Engineering news
The Royal Academy of Engineering has presented its MacRobert Award for engineering innovation to Oxfordshire-based Cobalt Light Systems.
Cobalt, which was up against Rolls-Royce and QinetiQ spin-out OptaSense, has pioneered a technique to determine the chemical composition of materials in containers and behind a range of other barriers including skin. This breakthrough led to the introduction of an airport security scanner earlier this year that may soon enable airports to relax the existing hand-luggage liquid ban, and the same technique is being used for other applications including real-time diagnostic tools for cancer and bone disease.
Cobalt’s technology uses a variant of Raman spectroscopy combined with advanced algorithms to distinguish between the barrier and what lies behind it, the technique is able to reliably identify the chemical composition of a substance in seconds.
Having initially used this technique to develop a machine for pharmaceutical companies that verifies the contents and quality of medicines, Cobalt then applied it to a security scanner that may enable airports to remove the existing hand-luggage liquid ban through a phased implementation over the next few years, in line with pending EU regulations. The scanners have recently been deployed in eight of the top 10 EU airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, and a total of 65 airports in Europe have introduced the system since January 2014.
Cobalt is working with STFC and two UK universities, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, on research using the same technology that could lead to medical-grade systems that provide on-the-spot diagnosis of breast cancer and bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis affects an estimated three million people in the UK and leads to bones becoming brittle and breaking easily, which can result in pain and disability. Cobalt’s technology is being used to develop a fast and reliable new method that could lead to earlier diagnosis in patients, enabling them to take preventative measures and seek treatment before sustaining injury. The system is currently being used in pre-clinical trials at the Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, University College London, at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.
The judging panel selected Cobalt for its potential to touch the lives of millions of people.
John Robinson, chair of the judging panel, said: “The promise of this single fundamental innovation to improve the lives of millions of people in such a variety of ways meant Cobalt stood out in what has been a particularly competitive year for the MacRobert Award.
“Beyond the outstanding technical innovation itself, Cobalt also captured the judges' attention with its its hearty ambition. A fast-growing yet humble SME, it is a shining example of the technology transfer process from UK research labs into a successful commercial enterprise. Cobalt represents the perfect marriage of innovation and entrepreneurship that the Academy is championing through its Engineering for Growth campaign.”
The 2014 MacRobert Award was presented to Cobalt Light Systems team members: Paul Loeffen, chief executive; Pavel Matousek, chief scientific officer and STFC senior fellow; Stuart Bonthron, vice-president of product development; Guy Maskall, data scientist; and Craig Tombling, chief operating officer.
The Colbalt team was presented with a gold medal and a £50,000 cash prize.