Grant awarded from Technology Strategy Board

RNS Number : 3771J

Versarien PLC

16 July 2013

 



Press Release

16 July 2013

Versarien plc

("Versarien" or the "Group")

Versarien wins Technology Strategy Board grant for

disruptive technology in the automotive industry

Versarien plc (AIM: VRS), the advanced engineering materials group, is delighted to announce that it is to lead a £560,000 project consortium that have won a grant of £317,000 from the Technology Strategy Board, the UK's innovation agency, to develop innovative technology with the potential to transform the automotive industry.  The grant will fund the development of a technology capable of providing thermal management specifically for use in the power electronic modules of electric vehicles ("EVs") and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ("PHEVs").

The market for EVs and PHEVs is primed for growth, driven primarily by EU legislation aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions, with fines set to be imposed upon car manufacturers which don't meet certain criteria.  As a result, it is expected that a range of new, desirable EVs will enter the market over the next 18 months.  The grant awarded to Versarien is part of a £16 million Technology Strategy Board programme to support early stage "proof of concept" development of transformational technology within the automotive industry.

Versarien will be collaborating with Applied Materials Technology Limited, a leading specialist in plating advanced materials for industry and Dynex Semiconductor Limited, a supplier of high power semiconductor devices and power assemblies.  Together they will integrate a number of components in new power electronic modules aimed at providing a step change over current industry performance, which is compromised by high temperatures.

Excessive temperatures increase power losses and reduce component lifetimes of power modules, therefore a particular focus will be design for thermal management.  Versarien intends to use its patented porous metals with innovative finishing and bonding techniques to allow high power density ratings to be delivered with the low thermal budgets available in automotive hybrid/EV systems.  In developing the technology, the Company will be guided by leading technology players in the field to ensure that the specification of the proposed device is in line with the requirements of the wider industry and remains so throughout the duration of the project.

Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer of Versarien plc, said: "We are delighted to have won this grant from the Technology Strategy Board.  The fact that the Government has committed £16 million to innovation within the automotive sector will help to drive British business and allow companies like Versarien to transform scientific breakthroughs into commercially viable products.

"I am confident that the completion of this project will provide an important step towards the UK being a global leader in the development and production of high technology components for the electric vehicle market, a market which is set to grow exponentially over the next 35 years."

The project is expected to take two years and will commence in Q4 2013.

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For further information:

Versarien plc
Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
	www.versarien.com

Northland Capital Partners Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
William Vandyk / Lauren Kettle	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.northlandcp.co.uk
Westhouse Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
Tom Griffiths / Rob Sanders	Tel: [phone]
	www.westhousesecurities.com

Media enquiries:

Abchurch Communications Limited
Henry Harrison-Topham / Simone Elviss Jamie Hooper / Alistair de Kare Silver	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

Notes to Editors

Versarien develops advanced micro-porous metals for thermal management.  The open celled metallic foams produced by the Group at its manufacturing factory in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, are 'biomimetic' - that is they mimic the sponge like structures of biological materials, e.g. bone and coral.

Versarien's porous metals have an exceptionally high surface area relative to volume which means they are ideally suited to any function where surface area is important, for example heat transfer, heat exchange, catalysis and energy storage.  Versarien is initially targeting the thermal management industry due to the material's superb heat transfer properties.  The thermal management market is expected to reach US$S11.1 billion during 2013 (Source: BCC Research).

The Group's lead product is VersarienCu, a micro-porous copper. When incorporated into liquid cooling systems, VersarienCu can improve efficiency by up to ten times.  Versarien's key market is cooling systems for central processing units (CPUs), hardware that is found in high performance workstations (engineering, science, CGI, animation), computer clusters, supercomputing infrastructure and data centres. VersarienCu can be retrofitted into 'cold plates' within existing infrastructure and the Group also intends to produce complete cooling systems containing VersarienCu.

The Technology Strategy Board is the UK's innovation agency.  Its goal is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.  Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit www.innovateuk.org.

 

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