Editing North East England (section)

===Innovations===
This region has a strong history in technological innovation:

The [[match|friction match]] was invented in Stockton-on-Tees in 1826 by [[John Walker (inventor)|John Walker]].

[[George Stephenson]] (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives. Renowned as the father of railways,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stocktonteesside.co.uk/history.html|title=History of Stockton on Tees|access-date=27 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230902/http://www.stocktonteesside.co.uk/history.html|archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> George Stephenson was born in Wylam, Northumberland, 9.3 miles (15.0&nbsp;km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[[Joseph Swan|Sir Joseph Wilson Swan]] (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914) was a British physicist and chemist from Sunderland, County Durham now the (City of Sunderland). He is most famous for inventing an [[incandescent light bulb]] before its invention by the American [[Thomas Edison]]. Swan first demonstrated the light bulb at a lecture the [[Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne|Literary and Philosophical Society]] and Miners Institute on [[History of Newcastle upon Tyne|Mosley Street]], Newcastle upon Tyne on 18 December 1878. Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne is reputed to be the first street in the world to be lit by [[electric light]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|title=Sir Joseph Swan, The Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle|url=http://www.rsc.org/get-involved/chemical-landmarks/UK/JosephSwan.asp|date=3 February 2009|access-date=29 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429190301/http://www.rsc.org/get-involved/chemical-landmarks/UK/JosephSwan.asp|archive-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Turbinia At Speed.jpg|thumb|left|''Turbinia '']]

[[Charles Algernon Parsons]] invented the steam turbine in 1884, and having foreseen its potential to power ships he set up the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company with five associates in 1893. To develop this he had the experimental vessel {{ship||Turbinia}} built in a light design of steel by the firm of Brown and Hood, based at [[Wallsend on Tyne]]. He also pioneered in the field of [[electricity generation]], establishing the [[Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company]] in 1889. The company opened the first power station in the world to generate electricity using [[turbo generator]]s in 1890, at [[Forth Banks Power Station|Forth Banks]] in Newcastle.

[[William George Armstrong]], 1st Baron Armstrong, CB, FRS (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an effective Tyneside industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing empire. He was responsible for the development of the hydraulic crane and many military armaments. His house at [[Cragside]], Northumberland was the first in the world to be lit by [[hydro-electricity]], using [[incandescent lamps]] provided by the inventor [[Joseph Swan]].

In 1936 the first commercially viable production of acrylic safety glass, [[Perspex]], began by ICI Acrylics and the material is still manufactured in the region by [[Lucite|Lucite International]] now part of [[Mitsubishi Corporation]]. During the Second World War acrylic glass was used for submarine periscopes, windshields, canopies, and gun turrets for airplanes.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=eNotes|title=Acrylic Plastics|url=http://www.enotes.com/acrylic-plastic-reference/acrylic-plastic|access-date=26 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520121541/http://www.enotes.com/acrylic-plastic-reference/acrylic-plastic|archive-date=20 May 2013}}</ref> Shortages in raw materials and price pressures have led to innovation by Lucite who developed their patented Alpha Technology in this region. This technology is now the leading technology used in the manufacture of acrylics around the world. It uses new feedstock's and has a cost advantage of 40% over conventional processing methods.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Chemsystems|title=PERP Program – Methyl Methacrylate|url=http://www.chemsystems.com/about/cs/news/items/0004.cfm|access-date=26 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820180723/http://www.chemsystems.com/about/cs/news/items/0004.cfm|archive-date=20 August 2012}}</ref>

[[Newcastle University]] was the first in the UK and the second in Europe to receive a licence to perform research on stem cells and is a leading centre for such research today. Dr [[Karim Nayernia]] was the first to isolate spermatagonial stem cells at this University. Many new healthcare developments have arisen from this stem cell expertise in the region.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Today, the region has five universities with a number of research departments:
[[Durham University]], Newcastle University, [[Northumbria University]], [[University of Sunderland]] and Teesside University, which have a portfolio of many innovative businesses that have spun out of their research and teaching departments.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=spinouts UK|title=University Listings|url=http://www.spinoutsuk.co.uk/listings/university-listings/|access-date=29 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504115124/http://www.spinoutsuk.co.uk/listings/university-listings/|archive-date=4 May 2011}}</ref>