The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (
www.imeche.org) has used its £2 million Stephenson Fund to invest in Oxford-based Proxisense (
proxisense.businesscatalyst.com) — a spin-out from Oxford University’s Engineering Department that develops sensors for use in extreme environments.
These can monitor the health of turbine blades and lubrication fluids (in jet engines, for example) and can extend component life-times, increase efficiency and reduce maintenance and down-time costs.
ImechE chief executive Stephen Tetlow (pictured) said: “The technology that Proxisense is developing has the potential to significantly cut the maintenance and down-time costs of aircraft and other vehicles. It is exciting that we are in a position to support cutting-edge technologies that are, in George Stephenson’s words, ‘likely to be useful to the world’.”
Paul Vickery, chairman of Proxisense, said: “We have created a compelling business plan, raised launch funding — from the Stephenson Fund, Oxford Sciences Innovation and Angel Investment — and formed a strong leadership team led by Mark Papworth, our newly appointed CEO.
“I look forward to building a business that already has several sensor systems available for sale to enable sensing in extreme environments.”
The company is working on projects alongside groups such as Alstom and Rolls-Royce.