Warwick-born electronics business sold in major European deal
A UK electronics company featuring intellectual property licensed from the University of Warwick is being acquired by an Austrian semi-conductor manufacturer.
ams, formerly known as austriamicrosystems, is a leading manufacturer of high performance sensor and analogue solutions.
It has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCMOSS), a spin-off company from Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering.
CCMOSS was born in 1994 from a collaboration between Professors Florin Udrea and Bill Milne at Cambridge and Warwick’s Professor Julian Gardner.
Over the past 20 years, CCMOSS has built a reputation for its expertise in micro hotplate design and manufacturing for gas and infrared sensing.
Warwick Ventures, the research commercialisation arm of the University of Warwick, facilitated the transfer of Warwick IP into the company.
Prof Gardner, who was Chief Scientific Officer at CCMOSS, said: “Working with ams is a fantastic opportunity that will enable the CCMOSS technology in gas and infra-red sensing to become truly global.”
Prof Gardner is Head of the Microsensors & Bioelectronics Research Laboratory (formerly Sensors Research Laboratory) and Leader of the Electrical & Electronic Engineering Stream in the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick. His research interests are microsensors, microsystems technology, electronic noses, intelligent sensors and multivariate data processing methods.
He has published more than 500 technical papers and is an author of eight books and 20 patents. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2006 and won the IET JJ Thompson Medal for Achievements in Electronics in 2007. In the last five years he has won several national innovation awards with CCMOSS as first Technical Director and then more recently Chief Scientist.
CCMOSS’ micro hotplates are used in gas sensors for volume applications in the automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer markets.
Its expertise in this area is considered highly synergetic with ams’ leadership in metal oxide gas sensing materials to detect gases like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and volatile organic compounds.
In addition, CCMOSS commands an industry-leading portfolio of infrared technology comprising high performance IR radiation sources and detectors for sensor applications.
Applications include CO2 gas sensing and human presence detection and will extend into spectroscopic identification of organic materials.
Alexander Everke, CEO of ams, said: “The addition of CCMOSS makes ams the clear leader in gas and infrared sensor technology worldwide, and completes ams’ portfolio of products and technologies for the environmental sensor market.
“This highly strategic acquisition is therefore another key step in making ams the world’s leading provider of sensor solutions for consumer, automotive, industrial, and medical applications.”
