In our new series where we spotlight a new member of the Leicester Startups community each month, say hello to Alex Wade, the Engineering Director of UniWorx Ltd

You can learn what UniWorx does, why it may be of particular interest to other startup founders and what Alex can offer the wider community!

So Alex, tell us about UniWorx…
We work with SMEs to develop project scopes that we can then take to our partner Universities and allocate student groups, supervised by people from industry, to develop a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) level solution, or at least attempt to. The project structure follows a methodology called Systems Engineering (ISO15288) which is deployed by most large organsiations. We provide a simplified process based on our industry experience to provide all the benefits of the approach, without the huge upfront costs of developing these processes as a business.
This has benefits all around:
  • SMEs get free resources, supervised by industry experts, to take a problem they face and try to develop a solution with no cost associated with it. They can then take the outputs and decide on next steps, even if means they can drop the idea! Still beneficial.
  • Students gain experience working on “real world” problems, plus support on how to engage in the jobs market and improve their outcomes.
  • Universities get better outcomes for students, as well as a better student experience, supporting their recruitment. Academic supervisors also get to engage with the SMEs to understand their issues and how it could influence their research.
Overall, we aim to support the improved integration of Universities into the SME sector which makes up 50% of the UK economy, driving the benefits that Universities can bring to their local area.
How did the idea come about?
The founders worked together to develop a KTP between an SME and a University. Having been successful, we looked back at the process and felt there was a better way to build the engagement. Even with the focus from the likes of InnovateUK and UKRI, as well as Universities wanting to engage, we felt there were still barriers in place given the nature of SMEs and issues like business risk and cash flow.
UniWorx is a play on “Skunk Works”, the developmental arm of large corporations to conduct R&D, originating from Lockheed Martin in the Second World War. UniWorx aims to be the “Skunk Works” of the UK SME sector, enabling innovation for those businesses with minimal risk.
We are also looking at how we can build the bridges between SMEs and funding sources, linking in InnovateUK and Universities. In some ways, our projects are micro KTPs, and we hope that some will develop into full KTPs.
Where is your startup at? In development, launched, operational?
We have been operational now for 4 years. In total, we have provided ~ 120,000 hours of free resources into SMEs. This year we expect to be contributing 45,000 this year and have plans to grow to ~60,000 hours in the next year.
How can the community help you right now?
Talk to us. What are the issues you face? What innovations do you want to introduce, but just don’t have the time or budget to risk on focussing on them? What annoyances do you put up with, thinking there is a better way of doing it, but changing is too much risk? We want to find projects from industry to direct the level of resource we have towards them.
What can you help other founders with?
Product development, data analysis, general problem solving.
What do you hope to get from being part of the Leicester Startups community?
Unlocking Innovation in the UK SME sector.

 

Website: www.uniworx.org
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/uni-worx/

 

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