Oxford Instruments, global leader in the supply of nanotools to research and industry receives visit from David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
Mr Willetts was in Oxfordshire to launch a major initiative promoting the county as a centre for scientific excellence and innovative technology, and took the opportunity to visit one of the UK's leading businesses that is supporting the growth in nanotechnology based research and product manufacture. Oxford Instruments was the first commercial spin-out from Oxford University in 1959 and has a worldwide reputation for its innovative, high-technology tools and systems.
Mr Willets was shown the company's bestselling X-MET hand-held metals analyser which can give an accurate result in seconds. It was also used by the developers of the UK Olympic site to analyse the soil for hazardous substances to great effect. The Minister also saw the most advanced cryogen-free dilution refrigerator, Triton®, which is currently at the core of the next generation quantum processors. Triton was in the quantum computer recently purchased by Google and NASA for advanced research. Pulsar, its most recent tool that is used for the analysis of oils and fats in food was also demonstrated. Pulsar is based on magnetic resonance technology and leads the field in low cost, high performance instrumentation.
Jonathan Flint, Chief Executive said, "Scientific excellence and innovative technology is at the heart of Oxford Instruments' growth and success and we were delighted to demonstrate our flagship products to the Minister. Nanotechnology is shaping our future, and we are proud to be supplying tools to enable that future."
About Oxford Instruments
Oxford Instruments designs, supplies and supports high-technology tools and systems with a focus on research and industrial applications. It provides solutions needed to advance fundamental physics research and its transfer into commercial nanotechnology applications. Innovation has been the driving force behind Oxford Instruments' growth and success for over 50 years, and its strategy is to effect the successful commercialisation of these ideas by bringing them to market in a timely and customer-focused fashion.
The first technology business to be spun out from Oxford University over fifty years ago, Oxford Instruments is now a global company with approximately 2000 staff worldwide and is a member of the FTSE250 index of the London Stock Exchange (OXIG). Its objective is to be the leading provider of new generation tools and systems for the research and industrial sectors.
This involves the combination of core technologies in areas such as low temperature and high magnetic field environments, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, X-ray and optical based metrology, and advanced growth, deposition and etching. Our products, expertise, and ideas address global issues such as energy, environment and health.