While completing a master’s, Jenny Griffiths realised that visual search tools are rapidly changing the way we discover new things and interact with the world around us. As a result, Jenny established Snap Tech, a company offering novel visual search-based solutions for the fashion industry.

Snap Tech is changing the way people shop by fusing visual search with fashion. The technology can turn phones (or other devices) into smart cameras, allowing users to point at an item of clothing in a magazine or shop, and instantly learn more or discover alternatives.

The company aims to take image search further by personalising the shopping experience. Its tools use a blend of mathematical heuristics (problem-solving techniques) and deep learning algorithms to understand users’ preferences, such as those relating to colour, shape, budget and availability, making it easier for consumers to find what they want.

Retailers and publishers are using Snap Tech solutions to increase conversion rates, significantly improve engagement, and generate additional revenue.

The company aims to build strategic partnerships as it expands globally. As CEO, Jenny views her growth as a leader, supported by the SME Leaders Programme, as playing a key role in continuing to develop solutions for fashion, while exploring the potential impact of the technology in other industries.

The construction industry sends millions of tonnes of waste to landfill each year, at significant cost to the industry and the environment. And new legislation requires that by 2025  at least 70% of all waste must be recycled.

These two factors are driving the construction industry to find alternative building methods and materials that reduce waste.

With help from the Innovation Fund of Zero-Waste Scotland, Sam founded the clean tech spin-out company Kenoteq to address this need.

Kenoteq has developed a patent-pending process using traditional earth-construction methods to make unfired bricks that do not use cement which have 90% of their content recycled from building and construction waste. Its unique production process and materials are classified as recyclable by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

As the new brick does not use gas firing, large manufacturers can eliminate the cost of gas-fired production and avoid additional carbon taxes under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The bricks offer a high thermal mass and are ‘breathable bricks’, reducing the need for air conditioning and air quality controls inside buildings by providing relative humidity buffering.

Imagine if you could replace all the interfaces that clutter your life with something that reads the gestures you already know. Now add the ability to detect the almost infinite subtlety of touch our hands can generate. By contrast, the many switches, joysticks, buttons and wheels that enable humans to interact with electronic products are unwieldy, difficult to use and expensive to make, requiring thousands of complex sensors within each one.

Ming Kong has invented a new sensing method using a soft, hyper-sensitive material that can sense a greater range of touch motions than traditional electronic devices. It can also be moulded out of one material into a 3D shape rather than assembled in parts. 

His company TG0's technology aims to make controls more intuitive. Touchscreens and buttons require you to move a virtual object in 3D space with 2D controls, TG0 enables users to physically perform the desired on-screen movement on a flexible, soft 3D object. 

The material can detect an incredibly diverse range of different hand movements, removing the need for multiple products to control different electronic functions, and improving control.

TG0 could ultimately replace conventional controls such as the trackpad, the car dashboard and even gaming handhelds with a sculptural, all-in-one 3D sensing material.

Wearable technologies are making a massive impact on society, beginning to blur the boundary between human and machine. It is also an exploding commercial market set to be worth $12.6 billion by 2018.

The next generation of lightweight, high performance machines will rely on technologies that are capable of bringing the user as close to a device as possible. 

Peiman has created the first reported nano-display device that uses both optical and electronic property modulation in Phase Change Materials. Peiman’s company, Bodle Technologies, spun out of Oxford University in November 2015, to further advance this technology.

An entirely new class of ultra-thin, ultra-high resolution displays with nanosecond access speed and no power consumption in static mode is now under development by his team. 

This revolutionary display will initially target the rapidly growing microdisplay market compact, projection based displays used in emerging near-eye applications like Google Glass. The first prototypes are currently under development, with a small working device set to be ready within the next 12 months.

Over one million children born prematurely die each year, of which an estimated 75% could be saved with incubation treatment. 

The high cost of traditional incubators and difficulty with maintaining and transporting them means that many of the world’s poorest, more isolated or rural communities do not have access to the technology.

James is a product design and technology graduate from Loughborough University who has invented a revolutionary inflatable incubator called MOM to provide a solution to this terrible situation.

MOM is a tiny incubator  that could cost as little as 1/30th of the price of traditional incubators, making it much more affordable for use in the developing world. It can be quickly flat-packed down for easy storage in air ambulances and mobile clinics, and powered for 24 hours from a car battery.  Small, mobile and affordable means that more incubators can be there when needed to save far more babies.

Current joint replacement systems use a standardised one-size-fits-all approach, despite the fact that bone shape and size can vary enormously.

Susannah had the idea to create fully-customised parts for surgery. She is a co-founder of Imperial College London spin-out Embody Orthopaedic that now make unique instruments designed specifically for a one person’s surgical intervention. 

Embody are pioneering low-cost instrumentation for orthopaedic surgery with a new type of 3D printed technology to revolutionise joint replacements. This approach decreases risk by creating instrumentation such as knee replacements that are unique to each patient. The minimally invasive devices are printed in nylon, a low-cost, robust material that can be readily sterilised.

Susannah’s instruments are now used in both everyday surgery and more specialised cases, such as soldiers with lower limb gunshot wounds. Using 3D printing technology enables a very complex operation to be planned and undertaken in a much reduced timeframe, allowing an entirely personalised surgical approach at an affordable cost.

Embody is expanding on 3D printing customisable implants. Furthering plans to deliver a fully tailored joint replacement process, from surgical planning to recovery, the company is also launching a web-based surgical planning system. This allows surgeons to upload patient scans and trial different surgical scenarios pre-operatively. Within the next ten years, Susannah plans to apply the technology in other fields such as maxillofacial, cardiovascular and dental surgery.

Advances in passive (battery-free) radio-frequency identification (RFID) are creating opportunities for highly accurate tracking in a range of industries. Patented technologies developed by University of Cambridge spin-out PervasID harness the potential of passive RFID to allow real-time monitoring over wide areas, using a fixed infrastructure.

CEO and Co-Founder Sithamparanathan Sabesan has led PervasID in developing a complete RFID Inventory, Portal and Checkout, end-to-end solution that uses networks of antennas to detect and track items with passive RFID tags across wide areas. This can be achieved to a high level of precision (99%+), enabling cost-effective, continuous monitoring for companies in sectors such as retail, healthcare and security. 

For example, in retail, PervasID’s systems support inventory management and improve customer experiences through real-time tracking of goods from the warehouse to store checkout and exit. Similarly, PervasID systems support efficient management of resources in healthcare. In security they help to keep high-value assets safe, deterring theft with systems for accurate, long-range tracking.

Sabesan has been a Hub Member since 2011, when he joined as an Enterprise Fellow. He aims to use support from the SME Leaders Programme to build skills in leading and growing a team dedicated to developing and marketing PervasID’s solutions. Training and mentoring will also provide guidance on establishing the right partnerships to broaden the technology’s use in industry.

Oxford Space Systems' innovative structures, such as its novel large deployable antennas (LDAs), use both conventional and new materials. The LDAs offer significant savings in the build and launch costs of satellites and are lighter, less complex and can be stowed more efficiently than those currently in commercial demand. The development of a flight-worthy LDA is currently viewed as "strategically important" by the European Space Agency.

Although still in its early design stages, Oxford Space Systems is generating significant interest from satellite builders and operators globally and has gained investment from venture capital firms and various private investors.

Oxford Space Systems has the ambitious vision of establishing its position as the centre of excellence, making the UK the go-to supplier for large deployable antenna technology.

• Space Girl YouTube channel
  
• Shefali on Twitter
  
• Interview in Womanthology
  

Shefali is one of the ten winners of our 2016 SME Leaders Programme.

For Alexander, what started off as a way to make a fun robot for his nieces quickly turned into something with far greater potential impact.

There is a huge market for programmable robots as educational toys, but affordability has been a major barrier to success in the consumer market.

Founder of Robotical Ltd Alexander aims to change this  by producing a working robot that can be bought for less than £100 - but is far more than just a toy. 

Robotical's 3D printed robot Marty can walk, dance, or even be programmed to play football. The unique design halves the number of motors required for each of the robot’s legs, reducing production and retail costs dramatically.

Billed as an open-source educational toy for 'geeks of all ages', it can be wirelessly reprogrammed and modified with new 3D-printed parts, such as extra limbs. Users can control it from their smartphones, dive into programming through graphical language Scratch, or more traditional languages such as Python. It has already been used to teach children Python, who designed movements to make the robots walk.

There are plans for a novel 'robot app store' where consumers can download code for their robots to change how they move, alongside files for 3D printable parts to customise their appearance – effectively hardware apps for your robot!

Douglas has a 40 year business career covering almost every aspect, at every level, of healthcare technology product design and product commercialisation processes.

Having trained in Industrial Design Engineering (Edinburgh Napier University 1974), Douglas progressed from hands on designer to the management of design in the high tech arena.

Using his company Crombie Anderson as a base for innovation and incubation, he subsequently spun out three other high-tech start -up companies of which two became publicly traded business operating in medical fields.

Douglas is the prime mover in these businesses by leading both the innovation and commercialisation processes, including raising over £40million in private and institutional funding. Today he is internationally recognised for his innovation and entrepreneurial experience and is a regular keynote speaker at healthcare and business congresses around the world.

In 1990, his 5yr old son Leif suffered a spontaneous retinal detachment that went undetected until it was too late to treat. Douglas was struck by the limited capability of diagnostic tools available to clinicians and decided to address this issue. He built a dedicated research team, which led to the formation of Optos plc, a business funded by Archangel from the outset.

Optos succeeded in designing and patenting  a scanning laser ophthalmoscope: the world's first ophthalmic device  that enabled eye care practitioners to capture a digital ultra wide-field image of the retina in a single scan. The new method of examining the retina, marketed as the optomap® Retinal Exam, is now offered as the preferred standard of care by 11,500 eye-care specialists in Europe and the US. Over 70 million optomap® retinal exams have been conducted worldwide already, with a scanning range of approximately 82 per cent of the retina - a huge improvement on the 5-30% of conventional examination techniques.

Douglas was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 2013.

Sir Peter Bonfield is a leading international business executive with over forty-five years experience in the fields of electronics, computers and communications. Change management in international technology companies has been at the centre of his long and illustrious career.

Since 2002 Sir Peter has been involved with a diverse portfolio of companies and is currently operating at main Board level or director of several companies in the USA, Europe and the Far East. He has served in the past as CEO of ICL and more recently of BT Group.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (1993), the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Marketing Society and the Royal Society of Arts.

Sir Peter is a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Freeman of the City of London, Honorary Citizen of Dallas, Texas and Member of The Pilgrims of Great Britain.

John is the Director of the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre following a seven-year spell with PA Consulting Group's Technology Division where he was Manager of the Advanced Process Group. He was appointed director of the Engineering Design Centre in 1997 and a University Professor in 2004.

At PA John gained wide experience of product development with a particular focus on the design of medical equipment and high-integrity systems, where clients required a risk-based systems approach to design to ensure timely delivery of safe systems. John is directly involved in the teaching of design at all levels of the undergraduate course.

His research interests are in the general area of engineering design, particularly the development of design methodologies to address specific design issues, for example, process management, change management, healthcare design and inclusive design. As well as publishing over 800 papers, he has written and edited a number of books on medical equipment design, inclusive design and process management.

John is currently leading a team with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal College of Physicians and the Academy of Medical Sciences to develop a systems approach to healthcare redesign and continuous improvement. He was made Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012.

Bill is a leading scientist worldwide in the field of Medical Materials. His major research contributions have been recognised by numerous international awards, medals and memberships.

He has been the Professor of Medical Materials at the University of Cambridge; served as Director of Cambridge Pfizer Institute for Pharmaceutical Materials Science; Cambridge Director of CMI Interdisciplinary Research Cluster in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and Director of University of London Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC) in Biomedical Materials. He has been Head of Department, Dean, and Governor at Queen Mary University of London. 

He has been the editor of the Journal of The Royal Society: Interface, the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, the Journal of Materials Science, and of the Journal of Materials Science Letters.

Bill is Emeritus Professor of Medical Materials in the University of Cambridge. He is internationally recognised for his pioneering research contributions to biomaterials for medical devices, with awards including the Royal Academy of Engineering Prince Philip Gold Medal; the Royal Society Armourers and Brasiers Company Medal; the Kelvin Medal; the European Society for Biomaterials George Winter Award; the Japanese Society for Biomaterials Medal; the Institute of Materials Griffiths Medal and Chapman Medal; the UK Society for Biomaterials President's Prize; the Acta Metallurgica H.H. Holloman Award and the International Union for Physical Sciences and Engineering in Medicine Award of Merit. 

Professor Bonfield's exceptional interdisciplinary contribution has been recognised by his election to all three UK National Academies as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).

Professor Joe McGeehan completed his PhD in 1971 and since then has been instrumental in many aspects of research and teaching in the field of Communications. He is even referred to as the 'godfather of mobile communications'.

Joe has been conducting research and development into mobile communications technologies and systems since 1973. Working with colleagues, he has pioneered many of the major developments in the field including: deterministric ray-tracing for propagation prediction and network coverage; linear modulation techniques and systems; linearised RF power amplifiers; SMART antennas; wideband CDMA for 3G; WLAN technologies and 60GHz propagation and communication systems.  

Professor McGeehan's achievements in research have been acknowledged by membership of a number of national and international committees in the field of Communications, external examiner positions and mentoring of start-up companies. 

His involvement in Communications over several decades led to being awarded in the Queens Birthday Honours 2004 a CBE for ‘services to the Communications Industry’. Joe was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1994 and was listed in 2004 as No.6 in the world’s ‘Technology AgendaSetters’ by silicon.com (USA) (N.B., Bill Gates was placed No.2).

Billy's vision is to change the way we currently diagnose and monitor serious disease. He is the co-founder of Owlstone, which aims to become the global leader in the non-invasive detection of cancer, infectious disease and inflammatory disease. 

It is best to detect disease as early as possible: treatments are more effective, less involved and more lives can be saved. There is no better example of this than with cancer. If detected early, the chances of cancer survival can be as good at 95%. But this drops massively to about 5% at later stages. Unfortunately there are still far too many people detected at later stage. 

To address this, Owlstone Medical has developed a breathalyzer for disease. Every time you breathe out there are hundreds of chemicals on your breath. Some are telltale markers of disease, which Owlstone microchip chemical sensor technology is able to detect. Through early detection Owlstone have set a goal to have saved 100,000 lives and $1.5 billion in health care costs by 2020.

Since co-founding Owlstone, Billy has been overseeing the development and implementation of the detection technology with nanotechnology foundry partners and is heavily involved in the creation and realisation of new technologies and IP.  He is also active in business development, demonstrating how the Owlstone technology can be a paradigm shift in detection applications and deployment scenarios. 

Prior to his time at Owlstone Billy was a Research Associate in the Microsystems and Nanotech group at Cambridge University. In an academic / industry consortium he designed and developed silicon-opto hybrid devices for next generation telecoms systems.

Cliff is a physicist with interests in soft matter, liquid crystals, displays, optoelectronics and photonics. Acknowledged as an inspirational technical leader and strategist, inventor and innovator, entrepreneur and public speaker, he is an experienced and award winning Chief Technology Officer, company founder and director. Cliff is currently a Professor of Physics; EPSRC Fellow of Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Leeds.

He is experienced in raising venture capital, growing ZBD Solutions Limited from nothing to over $30M sales per annum, becoming Europe's second fastest growing technology company for 2012. 

Professor Jones is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chartered Physicist and Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and Senior Member of the Society for Information Display.

Professor Mark Tooley is Head of the Department of Medical Physics & Bioengineering and Director of Research and Development at the Royal United Hospitals, Bath. He is a registered Consultant Clinical Scientist. He is a visiting professor at the University of Bath, and the University of the West of England. He retires from the NHS in the summer of 2017.

Mark completed his BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Bath in 1979. He was sponsored by Westinghouse Brake and Signal company for the four years of the course. He then did an MSc and PhD in Medical Physics at the University of London. His MSc thesis was developing a EEG frequency analyser for anaesthesia. For his PhD research, Mark invented (with a cardiologist) an original method for rate-independent diagnosis of cardiac rhythm for implantable devices, which was patented.  He spent the rest of his career in Medical Physics and Bioengineering departments, both in hospitals and academia, working along medical colleagues. He has worked at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London, Bristol University, United Bristol healthcare NHS Trust, and the Royal United Hospital, Bath. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET, formally IEE), the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), and the Institute of Physics (until 2016). He is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Scientist. Mark is on the peer-review college of EPSRC, has recently a member of the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Strategic Advisory Team. He was recently on the Royal Society fellowship panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Mark has been a long standing member of the Panel for Biomedical Engineering at the Royal Academy of Engineering, is a member of one of their membership panels, a member of the Policy Committee, and on the working group for System Thinking in Healthcare.  He has mentored on the enterprise scheme. 

Mark’s research interests include:  innovations in medicine, physics applications in anaesthesia, simulation in medicine, physiological measurement, biological signal processing, measuring the depth of anaesthesia, blood pressure measurement and novel patient monitoring solutions.

Professor Roger Whatmore’s main research interests and expertise are in the field of Functional Materials, particularly ferroelectrics, multiferroics and their applications. 

After receiving a 1st class honours from Cambridge University, he carried out his PhD research at the Cavendish Laboratory, subsequently joining Plessey Research at Caswell in 1976.  In 1993 he led the team which won the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation for the development of a wearable thermal imager for firefighters and GEC recognised his contributions through the award of their Nelson Gold Medal in the same year.  The technology underpinning this formed the basis of a very successful company, Infrared Integrated Systems Ltd.

In 1994, he moved to Cranfield University, as the Royal Academy of Engineering Professor of Engineering Nanotechnology, where he established a team applying ferroelectric materials to the areas of microsystems and nanotechnology, and becoming Head of Advanced Materials.

 In January 2006, he took up the post of CEO at the Tyndall National Institute, part of University College Cork, Ireland, which is internationally respected for the high quality research in the areas of photonics, micro-nanoelectronics, electronic systems, functional materials and nanotechnology, underpinned by excellence in theoretical modelling and design. Under his direction the influence, financial status and academic status of Tyndall increased dramatically and a Science Foundation Ireland instigated international review body concluded that “Tyndall is an indispensable national resource”.

Professor Whatmore is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2001), the Institute of Physics, IOM3 and the Irish Academy of Engineering.  He retired as Tyndall’s CEO in 2012 and was made an Emeritus Professor of University College Cork. In 2014, he became a Senior Research Investigator in the Department of Materials, Imperial College London.