During the Second World War acrylic glass was used for submarine periscopes, windshields, canopies, and gun turrets for airplanes. 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. 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. 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. Businesses in Northeast England are supported by a chamber of commerce. The Northeast Chamber of Commerce (NECC)is based in Durham and has active sub committees working in all sub regions. To further encourage SMEs in the North East of England to Export, the Northeast Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) has collaborated with the Northeast Chamber of Commerce (NECC) and RTC North Limited to create a jointly owned subsidiary company Go Global Limited to manage the contract they have to deliver the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI), Government funded, support products and programme for all business sectors in their region. The UKTI business support products, to help grow international trade, are focused on supporting individual SMEs to grow their exports and they also support Trade Missions to new markets. The Northern Business Forum is an organisation created in the region to share knowledge and best practice between membership based business support organisations in the Northeast of England. The Forum creates a single voice for business when this is needed. This business led forum also links its member organisations to wider business issues, both locally and nationally, through the local and national business membership organisations that are also represented. Members of the forum include NECC, NEPIC, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Confederation of British Industry (CBI)North East, the Engineering Employers Federation Northern (EEF), The Institute of Directors (IOD), The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC),Service Network, RTC North and NEPIC.