Belfast Briefing: Causeway Sensors aim to take nanos global

Angel investors may come in all shapes and sizes in Northern Ireland but few can claim to have successfully taken an idea from a physics lab to the London Stock Exchange.

Dr Hugh Cormican is one.

He was part of the now legendary holy trinity of three Queen’s University colleagues who set up Andor Technology – the west Belfast-based company which develops and manufactures high-performance scientific digital cameras – 26 years ago.

Andor may no longer be a listed company following its £176 million takeover by Oxford Instruments two years ago but that is not to say Cormican is not determined to repeat the formula.

Today he is busy trying to recreate the magic that spun Andor from a start-up to success. First, at Cirdan Imaging which is developing leading-edge information and diagnostic technology and which earlier this year secured "significant investment" from the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund. And second, at Causeway Sensors, the relatively youthful Queen's University spinout, which has developed pioneering technology employing novel nano-structured surfaces.

Angel investor

Cormican is an angel investor and co-founder of the company together with Dr

Robert Pollard

and Prof

Robert Bowman

, both academics from Queens who lead teams of innovative scientists and engineers. Bowman is director of the centre for nano-structured media within the school of mathematics and physics and Ansin, the university’s advanced materials research and development hub.

He says Causeway Sensors will start recruiting its first full-time employees this summer and six prototype products have already been released in the UK and Ireland.

“What we have developed is novel nano-structured surfaces that are made up of billions of tiny nanorods or nanotubes that can be used in a variety of sensing applications.

“What this means is that our technology could for example be used in any analytical environment from medicine to food security to gas detection. It’s very exciting because we’ve got a unique product that we one day want to become a globally recognised product that has been made in Belfast,” Bowman says. He believes the advantages of having an angel investor like Cormican on board has helped Causeway Sensors navigate some of the pitfalls of transitioning from a lab to a start up.

“Andor is an inspiring trajectory and Hugh Cormican has already done once what we want to do, so his previous experience has been invaluable. As academics we’re very good at our jobs – but when you start a company, like any project, once you are out in the real world there are hurdles to overcome . . . Hugh has been a great catalyst for us in encouraging us to actually do it.”

He is also not going to do them any harm when Causeway Sensors starts looking for cash to take the next leap in its evolution from an early spinout to a more mature venture.

Cormican’s name has a currency all of its own with investors – both local and further afield. The team at Causeway Sensors believe that, in the not-too-distant future, the nanostructures they have developed and are working on in Northern Ireland will revolutionise technology.

Cancer detection

Bowman says: “Scientists and researchers can use our devices as a sensing platform that can be tailored to specific requirements like in bio-science to detect different types of protein. Protein-detection and protein profile is increasingly used to detect early-stage cancer and this is just one example of a straightforward detection scheme.”

He says the opportunities for Causeway Sensors are wide-ranging because its product is as attractive to academic biology labs as it is to institute labs and many diverse industries.

“What we plan to do is create a company in Belfast that will exploit the knowledge and expertise that originated in Queen’s University, one that will have an impact on the local economy and will help create new employment opportunities. We want to be global.”