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What is Bite?

The £300k EPSRC funded Breakthrough Information Technology Exchange (BITE) hub is a new initiative which aims to place a greater commercial focus on much of UCL’s research in the ICT area. Our research, mainly (but not exclusively) within UCL’s departments of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE), and Computer Science (CS), is concerned with the next generations of information processing and communication devices and the systems, software and services required to make use of them.  Over the last decade, engineering sciences have yielded an ever-growing array of micro- and nano devices for transmitting, receiving and processing information and an extensive set of techniques for utilising such new devices in highly sophisticated systems and networks. However, for devices to be used they will need to be incorporated into practical objects that can be installed and used in ordinary environments, with the required reproducibility and integrated seamlessly into the technology ‘stack’.

UCL’s research portfolio in the ICT area exceeds £20m including three major EPSRC Programme Grants and a significant volume of other projects. Our research can be characterised as Breakthrough Information Technology, including nano-electronics, Terahertz systems, disruptive approaches to software engineering, non-linear optical communications, large scale sensing and sensor networks, secure communication systems and self-managed (software defined) telecommunication networks. Whilst each of our research programmes has existing industry partnerships and significant resources for pathways to impact, this hub seeks to accelerate and increase impact through linking these diverse activities into a more strategic programme which is ‘packaged for industry’ and coversthe whole spectrum; from new nano-electronic devices to network and system concepts.

Our goal is for the hub to be a meeting place for:

  • Large enterprises from across the value chain of information and communications systems whose business will be influenced by the new technologies;
  • Small enterprises seeking to develop novel devices or to provide design software or services to enable their exploitation;
  • Investment organisations exploring the opportunities posed by these innovations;
  • Entrepreneurially-minded researchers from UCL and its university partners within the Programme grants.

The hub is led by Professor Izzat Darwazeh of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and managed by a small steering group including members from the Department of Computer Science.