RICHMOND, North Yorks, England - 21 September 2012. Peratech, the innovator in touch technology, was
presented with the 2012 Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category
for its multi-award winning, QTC™ technology by HM Lord-Lieutenant of North
Yorkshire, James Dugdale, 2nd Baron Crathorne, KStJ, FSA, FRSA, on behalf of
Her Majesty, The Queen. The ceremony took place on the 14th of September at
Peratech's offices in North Yorkshire and was attended by Councillor Stuart
Parsons, the Mayor of Richmond, Stephen Knight, Clerk to the Lord Lieutenant
and Greville Worthington, local businessman and landowner.
Quantum Tunnelling
Composites form an entire area of Material Science that was discovered by
Peratech's founder and CTO, David Lussey. Protected by numerous worldwide
patents, it has a wide range of applications from robotics to automotive and
from touch screens to consumer electrical products and has sales worth millions
of pounds to companies around the world.
The Queen's Award for
Enterprise is the UK's most prestigious Award for business performance and recognises
and rewards outstanding achievement by UK companies. The Innovation category is
for continuous innovation and development, sustained over not less than five
years to levels that are outstanding for the size of a company's operations.
David Lussey, Peratech CTO (right) with HM Lord-Lieutenant of
North Yorkshire
At the ceremony, David
Lussey, said "We are so delighted that a small Yorkshire company has been
recognised as being a technology innovator that is changing the world in so
many different areas. Almost anywhere that needs a switch or a sensor, we can
almost always provide a solution that is better, cheaper, more sensitive and
more reliable. Switch technology has hardly changed in two hundred years - QTC
innovates with solid state solutions using quantum effects that belong in the
twenty first century!"
HM Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire (left) opening a new
research laboratory at Peratech
The company
Founded in 1996,
Peratech is a privately held company based in Richmond, North Yorkshire with 25
employees. It commercialised its QTC technology at the beginning of 2006 and is
currently working with a number of key technology clients who are implementing
QTC sensing technology within their own products. Its business is essentially the
IP licensing model that has been proven to be rapidly scalable and highly
profitable for the likes of ARM and many others. It is profitable with 100% of
sales being to overseas' customers making it an excellent example of British
innovation bringing in global revenue. Peratech is a rare example of a
university spin-in with a close working relationship with the University of
Durham who are researching into the properties of Quantum Tunnelling
Composites.
The Technology
QTC is a patented
technology that uses metallic and non-metallic filler particles combined in an
elastomeric binder. When pressure is applied, the electrical resistance drops
in proportion to the amount of pressure, which allows sophisticated Human
Machine Interface (HMI) designs to be created that react to variations in
pressure. QTC technologies' unique properties enable it to be made into force
sensitive switches of any shape or size typically using screen printing so that
they can be as thin as 75 microns. QTC is also low power and interfaces can be
designed with no start resistance so that without pressure, the switch draws no
power and passes no current. QTC is so sensitive so it can be used to detect
even very small changes due to compression, tension or other stresses. It could
even be used as a microphone as it is sensitive enough to be able to detect
changes in air pressure caused by noise, speech or music.
QTC Clear
The most exciting recent
innovation is the development of QTC Clear™ that was launched in 2011. This
transparent version of QTC can be used to create touch screens that have all
the benefits of the existing Resistive and Capacitive touch screen technologies
but with none of their drawbacks. Plus, being force sensitive, they can sense
not only x and y input but also z, i.e. input interaction is now three
dimensional. This will enable a whole new generation of touchscreens to be
created and a major, multi-million dollar license deal with a Japanese
manufacture has already been signed.
Recent Awards
Winner - 2012 Technology
Strategy Board SMART Award
Winner - 2011 Printed
Electronics Award
Winner - 2011 British
Engineering Excellence Award
Winner - 2011 Growing
Business Award
Finalist - 2011 Elektra
Award
About Peratech
Peratech is the inventor
and world leader in Quantum Tunnelling Composite technology. Already widely
used in robotics and defence, Peratech commercialised its QTC technology at the
beginning of 2006 and is currently working with a number of key technology
clients who are implementing QTC sensing technology within their own products.
QTC materials give
enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or
pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including
coatings and inks (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), 'bulk' silicone or
rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic
switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through
numerous International awards and accolades including "Tomorrow's World
Industry Award 2002", "Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award
2000" and "European Electronics Industry Award 2004".
QTC materials have been
used by organisations such as NASA, ILC Dover, Shadow Robotics and numerous
government agencies worldwide. Peratech also owns SOFTswitch™ the pioneering
creator of textile switching and Eleksen™, the world leader in touch sensitive
interactive textiles for electronics interface design. Further information is
available from www.peratech.com 
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