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How Graphene Innovation and Serendipitous Invention Shape Industry Collaboration : pipe podcast ep 9
12 Plays9 days ago
In Episode 9 of the Pipe gDAO Podcast, we explore graphene innovation and its role in bridging academia and industry through cutting-edge initiatives like the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEEK). Using the metaphor of banging rocks together, we delve into the challenges of early-stage university research commercialization, highlighting how serendipitous invention has shaped groundbreaking discoveries.
Discover how technology transfer offices can support researchers in validating and funding university startups, and learn why collaboration between universities and industries is essential for driving innovation. We also discuss the importance of creating pathways from ideation to implementation, leveraging resources like PIPE and GEEK to foster sustainable material innovation.
Whether you’re interested in strategies for funding university R&D, the role of Web3 jobs in commercialization, or how to overcome hurdles in turning academic ideas into impactful products, this episode offers actionable insights and engaging stories from the frontlines of innovation.
Banging rocks together is species defining... (linkedin.com)
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 9 and Blog Focus
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Episode 9 of Five Jet Hour Podcast. We are reading yet another blog. It is ah the same guy, Robert James Steele. And of course we are here. Absolutely. This is actually um it's a follow-up on the last blog. This is sort of a part two.
00:00:18
Speaker
on our last episode. And it is also a follow-up to another blog post, we which we have not covered. But ah yeah, it is all in the same theme. So if you go into our description, you can find the article. It is called Banging Rocks Together. It's a species defining. So just a little bit of an introduction into this, and I have a little personal story about
Scientific Methods and Personal Anecdotes
00:00:41
Speaker
it.
00:00:41
Speaker
If you've played Portal game, which is very good, it's like well one of the most classical games, I don't remember if it was Portal 1 or Portal 2, but there was this ah this ah moment back then I actually did not know English, I was playing in Russian.
00:00:59
Speaker
ah So yeah I don't know if it's the first one or the second one, but there was some one map where the guy is throwing some kind of ah some kind of liquid at the wall and it produces portals. And he says, ah full disclosure, I don't know what's going to happen to you here, but we're just throwing the science at the wall and seeing what's going to happen. And at the time, I kind of remembered it because it was like a funny pun because he was literally throwing liquid at the wall and i had to go through that liquid.
00:01:28
Speaker
like maybe 10 years later, I found out that ah it's actually an English phrase, ah something like we throwing at the wall and seeing what sticks or something like that. And the that is essentially how ah i I nowadays, I appreciate this phrase because this is essentially referring to the scientific methods.
00:01:49
Speaker
um When I was reading about a few comments, ah some people said that science as a noun was never meant to exist. There was scientific methods, so an adjective, but it was never meant to become a noun as science, that study that would encompass the entire being of the universe or something.
00:02:12
Speaker
ah not to worry with details but scientific method is essentially it's making observations what's happening in the world, ah making a hypothesis ah to explain the way why it works the way it works and then testing it like yeah in case of rocks like you could you want to see sometimes when the rocks clash together there's a spark So how about I take two extra sharp rocks, and my hypothesis is it's going to produce more sparks. I test it. Well, no, that's not happening. So then maybe I can take two blunt rocks and that's going to create more sparks. Well, that's not happening either. And you just test it away until you eventually arrive at the conclusion of what actually produces more sparks. And now yeah, that's why ah here Rob defined it as a banging rocks together as a way, I guess, to describe scientific methods. I actually like the
00:03:03
Speaker
to say throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. this Yeah, that's what I remember from back then. And the yeah, that's ah essentially to define what we are talking about here. Interesting, you brought up the portal games because I was actually playing it last night and it is a really big, well, not what you said, but obviously there's um like the moment you mentioned the wall just throw the wall, throw science at the wall and see what sticks.
Interaction and Engaging with Listeners
00:03:29
Speaker
It is actually quite a good game for sort of like I guess the method, because the whole game is based off urinate, obviously a lab experiment, pretty much, and you're playing with these portal guns.
00:03:43
Speaker
and again sort of like figuring it out as you go along and that's kind of I guess you could view as a metaphor for these people in universities sort of they're kind of they're in their labs doing their experiments and but building these things and sort of seeing what happens whereas in the portal game it's basically you in this AI sort of talking about it figuring out here whereas here we're sort of stepping in and viewing how, you know, how you can do it better instead of a evil AI that spoiler alert is trying to kill you. I said, well, I actually had a neighbor kit.
00:04:19
Speaker
who was like hyperactive and I was like, try this game actually. he was like I think he was like seven. He never really played any more complicated games, let's say. And it was actually funny to watch how in like two hours he went from not understanding how a map works, like he was lost in the room. like All he had to do to escape the room is to put a portal here, put a portal there, and just walk through it. He went from completely being lost in this to actually being able to solve some simple riddles. So that was actually quite ah quite a funny thing to watch. and yeah Yeah, no, it's an interesting game, isn't it? Because it it it actually it it well makes you use your brain. it is definitely it's They consider it more of a puzzle game, don't they? And then you've got like Portal 2, which could be two-player puzzle game.
00:05:09
Speaker
so it's pretty good especially if you've got a young child that likes games and you want them to have like a good game for them to sort of figure stuff out in or like what what's it ah make you think make you think about what your next steps are portal phenomenal yeah And with that introduction, ah bang! But before that, hey listeners, we get it. Sometimes you've got questions and browsing through endless FAQs just isn't cutting it. I mean, we do have Discord and Telegram where you could ask us questions directly, we're very responsive there, ah but maybe you want to hear a human interaction for something important. A lot of people value that, especially those who are
00:05:50
Speaker
ah you know, on the elder side. We get in the universities, there are older professors, so why not make it easy on yourself and give us a call? Yes, just pick up the phone and dial plus 44-016-1399-4283. From 9am to 8pm UK time,
00:06:11
Speaker
Monday to Friday. Whether it's a quick question, a bit of help you need, or you just want to chat with a real person, we're here for you. No robot robots, no runaround, just friendly folks ready to give you the answers you need and fast. So, next time you're stuck, remember this number. Plus 44, 0161, 399, 4283, available 9am to 8pm UK time, Monday to Friday. We're ready when you are. In rocks together is species defining.
00:06:40
Speaker
There are many ah theories of why ah we became more
Unexpected Inventions and Historical Examples
00:06:46
Speaker
advanced. Some people say it's because of, well, in this case, the theory is that because we were better banging rocks together, others say it's because we sleep better, aka our brains actually have better efficiency at processing information while we sleep, unlike other animals that are actually not sleeping. They're like half sleeping. Others say it's because we invented cooking, which allowed us to save more time and so on and so forth. But yeah.
00:07:10
Speaker
That's one of the theories. It reads, it's actually pretty recent, from 14 of November, like ah eight days ago from the time of recording of this video. Or put another way, whether it is Newton's theory of gravity, the Post-it Note. If ah you watched the previous episode, you know Rob Loves Post-it Notes. Or really does, yeah. Or even Alexander Fleming discovering penicillin. Penicillin.
00:07:36
Speaker
The value of banging rocks together or serendipitous invention cannot be underestimated. I looked up this word serendipitous. It essentially means an unexpected good fortune. So, ah yeah, the more funny English word, you know, as an addendum to the Andrew Flack song. Hey, hold up. There's nothing funny about my language. Thank you very much.
00:08:01
Speaker
Oh, that's very serious. ah It's ah it it's just quite a serendipitous occasion here. It has an addendum to the Andrew Flack article. It is what you do that counts. So it's a follow up to that article. Maybe we'll read it someday. And following my visit with ah James Baker, oh boy, C-E-N-G-F-I-T-F-R-S-A at G-E-I-C.
00:08:30
Speaker
In the and parenthesis, thanks, James. ah There's a link to all of this, all of those acronyms. So if you want to know what those are, just click
Innovation Centers and Real-world Applications
00:08:39
Speaker
the link. I actually went to school with a guy called James Baker, actually.
00:08:43
Speaker
It's all she think it's no no help whatsoever. just Just a little law for you there. Yeah, and maybe it's the same guy. Who knows? There are only so many James Bakers that exist. I was going to say, I'm sure you can't be that popular of a native.
00:08:56
Speaker
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00:09:42
Speaker
I grow increasingly frustrated that we are really missing an innovation trick globally. And what I saw at GEIC in a small way. GEIC or Geek. It's in Manchester. ah that that's Is that how they pronounce it? Yeah. yeah So it's the um it's the Graphene Engineering Innovation Center, or ah which they acronym as Geek. Well, it's a pretty fitting.
00:10:11
Speaker
yeah real And what I saw at Geek in a small way is what the potential solution could look like. For those ah who that do not know, the Graphene Engineering Innovation Center, aka Geek,
00:10:25
Speaker
ah For those who don't know, by the way, graphene, it's essentially a layer of graphite. And graphite, it's that thing that makes up a pencil. So like this black thingy oh that's you that the pencil is made out of to write a paper, that's graph graphite. And one layer of it is called graphene. That's because the graphite is made out of layers of graphene. And because of that, it is very simple to write with it, because like the layers separate from each other very easily. So horizontal horizontally, it's
00:10:56
Speaker
ah separating it very easily, but vertically, it's very durable, which is why it has like a lot of applications because of this ah ah this peculiar um ah characteristic of it. Was it up to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications for the use of graphene, although it is extending into other novel materials such as a maxine? I think that's how you pronounce it.
00:11:25
Speaker
A gig follows on from the creation of the National Graphene Institute. ah There are more ah things that have to do with graphene, both of which are part of the University of Manchester. So essentially what Noodle introduced to us in this paragraph. What Nick is very good at is what I refer to as banging rocks together. Funny we mention the rocks because you could call graphite a rock in some context.
00:11:52
Speaker
or allowing for the melding of ideation and implementation. So whilst it is an academic center, its focus is much more aligned with commercial applications. ah Just stop there. normally Normally, universities are full of, you could say, geeks, which are usually just academic academics. And they don't do much in terms of commercial thingies. So this is quite a different approach because they are focused on commercial.
00:12:22
Speaker
and how novel materials can be employed in in industry. Examples I saw during my visit range from a maxine, a novel two-dimensional material, to novel building materials utilizing waste products blended with graphene. I'm just imagining some garbage mixed with graphene. Well, waste products are not garbage. They are very different. But yeah, that's the first thing that comes to mind. To novel large-scale battery storage technologies.
00:12:51
Speaker
Geek is very well equipped to allow industry to test ideation in relation to the use of novel materials. So if I'm trying to create a more environmentally friendly or renewable plastic bottle, for example, I can move into Geek, use their equipment and materials to test my assumptions, like bankrupt bang rocks together, and see what works. So Geek is formalizing the ideation of proof of concept for novel materials. It is creating a pathway from ideation to implementation and creating the space for that magic to happen. And if you've listened to our previous episodes, ideation to implementation is a thing you'll hear a lot because that's what PIPE is all about. Did you know up to 45% of Recruiter Talent database are dormant? This means 45% of your revenue is left on the table.
00:13:39
Speaker
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00:13:54
Speaker
the pipe associate network bring new opportunities to talent within university born rnd ip startups worldwide and earn a part of the future go to our description for the link tree or sign up on www.thepipecompany.co.uk and start your adventure of the future today ah okay so i was sort of basically saying it was like As history shows us the sort of serendipitous or repetitive invention or the sort of banging rocks together, it often leads to groundbreaking inventions. So whether that's the discovery, if we're thinking way back when, discovery and management on fire or sneezing into a Petri dish, which led to the development of antibiotics. That's kind of surprising because ah I thought it was more to do with ah
00:14:51
Speaker
Petri dish had fungus in it, nothing to do with sneezing, or maybe he had fungus in his nose or something. maybe Well, maybe we never know because it was antibodies are I think they came from yeah antibiotics came from humans though. No, it was like is like naturally made thing. I'm not sure what if my scientists sound on that or not, it probably isn't. It sort of all goes together though, talking about the problems we face and have always faced in the evolution of inventions, um getting others to buy in and finding the time, patience and capital to develop them.
00:15:27
Speaker
Well, imagine if I was trying to sell. Look, I sneezed into the Petri dish. This is going to save humanity from the World War Two diseases. Yeah. Who's going to buy this? Exactly. It sounds mental, but you've just sort of the whole idea of the banging rocks keeps ah together. It's just the it's the idea of keep on going, isn't it? It's don't stop otherwise. Believe in. Hold on to that feeling.
00:15:58
Speaker
Are you done? OK, sorry. Are you done? Yeah. yeah But that it's that that's the whole idea, isn't it? You bang rocks together. Well, again, you don't actually bang rocks together. It's the metaphor is if you keep doing the same thing, you probably won't win. But if you keep going at it. Well, you smash different rocks together, not the same rocks. Exactly. Not the same rocks. you You change rocks, you change out. And at some point, you're going to get what you're looking for.
00:16:26
Speaker
I mean it's ah that thing. Thomas Edison you know invented a thousand ways a bulb doesn't work and one way it does. Exactly. So at one point you're gonna get lucky. But um going back to geek, obviously at geek there's a very it's a pretty clear commercial angle that they have for external commercial concerns ah to access the equipment and expertise required to prove concepts.
00:16:54
Speaker
There is also an academic outlet for researchers to harness space and expertise, which is also leveraging university research. An example would be ah Maxine as a material being tested at Geek for commercial applications. Whilst the material itself being supplied to researchers globally for them to test assumptions in the lab, learn about it, additional material properties and feed that back to the Maxine team at Geek.
00:17:23
Speaker
so that What's it? Virtuous circle. Virtuous. Virtuous. All giving. Very lovely. However, again, anyone involved in a very early stage ideation and validation knows there are problems. And this is true whether you are a researcher within a university or an individual with an idea. So how do you validate?
00:17:46
Speaker
And now I'm going to read the story about Flak, the fuel level alarm gauge. And I'm just going to have a Noodle kind of confirm if this is what happens, which happened actually before he was even born, but yeah. I mean, i'll let i'll I'll let you know. I'll do my best to remember. Yeah, you better remember something that's happened before you're born. Back in the midst of time, when Rob was having a young man, he
Creative Solutions for Practical Problems
00:18:10
Speaker
ah he was invited to a meeting at the Bristol Port Company as an observer.
00:18:15
Speaker
why doesn't observe sounds funny yeah ah During that meeting, the client's ah phone rang and was answered constantly. and There was a clearly and evolving problem at the port. At the end of the meeting, he asked what the issue was and was told the following. Large cargo vessels with a palletized goods could be easily offloaded when the contents were directly below the large hatches, as this gave access to cranes. This is going to be quite a lot of ah funny words to do with the industrial thingy, so bear with me. However, once those areas are clear, the crane drops into the hull forklift trucks, which go back and forth along the ship movement's pallets shipm moving from storage to the hatch area for offloading. Simple enough.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yeah, sure, simple enough, even though I'm struggling to actually look picture any of it. However, from time to time, or rather, frequently, the forklift runs out of fuel away from a hatch and has to either be moved by another forklift. Okay, so a forklift being moved by another forklift. I feel like I'm ah playing with a Matryoshka with doll, the Russian one where there's like a Matryoshka inside the Matryoshka. But before that, have you actually heard of a certain logo designer that managed to turn $2,000 into $200,000?
00:19:34
Speaker
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00:19:56
Speaker
Find out how you can get started today by going into the description, our link tree, and look for www.arbito.io slash pen. um but but moved by another forklift to the hatch, offload it, refuel and reinsert it, or the driver has to come out of the hold, find some fuel, bleed the system, clean the mess, drive to the hatch, be lifted out, fuel fully fuel up and then go back in. Both scenarios take time out of the day and the offloading process. So essentially he would either have to bring the forklift to the fuel or bring the fuel to the forklift and
00:20:33
Speaker
From how he describes it, both are roughly equivalent in terms of ah time wasted. so In my mind, this was crazy. So I asked, why don't the drivers keep an eye on the fuel gauge? Yeah, it's it would be very helpful. like When you're about to run out of fuel in a car, you don't just stop and look for fuel or ask for your car to be delivered. You actually go to the gas station before you run out of it.
00:20:56
Speaker
Only to be told that the first thing that gets broken on one of those forklifts is the fuel gauge, as it is where the forklift operator puts their foot, for instance, heel when waiting. It would all be fine if they simply had somewhere else to put their feet on instead of just breaking the gauge. But I guess that's not realistic to expect those guys to not do.
00:21:23
Speaker
So a problem. And I said that about to creating a solution. This is where the flag comes in. He developed an audible gauge based on an M5 bolt. Yeah, he really sounds like a dad. Explain all of this. A sensor and some electrics and an audible alarm. This allowed for a forklift to move about, for fuel to slush about the tank, for the audible alarm to sound. So um I guess that's like a liquid sound.
00:21:52
Speaker
that one that is very audible, only when there was a risk of fuel starvation. That's allowing time for the driver to get themselves to a fuel supply before they run out. The audible alarm was loud and could not be switched off until fuel was added. And the device was built to withstand abuse. So that was a solution. Essentially, that was ah you know how if you open the fridge for too long, it starts beeping. like And it annoys you until you actually close it. So I guess that's essentially this.
00:22:22
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I guess. The flag device was tested and proven to be workable. So he took it to GCB. Do you know what that is? GCB. GCB, um rings a bell, but I couldn't. And the Cat. Cat is one of those, I think it's a forklift or like a company, but produces stuff like that. GCB is a, I've got GCB banking Ghana or the global change biology.
00:22:52
Speaker
It's an environmental change journal dedicated to shaping the future, which make would make more sense than the Bank of Ghana, I think. And a cat is some kind of company that produces the like yeah material materials and equipment for construction or something like that. But cat wanted to go... Oh, JCB? Yep. I thought you said G is in as in like Gregor. No, JCB is a ah digger and trucking company. Mostly diggers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very famous in the UK. Yeah.
00:23:32
Speaker
Kat wanted a version that to run out but ran on LPG and not diesel. So I had to go back to the drawing board. yeah That's fun. Obviously, LPG has much greater risk issues than diesel. But he was a young man and needs solutions. So he decided to bank some rock together. ah Had a friend, engineer, build a container like a small LPG tank into which LPG could flow from a main LPG tank.
00:23:58
Speaker
and Okay, that's already making me confused. This slave tank, so this is referring to a master and slave ah terminology in the in technology in electronics. This slave tank in the system allowed for two things. Firstly, at this point in the cycle, the LPG was more L than G, ah i.e. a liquid, not a gas. And so my ah his existing M5 bolt and sensor could read if there was fuel.
00:24:28
Speaker
Secondly, it allowed for the main tank to run down completely whilst maintaining a sufficient reserve. That would allow the forklift to drive the fuel source and swap out the main tank. So it's like yeah when you have a an extra battery for for your phone, like the um Well, no, it's actually like a PC. When ah when the power gets cut, the PC has like an extra 10 minutes, yeah which only gets used in those situations. you You will not be able to use it just to extend your time and then be stopped.
00:24:59
Speaker
it allowed for the main tank to run down completely was maintain sufficient reserves that would allow the forklift to drive to a fuel source and swap out the main tank. Of course there were one-way valves etc so the whole thing was pretty smart however first he needed to test it because at this point it was just a hypothesis so it needed to be actually proven. In the absence of a lab and in need of a proof of concept he bought an LPG tank and set up a test of the system, ah those things usually cost an arm and a leg, especially if yeah you don't have ah at this point, like a very stable career. Yeah. It's ended up by the test of the system by placing all the flammable slash explosive components. I already like where it's going behind the garden wall.
00:25:42
Speaker
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00:25:59
Speaker
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00:26:12
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:26:54
Speaker
Is a garden wall like made out of grass? Or is it like just a fence? Well, a garden wall, over the garden wall is kind of a saying sort of like over in England, sort of like into the unknown. I guess it depends what kind of concept it's in. There's there's a couple like and English people have weird sayings about a lot of things. um So there's this whole sort of like over the garden wall into the unknown.
00:27:22
Speaker
um
00:27:25
Speaker
At least it's not literally a garden wall, because that would be even more concerning. Well, I don't know which one is more concerning, honestly, if we think about it. With him on the other side with all the electrics, health and safety was not a factor for when he was a young inventor. Needless to say, he's still alive to tell the tale, and the system worked. And Connor is here, so yeah. Yes, well, you know, you know me. Yeah, so ah can you confirm this story?
00:27:56
Speaker
Oh, um, I can't confirm the story. I've just re- I've just read the bit behind a garden wall, so, uh, to set up a test of the system by placing all the flammable explosive contents behind a garden wall. So it would have just been like, it it would have been like an actual brick wall. Not all garden walls, uh, some garden walls are made of wood, but I'm assuming. Actually, to be fair, knowing Rob for as long as I have,
00:28:18
Speaker
ah Does he know like physical safety very well? I'm not sure. There was one time we were lighting fireworks and and they fell and he just sort of stood and looked at it so I don't think he's got great concern for physical safety so it could have been anything. and But I can confirm that this definitely happened, and a story which I was definitely there for before I was alive.
00:28:41
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I mean, surely he would brag about it, right? I know. Yeah, he brings it up all the time. ah So this flag concept expanded to domestic fuel oil tanks, and was eventually acquired by a major oil company when Rob was 26, which sounds great. But by then I had he had so much debt, the deal put him back on his feet and not a lot more, but you live and learn. So what was the point of the story? It talks about obviously,
00:29:10
Speaker
Is there actually the infamous British debt that you come out with? It's not as much as an American debt, but it's still pretty sizable. Yeah, it's pretty big. Obviously, what is the point of the story? The transition from ideation to implementation is where the risk lies. In his case, the risk was quite literally a life and limb, but in the main, the risk is less acute or final. So this risk gap exists for all ideation and crossing it to validation and eventually proof of concept is extremely, extremely sort of challenging. This is a gap where that geek is helping the NGI to cross by providing the facilities to again, bang rocks together, but geek is unique to graphene and novel 2D materials. So what about other ideation? Unfortunately,
00:29:59
Speaker
when we're talking about a step forward, this is where the risk element often significantly outweighs the reward or where the potential downside is greater than the assured upside. And it is this balance which prevent investors and universities through their TTOs from harnessing the opportunities presented to them from serendipit, serendipit, oh my God.
00:30:23
Speaker
ideation is that funny word i talked about funny words i can never get it right um sendipitous i hate this read i only know because when i was playing a game there was a character called serendipity And I never understood what what it actually meant. I thought it was just a name, honestly. Stop. Are you looking for a way to make passive income with your online business with a quality partnership that has low startup costs and the pipe affiliates and referrals is for you. And affiliate is an individual business that helps promote the pipe services in exchange for a commission on the sales or leads that generate from their links.
00:31:00
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:32:07
Speaker
What this leads to is a focus on less risky, more evolved ideation or the backing of researchers and slash or ideas that align more effectively with the university partners, which may be corporations or to venture capitalists. It means that to de-risk ideation and innovation, the university, via its TTO, must focus on opportunities that are significantly less serendipitous and much more boring.
Embracing Risky Ideas in Innovation
00:32:36
Speaker
The effects of which is well documented in the European paradox creates an environment where a researcher discovering something truly novel is shunned in favour of another researcher who is doing something safe. And we know this to be true from our own empirical evidence to the fact We see it often. We have meetings with researchers whose ideas are not taken seriously by a TTO that does not see alignment with their risk profile, and so the idea is then lost. So what we're doing at PIPE is we have absolutely no idea issue with the TTO focusing on what it needs to focus on, ideas that meet its internal needs to de-risk, but this should not be at the cost and loss of serendipitous and invention.
00:33:23
Speaker
At PIPE we want to see researchers banging rocks together and whilst we don't have a geek environment we do have partners who can help validate and fund these novel early stage TRL1 or equivalent ideas to get them from ideation and towards implementation. It's what our disclosure and validate process is all about.
00:33:44
Speaker
So I say to any university or TTO, keep doing what you're doing. If that's what you want to do, but please do not ignore the niche, serendipitous, risky ideas. And if you simply can't manage them or don't have the resources to do something with them, send them to us at PIPE and we will be, but in fair, equitable, open and honest way.
00:34:07
Speaker
I just hope that Orop has since learned the value of safety since he was 96. God knows. I mean, nothing of that kind happened while after corner was born. So hopefully he learned or he left. I mean, that's all I know for a fact as of this.
00:34:28
Speaker
As of three hours ago, he's still alive. So we should be good. Yeah, so he lived. He just don't know if he learned. We don't know this. We should ask. I should ask. And just to add a bit of context, TTO refers to a technology transfer office, which probably doesn't tell you anything because the name doesn't really give you anything. It was just right. Technology transfer office couldn't be in anything. But essentially, it just refers to the office that deals with commercialization of a product. Normally, the academic is purely focused on the academic spot. And TTO is focused on actually making it into a commercially viable product. Absolutely.
00:35:20
Speaker
and the And because they usually ah have their own rules, ah that leads to us filling the pipe company, filling the gap on what it's not doing. Finally, the geek environment is something we at Pipe love to see. And we have discussed similar environments over the last few years of all kinds of innovation. ah Yeah, ROP has been doing this for many, many years. And ah the company was set up also like three years ago, I think.
00:35:48
Speaker
We actually see a future of regionalised centres of excellence for different types of innovation, similar to how regions grew in the past. Sheffield was known for steel, Stoke on Trent. Known for paltteries. For ceramics. yeah it this is okay I'll wait, let me cover this. This is my neck of the woods. So, again, we're going to vote Sheffield. Sheffield was known for steel. It's called... So, actually, there's two football teams. You've got Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, and when they played together, it's called the Steel City Derby. Stoke-on-Trent for ceramics. Now Stoke-on-Trent. Yeah, so Connor Steel would definitely know that. I would know this, but I... What's a steel?
00:36:30
Speaker
I am, this is little law for you, so I actually live in Stoke-on-Trent. My dad, sorry, not dad, Rob is also from Stoke-on-Trent. And Stoke-on-Trent is very famously called the Potteries and Stoke City, which is the biggest football club in the city.
00:36:48
Speaker
uh to any portfait fans out there um stochon trent is a city stochon trent is it it's it's like it's five towns all together into one city so it's called stochon is stochon trent is a city yeah for anyone that's wondering it's between um manchester and berlin right in the middle so it's yeah it's known for ceramics it was actually one of the biggest ceramic um providers in the whole world back in the day what ah during during the Industrial Revolution. Yeah, it was the biggest shipper of ceramics in the world, made them everywhere. you they They still have all the old kilns and stuff. It's very cool. It's actually kind of funny because when something is known for ceramics, you would usually see a lot of bricks, ah brick houses.
00:37:38
Speaker
Yes, normally, bricks are more expensive than other materials. ah But to like, also in Spain, there are a lot of houses because Spain has a lot of ceramics. There are just so ah ah very poor looking brick houses. It's just a brick on the outside. Nothing is covering the bricks. It's just the bricks. Normally, it would look weird because bricks are a lot more expensive in other countries. But here, there's so much ceramics that the Poor houses are those that are made of bricks with nothing else on them. But wait.
00:38:09
Speaker
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00:38:36
Speaker
Hear the answers live and get the clarity you need. Just follow us on X and never miss an AMA announcement. Stay informed, stay ahead, and get answers right from the source. Go into the link tree in the description, find our X, formerly Twitter page, and we'll see you there. Stay Gontrengue, so there is no reason why we shouldn't aspire to generate these kinds of specializations again in partnerships with local universities to create the global specializations we are so good at thinking of in the UK, but so bad at executing.
00:39:10
Speaker
Geek, in its very focused way, shows us what can be done and what I believe should be done. Rob believes should be done. But it also shows us the benefit of banging rocks together and simply trying things. Yeah, maybe it is sometimes ah time to be like the child who just does things. You would build like ah a fortress out of toys and then smash it for whatever reason.
00:39:35
Speaker
It is the modern-day garden shed. Sorry, James Baker. ah C and G, F I E T, F R S A, something like that. Taken into the 21st century and properly plugged into a support ecosystem. I feel like ah he's having like a little inside joke with James Baker there. Maybe. Maybe James but maybe james Baker's watching. So if we want to say sorry, James Baker for the little digs. He loves it really. Talks about you all the time.
00:40:00
Speaker
Pipe is a virtual version of this designed to achieve the same levels of validation and attract funds, partners, and people who actually want to build, solve problems, and create impact. So to paraphrase the new Colossus, I don't know what that is, ah bring us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Send these to our golden door.
00:40:23
Speaker
If anyone knows what it's referring to, drop in the comments or something. And now that'll be it for episode 9. And we'll see you next time.