The International Space Innovation Centre – Surrey (ISIC-Surrey) has been established to attract £25 million worth of investment to the industry by providing business, technical and facilities support in an entrepreneurial environment.

Keith Robson, Director of Research and Enterprise Support at the University of Surrey, said that by 2014 the new venture aims to support 75 start-ups, engage 100 businesses in knowledge-based collaborations and support the skills development of 500 people.

He added: “The University has a world-class reputation for its research, knowledge transfer and skills development in the space industry.

“ISIC-Surrey is in an ideal position to support regional businesses and to help nurture further innovation and growth.”

The International Space Innovation Centre is the first centre of its kind in Europe.

Heading: Anti-HIV drug trial hosted by Surrey

A drug developed from genetically-modified (GM) tobacco plants which could prevent HIV infection was trailed by researchers at the University of Surrey.

The first human trial of its kind was carried out at Surrey’s Clinical Research Centre, where scientists examined the safety of the monoclonal antibody on 11 female participants.

The development is part of the Pharma-Planta project, which aims to use GM plants to make drugs cheaper to produce.

Speaking after the announcement that the trial had been approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Clinical Research Centre director Dr Julia Boyle said: “Clearly this is an exciting development which should hopefully pave the way for future trials of this nature.”

P2G12, the antibody cultivated from the plant, could be used in combination with other HIV-neutralising antibodies to create a topically-applied protective product for women.

Pharma-Planta was created by a consortium of 30 academic and industrial partners using €12 million of European Union funding.

Heading: Surrey technologists team up with BBC

Future developments in audio and visual technology could be inspired by Surrey after the University formed a new link with the BBC.

Under the Audio Research Partnership, experts from both organisations will develop new skills and share research findings with industry to enable new products such as HD audio.

Professor Adrian Hilton, head of Surrey’s Visual Media Research Group, said: “We hope that our collaboration will continue to flourish and provide significant benefits to those who use, watch and listen to broadcasts across a wide spectrum of programmes.”

BBC Research and Development is using the initiative to work more closely with the Higher Education sector in the field of audio-visual research and innovation.

Technical areas of focus include audio semantics, 3D audio-visual production and room acoustics, with research planned into areas such as speech recognition and audio coding.

Heading: Smart materials boost research into new drugs

Surrey scientists have overcome a major barrier to research into new medicines.

Drugs are normally developed when experts identify proteins involved in a disease before designing a molecule that stimulates or blocks the protein’s function.

Scientists need to know the protein’s structure before doing this, but getting it to come out of solution and form a crystal is a major obstacle.

Working with colleagues from Imperial College, Surrey researchers developed Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) which remember the shape of target molecules and act as nucleants – substances that bind protein molecules – for targeting a specific protein.

Dr Subrayal M Reddy, Senior Lecturer in Applied Analytical Chemistry, said: “To date surfaces used for protein crystallization have been random at best with no rational design. For the first time, we have introduced specific protein architecture in the form of our smart materials – MIPs.

"This is an enabling technology which will facilitate genomic and proteomic research and the discovery of new drugs."

Heading: Materials research to advance technology

A new project to pioneer the next generation of materials for computing and communications technologies was launched in 2011.

Researchers at the University of Surrey aimed to develop substances that allow faster data movement and processing using a novel family of glass materials recognised as being the optical equivalent of silicon.

The project hopes to deliver a hybrid ‘optoelectronic’ technology without the current limitations presented by optical and electronic systems working independently.

Dr Richard Curry, of the Department of Electronic Engineering, said: “This programme will establish the UK as leaders in this field and therefore directly contribute to the continuing growth of the knowledge economy.

“As a result of this work, we will develop for the first time an understanding of how these unique materials can be modified in a controlled way.”

The work is being conducted by Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute in collaboration with the Universities of Cambridge and Southampton.