London, UK, 21 April 2007:   Oxford Instruments has been awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise : Innovation for the development of INCADryCool, a radical new, cooling technology for  X-ray detectors used in electron beam microscopes.  It was designed to meet the high standards and stringent safety requirements of the semi-conductor industry. It surpassed all existing solutions for liquid nitrogen-free X-ray detection, and such was its success, it has now spread out to a number of other markets.

The ability to characterise and measure at the nanoscale is fundamental from research through to commercialisation.  Oxford Instruments has over 30 years experience of innovation and technical expertise to support the demands of the emerging nanotechnology markets, and is a world leader in the field of X-ray microanalysis and electron diffraction systems.  

David Scott, Managing Director of Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis says “Innovation has been at the heart of our company’s growth and success for over 40 years, and I am delighted that it continues to flourish. This Award recognises the skill and commitment shown by everyone at Oxford Instruments, and particularly the development team of INCADryCool, and I congratulate them all”

The team recently won The Chairman’s Award for Innovation, an internal award set up to recognise and reward successful and commercial ideas.  In February, the company also won third place in the Innovation category of The Sunday Times Best of British Industry Awards.  As Jonathan Flint, Chief Executive, commented “Our focus on listening to our customers and developing tools and systems that they want is reflected in these achievements – and we shall continue to build on these successes”.