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Impact: Economic gains
PHYESTA research has led to the setting up of a company now known as ForthDD. Since 2008 it has increased its annual revenue by more than 25% to around US $5M, and its global workforce from 25 to 35. It has released new products directly underpinned by PHYESTA research as recently as October 2012.
Significance:
A consortium involving PHYESTA staff in collaboration with Edinburgh's School of Engineering and five industrial partners realised the world's first high-resolution ferroelectric liquid crystal over silicon (FLCOS) microdisplay. This digital display attracted investment from the UK, Taiwan, and USA of over $40m, and was taken forward to production by MicroPix, MicroVue, and Forth Dimension Displays.
Reach:
ForthDD now has offices in Valencia, USA, and Berlin, Germany. The company designs, develops and manufactures single chip microdisplays used in the demanding near to eye (NTE) training and simulation systems, HD video camera viewfinders, medical imaging systems and virtual reality and head-mounted displays.
Beneficiaries:
ForthDD, its customers and business partners (e.g. in the medical imaging sector).
Attribution: This work was led within PHYESTA by Professor David Vass involving PHYESTA and done in collaboration with Edinburgh's School of Engineering.
Covesion, a company that was spun out of the University of Southampton, focuses on research and development of high-value engineered nonlinear crystal materials, that find widespread use in the laser, defence and display sectors. The impacts of their work fall under the headings of economic, via job creation and investment, health, through application of their products in medical imaging, and the environment, via detection of airborne pollutants and remote sensing. The company is now a multi-million pound business that has attracted more than £1m in US investment and won UK export orders around the world. The global value of Covesion-enabled commerce since the company's inception in 2009 is estimated to be in excess of US$100m.
This research has led to the creation of new business sectors in laser development for medical and healthcare applications, which has enabled the creation of a world-wide market worth US$96 million in 2011, and a local spin-out, Fianium Ltd, which now has more than 50 employees and an annual turnover of around £10 million. Exploiting a radically new optical component invented at the University of Southampton, the microstructured optical fibre (MOF), this research has led to economic benefit through the creation of hundreds of jobs worldwide, and enabled the development of new diagnostic and medical technologies.
The commercialisation of Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) and the associated novel fabrication processes developed at the University of Glasgow has provided Compound Semiconductor Technologies Global Ltd (CSTG) with a new foundry product supplying quantum cascade lasers for gas sensing, safety and security, and military applications. This resulted in 40% turnover growth from 2010-2012 and the company is now recognised as a global leader in QCLs and their fabrication. Based on University of Glasgow research, the company has created a manufacturing toolbox for the production of a wide variety of QCL chip designs. CSTG has also achieved a world first, manufacturing QCLs for systems that detect explosives at a safe distance and can counter heat-seeking missile attacks on aircraft.
Implementation of photonic quasi-crystals on light emitting diodes (LEDs) can produce more light using less energy. This technology was brought to the global market via the successful commercialisation of laboratory devices derived from research in nanophotonics and the subsequent development of photonic quasi-crystals by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Southampton. The intellectual property of the technology was acquired and adopted in 2008 by Luxtaltek Corporation, a global manufacturer of LEDs. In the period 2008-2012 Luxtaltek Corporation, made total profits of £35 million utilising the photonic quasi-crystal LED technology, employing more than 300 people in its production facilities.
Today's global telecom systems are powered by technology developed at the University of Glasgow. This technology has been utilised, endorsed and developed by a series of internationally successful companies, facilitating multimillion pound investment from across Europe and the USA for the companies.
Gemfire Europe acquired the University of Glasgow IP and technology and between 2008 and 2012 launched a range of `green' products with reduced power consumption. The company's revenues reached $12m annually and in 2013, Gemfire was one of the world's top five planar lightwave circuit companies. Gemfire was bought by Kaiam, one of the world's market-leading optical networking companies in April 2013, stimulating further innovation and investment in the production of high-speed components for the global data networking market.
The manipulation of electromagnetic radiation using novel materials by physicists at the University of Exeter has given rise to new technologies for military stealth applications, anti-counterfeiting measures and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) of pharmaceuticals, machinery and perishable goods. The research findings increased the global competitiveness of FTSE 250 defence and security company QinetiQ, driving innovation in its work with the MoD and leading to the creation of a successful spin-out, Omni-ID, that is meeting demand in the high-growth RFID market. Exeter's research underpinned the EPSRC decision to award the University and QinetiQ £3.2m to exploit applications of their patented technology.
Between January 2008 and July 2013, over 10,000 key stage 4 school students and their teachers directly engaged with active research of the Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge through an annual interactive 3 day exhibition, titled "Physics at Work". In 2012 the event attracted 31 non-selective state schools and 17 selective/independent schools, 23 of which had visited the exhibition 3 or more times previously- a testament to its success. Building on the enthusiasm that the students showed during their participation in the event, teachers noted an increase in the number opting to study A-level physics and stated that those previously with no interest left with a very positive image of the subject.
Covesion, the company spun out of the University of Southampton's research into materials for use in high-powered lasers, has grown into a multi-million pound business that has created high-technology jobs, attracted more than £1 million in US investment and won UK export orders around the world. Covesion's nonlinear crystals are used by the world's leading companies and research institutes in cutting edge applications that include fibre lasers, medical imaging, aircraft anti-missile defences, display projectors and the remote sensing of airborne hazardous materials. The global value of Covesion-enabled operations since the company's inception in 2009 is estimated to be in excess of US$100 million.
A facility for precision diamond machining of optical components arose from research at Durham University to produce instruments for large telescopes, including NASA's James Webb Space telescope. This now provides a specialist service to industry, with contracts worth over £2.0M from >20 companies over the past 5 years. The users span applications including ophthalmics, automotive optics, microstructures for backlit displays and IR optics. An emerging application is the use of high precision machine metal moulds to reproduce ophthalmic lenses for spectacles. Examples include PixelOptics (USA) who make high-end electronically corrective eyewear, which has won several ophthalmic industry R&D awards, and Eyejusters (UK), which employs complex surface slide lens technology to provide low cost spectacles aimed at improving the lives of people in the developing world.