One of my clients, the Ingenuity Programme, provides a great way for small and medium-sized businesses to dip their toes in the waters of working with universities without needing to make the big leap of committing lots of time and money to a big research project.

One great way to get a flavour of what goes on behind the doors of three local universities is to come along to one (or, indeed, both) of the free showcase events that are coming up in February and March.

The Ingenuity Creative Exchange will be happening on Friday 26th February at Mansfield Civic Centre with all kinds of goodies and gizmos on show.  Look out for all kinds of things from an iPod-controlled robot, a top-notch RED One camera and an animatronic head (really, you'll have to come and see for yourself on that one) to deomonstrations of online art shows through Second Life and digital technology applications for gaming and real-time 3D visualisation for architecture, heritage, and museum applications.

In March, on the 17th, the Manufacturing and Technology Showcase event will be held in Kegworth, back by popular demand after last year's successful exhibition.  Look out for exhibits on precision manufacturing, bioenegery production, microwave processing and much more - with, again, plenty to get "hands-on" with.

The joy - and the aim - of these events is to allow business owners and decisions makers to see what can be available from the universities (but which is often hidden away behind closed doors) to talk to the people behind the technologies and ideas, and to see what ideas of their own can be sparked.  No pressure to do anything immediately but lots of great contacts for when the time and the idea are right.

Each event last for the morning, with breakfast laid on, and, even better, they're free.  So why not take a little time out of your working life to explore some new opportunities and see what presents itself?