Sensor City has announced a second new tenant to join its community of sensor-related companies.
Sensor City is a joint venture project between the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University which brings together knowledge and experience in sensor technology and houses and supports high-tech businesses working on sensor systems and applications. It is supported by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the European Regional Development Fund.
Fatigue Management International (FMI) is the second tenant to join the Sensor City community.
FMI is focused on the fatigue science market in particular in the transport, mining and heavy trucking industries. They have developed a unique tracking system (Fatigue RADAR) to monitor fatigue in drivers of heavy, valuable vehicles using technology originally extracted from FMI’s ASTiD hardware.
FMI have recently obtained new investment from China under the Tier 1 Visa Programme, and their new investor Bill Zhu, will join the team and will help contribute to the technical aspects of their products.
Ian Thomas, Managing Director of FMI and an alumnus of the University of Liverpool, said: “We are really looking forward to 2017, now we have an office with the Sensor City group and Bill has joined the team, we are very excited to start creating new products and continue developing our existing technology.
“We also look forward to the relationship between ourselves and Sensor City, as thus far Joanne and the team have been very supportive and helpful. We at Fatigue Management International believe that our relationship with Sensor City could help us change sensory technology for convenience, safety and healthcare across the world.”
Dr Joanne Phoenix, Business Development Manager for Sensor City commented: “It’s fantastic to see the client base here at the Innovation Centre start to grow. We have already been able to make some connections for both companies. FMI have been operational for some time but the team is now growing and needs a home, and I am delighted that they have chosen Sensor City as a base and we will be doing all we can to support them”
FMI join the first tenant company, K-Safe, who are the creators of the MiBB (My Black-Box), an innovative personal safety product. When used in conjunction with a helmet mountable sensor, MiBB automatically detects and alerts a contact in the event of an incident.
It can be used in a variety of activities such as cycling, motorcycling, snowboarding, skiing and horse riding. K-Safe are currently looking to recruit an electronics engineering graduate. For further details visit this webpage.
Both companies will take up residence in the £15million purpose-built innovation located in the Copperas Hill redevelopment area and part of the University Enterprise Zone, which will open in June 2017.
Sensor City is supported through the UK Government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (now Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, BEIS) with a £5 million University Enterprise Zone status capital investment award in 2014.
In 2016, the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020, awarded Sensor City £5 million in capital investment as match funding to support the development of the hi-tech sensor hub.
Image: Dr Joanne Phoenix with the team from FMI.
