Culham Innovation Centre marks 10 Years of Innovation Success

Senior representatives from the business, technology and research communities gathered at Culham, Oxfordshire recently to celebrate the key role played by Culham Innovation Centre in supporting the growth of innovative companies over the past 10 years.

The Innovation Centre is located in the heart of the Culham Science Centre site, an 80 hectare campus that is one of the UK’s leading science locations and includes the world’s largest fusion research facility, JET (Joint European Torus). It is one of a network of 15 centres managed by Oxford Innovation, a leading operator of business and innovation centres.

The Innovation Centre provides office and laboratory space on flexible terms for innovative start-up companies in sectors ranging from space transportation to software development and automotive technology. Companies in the building also have access to a technical support package offered by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, owners of the site, and support from Oxford Innovation including funding assistance, networking and mentoring.

Culham Innovation Centre was launched in 2001 by David Potter, founder of Psion Group plc and creator of the world’s first handheld computers. Since then, 66 companies employing around 250 people have benefited from the support provided by the facility. Many have grown to become major success stories for Oxfordshire and they include household names such as:

Kaspersky Lab UK, Europe’s leading anti-malware provider. Founded by Eugene Kaspersky, a graduate of Moscow Institute of Physics and Mathematics, with three programmers in 1997, the company has grown from a start-up into a leader in the international IT security market. Today, Kaspersky Lab is an international group with over 2,000 employees and offices in 29 countries. Kaspersky Lab’s products provide protection for over 300 million users worldwide and its corporate client base exceeds 200,000 companies. Kaspersky Lab has recently announced its sponsorship of the Ferrari F1 team for 2011 and 2012.

Toumaz Technology, the first company to move in to the Innovation Centre, is a leading provider of intelligent, microchip-sized wireless body monitoring systems. Their Sensium technology has applications for use in hospital wards, telecare and care homes as well as elite sports performance optimisation. Last December, Sensium devices were used to monitor the health status of a team of explorers and scientists involved in a record-breaking expedition across the Antarctic.

OXIS Energy is pioneering the development of a lightweight, high energy, rechargeable Polymer Lithium-Sulphur battery that is safe for use in electric vehicles. OXIS has recently secured significant funding to scale up its technology and has also been awarded prestigious grants from the Technology Strategy Board and The Carbon Trust. OXIS has recently graduated from the Innovation Centre to larger facilities on the Culham Science Centre site as the company makes the transition from research and development to commercial production.

Acro Aeronautical Services, a specialist in aerospace engineering, has worked on projects as diverse as the development of robotic welding guns, hanging a Harrier jump jet in the new Imperial War Museum in Manchester and a wing walking pylon for an aerobatics display team. During their time at the Innovation Centre, the company developed seating for the upper class suite for Virgin and they continue to use the Centre’s virtual office service. Acro is now a UK Civil Aviation Authority approved design organisation.

Currently, there are 15 innovative companies located at the Centre and a further seven firms using the virtual office service. They include:

Reaction Engines, a developer of advanced aerospace engines incorporating compact and lightweight heat exchanger technology that can be used to accelerate aircraft to Mach 5. Using these engines the company is developing an unmanned spaceplane, Skylon, which would take off from a runway, fly into space and return to land on the same runway. It could be used to deploy telecommunications satellites into orbit and would have an operational life of 200 flights. A full version of the heat exchanger is due to be demonstrated on an experimental rig at Culham this summer. Reaction Engines now has 45 employees and has manufacturing facilities in Newbury, Wantage and Abingdon as well as test facilities at Westcott in Buckinghamshire.

Tokamak Solutions – founded in 2009, Tokamak Solutions aims to commercialise spherical tokamaks as novel fusion neutron sources. Applications for the new technology range from the clean-up of nuclear waste, which could make safe nuclear power a reality, to the production of medical isotopes used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer and, in the longer term, as part of a zero carbon method for large scale hydrogen production. The company has recently secured £170,000 of equity investment from Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments plc and investor members of the Oxford Early Investments network, and been awarded a €110,000 contract from ITER, the next generation international fusion energy research reactor. The funding will enable Tokamak Solutions to complete the initial design of its super compact tokamak.

The 10th anniversary was marked by a special networking event including presentations from Chris Allington, managing director of Oxford Innovation’s business and innovation centres division, and Keith Errey, co-founder of Toumaz Technology and a serial entrepreneur who has recently launched Isansys Lifecare, a provider of real-time physiological patient data acquisition systems and services.

Chris Allington said: “We are delighted that Culham Innovation Centre is celebrating its tenth anniversary and has done so well in supporting technology businesses. Innovation centres are hugely successful in helping start-up businesses to grow and I believe that the growth of our clients at Culham is due to a combination of being located on a prestigious site with an international reputation and the support services that Oxford Innovation provides to help innovative companies translate their potential into commercial success. We look forward to supporting the development of many more innovative firms over the next ten years.”

Chris Toumazou, co-founder and chief executive officer of Toumaz, said: “The Innovation Centre has been crucial to the success of Toumaz. It provides the flexibility that growing companies need along with good business support services. We moved in as two people and expanded three times to larger offices within the Centre. The flexible letting terms and excellent organisation by the on-site management team meant that each move had a minimal impact on our business and the access to networks and events provided valuable contacts. Being based at Culham Innovation Centre gave us the best possible start as a business.”

Alan Bond, managing director of Reaction Engines, said: “At Culham Innovation Centre we can develop our business according to our aspirations and needs. We have expanded to larger premises in the Centre with no hassle and we have benefited greatly from being located on a world class science and technology campus, in particular by taking advantage of the technical support package offered by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, and from the opportunity to learn from the knowledge and experiences of businesses facing similar challenges. We hope to be part of a very successful future for the Innovation Centre.”

Professor Steve Cowley, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and director of Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE), said: “We are delighted with the success of the Innovation Centre. Start-up engineering companies are in good company here. They enter a community where three key ingredients needed to turn a bright idea into a commercially sound business are in plentiful supply: a determination to succeed, a commitment to innovate and most importantly a culture where problem solving is second nature.”

Picture: Celebrating 10 years of support for innovative companies at Culham Innovation Centre. Company representatives with Steve Cowley (chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and director of Culham Centre for Fusion Energy), Sir Martin Wood, (co-founder of Oxford Instruments and co-founder of Science Oxford) and (Chris Allington (managing director of Oxford Innovation’s business and innovation centres division).