News: LEDs
13 May 2021
Innovate UK grant for LUSS consortium to develop LED-based UV exposure for safe surfaces
MicroLink Devices UK Ltd says that the consortium for the project LUSS (LED based Ultra-Violet exposure for Safe Surfaces) has been awarded a grant by UK Government agency Innovate UK (which provides funding and support for business innovation as part of UK Research and Innovation) to develop an economical solution to combat COVID-19 infection in public spaces, with the added ability to also disinfect surfaces of other viruses and bacteria.
With support from product design specialist WideBlue Ltd (in Glasgow’s West of Scotland Science Park) and the UK’s Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult (based in South Wales), lead industrial partner MicroLink Devices will develop an automatically self-cleaning door panel, exploiting specific UV light, that will kill viruses/bacteria and prevent the spread of infection. The door panel will be disinfected automatically between uses, reducing the need for frequent manual cleaning and reducing the transmission of viruses/bacteria.
“As a not-for-profit RTO [research and technology organization], the CSA Catapult’s mission is to accelerate the development and commercialization of novel applications using compound semiconductors,” notes CSA Catapult’s chief commercial officer Amar Abid-Ali.
“The consortium is excited to develop a novel COVID-19 system which will aid in the reduction of transmission in public spaces through this innovative technology,” says Microlink’s director Steve Whitby. “The consortium is well placed to developed and rapidly take the technology towards commercial exploitation and deployment,” he concludes.
