Glasgow, Scotland--Laser source manufacturer M Squared Lasers launched a research partnership with the Glasgow hub of the world's largest applied research body, the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (CAP) that could improve the way environmental bodies and industry monitors waste gas emissions. The project is co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board.
The 'Synoposis' project will focus on how lasers can be used to more easily detect a broader range of potentially hazardous emissions coming from landfill sites, industrial plants, and chemical processes. Broadly tunable infrared light sources developed by M Squared will broaden the wavelengths that are currently able to identify contaminants, which absorb light at different wavelengths.
Current technology has difficulty in accessing the full range of wavelengths in the infrared that are known to be rich in so-called molecular "fingerprints"—tell-tale absorption features that can identify a variety of substances. The M Squared project could provide benefit to any organization involved in environmental monitoring.
Graeme Malcolm, chief executive of M Squared Lasers, attended the launch of the UK Fraunhofer CAP this week (Thursday, May 23) at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, with a keynote speech from business secretary Vince Cable.
Malcolm, who spoke at the Glasgow launch of the Fraunhofer CAP laboratories in April, said, "This partnership is a great example of how academia and industry can work together to provide technology which has real-world benefit. At the moment, scanning for these substances is a bit like having only one radio station tuned into your stereo—we need to find what else is out there and that means increasing the range of frequencies we are able to scan. We hope this research will ultimately yield the kind of laser technology which can provide fast, accurate and reliable data about waste gas emissions to improve environmental and commercial performance."
The Fraunhofer partnership provides M Squared with access to additional resource and research capability which would otherwise require significant financial investment.
The Glasgow research hub, based at the University of Strathclyde, focuses on advanced photonics—the manipulation of light—and is part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft network, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization.
Tim Holt, executive director of Fraunhofer UK Research said, “This is one of the first projects started in the newly established Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics in Glasgow. It is an exciting start and a perfect example of how we will work with companies seeking to innovate their products and processes.”
SOURCE: M Squared Lasers; http://www.m2lasers.com
