Published on 28/03/2022
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Microscope

  • Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) represents a significant change in direction for Meritics with opportunities to increase company turnover
  • The project provided Meritics with significant data and proof-of-concept applications to widen the company’s product range into the biological market
  • Findings are published in ‘Methods’ and real-word applications are feeding directly into the University’s Biochemistry programmes

Aston University has completed a knowledge transfer partnership with Meritics Ltd to develop the company’s capability and underpinning knowledge to measure the size, concentration and distribution of biological entities, such as liposomes and exosomes, using proprietary particle analysers. 

The project  will enable Meritics to enter the fast-growing biologics sector with their particle analysis instruments and services to significantly increase company turnover. It represented a significant change in direction for the company and focused on systems that would have the largest impact. 

Results provided Meritics with significant data and proof-of-concept applications required to widen the company’s product range into the biological market. It also broadened the company’s knowledge of biological applications and helped bridge gaps between the areas of interest and the limitations of the analysers.

Meritics Ltd supplies and provides service support for a range of particle characterisation instrumentation to industrial, research and academic institutions in the UK. Additionally, it offers a range of consumables, analysis services and consultancy.

A knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) is a three-way collaboration between a business, an academic partner and a highly qualified graduate, called a KTP Associate. The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Aston University is the leading KTP provider within the Midlands.

The project was led by Dr Alice Rothnie and Dr Alan Goddard from Aston University’s Aston Centre for Membrane Protein & Lipid Research (AMPL), a specialist research group with a track record of biological particle characterisation. Dr Rothnie has over 14 years of experience working with liposomes, viral and cellular systems, while Dr Goddard brought over a decade of experience in biological membranes and nanoparticles ¬– mainly focusing on liposomes. 

Also working on this partnership as KTP Associate was Dr Megan Cox, whose proven expertise in biochemistry drove the innovation and research behind the project. Following the completion of the project, Dr Cox has been employed by Meritics as a Technical Specialist, using biological expertise to assess instrument parameters for biological entities. 

Brian Miller, founding managing director of Meritics, said: “The project has sped up the company’s plan to move into more biological application areas and widen our customer base. Aston University’s extensive knowledge in biology and biological entities is crucial for our wider sales and technical staff and provided invaluable visibility of the biological markets”.

Dr Alan Goddard said: “Working in partnership with Meritics has allowed us to transfer our extensive experience of biological particles into industry. We have formed an exciting partnership which has continued past the end of the formal project, enabling cutting-edge research to be performed at Aston using the latest equipment.”

For more information about studying a course in the School of Biosciences at Aston University, please visit our website. 

Notes to editors

This project is co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Watch our short film to see how it works and visit our website for examples of KTP in action at Aston.

To find out more about how your business can benefit from working with Aston University, please email rke@aston.ac.uk or call 0121 204 4242

About Aston University

Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston is a long established university led by its three main beneficiaries – students, business and the professions, and our region and society. Aston University is located in Birmingham and at the heart of a vibrant city and the campus houses all the university’s academic, social and accommodation facilities for our students. Saskia Hansen is the interim Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive.

Aston University was named University of the Year 2020 by The Guardian and the University’s full time MBA programme has been ranked in the top 100 in the world in the Economist MBA 2021 ranking. The Aston MBA has been ranked 12th in the UK and 85th in the world.

For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Rebecca Hume, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44)7557 745416 or email: r.hume@aston.ac.uk

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