It’s a potential game-changer – the ability to ‘see’ inside bottles and bags, regardless of opacity, and instantly identify exactly what they contain. From detecting dangerous liquids in airline luggage to verifying the quality of pharmaceutical products, the positive impacts extend from industry into the heart of everyday life. Lower costs, faster processes, better safeguards for the public: these are just a few key benefits of a capability that, thanks to innovative laser applications develop.

The Harwell Campus has a strong reputation for excellence in the space sector. For Oxford Space Systems, locating at STFC’s Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC) provided them with the ideal environment to flourish, in the epicentre of the thriving space cluster at Harwell.

Carrying out R&D using high temperatures and flammable hydrogen can be almost impossible for an SME due to the expensive laboratory infrastructure required. Through the facilities at STFC’s Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC), Designed Materials were able to set up their R&D space and start operating quickly and safely.

A consortium of private companies and research organisations have been using the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)’s ISIS neutron and muon facility to optimise the design of train wheels.

STFC’s ISIS facility has been used to develop a novel material which is designed to improve the treatment of cleft palates, speeding up healing times and reducing operating costs.

STFC is providing leading-edge laboratory space for high-tech SMEs to improve their efficiency and competitiveness.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)’s Harwell Imaging Partnership (HIP) has provided Luxfer Gas Cylinders with access to testing facilities at the Diamond Light Source in order to optimise the damage resistance of their product designs.

Using the expertise in foot-and-mouth disease at The Pirbright Institute and facilities for determining protein structures at Diamond Light Source and its predecessor the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS), researchers have developed a new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).