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UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
This month the University of Glasgow celebrates the bicentenary of one of its most prominent alumni – Lord Kelvin – not just a titan of science but also a pioneer of harnessing innovation and applying it successfully in business
‘When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery.”
These words from Lord Kelvin perfectly encapsulate the personal drive and professional analytical incisiveness that made the Baron of Largs not only one of the most prominent alumni in the history of the University of Glasgow, but also a figure whose dynamic personality and scientific success continue to impact our lives today.
This year, to mark the bicentenary of the man born William Thomson on June 26, 1824, the University is celebrating the tour de force that made incredible contributions to the sciences of thermodynamics, electricity, engineering and magnetism – and whose influence, through innovation and inventions, continues to inspire and shape the world in which we live.
Undoubtedly best known by many outwith academia for developing the Kelvin temperature scale, Lord Kelvin was professor of natural philosophy at the University for 53 years.
Naturally inquisitive about science in all its facets, his myriad interests also incorporated the complex structures of space, an area in which he proposed the doubly curved, truncated octahedron as the most efficient of the universe’s structures.
Before his death in 1907, he had also become renowned for using his scientific skills to create technological, commercially viable inventions, amassing an astonishing 70 patents over his lifetime.
Thomson chose to be known as Lord Kelvin after the river that runs through Glasgow, and reminders of his title are present in Kelvinside, Kelvingrove, Kelvinbridge … the Kelvin monicker is synonymous with many Glasgow places and landmarks. However, his legacy is evident not only in academia and urban geography but just as strongly in living businesses.
This is testimony to the fact his work is much more than of historical interest. Indeed, a significant foundation of his lasting legacy is his early engagement with business, using methodically researched findings to directly – and commercially – address scientific and technological challenges in areas such as communications (we can think of his work on the transatlantic communications cable) and the harnessing and measurement of electricity and temperature.
Not only was he well versed in the language of business but, as one of Scotland’s first and foremost entrepreneurs, he had the nous to raise finance and attract investors to support his adventures in science.
For example, his partnership with Glasgow optical and marine instrument manufacturer James White from 1854 ensured the commercial availability of many of his scientific devices.
White was an apprentice in Gardner & Co., successors to the instrument makers founded by renowned Scottish engineer and inventor James Watt. He set up in business for himself in 1850 and James White & Company prospered over the years thanks in no small part to its links with Lord Kelvin, his inventions and his uncanny ability to raise capital.
The company expanded enormously and by the time of Kelvin’s death in 1907 had become a major international player. It later became Kelvin Hughes and is now a division of Smiths Group.
When, on June 8, 1958, a team of researchers in Glasgow published a scientific paper in The Lancet, it was Tom Brown – an engineer with Kelvin Hughes – who with Professor Ian Donald and Dr John McVicar, obstetricians at the Glasgow Western Infirmary, pioneered the development and clinical application of ultrasound technology, revolutionising medical diagnostics.
Today, Lord Kelvin’s inspirational groundwork can be evidenced in the University of Glasgow’s focus on research and innovation, with a strategy focused on identifying opportunities and accelerating the creation of intellectual assets that can be scaled with impact.
Its portfolio of successful spinouts is a showcase of companies pioneering in the fields of renewable energy, medicine, marine technology, communications and bioscience.
Considered by many as a flagship project is Glasgow Riverside Innovation District. Working with Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise, the University is reimagining this location to catalyse high-impact innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth, delivered through collaboration and partnerships.
This is where you will find the Living Laboratory for Precision Medicine, an internationally leading programme supported by UKRI Strength in Places Funding, focused on translating cutting-edge science and healthcare development in a clinical setting – and bringing no fewer than 450 new jobs to the Govan area.
GRID is also home to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, a key partner in a ‘quadruple helix’ of activity that brings together the University, industry, the NHS and local communities to grow a cluster of life sciences, MedTech and Precision Medicine. If Lord Kelvin’s legacy tells us anything, it is that to be truly successful in business, just as in science, there is often a need to be bold and be brave.
As Lord Kelvin himself perfectly framed it: “Science is bound, by the everlasting vow of honour, to face fearlessly every problem which can be fairly presented to it.”
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Transforming society through power of ideas
Lord Kelvin’s legacy in the worlds of science and business continues to inspire a deeply held ethos held at the University of Glasgow: the belief that innovation can literally change the world.
Through the mechanisms of its own Innovation Strategy, by 2025 it aims to be recognised globally as an ‘entrepreneurial university’.
Already it has generated £4.4 billion of economic impact through its activities. Its Glasgow Riverside Innovation District (GRID), for example, is delivering economic, social and environmental impact for the benefit of local communities.
Uzma Khan notes: “The bicentenary celebration of Lord Kelvin is an opportunity to demonstrate the University of Glasgow is a global institution.
“We’re nurturing our spinouts and providing an increasing amount of wraparound support. We’re looking at the use of land, bringing jobs into the community, making sure communities can access these jobs.
“Through the power of the university both as a convener and a producer, we’re able to make sure this actually transforms societies.
“Transforming outcomes for certain societies and groups takes a very long time, persistence, a coalition of the willing. The legacy we can build on for Lord Kelvin can be transformational and long lasting and we have this opportunity to get it right.”
The University’s spinouts are, without doubt, innovative organisations Lord Kelvin himself would have approved of.
They include:
Nami Surgical
Started in 2021 by Nico Fenu and Rebecca Cleary, Nami Surgical has developed advances in ultrasonic surgical instrumentation for use in robotic-assisted surgery that is ready to go out to market.
Nebu-Flow
Nebu-Flow is accelerating the next generation of inhaled drugs for respiratory disorders. Its nebuliser platform has been developed to tackle a main cause of death and disability worldwide.
Clyde Hydrogen
Clyde Hydrogen’s decoupled electrolyser technology delivers high-pressure green hydrogen safely at scale and low cost. This could match renewable energy
with hydrogen production in a more effective way.
Chemify
With £36 million invested in foundational research, Chemify is building infrastructure to digitise chemistry and enable the execution of chemical code for drug discovery, chemical synthesis and materials discovery.
Critical Technologies Accelerator
This engineering team is helping SMEs improve their readiness levels in quantum technologies. With support from the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre and partners, it helps SMEs de-risk R&D costs.
Museums in the Metaverse
This is a game-changing research project exploring Extended Reality – haptics, the sense of touching an object virtually, allows museum visitors see its underside, back or edges.
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An innovator and an entrepreneur
UZMA Khan believes the legacy of Lord Kelvin lives on in a number of important ways.
“A lot of people will recognise him as a deep intellectual who brought us the notion of invention through science.
However, when you look at that through the lens of innovation and impact, he was also a successful inventor and entrepreneur,” says the Vice-Principal for Economic Development and Innovation and Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the University of Glasgow.
“What he managed to do, very successfully, was to drive societal progress, not just through identifying a scientific solution but through partnership and collaboration with industry and government to deliver workable solutions.
“That’s where his legacy really lives on and it’s particularly pertinent to the University of Glasgow – after all, we are already known for our broad research excellence and strengths.
“What we’re trying to do as we look to the future here, is focus on how we translate our research into solutions, solving global problems, finding new sorts of innovation that will drive societal progress.
“The bicentenary celebrations grant us an opportunity to not only celebrate what’s gone before, and all the great things he did, but how to use this to look forward in terms of articulating our own ambitions and building on that legacy.
“We are focussed on unlocking the creativity and entrepreneurialism of our talent pool, and developing a thriving culture of innovation. This celebration gives us an opportunity to tell that story again and remind people of the values that underpin our mission to be a world-changing university – ambition and excellence, curiosity and discovery, integrity and truth and an inclusive community.
“We are passionate about societal impact, our civic mission and finding solutions that help communities on our doorstep and across the globe.”
Ms Khan points out that, when we consider what Lord Kelvin represented, it was a lot more than just being a brilliant scientist.
“He stood for entrepreneurial spirit, that ability to innovate, to build meaningful partnerships that allow solutions to be developed and fostered and actually have an impact across the world.”
In setting its own mission to become an entrepreneurial university and provide practical solutions that help tackle the challenges of our time, Ms Khan is urging collective action to push for transformational change.
“As a nation, we know what the main barriers are to deliver impactful innovation that will have positive outcomes over the long term. We need to recognise that to innovate successfully, we have to work together, take risks and be bold enough to keep pushing boundaries.
For Ms Khan the bicentenary represents an opportunity for the University of Glasgow to substantively build on Kelvin’s legacy.
“Right now, the innovation and impact agenda has real and growing momentum at the University. Beyond the footprint of our campus, there is a growing ‘coalition of the willing’ of partners who are committed to making a difference and doing things differently.
“If we can harness all of this, I believe we have all the ingredients for a great recipe for success.
“I think this is a great moment for us!”
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Events to celebrate the centenary
The University of Glasgow is hosting a series of special bicentenary anniversary events this month to celebrate the life and works of Lord Kelvin.
From June 8, visitors can also learn more about his work at the Lord Kelvin: Beyond Absolute Zero exhibition at the University’s Advanced Research Centre.
The Hunterian, which has a permanent display dedicated to Kelvin, will showcase his life and work via a programme of public events and lectures.
On June 19, The Hunterian’s curator of scientific and medical history collections, Dr Nicky Reeves, will give a Twilight Tour of Kelvin’s materials and prototypes.
Dr Reeves will also host an online lunchtime talk on June 21 about the hundreds of scientific instruments owned, designed or used by Kelvin and now kept in The Hunterian collection.
Kelvin’s achievements in precision measurement will also be celebrated in the context of modern science in two public lectures.
Nobel laureate Professor Takaaki Kajita will give a talk on June 25 at the Sir Charles Wilson Theatre focussed on measuring neutrinos and gravitational waves – achievements in high-precision measurements that follow from Lord Kelvin’s own measurement breakthroughs.
The talk is supported by the Institute of Physics and Institute of Physics Scotland.
On June 26 Dr Daniel Mitchell will explore Lord Kelvin’s pioneering research in measurements and quantification and how this forms a principal theme uniting many of his scientific triumphs. This event, also at the Sir Charles Wilson Theatre, will be followed by a reception at the Hunterian.
For more information on all of the bicentenary events visit gla.ac.uk/explore/lordkelvin200/events/
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