If you want to witness how our sad history is repeating itself, please read on.

Article summary
SALi based suspension units are a British invention, but their technical development is being led by China.
Engineers at Nanjing University are publishing papers which suggest that SALi based suspension units are a Chinese innovation. They have refused to sign a research licensing agreement with Cheshire Innovation and have ignored our suggestions for collaborative development.
The British taxpayer funded CrashSALi Project (2002-3)provides clear documentary proof of the British origins of this invention. Unfortunately, it also shows how we have thrown away a seven year technology lead to an economic competitor.

What Britain is losing: About 45 million road vehicles are manufactured world-wide each year. Suspension manufacturing is a Multi-Million Pound segment of this industry. As we pull out of recession, an opportunity to create world beating manufacturing jobs is being lost.
 

1. The SALi suspension unit concept

The diagram below illustrates the prototype suspension unit specified in the CrashSALi research contract. The British research laboratories of the Malaysian Rubber Producers Research Association (MRPRA) advised on the materials to be used.

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Figure 1. The British prototype suspension unit

This lightweight unit does not require any precision made parts, so manufacturing costs should be low. The design could be used for a wide range of vibration isolation applications in mechanical and civil engineering.
 

2.         CrashSALi

The CrashSALi Project (2002-3) was a 65% British taxpayer funded feasibility study into crash protection and vehicle suspension applications of SALi. Cheshire Innovation paid the balance. Copies of the research contract are held by The Small Business Service and Manchester University. 
This project was a profit sharing partnership, because Bill Courtney, trading as Cheshire Innovation was contractually bound to give 50% of his royalties from all applications of SALi Technology to the University.

How Britain lost a seven year technology lead

For some puzzling reason that has never been explained, the contractually agreed materials were not used for the University research.

Figure 2. The materials specified in the contract were not investigated.

The Manchester University research results were an embarrassing nonsense. They could not be used to attract commercial interest in Britain.

The technical cover-up
The use of poor materials should have shown up clearly in the research results as a gradual tailing off in performance, as the materials degraded over several oscillation cycles.
However, the University CrashSALi report only included test results for a single impact, so the evidence of a tailing off in performance, remained hidden.
In contrast, the Chinese researchers, using the correct materials, carried out experiments involving multiple compression cycles. (See Figure 3 below.)
 

The contractual cover-up
Bill Courtney, a research fellow of the University, refused to approve payment of taxpayer funds for the Manchester University research until the work had been done correctly.  The University was reluctant to admit to bad research. It attempted to shift the blame by claiming that the contract had been completed and pursuing Bill for debt recovery.
This is a very worrying precedent, because British science should learn from its mistakes, not resort to legal intimidation, to hide its research failings.
Also, small businesses must be able to trust universities who handle their intellectual property. It is unethical to bully a contractually binding profit and risk sharing partner, to take all the losses when a joint project fails.
(For proof of the profit sharing nature of the relationship, see Appendix 2 below.)

Bill Courtney's MP took these problems up to the (then) Minister for Science, Lord Sainsbury.
The minister ruled that Courtney must resolve the dispute with Manchester University himself. (See Appendix 1 below.)
Seven years have been frittered away on this dispute because Bill Courtney cannot afford to employ a solicitor, for a prolonged dispute with Britain's largest University.

Meanwhile, the Chinese are stealing SALi Technology prospects from under out noses.
 

2. The successful Chinese research on SALi suspension units

In July 2009, a diligent Cardiff University student who was working with Bill Courtney made a disturbing discovery: state funded research into SALi based vibration isolators is making rapid progress in China.  Unlike the Manchester research, the Chinese work is enviably good!
Two papers have been published by engineers at Nanjing University:

1. H. d. Teng, Q. Chen, Study on vibration isolation properties of solid and liquid mixture, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 2009 doi.10.1016/j.jsv.2009.04.036.
2. H. d. Teng, Q. Chen, Performance Characteristics of SALiM Isolator, Proceedings of the World Congress in Engineering, 2009, Vol. II.

Bill promptly wrote to the authors, but they were not interested in a British-Chinese collaboration. They have also refused to sign a licensing agreement to legitimise their work.
However, to be fair to the Chinese researchers, they have acknowledged Bill's 1998 MPhil research thesis in their references.

Here’s the header from one of the Nanjing University papers. Note that Bill's brand name for SALi has been subtly changed from SALi^TM to SALiM.

The authors published high quality research, similar to what should have been done at Manchester University.

For example, their multiple compression tests, showed no tailing off in performance.
Here is the evidence:

Figure 3. This Chinese graph, (originally published as Figure 10 in reference 1) demonstrates that if the right materials are used, a SALi based suspension unit produces "outstanding performance".

What's so important about this graph?
It verifies that SALi based suspension units will be soft when travelling over smooth roads but stiffen up linearly when travelling over progressively rougher ground. Existing suspension units need to be heavy and complex to offer similar benefits.

 The Chinese researchers conclude:

Reference 2 above, page 4.

This promise of “outstanding performance and a good prospect in engineering practice” should be a wakeup call to a sleepy Britain. China is developing know-how that could take engineering jobs from Britain as we move out of recession.

The Nanjing papers include plagiarised material from Bill's 1998 MPhil research thesis. This material is very difficult to get hold of, because the thesis remains unpublished.

Here’s an example of the plagiarism:

Figure 4. This is a reproduction of Figure 1 in Teng and. Chen, reference 1 above.


For comparison, Bill's thesis diagram is reproduced below.

Figure 5. This is a reproduction of Figure 6.4 from  Courtney, W. A., Preliminary investigations into the mechanical properties and potential applications of a novel shock absorbing liquid, MPhil Thesis, Manchester School of Engineering, University of Manchester (1998)
 

What can be done to prevent Britain sleepwalking into a technology "failed state"?

If Britain wants to learn lessons, to protect our manufacturing sector, the following questions require answers:

How did an unpublished  British engineering thesis end up in Chinese hands?

Is this symptomatic of a wider intellectual property theft problem?

Why did the government remain passive when presented with clear evidence that publicly funded research into a potentially lucrative British invention was failing and being covered up?
(For proof of this passive role, see the Appendix below.)

3 A second example of wasted British research on SALi Technology

Manchester University also failed to use the correct materials for the PedSALi project. As a result, Britain lost the opportunity to take the lead in developing soft, pedestrian friendly car bumpers.

4 Are we Brits incapable of doing good  SALi Technology  research?

Certainly not!
Excellent work into SALi Technology is being done at Cardiff University. The snag is, this work is being done without the support of public funding.  Manchester University needs to acknowledge that its own work is flawed and that it has no financial claims against Cheshire Innovation before Cardiff stands any chance of gaining UK public funding to do the SALi research. correctly

Examples of good British research into SALi Technology at Cardiff University

4.1  Suspension units: Figure 17 on our Battery charging car suspension page shows an encouraging set of results using a valid test and appropriate materials. Unfortunately, this belated British work has to be done on a shoestring budget in the form of short undergraduate projects. The research management is very professional, but we are continuing to fall behind the competition because progress is inevitably slow.

4.2 Soft, pedestrian friendly car bumpers: Based on undergraduate project work, Cardiff University has presented an excellent conference paper on SALi Technology,

Davies, H., Holford, K., Assoune, A., Trioulier, B., Courtney, B. 2009. Pedestrian Protection Using a Shock Absorbing Liquid (SALi) Based Bumper System. 21^st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Stuttgart 2009.

5 A timeline showing the key events as Britain lost its technology lead to China

Wake up, sleepy Britain!
You are losing potential wealth and jobs for British workers.

Please contact us for details of the cover-up that is blocking British progress

Appendix 1

Extract from Lord Sainsbury's letter

Bill Courtney comments, "This letter provides clear evidence that the government failed to exercise due diligence, to protect British taxpayer funds. As a result, we Brits have lost, and the Chinese have gained.
Lord Sainsbury's refusal  to investigate the failure of the PedSALi project is particularly disturbing. This project was intended to develop a new type of soft, pedestrian friendly bumper, that had the potential to save pedestrian lives and prevent crippling injuries on European roads,"

Appendix 2

Extract from the binding profit sharing agreement

 MIL was the (then) business arm of the Victoria University of Manchester. Its officers always acted professionally when dealing with Bill Courtney. They played no part in the intimidating activities carried out by MIL's academic parent body.

Links

Cheshire Innovation Home page

Other SALi projects: Sassy Hats,   PedSALi