Case Studies

In Europe, there are 60 million diabetics requiring insulin injections several times a day using single use needles. Making frequent injections is painful, but discomfort can be reduced by using smaller needles with internal dimensions close to the diameter of a human hair. Ensuring an even insulin flow through the needle relie...

Paper manufacturers must produce paper to consistent standards to stay competitive, since uniform paper thickness reduces ink use, saving their customers money. To produce paper, large round rollers turn pulp into sheets of defined thickness. These rollers develop scratches and dents over time, so are periodically reground to g...

Natural gas power plants burn fuel to turn turbines, which generates electricity. The burning creates high temperatures and high speed particles which collide with turbine blades, eroding surfaces and reducing efficiency. Lost performance, forced outages and repairs caused by erosion costs the power industry around 200 million ...

Gas fired power plants use burning gases to drive turbines and create electricity. The efficiency of converting the heat and speed of gas streams into turbine blade motion determines how much energy is produced per ton of gas burnt. Hot gas streams pick up particles and corrosion scales from interior surfaces of combustion cham...

Modern cars must be manufactured with great precision to ensure they meet design specification. Grooves in the pistons or ripples on body surfaces affect the car’s performance and appearance. Most engineering industries face similar issues, as ever greater accuracy is required to produce more precisely engineered parts. Co-ord...

The electronics industry aims to develop ever smaller, more powerful and efficient devices, and is keen to use new organic materials alongside conventional components. Existing measurement methods – designed for silicon based electronics – are unsuitable for these organic materials. Therefore, in order to accurately specify the...