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Hot new start-up joins the STFC CERN Business Incubation Centre

Exciting new start-up company, 2D Heat Ltd, is the second incubatee to join the STFC CERN Business Incubation Centre (STFC CERN BIC).

It will develop and commercialise its unique heating technology for particle accelerators, such as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, and in proton beam therapy for cancer detection.

The company has developed a revolutionary new kind of ‘flat’ heating element for industrial use. It is quicker and more cost effective to manufacture and operate than any traditional wire heating elements in use today. It is also flexible and can adapt to specific requirements, offering solutions to niche industrial problems and needs.

The STFC CERN BIC offers small UK businesses unique access to the expertise and capabilities of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research whose main area of research is particle physics.

2D Heat is looking to secure its first commercialisation agreement within the year and CERN has already confirmed that this technology would be of particular use for its own accelerators.

John Lewis, Managing Director at 2D Heat, said: "As an incubatee at the STFC CERN BIC, this gives us access to the essential technical, financial, business and networking support we need to bring our technology to market. CERN’s knowledge of the high vacuum industry is essential for us, and will help us tailor our technology to the exact requirements of our potential users."

Giovanni Anelli, Head of Knowledge Transfer at CERN, said: "The STFC CERN BIC builds a bridge between our technical experts and entrepreneurs in the UK. It offers an opportunity for businesses to turn CERN’s innovative ideas into industrial and business opportunities."

2D Heat’s technology uses a very pure and precise combination of nickel, chrome and iron alloy powders. These are put through a flame to create a partially oxidised material. This material is then isolated, dried and then flame-sprayed to produce the 'flat’ element. The controlled precision of this process is critical, and it can be tailored to specific requirements.

Paul Vernon, Head of Campus Development at STFC said: "The UK is leading the way in taking technologies developed at CERN and translating those ideas into successful, profit-making companies. UK companies already secure more than £15m each year in contracts with CERN. 2D Heat is unique in its offering, in terms of the materials science it is using. It is exactly the kind of innovative company that has the potential to make a positive impact on UK society and the economy."

Medicine, telecommunications, IT and security are some of the sectors where inventive new businesses can make an impact using technologies from STFC and CERN. These include particle accelerators, high performance computing, superconductors and cryogenics.

The STFC CERN BIC is located at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, within the vibrant Sci-Tech Daresbury campus, a successful enterprise zone.

Small businesses and individuals wishing to find out more about the STFC CERN BIC can do so by submitting an Expression of Interest at enquiries@stfc-cern-bic.org.uk.

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Notes to editors

The STFC CERN BIC is a pilot scheme that will support up to 10 companies with an exceptional support package. This includes:

• Direct access to CERN's technologies, expertise and intellectual property
• Up to £40k funding
• A dedicated STFC business champion
• 40 hours of free access to technical expertise and facilities across STFC.
• Collaborative opportunities with over 100 other high-tech businesses at Sci-Tech Daresbury;
• Networking opportunities, with the universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester through the Cockcroft Institute.

STFC and CERN

• To date spin-out technologies from CERN have included touch screen technology for tablet computers, more efficient solar panels and new ways of imaging cancers to name but a few.
• STFC has a very long-standing relationship with CERN and manages the UK's membership of this unique international science facility.
• STFC has a strong track record in small business incubation; the STFC CERN BIC follows the success of STFC's first BIC initiative at Harwell Oxford, which is run with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA). Since its launch in 2011, the ESA BIC Harwell has already been home to nearly 30 high-tech companies that are successfully translating space technologies into award winning, profitable businesses. www.stfc.ac.uk

   

Video Clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZaGawYDH4U&list=UUQlxetSlMSDoZoEOG0M9G4g

Contact:

Wendy Ellison
STFC Press Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 1925 603232
Mob: +44 (0) 7919-548012
Email: wendy.ellison@stfc.ac.uk

STFC (www.stfc.ac.uk)

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is keeping the UK at the forefront of international science and tackling some of the most significant challenges facing society such as meeting our future energy needs, monitoring and understanding climate change, and global security.

The Council has a broad science portfolio and works with the academic and industrial communities to share its expertise in materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.

STFC operates or hosts world class experimental facilities including in the UK the ISIS pulsed neutron source, the Central Laser Facility, and LOFAR, and is also the majority shareholder in Diamond Light Source Ltd.

It 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 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).