Radiation Detection Project Receives KTP Funding

Researchers at Huddersfield University’s School of Computing and Engineering and Anglo-American technology company Kromek UK, who are working to develop wearable neutron detection devices, have received a £120,000 Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by the Government through Innovate UK.

This has enabled the recruitment of recent university graduate Richard Haigh (BEng), who has embarked on a two-year project to develop electronic circuitry for the new generation of neutron detection devices.

Kromek’s research facility at the University’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC) which specialises in neutron detection is headed by Dr Ed Marsden, and his team currently includes Richard Haigh, When Kromek and the University’s School of Computing and Engineering were awarded a £120,000 Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by the Government via the official body Innovate UK, Richard earned the post of KTP Associate.

He will spend two years with Kromek working on the project to develop a new neutron detection device, small enough to be worn by the user. Electronic circuitry has been designed by Dr Marsden – who formerly worked in the steel industry, where radiation detection is an important issue – and Richard is playing a key role in analogue circuitry development, leading to a device that is not only miniaturised but also more cost-efficient and uses less power.

The markets that Kromek aims to penetrate with the new neutron detectors include the nuclear industry and science labs, also the field of security.