The prototyping suite at the new £8 million Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre (EPIC) in Torbay, which opened in September, has installed a bench-top scanning electron microscope supplied by Derby-based Nikon Metrology UK Ltd (www.nikonmetrology.com).

This will enable users to fully inspect products and supply customers with professional images and reports.

As well as the prototyping suite, the £8 million EPIC facility has dry labs, offices and a clean-room; it will be a focal point for the region’s electronics and photonics cluster, providing ready-to-use facilities for new and growing photonics and micro-electronics companies.

Centre director Wayne Loschi said: “The Nikon system is a fantastic resource for our tenants, and it will complement the facilities available at the Microscopy Centre in Plymouth.

"There are lots of other items that will be brought into EPIC in the coming weeks.

"These will further enhance the capability of the centre and will continue to attract businesses from the wider electronics sector.”