North East
X-ray product to take lead in terrorism fight
The fight against international terrorism is being boosted by a North-East company which says its ground-breaking X-ray product may eventually be used by every airport in the world.
Durham Scientific Crystals (DSC), based in NETpark, near Sedgefield, has won £350,000 of investment from the Home Office to develop scanning devices which detect explosive and dangerous materials in baggage and small items at airports.
The company, which aims to have both devices market ready within 18 months at a total cost of £1.5m, believes its new technology will be adopted by airports across the world as part of the global fight against terrorism.
Once the development stage is complete the company plans to manufacture the devices in the North-East which is expected to help increase its workforce from 21 to over 100 within 18 months.
The firm is developing a device to detect dangerous materials – including liquids – in small objects such as bottles, laptops and shoes which can identify flammable or explosive liquids from sight.
It is also working on a large baggage scanner which uses similar technology and allows security staff to rotate their view of luggage in different directions.
DSC managing director Dr Arnab Basu said: “There’s nothing like it in the scanning market at the moment and it’s a relatively new market because liquids were not classed as threat items in the past and the nature of things are changing.
“When fully trailed, these machines could replace all existing airport x-ray machines throughout the world.
“The whole aviation market for explosives detection is worth well over US$1bn a year and DSC’s product will have a high degree of differentiation within the sector.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) said: “Implementation of the technology would be a major step forward in the development of automated explosives detection.
“In addition to the funding, HOSDB and its project partners will be providing technical advice and assistance to ensure that the implementation of the technique meets operational requirements.”
Meanwhile, Dr Basu said the four-year-old Durham University spin-out remained in the “pre-revenue phase” but is on target to become a £50m-a-year company within five years. He also said the company planned to increase its workforce from 21 to 30 by next April.
Last August DSC raised £3.5m of shareholder capital – doubling its market value to £22.16m – to support plans to launch its new products.
The company developed a process for manufacturing large cadmium telluride crystals used in the production of digital images from an X-ray, gamma or infrared beam. It has since targeted various commercial applications in medicine, defense and security.
Original Article by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
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