We have had an incredible year in Barnsley at the IoT Engine pre-accelerator programme! We are supporting 23 start-up and small businesses to adopt, integrate, and develop any aspect of the Internet of Things (IoT) into their company through 1:1 mentoring, hands-on-validation and prototyping support. The programme is part of the TEAM SY project powered by Connexin and delivered in partnership with Barnsley Council and Capital Enterprise. The aim is to validate business concepts, build an early version of a prototype, and expand companies by introducing a new product or service to them.

One of our key aims for the year, alongside running the programme, was to make IoT more accessible and break down its complexity to show how beneficial it can be to businesses. To do this, we created a few short video guides, explaining all about what the IoT is, how it works, and how it can help startups and SMEs in the region and beyond:

We are so proud of the companies we are working with through the programme, and we have had some incredible successes with them throughout the year. There are certainly too many to name them all, but we have to highlight a few of our companies who have completed, or are near closing their projects with us, and are driving their businesses forward as we head into 2023.

We have supported;

• Co-founders Grant and Fran at Family Phone to build a prototype for an ambient assisted living device for those living with dementia. They told us that this has accelerated their business by three years, and are now ready to seek investment!
• Sheffield Tribology Services, using the facilities at the excellent Barnsley DMC MakerLab to 3D print their initial prototype for rail friction testing – which will hopefully be adopted across the rail industry and avoid some of those dreaded delays!
• Andel Ltd to diversify their existing flood and leak monitoring systems to utilise the IoT. We’ve designed a new device with them which interfaces between their existing products and a cloud solution to enable remote monitoring, alerts and control, and have supported them to engage with Binary Forge to develop a robust cloud platform and mobile app to allow easy provisioning and management of a fleet of devices.
• Twin Dynamics to develop an IoT sensor suite to provide live temperature, pressure, humidity and door activity data from the co-working space at DMC 02. The data provided via this IoT solution enabled them to develop their novel air quality/energy monitoring software.

We have also been working with a whole host of companies across South Yorkshire in a variety of different sectors from manufacturing to machine automation, and cyber security to astronomy! Many of these businesses spoke at our IoT Engine Showcase evening, which was an amazing night celebrating all of their successes and the achievements they have made whilst being on the programme.

But, it doesn’t end there. We have also been a part of growing a connected and collaborative IoT Community in South Yorkshire, and organise regular Internet of Things Meetups for likeminded individuals to come together, listen to some great speakers, and network with beer and food. We have had topics ranging from IoT in Space, Agritech, Rail and Flood Defence, and are looking forward to hosting more in the New Year! Recently, we took to the (cinema) stage at the South Yorkshire Tech Summit in Barnsley to share everything we have been up to recently and spread the word about how great the programme is (of course!).

At the Summit, TEAM SY launched their ‘Tech 100’ Report, of the hottest 100 tech start-ups in South Yorkshire, and we are so proud that 7 IoT Engine participating companies were listed! We are really lucky to work with such brilliant start-ups and SMEs across the region, and it is great to see so many of them getting the recognition they deserve in this report!

So, overall, it has been an extremely rewarding and successful year for the IoT Engine, and we look forward to what 2023 has to bring! We accept rolling applications for the programme until June 2023, and if you would like to find out more you can visit our website or email me at l.shale@connexin.co.uk – we would love to chat with you more about the work we are doing!

South Yorkshire Internet of Things Meetup: Tuesday 8th November 2022

By Lauren Shale

Last week, members of the Internet of Things (IoT) community were welcomed to Gatsby Bar in Sheffield for a night filled with excellent speeches, plenty of networking and – of course – some delicious Mexican food! Although the meetups have been themed in the past, with the topics of IoT in Space, or in Food and Agritech for example, this event was focussed on a more general theme to celebrate and showcase just how broad all of the IoT activity in the region is.

The evening was hosted by Mark Davies, CEO and Co-founder at Sheffield-based cybersecurity company Ioetec. Welcoming regular and new faces, Mark stressed the importance of these meetups for creating moments of serendipity, building strong networks and bringing people together.

Taking back the mic, Mark shared the fact that 5 million homes in the UK are at risk of flooding, demonstrated perfectly with a photo of him chest-deep in water in his back garden! This was all to highlight the importance of our next speaker, Gerbren Haaksma from the Flood Defence Team at Andel Ltd. Andel is an environmental service company, focussing on sensor based monitoring to solve issues for clients across the nation. Gerbren talked us through Andel’s Flood Defence end-to-end solution, including a Flood Alert system which measures surface and ground water levels as they rise and sends alerts when needed. Andel also provide various solutions in response to flooding, including flood barriers and pumps – which Mark may need to make an investment in!

Last to speak was Ben White, of Sheffield Tribology Services, a start-up based in Sheffield focusing on friction wear testing of railways. STS are working with TEAM SY’s IoT Engine pre-accelerator programme to build a prototype of their portable tribometer (friction testing device), which is the first of its kind to be designed for widespread industry adoption. Currently, the reaction between leaves and the steel on the rail costs the UK £350million a year and industry workers have a total lack of suitable test equipment. With their tribometer, STS will be able to optimise friction measurements to help prevent damage, reduce safety incidents and decrease delays – which the audience were particularly happy to hear. IoT connectivity will be integrated into the device with centralised sensors measuring contamination, temperature and humidity, and LoRaWan networks automatically uploading this data to inform decision makers of the environmental conditions, ultimately helping to create a safer, faster, and more efficient rail industry.

As always, the meetup closed with the chance for attendees to share any relevant IoT activity or interests. Sam Jones from the IoT Tribe stood up to speak about their new equity-free programme ‘DECARBONISE SY’ which they are running with TEAM SY. The programme is for outstanding startups and scaleups with a product or service built around the Internet of Things (IoT), helping cities and industries achieve a net zero future. Applications to the programme close on November 18th. For more information, and to apply. Visit: Decarbonise SY

Lauren Shale reminded attendees that for those with early-stage IoT ideas, their pre-accelerator programme, the IoT Engine, can support SMEs and start-ups to adopt, integrate and develop IoT through 1:1 mentoring, prototyping and proof-of concept support. Applications for the programme are open on a rolling basis, and you can find out more here: IoT Engine – TEAM SY (weareteamsy.org)

She also invited attendees to the South Yorkshire Tech Summit, taking place at Cineworld in Barnsley on Thursday 24^th November from 12-6pm. This will bring together industry expertise, business leaders and senior decision makers from across South Yorkshire and beyond to hear from a range of thought leaders and experts about the importance of a vibrant tech and digital economy in the region. You can find out more, and register for a ticket here: South Yorkshire Tech Summit Tickets, Thu 24 Nov 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite

Finally, Ceri Batchelder from TEAM SY stood up to speak about their latest support programme, the AI Academy, which is taking place on 29^th and 30^th November at Sheffield Tech Parks, which will support businesses to introduce artificial intelligence and grow their business. Applications are open until 22^nd November, and you can find more information here: AI Academy – TEAM SY (weareteamsy.org)

Ceri also extended an invitation to the TEAM SY Christmas Showcase, taking place at the DMC in Barnsley on Thursday 8^th December from 5-8:30pm. This will be an amazing evening celebrating all programmes across TEAM SY, including the IoT Engine, with ‘market stall’ style exhibitions and plenty of chances to network over festive food, drink and entertainment. You can get your tickets here: TEAM SY Christmas Celebration Event Tickets, Thu 8 Dec 2022 at 17:30 | Eventbrite

The event finished with further networking opportunities over Mexican tacos, nachos and cocktails – the perfect end to the evening!

Resources and Staying in Touch:

To join the regional IoT community, please sign up to the South Yorkshire IoT Meetup newsletter, which will keep you up to date on IoT news and activity. Follow this link and select ‘SY IoT Meetups’

You can also join our Meetup Page: South Yorkshire Internet of Things Meetup (SY IoT) (Sheffield, United Kingdom) | Meetup

Acknowledgements: Thanks to the team at Gatsby for hosting the event, Barnsley DMC and TEAM SY for sponsoring, and the brilliant You & Us Events for managing all the logistics.

SY IoT Meetup – IoT in Food and AgriTech @ The National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University

By Lauren Shale, Programme Coordinator, IoT Engine

Members of the Internet of Things (IoT) community came together at the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) for the latest South Yorkshire IoT Meetup on Tuesday 28th June. The theme was ‘IoT in Food and AgriTech’, with speakers focussing on the opportunity that IoT provides to monitor the food growing and manufacturing environments, and the solutions it offers to ensure that food production becomes more efficient and less wasteful.

Mark Davies, CEO and Co-founder of Sheffield-based cybersecurity company Ioetec, hosted the evening, welcoming guests to the NCEFE and introducing the theme of Food and Agritech.  Mark showed a video from Vodafone whose IoT technologies supported the production and delivery of strawberries to Wimbledon.

Deputy Director of NCEFE, Dr Hongwei Zhang, welcomed guests to the centre, sharing an overview of their key research themes and highlighting the work being done to apply and develop digital technologies including IoT, AI, and automation robotic solutions to accelerate the breakthrough of research in the region and beyond. 

Our first speaker was Ken Brockbank, Sector Manager for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Ken spoke about Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) in North and West Yorkshire, which has been recognised as a High Potential Opportunity for foreign investment, and promoted as a significant market opportunity to embassies and consulate offices around the world. CEA provides solutions to global supply chain and labour shortage problems, and the sector is looking to collaborate with IoT and tech companies to deploy sensors and make use of data analysis at an early stage in the supply chain.

Next to speak was Alec Anderson, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Koolmill Systems, who are working to provide a disruptive and sustainable processing solution for rice and other cereals. Rice is a $550 billion global industry and feeds 3.5 billion people daily, but current methods are  antiquated and wasteful, with enough rice to feed 600 million people being lost each year. Koolmill is developing the third generation of rice milling technology, introducing digitalisation, automation and IoT to optimise data capture and output, and create value. Their digital twinning technology further assists machine performance, enabling over 90% of power to be saved.

Finally, we were joined by David Dixon and Gabrielė Barteškaitė from Future Greens, a Sheffield-based indoor farm growing salad and microgreens in an innovative way that is good for people and the planet. They shared how their failed attempts to grow their own food during lockdown led to the discovery of indoor farming, which not only helped to overcome their own issues with poor soil, pests, and unpredictable weather, but also poses a solution to global supply chain issues. Future Greens now produces leafy greens at their indoor farm, using 95% less water and no pesticides. The pair are designing an automated system to reduce manual labour, and have developed a growing substrate that gives a clean crop, ready to eat. With machine vision and farm management software, they can apply IoT solutions to control climate and nutrient levels to optimise growing conditions.

All three talks stimulated discussion and questioning from the audience, before they were given the chance to take to the floor themselves to share any relevant IoT activity across the region. We heard from Advancing Digital at Sheffield Hallam University, offering training in key digital skills, as well as representatives from TEAM SY, who run various programmes of support from investment readiness to developing entrepreneurial mindset. One of these programmes is the IoT Engine, based at Barnsley DMC, which supports SMEs across the region to adopt, develop and integrate IoT products and solutions.

The evening finished with further networking opportunities over beer, pie and peas – which went down a treat!

Resources and Staying in Touch:

Link to the event recording: IoT Food – 28 June 22.mp4 – Google Drive 

To join the regional IoT community, please sign up to the South Yorkshire IoT Meetup newsletter, which will keep you up to date on IoT news and activity. SY IoT Meetup (list-manage.com) 

Acknowledgements: Thanks to the brilliant team at NCEFE for their support in hosting the event, Barnsley DMC and TEAM SY for sponsoring and You & Us Events for managing all the logistics.