GLASGOW, U.K. -- UK leaders in micro and nanotechnology will provide businesses with unrivalled access to expertise and facilities through a new business alliance announced on Thursday 24 January. This new partnership will support innovation across a wide variety of industrial sectors that impact on our lives from medical diagnostics to defense and security, and from space exploration, to consumer electronics.
The University of Glasgow, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd. (KNT) have formed Kelvin-Rutherford, a new venture combining their extensive resources to provide a complete nanotechnology service; delivering seamless support from device design through computer simulations to fabrication and evaluation in preparation for mass-production.
Kelvin-Rutherford, based at STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, will provide businesses with a single point of contact to easily access the partners' vast research and development expertise and world-leading design, simulation and fabrication facilities.
Professor John Womersley, Chief Executive at STFC, said: "Nanotechnology underpins many areas of science and innovation, and the new Kelvin-Rutherford partnership has the breadth and depth to significantly advance the development of exciting and innovative technologies in this area. Through this partnership, STFC aims to offer many more businesses the opportunities to benefit from breakthroughs in nanotechnology."
Professor Steve Beaumont, Vice-Principal for Research and Enterprise at the University of Glasgow, said: "I am delighted that Glasgow will be widening access for UK industry to its unrivalled nanofabrication expertise and facilities through the Kelvin-Rutherford partnership. We are convinced that Kelvin-Rutherford will increase the economic impact made by a branch of science and technology for which the UK has a world-leading reputation."
Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd provides nanofabrication solutions to a global blue chip customer base and delivers these solutions through the University of Glasgow's James Watt Nanofabrication Centre, which fabricates some of the world's most advanced nanoscale systems.
Speaking about the alliance, Dr Brendan Casey, CEO of Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd, said: "We are delighted to announce the formation of this new enterprise that combines the capabilities of the three partners to provide an unparalleled nanotechnology offering to UK businesses. The benefits gained through our collective technologies, expertise and business networks will provide a route for UK companies to rapidly enhance their products and services while building higher value IP."
About Kelvin-Rutherford
Kelvin-Rutherford has a dedicated, customer focused Business Development team offering easy access to the partners' expertise and a complete project management service that is tailored to customer needs.
About STFC
STFC has long established itself at the cutting edge of international science and hosts large-scale facilities at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh, Daresbury Laboratory, and Chilbolton. STFC is host to the UK's fastest supercomputer, capable of more than a thousand trillion calculations per second. This, combined with the expertise to develop dedicated software, provides an ideal platform on which to run high-performance nanotechnology modeling and simulation. STFC works with the academic and industrial communities sharing its expertise in a range of technologies including computational science, materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.
STFC operates or hosts world class experimental facilities including:
- in the UK; ISIS pulsed neutron source, the Central Laser Facility, and LOFAR. STFC is also the majority shareholder in Diamond Light Source Ltd.
- overseas; telescopes on La Palma and Hawaii
STFC enables UK researchers to access leading international science facilities by funding membership of international bodies including European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
STFC also has an extensive public outreach and engagement programme. It is using its world leading research to inspire and enthuse schools and the general public about the impact and benefits that science can have on society.
STFC is one of seven publicly-funded research councils. It is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).