UK Business Information / Nanotechnology
The UK's nanotechnology industry has doubled in size over the past decade. It now encompasses 740 businesses with an annual turnover of £20 billion. Many of the leading academic institutions have specific R&D departments dedicated to developing new nanotechnologies.
SCOTLAND
Scotland has the largest number of nanotechnology researchers in the UK per head of population. It also has the highest concentration of universities, facilitating knowledge transfer between research departments, many of which have strong reputations for science.
Scottish companies are active across all key disciplines of nanotechnology, including nanofabrication, nanomedicine and nanomaterials.
Major companies operating in the nanotechnology field in Scotland include Semefab, which, thanks to a grant from Scottish Development International and the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) set up a MEMS facility, the largest centre for the design and development of micro and nanosystems in the UK.
Notable nanotechnology R&D departments in Scotland include:
- Kelvin Nanocharacterization Centre
- The Nanoelectrics Research Centre
- Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems
NORTH EAST
Newcastle is building a reputation as a pioneering centre of excellence for nantotechnology, particularly its commercial applications.
- The Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology (INSAT) and its commercial arm INEX are focused on the nanoengineering of the interface between biological, physical in information paradigms. INEX is the largest microsystems and nanotechnology facility in the UK with microfabrication clean rooms, packaging and test facilities.
- The Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) in Newcastle focuses on stimulating high-tech, high value-add new product innovation and manufacturing technologies. The centre has particular specialises in advanced functional materials, low carbon energy, biotech, electronics and photonics, including plastic electronics and atomic layer deposition processing.
- The Centre for Molecular and Nanoscale Electronics, at the University of Durham, consolidates and promotes nanoscale activities across a range of departments, including Chemistry, Physics and the School of Engineering.
OXFORD
Oxford University's global reputation as an elite academic institution is well founded. Its research department is involved in a number of different fields, one of which is nanotechnology. The university actively encourages links between businesses and the research department, and commercialisation of intellectual property.
Oxonica is the university's most successful nanotechnology spin-outs. The results of the company's nanotechnology research have been licensed across several markets including diagnostics, security, and personal care.
A new purpose-built facility at Oxford's Begbroke Centre for Innovation and Enterprise will be used for, among other things, nanotechnology research and demonstrates the area's determination to remain at the forefront of commercial R&D.
EAST MIDLANDS
The Centre for Excellence in Metrology for Micro and Nano Technologies (CEMMNT), located on Loughborough University campus, is the basis of a unique partnership between world-class technology organisations. The centre operates as an outsourcing solution for nanotechnology companies' materials and processing challenges.
CEMMNT provides measurement and characterisation solutions using a comprehensive range of the latest, high-specification metrology equipment operated by 250 inter-disciplinary specialists with industry leading expertise.
