Partner Article

Major funding for Worcestershire coatings firm

Worcestershire-based Teer Coatings has been awarded funding as part of a Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network initiative.

The firm have secured over £750,000 in funding with support, as part of SuperREACT, a project to develop technologies which can upgrade research tools into production equipment for the cluster technology market.

Along with science and technology firm, Johnson Matthey, Teer will work with the University of Birmingham as an academic partner.

Central to the project, is Teer Coating’s new equipment which can deposit nano-clusters at high rates, with the ability to size select and deposit on a range of different substrates including powders and other particulates.

The NanoKTN has worked closely with Teer Coatings for the last four years and Teer, along with Johnson Matthey, attended the NanoKTN’s mission to Germany and Switzerland in 2010, with discussions on the mission helping to cement their relationship.

At the mission, Teer Coatings met UCL and has subsequently won a share in an industrial grant from the Technology Strategy Board with UCL and others, worth a further £444,000 in funding for industry.

Teer also developed a successful bid for a FP7 project ‘NOVEL’ with PSI Switzerland, that will be worth approximately €280,000 for Teer when it starts later this year.

Kevin Cooke, R&D Technology Centre Manager at Teer Coatings, said: “The benefits we have seen from working with the NanoKTN as an active member have been incredible.

“By meeting companies and individuals with similar interests at NanoKTN events and international missions, we have been able to find potential collaboration partners for joint development projects and secure significant funding which is now enabling us to carry out research which will benefit not only UK industry but ultimately also the European economy.

“The NanoKTN has provided us with excellent opportunities to demonstrate our technology to relevant and receptive audiences and by presenting at events; we have found a crucial platform to raise the profile of the company and our technology.

“The NanoKTN Theme Managers are always willing to go the extra mile and have provided invaluable information about the industry and potential business opportunities. The role of the NanoKTN is without a doubt, extremely valuable to the future success of the UK nanotechnology industry.”

Martin Kemp, Theme Manager at the NanoKTN added: “At the NanoKTN, we are dedicated to facilitating the transfer of knowledge within industry. As seen with the success of Teer Coatings, our events and missions have been hugely advantageous to our members and have helped many UK organisations develop new business and generate new partners. It has been a pleasure working with Teer Coatings and we look forward to seeing them go from strength to strength.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .