An innovative Scottish venture has been rewarded for developing a handheld “electronic nose” that manages quality control in the drinks industry.
Scensai has been crowned winner of the flagship Converge Challenge for a device which could give breweries, distilleries, wineries and other drinks producers rapid insight into their production processes.
Led by Marcus Campbell Bannerman and Ammar Elhoweris at the University of Aberdeen, the venture’s portable sensor is designed to flag subtle chemical changes in a product before they become costly quality issues. It reduces reliance on lengthy specialist laboratory analysis.
Mr Campbell Bannerman, project lead for Scensai, said: “For example, whisky manufacturers might use our device to detect sour casks before they’re filled, preventing that quality issue from maturing into a loss many years down the line.
“Accurate chemical analysis usually requires expensive lab equipment, which makes it out of reach for a lot of producers and means many quality issues are overlooked.
“Our innovation is in the software, which takes low-cost chemical sensors and transforms them into an accurate chemical analyser, making this kind of analysis much more accessible.”
The project secured the top title at the Converge Challenge competition which supports university founders seeking to turn research-led ideas into commercially viable businesses.
Adam Kosterka, executive director at Converge, said: “For 15 years, Converge has supported ambitious founders to take promising ideas beyond the university environment and turn them into sustainable businesses.
“Scensai’s success shows the potential for technically sophisticated research to be developed into a practical tool with real-world applications and significant commercial potential.”
Formed in 2011, Converge has become a driving force for university-led innovation, supporting more than 1000 academic entrepreneurs who have gone on to establish over 500 companies.
Businesses taking part in the Converge programme have a three-year survival rate of 86%, significantly above the national average.
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