Lab of the North
The Lab of the North, a collaboration between north of England universities industry, local government and specialist facilities, has been awarded PACE funding from the University to establish a self-sustaining virtual and distributed lab for industrially-focused telecom research, innovation and testing - specialising in 5G/6G, wireless and optical terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
Professor David Grace spearheads the initiative, tackling complex challenges and bridging the gap from TRL3 to TRL7. The project leverages pooled partner resources and services to deliver industry-requested research and innovation, prioritising use case testing for diverse scenarios, including rural and urban environments, ports, rail, advanced manufacturing, farming, and specialised robotic and autonomous systems. It will also host events such as hackathons to foster collaboration between industry and academia in solving integration issues.
The project aligns with UK government initiatives for telecoms supply chain diversification and O-RAN promotion. Funding supports a phased delivery: Start-up (formalising partnerships), Initial Operations (client engagement), and Scale-up (securing customers). Income will come from partner subscriptions, consultancy, research, facilities hire, and CPD, aiming for self-sustainability. This is expected to boost industrial income, raise profiles and enhance regional research and innovation.