Element Six announces £20m innovation centre investment at Harwell Oxford
Global synthetic diamond innovation centre to be built in the UK
Element Six announces £20m innovation centre investment at Harwell Oxford
- Under embargo until 9.30am, Tuesday 8 May 2012 -
8 May 2012: Element Six, the world leader in synthetic diamond supermaterials, has announced it is to start construction of the world’s largest and most sophisticated synthetic diamond supermaterials research and development facility. The £20m investment near Oxford in the UK will consolidate Element Six’s global innovation teams into one integrated centre, developing a pipeline of innovative products for customers in industries from oil and gas drilling to machining and electronics. Synthetic diamond supermaterials typically improve productivity, reduce energy consumption and enable leaps in technology never previously considered in a multitude of applications.
Once complete in Spring 2013, the new Global Innovation Centre will reinforce Element Six’s position as the world-leader in synthetic diamond research and will employ more than 100 top engineers, scientists and technicians. 50 new material science jobs will be created, with the vast majority of new positions available for highly qualified graduate scientists, engineers and physicists. Element Six will be offering these innovators an unrivalled opportunity to work with the extreme properties of synthetic diamond and related supermaterials at a state-of-the-art facility.
Aligned with the Government’s desire to foster investment in R&D and advanced manufacturing, Element Six, with support from UK Trade & Investment, identified Harwell Oxford in the UK as the site for its Global Innovation Centre. This leading science park was chosen for its world-renowned reputation in science and innovation, high-tech talent pool and excellent global connectivity.
UK Trade & Investment supported Element Six by proposing and advising on potential locations, organising site visits, facilitating meetings with site owners and developers, preparing bespoke research and bringing in the expertise of the councils, Local Enterprise Partnerships, academic institutions and research partners.
Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, said:
“The investment by Element Six, that will bring a world class research and development facility to Harwell, shows that the UK is a great place for innovative and cutting edge industries to invest. Along with a real boost to the local economy, providing around 50 new highly skilled engineering jobs, the investment shows that the Oxford region is a world leading location for hi-tech research, and that the UK is open for business.”
Cyrus Jilla, Element Six CEO, commented:
“I am proud we selected the UK as the best location globally for our Innovation Centre. I am positive it will deliver higher performance products for our customers, disruptive technologies for new applications and markets, inspire and spur new related businesses in the UK, and provide an extremely rewarding environment for our scientists who are at the forefront of their field.”
Harwell Oxford is being developed by a joint venture between international property group Goodman, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Jim Johnston, Goodman UK Managing Director, said:
“We are delighted that Element Six has chosen Harwell Oxford as the location for its new global research and innovation centre. The new development will further enhance Harwell Oxford’s reputation as a world class hub for science, technology and business, and we look forward to working with Element Six to deliver this exciting facility.”
Element Six has an outstanding track record of applying the extreme properties of synthetic diamond supermaterials within abrasive applications and a diverse range of advanced technologies. One of its many examples of commercialising innovation is the synthetic diamond speaker dome used in the Bowers & Wilkins 800 Diamond Series loudspeakers, for which Element Six has just been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in the UK.
Other innovative uses of Element Six synthetic diamond include optics to enable the highest power levels achievable in CO2 lasers for automotive engineering, as semiconductors in the Large Hadron Collider, as detectors in medical radiotherapy, as cutters for the fastest rates of penetration in oil and gas drilling, and to enable picks used during road re-surfacing and repair to last up to 40 times longer than standard road picks.
