Impact case study database

The 21st century has seen rapid growth in our ability to store and access data. With individuals and organisations generating ever-larger datasets, we are in need of more efficient forms of data storage with high capacity, low energy consumption and a long lifetime. Securely storing large amounts of information over even relatively short time scales of 100 years, comparable to the human memory span, is a challenging problem. The major issue is the lack of appropriate technology and a storage medium possessing the advantages of both high capacity and long lifetime. Storage is moving towards large cloud facilities, which is an industry growing at an enormous rate: projections expect the market to grow from around USD50bn in 2020 to more than USD130bn by 2025 [ 5.1]. Microsoft holds 15-20% of market share with its Azure platform. The storage media currently being deployed in the cloud were created before the cloud existed and were designed to support other usage scenarios. As a result, the limits of what is possible with existing technologies are being reached, and a new clean-slate approach is needed for cloud storage.

**Investment by Microsoft through Project Silica

Following the University’s announcement of the research breakthrough and a call for industry partners in February 2016 [ 5.2] the potential of 5D Memory as a long-term data storage solution was recognised by Microsoft, who in October 2016 set up Project Silica at Microsoft Research Cambridge (MRC) to determine the technology’s real-world feasibility. [text removed for publication]. In May 2017 the MRC team were given the go-ahead to set up a research partnership with the University of Southampton [ 5.3], including the sponsorship of further development of the intellectual property [ 5.4] to advance the technology into real storage media. The partnership itself produced 5 further patent applications as of December 2020 [ 5.4].

The project was established as part of Microsoft’s Azure platform, into which the company has reportedly invested at least USD10bn annually since 2015 [ 5.5]. In September 2017 at Microsoft Ignite – the company’s annual gathering of technology leaders and practitioners – the CTO of Azure Mark Russinovich described the 5D Memory technology in detail, attracting applause when showing a small piece of glass capable of storing two Libraries of congress (50 terabytes) [ 5.6].

At Microsoft Ignite 2019, attended by 26,000 global industry professionals over 5 days, Satya Nadella used his opening Vision Keynote to announce a collaboration with Warner Bros to use 5D Memory crystal for the long-term storage of films, for which temperature-sensitive magnetic tape has been relied upon for nearly a century. The segment, selected by Microsoft as one of the highlights of the keynote [ 5.7], showed a 5D Memory crystal storing the 1978 film Superman being boiled, microwaved, degaussed (magnetic field eliminated) and scratched with steel wool. The result, in Nadella’s words, was that “we still have the Superman movie. And so that’s the frontier of new storage systems”. The CTO of Warner Bros noted publicly that “if Project Silica’s storage solution proves to be as cost-effective and as scalable as it could be – and we all recognize it’s still early days – this is something we’d love to see adopted by other studios and our peers and other industries… If it works for us, we firmly believe that this will be a benefit to anyone who wants to preserve and archive content.” [ 5.8]

[text removed for publication] [ 5.3]

Societal impact through the Arch Mission Foundation and Falcon Heavy launch

The Arch Mission Foundation [ 5.9] is a non-profit set up in October 2016 by prolific US web entrepreneur Nova Spivack. Its aim is to archive humanity’s heritage for future generations by preserving it in long-term storage units – what the Foundation refers to as “Archs”. The University of Southampton became a partner in 2017, joining organisations including Microsoft and Wikipedia, with Kazansky appointed as an advisor to the project. The involvement in the Foundation led the 5D Memory technology to catch the attention of Elon Musk, who agreed to store the Foundation’s first “Arch”, a 5D Memory crystal of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy (a favourite of Musk’s), in the glovebox of the Tesla he was loading on to the test flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy on 6 February 2018 [ 5.10]. Following the successful launch and jettison of the payload, the car and crystal continue to orbit the sun at a speed of more than 7,000 miles per hour [ 5.11].

The inclusion of the 5D Memory crystal in the car, in addition to being a regular feature as part of the media coverage of the launch, prompted whole features in its own right both from general news and magazine publishers (Fortune, Daily Mail, LadBible) and technology news sites (TechCrunch, ScienceAlert, Mashable), each speculating over the future and symbolism of the crystal to their 10 million+ monthly readers [ 5.12]. This frenzy directed specifically at the crystal occurred in spite of a media embargo on the Archs Foundation in advance of the launch, and the fact that compared to the car, SpaceX “was less vocal about that Roadster's secret cargo: a tiny optical disc, known as an Arch” (Ars Technica). Parallels were drawn between the longevity of the crystal and the plot of the books, in which the protagonist “establishes a long-term plan for the progress of human civilization, and is viewed as a legendary savior for the entire course of human history” (The Verge). Other commentators were in agreement that the 5D Memory crystal was the most fascinating element of the payload, with Mashable noting that “there's a case to be made that the books are a more important story than the flashy car” and Syfy declaring in their headline that “something even cooler than a Tesla launched with the Falcon Heavy.” [ 5.12]

Societal impact through the heritage sector, artist collaboration and public recognition

Since the University’s initial announcement of the technology in February 2016, Kazansky’s research team actively drove the promotion of 5D Memory by travelling to high-profile cultural and heritage institutions to present them with archival crystals of meaningful and practical value, thereby demonstrating their wide-reaching potential. These included the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to UNESCO at the International Year of Light closing ceremony in Mexico (February 2016), the Magna Carta to Salisbury Cathedral (June 2016) and the Holy Bible to the Vatican Library (April 2017), each drawing widespread public attention [ 5.13].

Figure 1: Holy Bible, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Magna Carta stored on 5D Memory.

Later in April 2017 Kazansky and US visual artist Ben Sarao produced the first art exhibition to be encoded on 5D Memory. Sarao’s holographic art series, “Eternal Garden of the Villa Borghese” was exhibited alongside the crystal at ArtExpo in New York in April 2017. The collaboration produced a further exhibition, “Iconic images of contemporary space exploration” at Worldcon 76, San Jose in August 2016, and a conference paper Virtually Eternal 5D Data Storage presented at the virtual ASCEND conference in November 2020. [ 5.14]

In August 2018 eternal copies of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time were displayed at an exhibition at the V&A museum’s “The future starts here”, featuring 100 objects that will shape the future. [ 5.14]

The social impact of data storage in space was part of a discussion “Data in the Fifth Dimension” at The Hague in September 2018 between Kazansky and artist Martijn van Boven. They explored the current intentions, possibilities, and questions around sending data into the solar system—whether it be music, a library, or the archived knowledge of humankind. [ 5.14]

In light of these engagement activities, public recognition of the technology included [ 5.15]:

• A nomination for the WIRED Audi Innovation Awards as one of the eight scientific breakthroughs set to revolutionise our future (October 2016);

• 2^nd place in the Telegraph’s “Ten ground-breaking university research projects” (18 million monthly readers, January 2017);

• Television features on CNN’s “Make, Create, Innovate” (April 2017), Channel 4 News’ “Hidden Britain” (March 2018) and BBC4’s “The Secret Story of Stuff: Materials of the Modern Age” (November 2018).

The goal of the Astronomy with US (University of Southampton) programme is to engage a wide audience with our research, with a particular emphasis on audiences not reached via traditional activities. This required developing new strategies and methods. All our activities are monitored for their effectiveness, reach, and significance via evaluation sheets and analysing feedback and the level of engagement. Coordination of the programme is led by astronomy public engagement leader Dr Sadie Jones and public outreach and engagement leader Dr Pearl John who are both employed by the School of Physics & Astronomy.

4.1 Space Environment Physics Programme

**4.1.1 Aurora Zoo (2019 – present): Aurora Zoo is an online Citizen Science project conceived by Lanchester and developed and tested by Whiter. It invites participants to classify data gathered from the Auroral Structure and Kinetics (ASK) camera in Svalbard, Norway [ 3.2]. ASK has been operational since 2007 and automatically captures data whenever it is dark; by 2019 it had accumulated thousands of hours of video footage of the aurora, most of which had never been looked at. While “event studies” into specific auroral events had been investigated in detail by the researchers, higher-level statistical studies on the ASK data were best sourced from the crowd.

Throughout 2019 and up until Covid-19 struck, Whiter’s team used a beta version of Aurora Zoo as a face-to-face public engagement tool including at the Science Museum’s ‘ Summer of Space’, Glastonbury Festival and Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival. 7,319 aurorae were classified across these events, with the team finding that people of all ages could produce valid and useful data while learning about aurora and enjoying themselves [ 5.1]. Initial results were presented in August 2019 to the research community at a leading astronomy conference in Finland [ 5.2].

In early 2020 a further set of computer-based (later virtual) workshops were run by Jones to introduce pupils up to key stage 5 to Aurora Zoo and demonstrate fieldwork from a January 2020 expedition to Svalbard [ 5.3]. 978 pupils across 9 events were engaged, leading to 6,545 classifications [ 5.1].

The full version of Aurora Zoo was launched online in April 2020 on the popular Zooniverse citizen science platform [ 5.4]. One of the key initial findings was the identification of rare Fragmented Aurora-like Emission from footage dating back to 22 December 2014. This led to our first collaborative paper with the 5 citizen scientists involved in the identification (3 women). The paper was submitted to ANGEO and published pre-review in December 2020 [ 5.5].

By 31 December 2020, 6,118 citizen scientists had made 205,930 classifications of 22,443 different aurora images, writing over 1,700 comments in Aurora Zoo public forums. These demonstrated an increased knowledge of aurorae and research skills such as: data interpretation; the importance of knowing the limitations of the instruments; identification of instrumental effects that could lead to misinterpretation of the data, and critical analysis of images. The 5 citizen scientist co-authors of the paper additionally gained valuable experience of the scientific publishing process. Aurora Zoo also inspired science fiction writer Rosie Oliver to include aurorae in her up-coming book. [ 5.1]

4.1.2 Planeterrella demonstrations (2017-2019): The Planeterrella is an interactive simulation using plasma and magnetic fields to mimic the interaction between the solar wind and magnetosphere in the formation of aurorae described by Fear [ 3.1]. A team of 8 researchers toured the Planeterrella to 54 local schools, several science and arts festivals (e.g. Stargazing Live 2017 and 2018, World Science Week 2017 at Winchester Science Centre) and alternative venues.

Over 2017-2019 the team engaged 4,074 people face-to-face: 1,837 pupils and 60 teachers at 54 schools, and 2,177 members of the public at 23 events. Gender balance was a key aim of the programme, with 50% of students and 52% of the public being women or girls. 86% increase in knowledge of aurorae (compared to 77% for schools) with 69% showing an increase in their positive opinions about science and science careers (45% for schools). 78% of the public had an improved opinion of scientists (50% for schools) and 85% had a more positive opinion of the importance of auroral research (62% for schools) [ 5.6].

4.2 Engagement with the Extreme Universe and the Dark Energy Survey (DES)

4.2.1 The Soton Astrodome Mobile Planetarium (2014-2020): The Soton Astrodome is an advanced inflatable planetarium that allows up to 35 people to gain a fully immersive digital experience at any venue with 7x7m of floor space and 3.3m of height. Each 45 minute show includes an introduction by academics to themselves and their research, followed by animated content tailored to the audience. A Q&A session with the researchers concludes the show.

From January 2014 to March 2020, 28,571 people were engaged during 1,125 planetarium shows covering black holes [ 3.3, 3.4], dark energy [ 3.6] and supernovae research [ 3.7]. Of that number, 8,128 were at public venues not usually used for science communication, including Peppa Pig World in the New Forest, and City Art Gallery and Sea City Museum in Southampton. 19,909 pupils and 534 teachers were engaged during 168 school visits to 87 schools. 30% of the schools were designated widening participation (WP), defined as those registering at least 17% of pupils entitled to free school meals. [ 5.7]

To gauge the significance of the shows for the pupils, 68 year-5 students from a local primary school fed back what they learned in a planetarium show in July 2019. Overall, 50% of students stated they had learned about aurora; stars and their life cycle; black holes; and/or galaxies . 14 Discovery level CREST Awards were earned by local home-educated students (aged 4-13 years). CREST is a British Science Association scheme to inspire young people and let them think and behave like scientists, with the awards being aligned to the national curriculum and providing a reward system for the students. Our CREST Awards went to those who took part in DES workshops, in total leading the pupils to make 5 films for the planetarium and 11 dark energy “research posters” based on our research [ 3.6, 3.7] [ 5.7].

The shows also had an impact on teachers. Of 17 primary/secondary school teachers surveyed:

• 100% rated the shows 10/10 for enjoyment;

• 77% found the activities to be highly relevant to the school curriculum;

• 71% said that their astronomy knowledge had increased ‘significantly’.

In response to the open-ended question ‘ *what did you think of the show?*’ teachers responded that we gave them enjoyable, inspiring experiences they would otherwise not have access to, as well as knowledge that they had passed on to their students. [ 5.7]

4.2.2 Astro-sonification for audiences with vision impairments (2019): In collaboration with visually impaired astronomer Dr Wanda Diaz-Merced (South Africa) and Dr Johanna Casado (Argentina), Gandhi developed sonification software that enables telescope data streams used in our black hole research [ 3.3, 3.4] to be turned into sound using a variety of tones, instruments, tempos and notes. In 2019, Gandhi and Casado led a focus group with 4 members of a local visually impaired community organisation, Southampton Sight, to improve the software. The group reported an enjoyable experience (9/10) which raised their confidence and provided them new research skills (9/10): “Taking part in this activity has really raised my self-confidence”; “I’ve encouraged other friends who are vision impaired to take part”; “I have learned a lot of new skills.” All were willing to engage with further projects with Southampton [ 5.8]. One of the participants wrote a Southampton Sight guest blog post, concluding that “ astronomy isn’t the only science with complex data, so I think [Casado] may be opening up [a] whole new world for us. I hope [it] was as useful for her as it was fun for me. [ 5.9]

4.2.3 Spanish Speakers’ engagement programme (2018-2020): A goal of our programme was to engage with global communities with a lower science capital, for example no regional top-100 physics departments, where high-profile astronomy research may not be represented in local outreach activities. Altamirano engaged an international Spanish-speaking audience, recruited via a social media campaign, with black hole and neutron star research [ 3.3- 3.5] in online engagements including remote talks for 345 pupils (57% girls) in 5 schools in Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador and Peru, and through podcasts (57,466 unique downloads from 105 countries, including broadcasts on local radio in Latin-America) of research lectures in Spanish [ 5.10]. In response to an online survey of 157 podcast listeners of the neutron star podcast, 99% of those who responded said they had learned something new and 95% indicated that they wanted to learn more by requesting an additional talk on black holes. Translated comments include “ I realised, within my human brain limitations, of the scales and magnitudes of a neutron star”; “ Everything was very interesting, I love to understand what is happening out there. But the most impressive, which seems science fiction to me, is the scientific method”. Altamirano served as an astronomer role model for Latin American audiences, raising aspirations and confidence in those from marginalised groups: “ I never thought Latin Americans could become world-leading scientists.” (16-year-old pupil from a Peruvian secondary school after the Q&A session) [ 5.10]. The success of the first podcast was followed by a second together with an online sci-art competition based on our black hole research. We received 270 artwork entries from 165 amateur artists from 13 different countries. A selection of the artwork was used for a promotional campaign on Facebook that, together with direct interaction, attracted 808,000 unique users to the page, of which around 20,000 actively engaged with the posts (commenting/sharing with friends or groups). [ 5.10]

4.2.4 AstroAirport (2016):** Funded by a STFC PE small award, in February half-term 2016, a team of four researchers staffed a stand in the departure lounge at Southampton Airport. The stand included demonstrations (e.g. Hoberman Spheres) to engage departure lounge passengers with the concept of exploding and collapsing stars [ 3.5∫. 1,457 passengers engaged with our research. Of 59 survey respondents:

• 29% said “this was the first science event they had ever attended”;

• 92% of respondents learned something about our research;

• 100% could correctly say what a supernova was;

• 68% rated the engagement as ‘extremely enjoyable’.

In a follow-up form one month later, 78% could recall what they had learned about our research and 89% said they had a more positive opinion of scientists as a result of the interaction [ 5.11].

4.2.5 #SotonAstroArt (2017-2020): Our award-winning Sci-Art project consists of activities connecting art and science and engaged 15,270 people with our DES/SN research [ 3.6]. Audiences included:

• 97 emerging artists, invited through social media and artist networks, and their audiences at 14 exhibitions (>300 people);

• 3,708 children and parents at arts workshops in festivals and community spaces ( Human Worlds Festival 2017-2020, The Photon Shop 2019-2020, Southampton Libraries 2019), and 250 who received art activity packs during lockdown (2020);

• on-line audiences totalling 11,492 people (from 47 countries), including media and social media users, those who downloaded web-based resources, viewed videos, visited our websites and took part in our art competition;

• 446 professional astronomy/physics communicators from two conferences (2018) [ 5.12].

The impact of the project included an 11% change in perception of artists’ understanding of their position in the Universe with 9% inspired to create new works and an 8% increased understanding of astrophysics concepts [see testimonials analysed in 5.12]. Around 990 artworks were made at 13 family workshops leading to a 25% knowledge increase about supernova among participants. A highlight of the festival engagement was The Photon Shop at Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival, with an underserved community in a zone of socioeconomic deprivation. From ~2,000 visitors, we obtained feedback from 22 family groups: 75% agreed (45%), or strongly agreed (30%) that: “ I am more likely to study Physics or recommend studying Physics to a friend/family member” as a result of visiting The Photon Shop. 95% stated a positive attitude change – they agreed (43%), or strongly agreed (52%) that “It inspired me to find out more about Physics” [ 5.12].

4.2.6 Black Hole Talks for schools and the public (2014-2020): Over 2014-2020, Altamirano and Jones, together with other astronomy staff members, delivered talks to 4,117 people (schools and the public) on compact objects and black holes, including research methods used in 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. Curriculum-specific content included multiwavelength astronomy, radio interferometry and the importance of resolution.

534 evaluations were collected from 57 of the events at schools. Students reported a mean enjoyment of 4.1/5 and a 17% increase in their interest in black hole research. In addition, when asked to rate the amount that they had learned during the talk, 71% of GCSE students and 91% of A-level students surveyed increased their knowledge, and 77% of A-level students stated they were likely to do further reading on Black Hole research following the talk. Analysis of 730 evaluations from 16 public events led to similar results, with a mean enjoyment of 4.7/5, 31% increase of interest, and self-evaluation of learning of 4.1/5.

Overall, 59% of A-level students and 40% of the public displayed an advanced understanding of black hole concepts, such as the existence of astrophysical jets, and research-specific topics including how astrophysical jets are studied. [ 5.13]

University of Southampton research underpinned the formation of spin out company Covesion and, over the REF 2021 impact period, has been integral to both the optimisation of the company’s MgO PPLN crystals and the creation of new PPLN products. Covesion offers volume manufacture of bespoke crystals for Original Equipment Manufacturer systems; its PPLN devices allow customers to reach wavelengths that cannot be achieved with conventional solid state or diode lasers. The company’s customers include world-leading companies and prestigious research institutes spanning the areas of defence, communications, laser manufacturing and medicine. Specific applications include: microscopy imaging, laser-based missile countermeasure systems, trace gas detection, LIDAR, precision navigation systems, seabed surveying, environmental monitoring and remote sensing.

There are three strands to the economic impact arising from the underpinning research: direct impact on Covesion’s commercial growth over the impact period; wider economic impact generated through sales, by Covesion customers, of systems reliant on Covesion’s PPLN devices; and commercial income unlocked for UK industry through the award of Innovate UK programmes that revolve around Covesion’s technology.

Economic impact via the commercial growth of a university spinout company

UoS research underpins Covesion’s two main products: MgO PPLN crystals and MgO PPLN packaged waveguides. These patented, market-leading technologies have resulted in Covesion securing customers that include major corporations [text removed for publication], government labs (e.g. NASA, US Naval Observatory, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology) and the majority of the world’s leading universities (e.g. Harvard, Stanford, Caltech) [ 5.1, 5.2].

Over the impact period, Covesion has almost tripled its annual turnover [text removed for publication]; 95% of sales constituted overseas exports, benefitting the UK economy [ 5.2, 5.3]. The new PPLN waveguide devices launched in June 2019 accounted for 25% of commercial income as of December 2020; this is expected to rise to more than 50% by 2023 [ 5.2]. The company has more than doubled its workforce from 5 to 11 people, creating six high-skilled roles [ 5.2]. It has been able to plan strategically for annual growth of 30% for the period 2021-2024. This is demonstrated through its formal [text removed for publication] commitment, made in December 2020, to move to a larger high-value manufacturing facility at Adanac Park, Southampton to accommodate planned growth [ 5.2].

Economic impact via the sale of laser systems reliant on Covesion products

Global sales of laser and quantum technology systems have been enabled specifically through the incorporation of Covesion PPLN crystals. [text removed for publication]

Companies choose Covesion materials for a set of technical reasons and a range of commercial reasons that provide their OEM systems with a competitive advantage [ 5.2]. The former includes high laser damage thresholds (>500kW/cm2 for 2000 hours), nonlinearity of 16pm/V, dimension control (+/- 50 microns) and poling fidelity – all of which lead to reliable operation within design tolerances. The latter reasons for choosing to purchase from Covesion includes price, reliability of supply, delivery time, quality control and after-sales technical support [ 5.2]. Many of these features originate directly from ORC research into poling technology (specifically the development of MgO:PPLN poling), which provides very high poling fidelity, reliable yield (which is important to meet tight delivery schedules) and optimum nonlinearity [ 5.2]. Covesion’s large volume manufacturing capabilities are key to offering its customers a significant price advantage [ 5.2]. When customers purchase crystals, they place orders via tenders or large call-off orders, which allows Covesion to reduce the prices of their crystals by increasing manufacturing volumes. [text removed for publication]

Covesion sells its products into laser systems that retail for anywhere between 40 and 1,000 times the value of the Covesion product; it is common for a pulsed laser system to sell for at least GBP100,000 [ 5.2]. [text removed for publication]

Taking the above details into account, Covesion can produce a quantitative estimate of the global economic impact arising from OEM product sales that rely upon the nonlinear properties of the company’s PPLN crystals and waveguides: an average of GBP60,000,000 per year (cumulatively, GBP420,000,000) over the impact period. Covesion’s CEO wrote [ 5.2]: ‘ Based on our direct sales figures and what we know of the retail value of the laser systems in which our products form an integral part, we can provide a confident, yet conservative, economic impact estimate of GBP60m per year as an average over the impact period. This relates to the sale of systems that would otherwise not be possible without our devices.’ There is also a wider societal impact in that anti-missile laser systems protect commercial, military and peace-keeping aircraft from attack.

Economic impact via direct income to UK industry through the UK Government National Quantum Technology Programme

In 2014, the UK Government announced its intention to develop a GBP1bn industry based on the commercialisation of quantum technologies. The UK National Quantum Technologies Programme was further expanded in 2018 when the Government announced it was one of 15 key areas for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. UoS research into the development of PPLN waveguides [ P2, 3.3- 3.6] has been a key enabling element of several Innovate UK grants that have provided direct income to not only Covesion but multiple UK companies, and have supported the development of the UK’s sovereign capability in this area [ 5.2, 5.5].

Covesion has been awarded over GBP1,000,000 in direct income from five Innovate UK projects over the impact period [ 5.5]. These include the Cold Atoms Space Payload (CASPA) project, which sought to develop a small satellite payload to generate cold atoms in space; it was highlighted by the Government as one of three case studies in its investment announcement in 2018 [ 5.6]. UoS and Covesion PPLN waveguide technology unlocked income for a range of UK companies or subsidiaries, many of which are start-ups and SMEs, from three Innovate UK projects: CASPA; QT Assemble, which is increasing the reliability and reducing the size and cost of laser components and systems; and MIRUS, which aims to develop and deliver a mid-infrared single-photon detector demonstrator system (for LIDAR and telecommunications systems) [ 5.5]. These have resulted in the awarding of GBP5,480,000 in direct income for companies that include BAE Systems, Edinburgh start-up Photon Force Limited, University of Sheffield spinout AegiQ and Newcastle-based naontechnology firm Inex [ 5.5]. UoS and Covesion technology was integral to the award of these projects [ 5.2, 5.7]. For example, in QT Assemble, Covesion’s PPLN waveguide technology is fundamental to the delivery of all the project’s technical work packages [ 5.7]. As further evidence of the research supporting the UK’s sovereign capability, the work of Covesion is cited twice in DSTL’s 2020 report: Quantum Information Processing Landscape 2020: Prospects for UK Defence and Security [ 5.8]. The report’s purpose was to encourage and guide MOD investment in quantum technologies.

4.1 Background to Symetrica and commercial success since 2014

Symetrica Ltd (now Symetrica Security Ltd) was spun out from the School of Physics and Astronomy at UoS in December 2002 to commercialise proprietary, high-performance gamma-ray spectroscopy capabilities, originally developed for the ESA’s INTEGRAL Space Telescope and redesigned in 2000-2002 for real-world scenarios. Its US sister company, Symetrica Inc., was founded in Maynard, Massachusetts in 2005.

The company has shown strong growth since 2014 and is now an established world-leader in its field of homeland security, marketing handheld radioisotope identifiers (RIIDs), cargo scanning portals, and bespoke radiation detection solutions. Customers include the Home Office’s Office for Security and Counter-terrorism (OSCT) and private companies such as Tata steel. Its technology is now in use in many countries including UK, US, Holland, Belgium, Finland, South America, Middle East, Hong Kong, Israel and Italy. Between 2014 and 2019, overall Symetrica employee numbers increased from 26 to 75 (50 in the UK and 25 in the US). [ 5.1]

Between 2016 and 2019, Symetrica experienced a 74% rise in annual sales to £11m, earning it 60^th place in the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 list of fastest growing technology companies [ 5.2].

**4.2 US Department of Homeland Security and Radseeker

In 2006 Symetrica partnered with Smiths Detection Inc., a world-leading provider of detection systems for X-rays, explosives and traces of radioactive materials, and won a contract to develop next-generation radiation detection and identification systems for the US Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). A flagship product was the RadSeeker, approved by the DNDO in 2011 as its primary radiological handheld detector device. These devices are based on Discovery Technology developed by Crossingham and Dallimore, working on the principle of proximity to the radioactive material using a combination of sensors to determine nature of the radioisotope.

In January 2016 the DNDO renewed its commitment to RadSeeker with a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. A GBP10,000,000 order followed in September 2018 [ 5.3], with Symetrica completing shipment of their 3000^th RadSeeker that year [ 5.1] In 2020 Symetrica received a USD7m 3yr contract to update and enhance the devices deployed in the field .

**4.3 Product lines based on SiPMs and plastic scintillator: Verifinder

SiPM and large-area plastic scintillator technologies developed under [ G2] continue to underpin many Symetrica products including the Radiation Portal Monitors (plastic) and He3-free neutron detector in Verifinder RIID (SiPM). Verifinder was released in 2016 as the successor to Radseeker, and is sold in several variants including Verifinder handheld, Verifinder backpack and Verifinder Drone. [ 5.1, 5.4].

Since its launch in 2016, the Verifinder system and its variants have been sold across European (Finland, Belgium, Holland, Italy) and US (National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)) markets. The US military use Verifinder backpacks, currently being supplied via a multi-year contract,

In May 2016, Symetrica launched Neutron Vest, a wearable system that has a partial direction-finding capability using SiPMs for neutron detection [ 5.5].

A new mobile system currently in production by Symetrica uses both tagged radiation sources for gain stabilisation [ 3.4, 3.5] and large-area plastic-based neutron detectors.

4.4 Deployment of enhanced portal systems

Symetrica’s Radiation Portal Monitors deploy large area detectors and Discovery Technology to provide class-leading performance. They have benefited from continual improvements on the original gamma-ray detector to offer a >75% nuisance alarm reduction and improved isotope identification capability compared to other available systems.

Portals are now deployed at ports and airports around the world. Since 2017, four Symetrica portals have been deployed at the Tata steel site in Port Talbot in order to screen incoming radioactive material for signs of accidental melting, which has been a major problem for the metals reprocessing industry [ 5.1]. Apart from improved worker safety, the main benefit has been the substantial financial savings due to the prevention of temporary shutdown of the mill, which would incur costs relating to decontamination, waste disposal and lost revenue. US steel mills have incurred costs averaging USD8 to 10 million as a result of these events and, in one case, the cost was USD23 million [ 5.6].

The high performance of Symetrica systems in the identification of illicit radioactive materials compared to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) has led to changes in international standards and expectations stated in procurement specifications. In particular, nuisance alarm rates (alerts on NORM) have been dramatically reduced from 3% to 0.1% in the latest specification released in 2017 which explicitly states the expected technology is large-area plastic scintillator spectrometers.

Deployment of improved security portals at UK ports has a dual impact. Firstly, it leads to improved transit rate at ports with obvious benefits to UK economy. The reduction to 0.1% of nuisance alarms should be seen in the context of the global use of containers: 616.7 million containers passed through ports in 2018 so a 2.9% reduction means 18 million fewer unnecessary container inspections. Better selectivity leads to lower detection thresholds, improved sensitivity to detection (without additional nuisance/false alerts) and provides improved national security via improved detection rates for genuine contraband.

4.5 Embedding new company capability for imaging systems

The development of imaging systems was enabled through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (2016-2018, Innovate UK KTP010399) aimed at embedding the design skills within the industry, and hence creating a long-term capability for the industrial partner, providing long-term impact far beyond the benefits of the initial product designs. Bird provided a series of seminars and workshops to the development teams at Symetrica. The KTP was rated outstanding by Innovate UK [ 5.7]. The KTP Associate, Dr Callum Shand, was seconded to Symetrica to act as the focus of the knowledge transfer, and was subsequently employed by Symetrica at the end of the KTP and leads development of the new imaging product lines. At the end of the KTP, Symetrica had an embedded capability, through the use of computer simulation methods, to design imaging systems for specific roles, quantify their performance and develop data analysis software for tasks. Validated modelling techniques for use in imager design allow for faster instrument design with much reduce prototyping costs [ 5.8].

Dallimore, now CTO at Symetrica, stated: “The KTP is an excellent opportunity to reinforce the links between ourselves and the excellent faculty members at the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Symetrica’s strategy is to push the boundaries of detection and identification of radioactive threats for Homeland Security applications. It is imperative that we remain at the cutting edge in our field; this KTP provides Symetrica with the opportunity to do just that, as well as move into the Nuclear Medicine market.” [ 5.8]

4.6 Informing company strategy - medical imaging

In July 2020, a SPRINT collaboration between Symetrica, the University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital was set up to translate the imaging technology for medical imaging applications [ 5.9]. Symetrica expects to achieve a 5% market penetration within 3 years rising to 15% within 5 years. Assuming the gamma-ray camera accounts for 25% of the system price, this would lead to a turnover of the order of GBP30,000,000 per year. [ 5.1]