Wick Technology Firm KP Technology Ltd Wins 2018 Queens Award for Innovation

21st April 2018

KP Technology is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation, the UK's most prestigious business accolade, for its pioneering development of an air photoemission system (APS) for materials analysis. This invention uses ultraviolet light to measure intrinsic energy levels of electronic materials.

Nanotechnology scientists working in the renewable energy, solar cell, energy harvesting and battery technology sectors use APS to increase efficiencies and accelerate development of next generation

devices. APS was designed and manufactured by the company's research team in Wick and has been adopted by leading research teams in the UK, Europe and USA. KP Technology is actively

promoting its systems in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, countries often associated with rapid technological development.

Iain Baikie MBE, Company Founder and MD of KP Technology Ltd.

"I am very proud of our development team who have produced a patented, cutting-edge design. There was a gap in the market and APS provides a quick and reliable way of assessing layers and

devices used in nanotechnology which are only 10-1000 atoms thick. Our APS product range is a commercial success, adopted by both current and new customers with the Far East a significant

new market. We attended the China Nano conference in Beijing in August and Agents from China and Japan have already visited our manufacturing site in Wick this year for training."

"Our APS systems are well-used, by ourselves in collaborative research with teams at Cambridge, Imperial College London and St. Andrews Universities" and also by our clients who publish an amazing 100 peer-reviewed research papers a year."

"KP Technology was originally founded to bring to the market design innovations on a method first proposed by Lord Kelvin over 100 years ago. To realise APS we have taken the vacuum

photoelectric effect idea, for which Einstein was awarded the Noble Prize in 1921, and developed a commercial opportunity based on our capability to measure photocurrents of 0,000,000,000,000.1 Amp in air."

Keith Muir, Head of Business Growth for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) "This is a tremendous achievement for KP Technology Ltd, and HIE is delighted that all the hard

work carried out by Professor Baikie and his dedicated team has been recognised with this award. We have been working with Professor Baikie over the years to help him convert academic excellence into commercial achievement, and we see this award as very positive evidence that even in a relatively small and remote community like Wick, given the right mix of ground-breaking innovative ideas, the right support mechanisms, and above all brilliant, ambitious and dedicated people, the world really is our oyster!"

KP Technology Ltd

Founded in 2000, KP Technology has 12 staff of which 4 have Doctorates. It is the world-leading supplier of Kelvin Probe Systems used in materials research with 90% of annual production being exported. Its clients, some 500 research teams in 40 countries worldwide, produce around 100 peer-reviewed publications annually using KP Technology's measurement systems.

Company Founder Prof. Baikie has nearly 40 year's experience in materials analysis and is industrial supervisor to PhD students at St. Andrews University and Imperial College London. Based in Wick, Caithness, KP Technology has won the Queen's Award for Innovation previously in 2008 and for International Trade in 2013. In 2017 it won an Amazon UK "Growing Business" Award. In the past 12 months KP Technology attended major technical exhibits and conferences in Beijing, San Francisco, New Orleans, Boston, Phoenix, Tampa, Toronto and Strasbourg in the fields of semiconductor materials research, nanotechnology, devices and engineering,

About the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise

In its 52nd year the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are the highest accolade for UK businesses. This year 176 Winners will be invited to a Buckingham Palace reception in June. In 2017 6 Scottish firms won awards, only one, Clyde Space Ltd for Innovation.

KP Technology Web Site - www.kelvinprobe.com