UWI Technology’s warning label is activated as soon as a jar or other packaging is opened and could revolutionise safety standards in sectors as diverse as medicines, cosmetics and industrial glues.
Inventor Pete Higgins came up with the concept after he almost served dangerously out of date food to his young son – now he has seen it claim top prize at the Scottish Enterprise Life Science Awards.
Higgins said: “I was delighted to be shortlisted because that placed UWI Technology alongside some of the smartest people in Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector.” We genuinely were just pleased to be sharing the same platform. When our name was announced, I was utterly thrilled.”
The win comes just months before UWI Label goes into mass production. After coming up with the invention five years ago, Pete gave up his job and ploughed his life savings into pursuing the development of this technology. This has included working with a team of scientists at Heriot-Watt University as well as a mass production development partner to develop the prototypes.
Higgins added: “When you come up with an idea and put absolutely everything into it, there are times when you start to doubt yourself and whether the solution will ever emerge as a product. The wonderful thing now is that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is looking brighter each and every day.”
The win is likely to hasten completion of UWI Technology’s current £1.1m investment round, supported by projections suggesting the firm will be valued at £8m within five years.
The system is triggered as soon as packaging is opened and begins an easily visible countdown, which shows when a product expires – green while the product is safe and red when it is not.
UWI Technology encourages healthy and safe use and will assist in waste reduction of many products in the life sciences and medical and pharmaceutical sectors. Examples include time-sensitive products such as sun creams and cosmetics, through to medicines, test chemicals, sterile equipment and contact lens cleaner.
Elsewhere it is also being studied as a potential anti-counterfeiting tool for pharmaceuticals in tablet form and the high value spirits market, while it is also seen as an ideal warning system for industrial glues and sealants which must be used within specific timeframe for safety reasons, particularly in the aviation sector.
Source: UWI Technology
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