Collaborations
Why work with us?
Industrial collaboration is at the heart of the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing. We work with over 70 industry partners, including RSK, Teledyne e2v, BP, BAE Systems and Network Rail. We have experience in around 25 Innovate UK Quantum projects.
We are keen to partner with industry to further exploit quantum sensors in the commercial market.
How to work with us
The UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing primarily focuses on working with industry to meet our 'lab to market' goal. We have a dedicated Business Engagement team to work directly with businesses and to discover how industry requirements and product development can fit into fundamental research.
Our researchers are highly experienced in translating knowledge into commercial applications. There are many ways industry companies can work with us:
Funding opportunities
- Innovate UK funding
- Defence and Security Accelerator
Channels into University research
- PhD placements in your company
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
Get in touch
If you are a company, small or large, interested in exploiting quantum technology in your products, we are keen to hear from you. Get in touch with our Business Engagement Manager, Max Turner, to find out how quantum sensors might facilitate your company’s product development
Case studies.
Gravity Pioneer
Gravity Pioneer, funded by Innovate UK, brings together industry and academic experts aiming to develop the first commercial Quantum Technology Gravity Gradiometer sensor to reveal the invisible in the shallow subsurface. This will be achieved through regular field evaluations which drive the sensor development, thereby reducing risks and ensuring the sensor is fit for purpose.
Despite our increasing ability to detect and monitor objects that exist on land, sea, around buildings or in space, our ability to detect objects beneath the ground has not improved significantly. When it comes to attempting to locate a buried and forgotten pipe, telling the extent of a sink hole or assessing the quality of infrastructure we still often resort to digging or drilling holes. This presents a huge economic and societal cost as road networks are dug up, oil wells are dry or brown-field land is left undeveloped. Existing techniques are all fundamentally limited in either their sensitivity (classical microgravity), their penetration (Ground Pene…
Read more... etrating Radar) or their cost (seismic).
Although the potential is there, there are huge scientific and engineering challenges to delivering this performance. Led by RSK, this UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded project is a collaboration effort between the University of Birmingham, Teledyne e2v, Fraunhofer, Alter Technology, UniK Lasers, University of Southampton, Magnetic Sheids, Silicon Microgravity Ltd, Qinetiq, Altran and Geomatrix Earth Science Ltd.
These partners are working together to overcome these challenges, and develop a new industry of ‘quantum’ cold-atom sensors in the UK. If these advanced performances can be demonstrated, the economic and societal benefit of this new ‘quantum’ industry in the UK is expected to be significant and long-lasting.
Working with RedWave Labs
RedWave Labs design and manufacture high quality custom electronics, specialising in photonics. They produce cost effective systems for hostile environments and the most demanding situations. Their compact, lightweight products are designed to operate in the extremes of temperature and pressure.
RedWave Labs worked with the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing to capitalise on the growth of quantum technologies in the UK, and were keen to work on scientific research projects to tailor their electronics design process and test their equipment’s specifications in the demanding field of quantum physics.
Magneto-optical trapping forms a significant portion of the quantum technology field, so the company needed access to ready-made subsystems as well as expertise in integrating these components with their equipment to create a magneto-optical trapping system controlled by RedWave electronics. Once integrated, an experienced operator was needed to assess the suitability of their electronics and report findings back to Re…
Read more... Wave to further inform the future design process.
Following collaboration with the Quantum Technology Hub, the RedWave based system, featuring the electronic drivers functionality, passed all of the stringent tests conducted through the Hub systems. Any anomalies were able to be pinpointed and subtle adjustments made to achieve the demands of the quantum market. The project results were of significant importance in helping RedWave Labs raise their future aspirations of designing innovative products in the future.
RedWave Labs is now supremely positioned to create a range of innovative devices to power quantum experiments, which will open up new market opportunities and position the company as a leader in this niche and specialist field. The company can move forward, progressively, with total trust and confidence in their systems.
The Centre for Advanced Measurement in Manufacturing (CIAMM)
CIAMM, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, was created to help SMEs improve product accuracy, quality and reliability through delivering advanced sensor solutions inspired by quantum technologies. While sensor developments focus on gravity, magnetic field, rotation and time, CIAMM also provides a gateway to explore metrology services through its relationship with NPL (National Physical Laboratory). Furthermore, it opens the door to engaging in the emerging quantum technology supply chain, which requires precise laser and optical delivery technologies, vacuum systems and electronic control solutions.
In simple terms, the funding allows SMEs to explore how this emergent, but potentially disruptive technology could help them develop innovative products and services, leading to competitive advantage and growth.
To find out more about CIAMM and how it can help your business, contact Julian Moore, Business Engagement at [email protected].
We are the internationally-leading Hub for quantum sensors and timing devices
Part of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme
Quantum Computing & Simulation (QCS)
QCS's mission is to accelerate progress within quantum computing to ensure the UK becomes and remains a leader in the emerging global quantum information economy.
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Quantum Communications Hub
The Quantum Communications Hub aims to exploit fundamental laws of quantum physics for the development of secure communications technologies and services.
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Frequently asked questions.
If you are interested in working with us, please get in touch with Max Turner, Business Engagement Manager at [email protected], for an informal chat.
Quantum can be difficult to understand as the traditional assumptions of Newtonian physics do not apply. It relies on the behaviour of microscopic particles, which can be in two places at once and as such become very sensitive to the differences between these places.
Despite the complex nature of quantum, the end-user applications exist in our everyday lives, from trains, to roads and even to measuring brain activity to diagnose and further research into brain conditions.
Quantum sensors will enable resilient and robust technology, and act as the foundation of future innovative quantum technologies.
To discover the companies we work with, visit the home page, scroll down to 'We work with businesses around the globe' and click on the logos.