21 April 2009

Sheffield entrepreneur wins national recognition

A research associate from the University of Sheffield has been nationally recognised as one of Britain´s most promising young entrepreneurs, after developing a product which has the potential to completely revamp the use of shock absorbers on mountain bikes.

Dr David Batterbee, from the University of Sheffield´s Department of Mechanical Engineering has received the Royal Academy of Engineering´s ERA Foundation Entrepreneurs Award, for an innovative device which can uniquely detect differences in the terrain a mountain bike is travelling on.

Dr Batterbee will be awarded the £40,000 prize at the Royal Academy of Engineering Awards Ceremony in June this year.

The Award has been established to identify entrepreneurial researchers working in UK universities in the field of electro-technology who are at an early stage in their career and who demonstrate both considerable entrepreneurial promise and the potential to benefit the UK's future prosperity.

Most mountain bikes have a shock absorber system in place to absorb the impact of bumps and keep the rider in control. However, these devices often compromise performance and the rider has to manually adapt the shock absorber to suit different terrains, by turning a switch.
Dr Batterbee has developed a rear shock absorber that electronically monitors the severity of the terrain and then optimises the bike´s performance automatically. On smooth terrain, a platform is automatically switched on to reduce rider induced suspension movement and to maximise pedalling efficiency. On rough terrain the platform is automatically removed for enhanced shock absorption capability.

Dr Batterbee and his supervisor Dr Neil Sims have been awarded a Yorkshire Concept Fund to develop a market-ready prototype of the device, as well as a proof of concept fund from Sheffield University Enterprises Limited (SUEL). Last year David participated in the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship´s FlyingStart Programme for Engineers, which supports graduates developing new business ideas. The project has also benefited from the Connect Yorkshire Springboard programme which provides free help to technology companies in all stages of development.

Dr Batterbee said: "It is a great honour to have received this award and to have been recognised as one of Britain´s up and coming entrepreneurs. The award will directly contribute towards the business start up costs required to drive the first product to market – a magnetorheological mountain bike rear shock absorber. I feel privileged to have received such substantial funds and the mentoring that has been made available from leading business experts will be invaluable during the start up period."

Graeme Hitchen, from the Sheffield University Enterprises Limited (SUEL), said: "The high quality of David´s research and his obvious desire to see it in the market meant we gave it our fullest support and we are very pleased to see the potential of David´s work recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering."

Lloyd Snellgrove, Director of the Yorkshire Proof of Commercial Concept Fund, said: "On behalf of Yorkshire Forward the regional development agency, the Fund is proud to have co-invested in a project which demonstrates such great commercial potential and is driven by David´s entrepreneurial capability and enthusiasm."

Simon Butt, from the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, said: ""David is an excellent example of a gifted researcher and entrepreneur intent on combining engineering expertise with his passion for mountain biking to generate a truly innovative technical solution. This improves performance and contributes something new to the marketplace – exactly what FlyingStart encourages graduates to do."