Sharp is an exciting company to belong to in 2010. In March we will start production from the world’s largest photovoltaic panel plant. This is capable of making 1,000 MW of thin film solar panels every year. That comes hard on the heels of the world’s first tenth generation LCD plant that started production at Sakai in Japan during October 2009. Not only does the plant use glass sheets which are 2.85 metres by 3.05 metres, big enough to make fifteen 40 inch televisions at once, but it is also an environmentally advanced factory. For example it uses Sharp’s own low energy LED lighting systems and of course our solar panels.
Here in Oxford we are focusing more of our effort on the emerging green areas of photovoltaic energy generation, energy storage, energy management, low energy lighting and healthcare. That doesn’t mean that we have given up contributing to the company’s display products! But we are researching new areas, building new skills, recruiting more people, working with more Sharp businesses and developing a wider range of products. And still transferring lots of technology to mass production in displays.
For the last three years we have run a graduate recruitment scheme that has worked very well. We started it because we wanted to attract more people just starting their careers in research and development. We have been delighted with the response from graduates who know they want to continue with science or engineering, but are not sure what a career in industrial research is like. We have structured a programme that allows graduates to carry out projects on several topics around the lab in their first year. As we expected our new recruits have found this very useful. An unexpected bonus for us has been how much they achieved on the projects and how much synergy they captured whilst moving around the lab. So we are extending our three year trial indefinitely and hoping to expand the size of the scheme if we can find the right people. So, if you want to do research and development but are not decided on whether optics, semiconductor devices, electronics or systems research is more interesting, then this could be the place for you.
As well as research we have a substantial European Design Centre. The EDC, as we call it, was founded in 2001 to give engineering support to our larger customers. It is an essential link in the chain of creating new technology and moving it into production. Engineers in the EDC are helping customers to design new products using our very latest components. The feedback from this activity gives very clear direction for our future research.
We think of ourselves as a learning organisation. Over the last few years we have started a development programme where the more experienced members of the lab pass on the things they have learnt the hard way. We believe that life is too short to repeat the mistakes of others, but we do ask that when you have made your own you pass your learning on as well!
Our job in this laboratory is to produce a continual flow of new technology that can be used in Sharp products and help to keep them at the top of our customers' wish list. Whatever your reason for visiting, I hope that you will take the time to read about some of our research.
Stephen Bold
Managing Director
