Manchester,
27
April
2016
|
09:00
Europe/London
University collaborators win Queen’s Award for Enterprise
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A Salford-based company has been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, after working in close partnership with The University of Manchester’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is a prestigious awards programme for British businesses and organisations which excel at trade, innovation or sustainable development and has been presented annually since 1966. To be awarded the honour in the Innovation category, a company must demonstrate outstanding commercial success as a result of innovation over multiple years.
Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd have been manufacturing metal detection systems for global food, beverage and pharmaceutical producers since 1988. They work with standards bodies and retailers to develop guidelines for food and pharmaceutical safety to protect consumer welfare and brand reputation. They have developed advanced metal detection technology - a vast improvement on the current industry standard – in close collaboration with The University of Manchester, and have sponsored several PhD students to undertake research and underpin the technology. The development effort to achieve the advancements has been significant, with five patents granted and five further disclosures currently going through the patenting process.
The University team has research expertise in electromagnetic inspection, which is fundamental to improving the understanding of the products that Mettler-Toledo Safeline manufactures. In particular, the University has pioneered a method known as electromagnetic tensor spectroscopy which allows detectors to be optimised. The research has also formulated methods to describe the response of food products, supporting the processes which are needed to improve the detection of metal contamination.
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“It is fantastic to see our research have such a direct impact with an important, local and world-leading manufacturing company, and for the Company’s achievements to be recognised by this Queen’s Award. It’s been great to contribute and play our part in the team at Salford. It’s also very pleasing to see our PhD researchers progress, with two of our researchers now employed at Safeline.”
Professor Anthony Peyton, Chair in Electromagnetic Tomography Engineering.
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“Safeline would like to thank The University of Manchester for their insights and research paths that you have assisted us with throughout the last five years. I know that both the scientific foundations of, and the deployment of technology in, our products has improved directly as a result of this close relationship,” said Alan Purvis, the company’s Managing Director. “Having a Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation to go with our 2012 award for International Trade is very positive news for the company - as a result, we can now display our pride in our world-class products and export-led success with even more gusto.”