The Microlab experience in bridging the gap between academia and industry through collaborations on research projects and technology clusters. Microlab is a member of three technology clusters supported by Corallia focused on nano/microelectronics, space technologies, and gaming/creative content. Microlab provides services to cluster members and works with industry on applications in domains including multimedia, trusted computing, medical devices, microelectronics, space, and energy through European Commission funded projects.

1. The Microlab experience in bridging the gap
between academia and industry
EU - Israel Seminar on Technology Transfer with an Emphasis on Clean
Tech
Tel Aviv, November 25-26, 2012
Name: Dr. Alex Bartzas
Microprocessors and Digital Systems Lab
National Technical University of Athens, Greece

2. Academia and Industry
Mainly through EC-funded research projects
and HiPEAC NoE
Technology
Academia
Clusters Industry
(Microlab/NTUA)
(Corallia)
Nov. 25, 2012 2

3. Clusters supported by Corallia
Nano/Microelectronics
Space Technologies and Gaming Technologies &
based Systems and
Applications Cluster Creative Content Cluster
Applications Cluster
Microlab is a member of
all three clusters
Members: 22
Members: 130 Members: 22
Initiation: 2009
Initiation: 2004 Initiation: 2011
Turnover: > € 100
Turnover: > € 5.7 bil. Turnover: > € 1.2 bil.
mil.
Employment: > 5000 Employment: > 1000
Nov. 25, 2012 Employment: > 600 3

4. Services to Cluster Members
• Acquisition of third party funding (R&D and non R&D projects, VCs, BAs, Banks)
• One Stop Shop (consulting, mentoring, coaching -mainly- for founders)
• Networking Events (networking days, user days, open days, carpe diem, webinars)
• Internationalisation Events (trade fairs, exhibitions, roadshows, etc.)
• Web presence (social networks, knowledge base, cluster mapping)
• Incubation Area (office space and amenities, data centre and management)
• Business Area (meeting rooms and amenities, printing services, telepresence etc.)
• Exhibition Area (physical and virtual booths)
• Job finder (career days, career matchmaker platform)
• Public Relations (Newsletter, News-Stream, NewsWatch, branding)
• Training events (business acceleration programme, patenting, etc.)
Nov. 25, 2012 4

5. Application domains we are active
• Run-time resource and data management, application and
Multimedia data mapping, design space exploration, middleware
development
Trusted/Secure • Secure data management for smart-grid applications,
computing trusted middleware
Medical • RTOS and real-time applications, low-power software
Microelectroni • Design of reliable HW in the deep sub-micron context,
cs functional and parametric reliability
Space • Implementation of computer vision algorithms as HW IPs
• Run-time resource and data management, application and
Games data mapping, middleware development
• Adaptive control of PV module parameters, run-time
Energy management
Nov. 25, 2012 5

6. Space: What is our work?
The exploration of Mars is one of the main goals for
both NASA and ESA, as confirmed by past and
recent activities
• The last 15 years there are a number of on-orbit
and surface missions to Mars
• Our projects are part of the ExoMars mission
(scheduled for 2018)
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7. Collaboration with industry
• European Space Agency (ESA) Projects
• SPARTAN
• SEXTANT
• Develop IP kernels for computer vision algorithms targeting to
rover navigation for Mars terrain
• ESA-compatible VHDL
• Mapped onto Xilinx Virtex-6 board
• Optimized C/C++ code
• Running onto 150MIPS processor (space-oriented device)
TRASYS
GMV AEROSPACE and DEFENCE CNES
Nov. 25, 2012 7
National Technical University of Athens Democritus University of Thrace

8. Medical: What is our work?
• Tackling societal needs
• Reduced healthcare costs as a result of reduced
need for hospitalization, and clinician visits through
increased remote monitoring
• Increase access to best practice care for patients
living in remote geographical locations
• More efficient use of Governmental and Insurance
healthcare resources by ensuring patient
concordance with treatment protocols through
remote monitoring
• The applications we are working on aim at the
next generation, integrated solutions for
personalized treatment and management of
patients
• integrated solution for patients with chronic renal
failure
• integrated autonomous device for the monitoring
and the personalized management of chronic
wounds
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9. Collaboration with industry
• Collaboration through E.C. IP-Projects
• SWAN-iCare
• Nephron+
• Developing real-time and low-power embedded SW applications running on
the wearable medical devices
• Reading data from the sensors, handling the actuators and relaying data to the
patients and medical personnel
Sensors
Actuators
Wireless
comm.
Embedded real-time SW,
Nov. 25, 2012 integrated control 9

10. Energy: What is our work?
Problem: Power loss due to partial shading of the PV array and the PV
module
• Conventional topologies of modules deal with partial shading by placing
bypass diodes across group of cells
• These bypass diodes are effective in dealing with mismatch losses between the
groups of cells
• A shaded group of cells is bypassed when shaded in order to allow the rest of
the module to operate on a higher current
• The power potentially produced by the bypassed group is lost
• When the incident shade affects all the groups in a similar way, the entire
module operates on a lower current since there is no option of bypassing
the shaded cells.
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11. Collaboration with industry
• Close collaboration with IMEC, vzw., Belgium
• Partial funding of Ph.D. researchers
• Internships
• Our proposal: Intra-module configurable cell interconnection topology
• Instead of using bypass diodes, switches can be used to alter the
interconnection of the cells within the module.
• Cells with similar operating conditions are grouped together.
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12. Collaboration with Industry and
Academia
Industrial Academic
Nov. 25, 2012 12

13. www.corallia.org
www.microlab.ntua.gr
Thank You!
Questions?
More information:
Alex Bartzas, Ph.D.
alexis@microlab.ntua.gr