Scientific and Research

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Our location on the University of Southampton Science Park has helped us to get heavily involved in the scientific and research sector. We have been working for many years on R&D projects with a number of startups and university spin-outs.

Our scientific and research work often involves automating laboratory experiments and trials.

We are typically required to:

  • Develop a good understanding of the science behind the project.
  • Guarantee that our systems will be reliable and will run for a long time (some experiments may run non-stop for many months).
  • Design safety-critical systems for use in hazardous environments.
  • Produce systems that can handle large volumes of data.
  • Control many different types of hardware from a wide range of suppliers.

We often:

For example, we have worked for university spin-out Ilika plc, an innovative science-led materials discovery company. One of our projects with Ilika was to develop software for a bespoke high-throughput chemical vapour deposition (CVD) machine. Our software:

  • Controlled and monitored 33 separate devices, including valves, flow controllers, heaters, motors and a laser.
  • Ran automated depositions to a precise recipe from a master database.
  • Allowed the deposition sequence to be fully programmable.
  • Passed detailed setup and results data back to the database to ensure repeatability and traceability.
  • Provided a touchscreen-based user-interface to display an interactive schematic of the machine with status and provide real-time control.
  • Included a simulation mode, allowing the deposition sequence to be developed and tested in safety, without the need for the machine hardware.

We welcome approaches from R&D consortiums that are seeking partners or sub-contractors with systems development skills for UK and EU funded research projects.

Please contact us now to discuss your scientific and research requirements.

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Posted 12th September 2023
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Posted 3rd March 2023
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