You are here

  1. Home
  2. Innovation & engagement
  3. License our technology

License our technology

Our technology has the potential to provide innovative solutions to the challenges your organisation faces.

We aim to maximise the impact of our research and technology through developing licensing agreements with organisations in the public and private sector and through the formation of spin out companies. 

Our technology has been licensed for applications ranging from satellite propulsion to air monitoring on nuclear submarines. Below are examples of the types of technologythe OU has to offer for licensing. 

We welcome the Independent Review of University Spinouts and will licence our Intellectual Property to future spin-out companies, fostering innovation, economic growth, and collaboration. See our Statement of adoption for more information.

For more information on these technologies, or to discuss licensing agreements/developing a spin out company with The Open University, please contact the Enterprise Team.

Examples of our technology

The Valve

The OU Valve is a miniature high performance gas valve developed by Dr Simon Sheridan and Dr Geraint Morgan from the School of Physical Science for use in pressure control systems. The Valve allows a controlled release of gas and it is designed to fuel space missions and could extend the length of missions by up to 10 times. Other potential applications for this technology include gas pressurisation systems for analytical instruments.

New OU Valve could extend the length of space missions by up to 10 times

Organosilicon Chemistry

Professor Peter Taylor, one of the UKs leading organosilicon chemists, has developed a novel process for synthesising organosilicons that has been used in the development of contact lenses. Potential applications of this technology range from the production of personal care products to batteries and now currently as a way to produce whiter, more sustainable road markings that last longer.

Novel process for synthesising organosilicons

Online Collective Awareness Technologies

The OU's Knowledge Media Institute (KMi) has been at the forefront of digital innovation for the past 20 years and are world leaders in developing tools for social media analysis. Dr Anna De Liddo’s group have developed a range of Collective Intelligence (CI) technologies that support sense-making and summarization of online (and televised) discussions and debates through the analysis, modelling and visualisation of user responses. Whether it is a market research study, an online learning inquiry, a face-to-face longitudinal health practice, or a live event ­– such as a televised political election debate – CI technologies provide an effective platform to harness citizen feedback and structure the collective knowledge of a community.

Open University research into Collective Intelligence