier stage when a production machine part requires maintenance.  

Benefits KTPs Bring to Business 
Throughout FP McCann’s journey with KTP, fresh and current knowledge and developments from academia are being successfully transferred across to and embedded in the business, through the Associates’ work, that have resulted in the development of exciting new products, while at the same time improving on a sustainability score and achieving cost savings.

Gareth says that he has no hesitation in recommending KTP to companies thinking of partnering with a university. 

“There are huge benefits to be gained. The academics at Queen’s have a great understanding of what KTP involves and have a particular respect for the commercial requirements of the company. They will keep the project focused on the level of innovation best suited to the business.  The KTP Office team at Queen’s are exceptional at managing the project, helping to take the leg work out of the application and reporting processes – plus they are brilliant at the recruitment process to secure the very best and highly skilled graduates for each project. I’d say to companies to certainly consider KTP if you want someone to come in and integrate with your company, manage a new process or product or revenue stream, with the backing of academic experts that understand the needs of industry, and with well-managed project support. It is also an excellent way of recruiting a highly skilled graduate who becomes embedded as part of your team and can help the company to exploit an opportunity in the market and to develop a product that can set you apart from others in your field.”

 

KTPs are funded by UKRI through Innovate UK with the support of co-funders, including the Scottish Funding Council, Welsh Government, Invest Northern Ireland, Defra and BEIS. Innovate UK manages the KTP programme and facilitates its delivery through a range of partners including Innovate UK Business Connect, Knowledge Bases and Businesses. Each partner plays a specific role in the support and delivery of the programme.

If you have an innovative idea for your business and would like to discuss whether a KTP could help take it forward, please contact us at ktp@qub.ac.uk

 

 

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For more information about this partnership, please contact aoife.lynch@qub.ac.uk