Physics and business together at IFB

The University of Liverpool’s Department of Physics will be showcasing its work with business as part of the International Festival for Business.

Physics Innovate will feature seminars and exhibits by companies and researchers working in areas of emerging applied physics sectors such as healthcare, environment, security and nuclear energy.

It will also showcase the latest research from the department which among other projects, builds detectors for the Large Hadron Collider, develops mobile radiation detectors for use by border security forces, and new diagnostic tests and therapy methods for various forms of cancer.

Deliver concrete improvements

Among the companies attending already are CANBERRA, Rapiscan Systems, Micron Semiconductor and Hawk Electronics.

Marco Palumbo, IPS Fellow and Business Development Manager in the Department of Physics said: “Technology developed at universities is coming into industry more rapidly than ever before.  This event is all about showing businesses that working with a university is straightforward and delivers concrete improvements to products and profit margins.”

The morning session of the event will focus on healthcare and the environment, and the afternoon will contain talks and discussion on security and energy. There will also be keynote speeches by the Liverpool City Councillor, Erica Kemp; University Provost, Professor Stephen Holloway; the CEO for the Science and Technology Facilities Council Innovation Ltd, Dr Tim Bestwick, and Neil Gridely from the Design Council.

Colin Wilburn, Managing Director of Micron Semiconductor Ltd (MSL), which specialises in silicon detectors and is a longstanding collaborator of the Department of Physics said: “Liverpool’s physicists have made crucial contributions to the ATLAS and the LHCb experiments at CERN.

“State-of-the-art particle detectors developed in the Department are able to reach new radiation tolerance levels. Such an achievement has allowed MSL to attain an excellent commercial position with our pixel and strip detectors. These devices represent 30% of MSL’s business and the technology edge over competitors allows MSL to bid successfully in major contracts, both in the UK and worldwide.”

IFB2014

Physics Innovate is sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Invest HK, Rapiscan Systems, CANBERRA, Micron Semiconductor, Hawk Electronics and the Design Council.

It is part of The International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014 – the largest global concentration of business events during 2014. The 50-day festival runs across seven weeks in June and July and will attract business delegates and trade intermediaries from around the world.

The University of Liverpool is contributing to the IFB with a series of events, including a number of public lectures and a conference – Global Universities of the 21^st Century.

Physics Innovate runs from 9.00am until 6.00pm on Wednesday 25 June at Liverpool Town Hall.  More information and free registration details can be found on the Physics Innovate website.