On Monday 22nd May Translate MedTech launched a “call for project definitions” in support of the Leeds City Region’s bid for the UK Strength in Places fund, and NRB Tech attended the launch event. The event was very productive and well attended, bringing together industry, academia and healthcare and demonstrating the wealth of expertise in medical technology in the region.

The Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) is led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is a fund aimed at generating economic development in the regions of the UK. Regions can bid for funding of between £10-50m for a number of projects to be conducted entirely within the region. Bids are not limited to medical technologies, but any sector that has the potential to generate economic growth. Leeds City Region was successful in it’s stage 1 expression of interest, and along with 2 other bids from the Yorkshire and Humber region will proceed to stage 2, submitting full grant proposals.

The global medical technology market is growing at 5.6% a year, expected to reach $595bn by 2024 (Evaluate MedTech)

The call for medical technology project definitions in the Leeds City Region closes on the 21st June, but following that if the bid is successful other projects may be included in the grant in the future. The projects must be industry matched, with small companies providing 30% contribution in kind or direct cash and large companies providing 50%. This represents a significant opportunity to further develop medical technology in the Leeds City Region, which already has a strong medical technology sector with good networks between industry, academia and healthcare. To apply or for more details, visit the Grow MedTech website.

If you are interested in building a medical technology device but are in need of an industry partner for building the device or Apps, please get in touch!

Increasingly many products are becoming ‘smart’ – from the questionably useful smart egg tray, salt dispenser and toaster to the popular Nest thermostat, Hue lightbulbs and Ring doorbell – it seems like everything is now internet connected. Many of these Internet of Things (IoT) products are taking industries by surprise – who could have predicted consumers would be getting excited about a $300 thermostat before Nest arrived?

The Nest thermostat

IoT or smart devices are usually connected to a smart phone App via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or via WiFi to the cloud. This connection to a smart phone with significant processing power and a large touch screen display that is always on the user and connected to the internet opens up many possibilities to transform a device’s capabilities. For example, a conventional lock requires a physical key (which requires its own security) and the user to manually open it when they need access. A smart lock can be opened by multiple people who have permission, can be locked or unlocked remotely, can lock or unlock on a schedule, or even lock when a user walks out of range.

For companies familiar with building either hardware or software, IoT can be a daunting prospect. These disciplines have been largely separate for many years, each developing their own methodologies and management practices. IoT brings them together, introducing new challenges: to create a successful IoT product you must simultaneously deliver hardware, with high capital investment and a long waterfall development cycle, and accompanying software, the development of which typically moves in much faster cycles (agile development) and is always being updated.

Balancing the needs of software and hardware development can be a real challenge, and if your company only has experience in one discipline it can be faster and more cost effective to look for external assistance. NRB Tech can help bridge the gap between hardware and software, providing the services and knowledge you need to make your product smart, develop a hardware device for your software, or build something completely new.

Our development process

IoT products often create or disrupt product categories, and are inherently unproven, so when developing IoT products we tackle the big challenges first – whether hardware, software, or the market itself – creating a simple functional prototype to prove and test the concept. Once we know the idea works and have developed a product specification, we focus on the core features initially and develop the product in short sprints, getting feedback from the client with hands on prototypes as frequently as possible. This allows clients to change their mind about the features of the product and the way it will work as it is realised. This approach also reduces risk and gives clients the confidence that a product will be viable.

NRB Tech has been working with AirTurn to build their new range of foot pedals, all of which are software-updateable, in addition to a suite of Apps and third party SDK. airturn.com

Our ethos

Not all products need to be smart – we live on a planet with finite resources, and gimmicky products with a short lifespan are not sustainable. NRB Tech takes its commitment to being a responsible business seriously, so we will only work on projects that have clear value to consumers, businesses, or the environment.

As part of our commitment to creating sustainable products with a long life all products we create can be updated in the field, reducing the risk at first release, ensuring Apps and devices continue to work as the hardware and software platforms are developed, and delighting customers by gradually enhancing the product over time with feature development.

We nurture long term business relationships by ensuring clients are satisfied and their customers are happy. But we understand that businesses and situations can change, so we make no attempt to tie clients into working with us indefinitely – thorough technical documentation is provided, we use industry standards whenever possible, and we always avoid lock-in with other vendors in developing the product.

Security

As IoT devices are connected, security is paramount. Many IoT products have been found to have severe vulnerabilities which can ruin a product in its early stages. We use strong encryption and appropriate authentication mechanisms whenever necessary, but importantly we also seek external validation through penetration testing when a product demands it, as nobody has a monopoly on security.

If you have an idea for a product which you’ve been wanting to build or are looking to expand your product portfolio please get in touch.

About NRB Tech

Nick Brook started creating IoT devices and Apps commercially in 2012, and in September 2018 founded NRB Tech to expand the business to a wider audience and grow its capacity to deliver more high quality IoT projects.

Engineering and software development has long been a passion of Nick’s, and IoT is at the intersection of these two worlds, combining software running on high and low power systems with a physical product that can sense and manipulate the real world.

After graduating in Electronic Engineering from Durham university in 2011, Nick took a job at RMP Enterprise, who wanted to create a new mobile survey application as a service for clients to use at events and conferences. Nick built a team of 2 other developers and created Akkroo. Akkroo grew quickly and became used by large clients such as IBM, PayPal, HSBC and many more. Nick left Akkroo in 2012, but in 2019 Akkroo sold for $34m.

Nick wanted to get back to creating high quality physical products that combined software and hardware into something that people find useful. Nick has worked on many projects over the years, including the AirTurn foot pedals, Craftsman Smart Toolbox, ProGlove barcode scanner, sensors, medical technology devices, beacons and more.

In 2018, Nick started NRB Tech to help cater to a wider audience and grow the capacity of the business. NRB Tech is ideally placed to help companies deliver products in this new market, combining skills and expertise developed across several years and many projects to deliver high quality IoT products on time and on budget.

Nick in Bergen, Norway, 2019