Venturefest Oxford

The UK’s synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, produces X-ray, infra-red and ultraviolet beams of exceptional brightness for research purposes. This brilliant light, combined with state of the art technological platforms, is extensively used by the scientific community to undertake structural, chemical and imaging investigations of a broad range of materials on very fast timescales and under industrially relevant conditions. Diamond’s capabilities are very well suited to a wide variety of materials research applications ranging from aircraft fan blades to catalysts, hydrogen storage materials and batteries to high performance coatings, and fuel additives and complex formulations for the pharmaceutical and consumer products industries respectively.

In order to best exploit these sources of radiation, Diamond’s facilities need to be equipped with state-of-the-art detectors. This is where partnership with Quantum Detectors is paying dividends.

Quantum Detectors is a spin-out company from Diamond and the Science & Technology Facilities Council. The partners have an excellent internationally acclaimed track record in the development of both detection technology and turnkey detector systems. Quantum Detectors also commercialises detector technology, selling world leading detectors to synchrotron facilities around the globe including National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS-II), Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) in the USA, SPring-8 in Japan and Soleil in Paris. By working together, Quantum Detectors and Diamond are able to keep the facilities at Diamond state-of-the-art and also exploit new developments in a timely fashion. The teams work very closely and co-location at Harwell Campus is vital to the success of this relationship.

In addition to their partnerships with Diamond and STFC, Quantum Detectors has in place development agreements with other facilities such as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France. The unique benefit of these partnerships is that the commercialising technology is developed by synchrotron facilities for synchrotron facilities; the developers understand the precise requirements of the product intimately and hence are extremely well placed to design an ideal solution.

Elizabeth Shotton, Head of Industrial Liaison at Diamond

Elizabeth Shotton, Head of Industrial Liaison at Diamond Light Source and Sally Housden, Project Delivery Manager at Quantum Detectors, have been invited to speak at this year’s Venturefest Oxford. Taking place on the 29th June at the King’s Centre, Osney Mead, Oxford, Venturefest Oxford will bring together hundreds of businesspeople, entrepreneurs and investors from the region to showcase local innovation and promote UK growth.

Speaking as part of the “From Research to Innovation” session, they will address key questions such as how does academic research link to innovation? How can innovators benefit more from the world-class research taking place on their doorstep? And what funding schemes are available for partnerships between companies and research organisations?

Elizabeth Shotton comments, “The close collaboration between the detector group at Diamond and the team at Quantum Detectors which is afforded by the co-location on the Harwell Campus, allows the Diamond facilities to stay at the forefront of technology, benefitting all our research community. We are delighted to be showcasing this work in partnership with Quantum Detectors at the Venturefest event in Oxford.”

Sally Housden, Project Delivery Manager at Quantum Detectors

Sally Housden comments, “The association between QD and DLS means not only do we get access to cutting edge technology and a wealth of experience and knowledge from their staff, it means that Diamond gets the opportunity to showcase their developments on a global platform, which helps to elevate their status as a world leading light source. It's a mutually beneficial relationship which contributes to the growth and success of both companies."

This session will explore the connections between Research and Innovation thanks to practical information tailored for innovators, and case-studies of collaborations between Harwell Campus based companies and research organisations from the space and detectors sectors.