Engineering firm Vert Rotors has made the first commercial sale of its groundbreaking technology to a university clinical testing laboratory.
The Edinburgh-based company's CRC A100 compact and portable compressor minimises vibration and noise so it can be used with ultra-high precision instruments. It has been described as the biggest advance in the technology for 40 years.
Now the Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory at University of Edinburgh has bought one to allow the laboratory to prepare biological samples for clinical analysis.
Mass Spectrometry Core instruments require continuous compressed gases to operate but regular compressors were described as a "real nuisance" due to excessive noise.
The lab's deputy core manager Scott Denham said: “The Vert A100 has solved a big problem for us. It fits neatly under the lab bench and works away quietly, so has been a quick and easy solution to what could have been a major obstacle to our operations.”
Set up in 2013, Vert's deal with the University is its first commercial success and follows the appointment of John McNeil as sales engineer in charge of new business.
Under new chief executive Phil Harris, Vert is focusing on three markets: fibre optic cable installation, laboratories and hand-held tools.
“This is a significant sale for Vert and demonstrates that the A100 is ideal for busy lab environments where a quiet, compact source of compressed air can make a real difference to people’s working environment,” said Harris.
The company’s technology has won multiple awards since the first prototype was produced in 2014, and led to Vert securing a grant from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
