Torbay is the home of an established photonics and microelectronics cluster and its new Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre (EPIC) has the facilities and equipment to attract more tech businesses to the region.
At a recent Open Day, businesses and partners of the hi tech sector saw first-hand the exceptional facilities in the £8m Centre. The Centre houses the only open-access classified cleanroom in the South West, providing tenants and members with the ability to develop and test their products and remain at the cutting-edge of the industry.
Over £1m of specialist equipment is being installed into the prototyping suite to enable research and development opportunities. This supports collaboration between the businesses, helping to drive innovation and the emergence of new technologies in a thriving sector.
Wayne Loschi, EPIC Centre Director, said: “The Open Day was a great opportunity to share this fantastic facility with key businesses and partners. Being able to show them how the Centre will support technology businesses with future growth is really important. The message is being shared across their networks and we are seeing interest from a number of hi tech businesses that are looking to relocate either a department of their company or the whole organisation.”
Councillor Swithin Long, Torbay Council Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Tourism and Housing, said: “EPIC provides excellent facilities for hi tech businesses in Torbay and beyond. The Centre provides the ideal environment to support growth through collaboration, funding opportunities and access to apprenticeships. The new facility will no doubt attract early stage tech businesses as well as growing innovative tech companies, supporting Torbay’s Economic Strategy.”
Tenants and members are using the dry labs and offices in the facility to showcase their business and technology, while having access to the Centre’s technology and facilities.
Josef Schmidl, EMEA Managing Director for Palomar Technologies, said: “Being part of EPIC is a great opportunity for Palomar. Our equipment delivers the highest quality, flexible electronic packaging solutions, which will support many key businesses in Torbay’s photonics and microelectronics cluster. Our focus is to enable our customers to realise the high growth potential opportunities that are available in these exciting, rapidly evolving industry sectors.”
Tom Freda, CEO at Prior Scientific, said: “The move into EPIC enables us to operate from a modern facility and grow our business in the Torbay region. This beautiful facility will also enable us to encourage more customer visits. The Centre provides us with the opportunity work collaboratively with other hi tech companies and research institutions.”
October sees the launch of a fully funded programme called EPIC Sessions. The EPIC Sessions consist of a series of seminars both on latest manufacturing techniques, technology and the grass roots of running your business. These sessions are designed to support early stage tech businesses with strategies and plans to improve how they approach innovation and challenges in the industry.
Wayne Loschi added: “Over the next 18 months, EPIC will host several specialist seminars to help tenants and the wider business community. Key areas of support have been identified and EPIC has appointed industry leading specialists in fields such as Funding, Strategic Digital Marketing, Business Transformation & Growth, Business Management, Commercialisation and various other Microelectronics technology-focused sessions.”
All sessions are free for eligible SME businesses thanks to funding by the European Regional Development Fund.
For more information about EPIC and EPIC Sessions visit www.epic-centre.co.uk
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