16 March 2011

UK poised to enter billion pound market

The UK is poised to enter a highly lucrative market for supplying highly specialised technology for the construction of next generation light sources and particle accelerators, which enable breakthroughs in cures for cancer and sources of cleaner energy that could be worth more than £1billion globally within the next ten years.

A collaboration between experts at the Science and Technology facilities Council (STFC) and Shakespeare Engineering, has given the UK the technical capability to supply key specialist components for these large international experimental facilities.

One hundred years after superconductivity was discovered, Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) has become the preferred technology for the design, development and construction of many of these large international experimental machines. Facilities such as the Large Hadron Collider and Diamond Light Source carry out world leading research in areas that include health, security, energy and the environment and are even solving the mysteries of the Universe.

Until now there has been no manufacturing capability for SRF in the UK. However, a collaboration between Essex-based company Shakespeare Engineering and ASTeC, STFC's accelerator science and technology division, means that the UK will soon be able to bid for work to supply SRF technology components for light source and particle accelerator projects around the world.

Graham Evans, MP for Weaver Vale, said: "This is an excellent example of how collaboration between research and industry can lead to new technologies and products, opening up market opportunities that can stimulate the economy, create new jobs and therefore benefit society."

ASTeC and Shakespeare, in association with Jefferson Laboratories in the USA, have just reached a significant milestone in this collaboration, by completing the design, manufacture and validation of the UK's first bulk Niobium SRF accelerating structure. Niobium SRF technology is a highly efficient way of accelerating beams through particle accelerators to very high energies and is a core technology in current and future particle accelerators. However, it is a highly specialised technology as the Niobium material must be extremely pure for accelerator applications, and any impurities will significantly limit acceleration performance.

Funded by STFC, the Mini Innovations Partnership Scheme (Mini-IPS) is designed to transfer technology and expertise developed by STFC scientists and engineers to the marketplace in partnership with UK industry and other academic disciplines.

Neil Shakespeare, Director of Shakespeare Engineering, said: "Through this collaboration with STFC and ASTeC, Shakespeare Engineering has been able to learn and develop the principle processes required for the fabrication, handling and validation of these critically sensitive devices. We are now on the verge of becoming an important addition to an extremely small list of companies globally who can offer accelerating structures of this type to a thriving accelerator community worldwide."

Peter McIntosh of ASTeC said: "There is a range of current and proposed international projects for which this advanced technology is key – from next generation light sources, to a neutrino factory, muon colliders and high intensity proton facilities. It is fantastic news that, through STFC's Mini-IPS Scheme and our collaboration, Shakespeare Engineering is now in an excellent position to enter into what is potentially a very profitable market for UK industry."

Pictured: Neil Shakespeare and ASTeC's Peter McIntosh with the Niobium SRF acclerating structure.

Author
Ken Hurst

Supporting Information

Companies
Shakespeare Engineering
STFC

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