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KKI Newsletter January 2012
Click here to get the pdf of the KKI Newsletter from January 2012. Many businesses send 'Happy Christmas' Cards or e-mails to their clients, but the time we all really need cheering up is when we are back to work in January! So the Happy January Newsletter includes reasons to like January (such as Mozart's Birthday), good news about various students and businesses Kevin has helped through the year, some terrible jokes, and a few pictures. Happy January!
Heriot Watt and Edinburgh Students in Environment YES
A team of students from Heriot Watt and Edinburgh University participated successfully in the NERC "Environment YES' business plan competition at the end of 2011. Heriot Watt students, Ivan Grebenkin, Ildar Sagitov, and Sarah Nodwell (who met on the HW Summer School mentioned below), joined forces with Edinburgh Chemistry postgraduate Georg Silber to present a business plan based on converting waste production gas into methanol using a novel catalyst. The student team, of 3 different disciplines and 3 different nationalities, demonstrated their ability by winning the Scottish/North of England heat in October and progressing to the London finals in December Eventually they were national runners-up. Well done to all!
Commercial Skills for Chemists
KKI won a tender to develop and deliver Commercial and Employability Skills materials aimed at Undergraduate Chemists. The material is being developed for the Royal Society of Chemistry to disseminate to UK Chemistry departments and is supported by the UK HE STEM project. KKI has been working with a team from the University of Edinburgh and has produced materials in innovation, project management, market research, finance and feasibility studies for chemists. This is very much a 'return to roots' for Kevin who started his academic studies in chemistry at the University of Edinburgh a few (!) years ago.
Problem Based Learning
KKI won a tender to develop and deliver Context and Problem based Learning (C/PBL) materials aimed at Undergraduate Chemists. The material is being developed for the Royal Society of Chemistry to disseminate to UK Chemistry departments and is supported by the UK HE STEM project. KKI has been working with a team from the University of Leicester and has helped produce C/PBL materials around the chemistry of energy.
Heriot Watt Enterprising Researcher Summer School
KKI delivered a summer school to postgraduate students at Heriot Watt University in June and July 2011. The School was notable for a) the energy and enthusiasm of the students, and b) their international background - 12 different nationalities from 20 students at one workshop!
Finance Training for Entrepreneurs
KKI and the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) are running one day workshops for potential and actual entrepreneurs in Glasgow in March and October 2012. Lose your fear of finance in a friendly and supportive workshop! 'I've never heard of people actually enjoying a finance course before' said a previous participant. For more information see Finance Workshop
Biotechnology YES Finals 2010
Kevin was in a very cold London (during a gap in December's snow) to see the BioYES finals again. He enjoyed presentations from the teams from Exeter and East Anglia Universities, as well as the eventual winners from Manchester. Once again some of the judges were heard muttering 'wish the real presentations we have to listen to were half as good as these!' which implies standards continue to improve... Well done to all the participants!
Commercialisation for Architects?
Kevin was asked to apply the lessons gained in commercialisation to some Architecture Students about to start their placement year. He devised a short quiz asking questions about the key benefits of good architecture and how to deliver it. It was interesting to see what they did and didn't know, and this prompted a discussion about what transferrable skills architects need to translate their undoubted technical and artistic abilities into commercial success. Should they be project managers and structural engineers as well as architects or should they leave those areas to specialists? The quiz is now on the downloads page!
The Pope didn't go to Stirling...
for the Young Company Finance Conference, but many other technology commercialisation practitioners, funders and start-ups did. Talk of the day was Kyle Macrae on social media networking - worth the price of admission in itself. Good meeting as usual, Jonathan!
Safe In Southampton
Kevin returned from a holiday in Italy to spend a day training at the University of Southampton. Although its not far, getting from the University to the airport is quite challenging during rush hour. However his taxi driver rose to the challenge, pulling at least two U-turns on a dual carriage-way, in an almost Italianate style! One passenger safely delivered (albeit with eyes firmly shut).
BP Oil Spill
As ex-employees of BP, Kevin and Tony have been watching events in the Gulf of Mexico with interest. Michael Mainelli of Z/Yen asked about some comparators for the quantity of oil leaked. At its maximum the leak was about 2 Olympic Swimming pools volume a day - and an Olympic pool holds 2.5 million litres. The total amount of oil spilled so far (~450k tonnes) is comparable to the total amount lost in the U-Boat campaign in 1942. It would be interesting to see how long wildlife/ecological systems took to recover after WW2. If anyone wants to see the numbers send Kevin an e-mail!
Train, Train...
Recent KKI training workshops have included visits to Leicester, London, Warwick, Liverpool, and Bangor as well as some Scottish Universities. Kevin's elderly Mercedes (a W124 series) is now past 180k miles and still going strong! Driving down the M6 the day that England played Slovenia was almost eerie. No traffic, as they were all watching in the Service Areas!
KKI Appointed as Mentors for RCUK Business Plan Competition
KKI Associates has been appointed as a mentor to 3 companies, from Scotland and Northern England, competing in the Research Council UK's business plan competition. KKI will help these companies produce a 'market-ready' business plan. The Business Plan Competition encourages applications from across the whole spectrum of academic research within the remit of the seven Research Councils: from the arts and biosciences, to environmental physical and social sciences to technology. For more information about the competition go to:
KKI Appointed as SE Life Science Expert Advisors
Following a typically thorough procurement exercise by Scottish Enterprise, KKI Associates has been appointed as one of SE Life Science Expert Scheme (LSES) advisors. The scheme will fund advisory work by KKI aimed at helping life science start-ups in Scotland. Life Science companies can be widely defined (i.e. not just drug development or diagnostics companies), for example the use of algae to absorb CO2 or innovative biofuel projects would be included. To access this help you need to arrange an initial consultation with SE innovation staff - go to:
It keeps snowing in Aberdeen
Both Tony and Kevin have done projects for the University of Aberdeen over the December/New Year period. Trying to report our respective findings proved somewhat more challenging than usual, as Aberdeen disappeared under a blanket of wet snow. Tony was blocked in by deep snow and Kevin imitated Paul Simon 'Slip Sliding Away' trying to get out of the City centre. Anyone need some market research on cross-country skis?
Biotechnology YES
Kevin went down to the London finals in December, and watched very impressive presentations from from all the teams. Having helped about a third of the eventual finalists he didn't quite know who to cheer for, but was pleased to see prizes being awarded to Synthibac (University of Sheffield) and Mitee Solutions (University of Edinburgh). The following day in London it started snowing, and carried on and on...
Can't see the Wood for the Trees...
Kevin carried out a small but useful piece of work for Forest Research, helping a nascent technology idea. One interesting snippet that came out of this study is that trees, even in plantations of Sitka spruce, are basically 'free range'. Genetic variations mean that two trees, growing next to each other in an identical microclimate, can have vastly different timber characteristics and economic value.
Drumming up business for Biotechnology YES
Straight back from Ljubljana, Kevin headed for Crieff Hydro, and a summer school run for students in Life Science, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Students working with Kevin were subjected to a 'Networking for Shy People' game, the 'Biotechnology Stock Market' simulation, and finally a guided walk to the top of the nearby hill. Despite all this, the students responded with enthusiasm, and three teams have announced an intention of entering Biotechnology YES this year. That now makes a total of at least six teams inspired by three workshops over the last month. Good news, as statistically it looks like entering BioYES or a similar competition increases your chance of becoming a successful entrepreneur by 2-3 times.
Back to Ljubljana
In the third week of May Kevin was back in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, for the first time in 11 years. He presented a paper to the Global Borrowers Forum, where development organisations like the World Bank meet the treasury official from the main bon-issuing countries. As well as presenting a paper to the Forum, Kevin was able to re-visit Danfoss-Trata, who were KKI's very first client back in 1993-4. Trata is now thriving as the centre of Danfoss's business supplying to the district heating business, especially in China and Eastern Europe. Lets hope it doesn't take another 10 years to get back there!
Friendly in Sheffield, sunny in Dundee
Kevin has been delivering BBSRC funded training (thanks Donald!) to bioscience students at the Universities of Sheffield and Dundee. In each case the aim is to enthuse as well as educate, and it looks like each University will have at least one team in Biotechnology YES. I always enjoy going to these cities, and not just for the enthusiastic and likable students. The weather is usually good in Dundee, which means the sun shines spectacularly on the river Tay. And Sheffield seems to contain a diverse mix of people, of all ethnic origins, all speaking with a Yorkshire accent and all prepared to take the time to have a few minutes friendly chat with a lone visitor. And unlike Edinburgh their tram system is finished!
KKI Report on Renewables for Energy Conference
At the request of Young Company Finance, Kevin wrote a chapter for their special report on renewables in Scotland. This is being launched at the Aberdeen Energy Conference this month. Did you know that China is the biggest user of HEP in the world (think of all those dammed gorges) and will soon be the second largest wind user? Or that Russia is contemplating the two largest tidal barrage schemes, and that the US could get much of its power from 'hot dry rocks'? Did you also know its going to take investment around $1 trillion a year for the next 30 years to really shift the world to greener energy? E-mail for a copy of the report.
KKI's 250th Assignment Prices Carbon Emissions
Along with Michael Mainelli of Z/Yen, KKI recently completed a carbon pricing model for the Think-tank 'Tomorrow's Company'. This model, which will be available from the Tomorrow's Company website, allows businesses to analyse not just their carbon footprint but the likely cost of that footprint under different carbon trading regimes. At present the EU is set on introducing pricing to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by the year 2020. However, it has offered to impose much steeper cuts (30-40%) if a multilateral agreement can be reached at the post-Kyoto Copenhagen conference in 2010. Carbon prices could approach 100Euros/tonne and electricity prices could increase by 50-100%. Watch this space!
KKI gets great reviews in Snowy London
Kevin braved the elements in snowy south east England at the beginning of February. His course 'Financial Literacy in a Day' received rapturous delegate feedback (perhaps because of the 'Dunkirk spirit' engendered by the difficulty of travel). An increasing number of people in the building management industry are now using the KKI 'design a budget from scratch' template.
New KKI Website Looking good
KKI has awarded the contract to develop its new website to Designlike of Inverness. Early feedback on Designlike's concepts has been very positive.
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