APPS wins top innovation award at Lord Stafford Awards

APPS won the top innovation award at the finals of the Lord Stafford Awards on Monday night. Please read the press release below:

Peterborough air-cleansing company wins top innovation award!

A Cambridgeshire firm which has developed a groundbreaking device to control smells, dust and disease has won a prestigious award for innovation.

Air Pollution Products and Systems (APPS), of Luddington, near Peterborough, scooped the innovation in sustainability prize at the final of the Lord Stafford Awards in the East of England on Tuesday March 31.

Launched in the West Midlands in 1997, the prestigious awards seek to encourage closer links between universities and business and will be held in the East of England for the first time this year.

APPS, founded in 1999 and with a staff of 16, has pioneered environmentally-friendly odour, dust and bacteria control in a wide range of fields, including sewage works, chemical plants, farms and food processing factories.

The firm, which also has outlets in Spain and Portugal, has devised a state-of-the-art atomiser for the Airborne 10 system.

Unlike a masking agent, Airborne 10 involves a technology which increases the absorbency of water half-a-million times, thus removing particulates, bacteria and gases to clean the air.

The static and mobile machines, which have been likened to giant air-cleaners, can be purchased or hired by clients or used as part of on-going plant management agreements.

The new atomiser innovation, which improves the operational efficiency and range of the Airborne 10 system, has been developed after close links with Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, Chelmsford.

A research project was launched following meetings between Airborne 10 inventor Jim Edgar, chairman of APPS, and the university’s Professor Hassan Shirvani.

A technical breakthrough was achieved after company chiefs had become frustrated at design problems which had hitherto proved insurmountable.

Central to the collaborative work has been on-the-spot Dr Ahad Ramezanpour, a research fellow with the university’s engineering analysis, simulation and tribology group (EAST).

Now, the future looks bright with orders for the systems being placed not only in the UK but overseas, particularly in the Middle East.

Vince Gosling, managing director of APPS, said: “Winning this award is a tremendous boost for the company and the product as it means the work we have done with Anglia Ruskin University has been recognised.

"We have a product which, in a very competitive environment, is second to none in the world and, crucially, it has an extremely low carbon footprint.”

Lord Stafford, Awards Patron and Chair of the Judges, said: “APPS is a fantastic example of a company that has collaborated with a university to overcome a technical problem that threatened to hold up their progress.

“I know this device is already helping to overcome challenges with air pollution and shows that technology can be the solution to the environmental issues industries face and I would like to congratulate them for being worthy winners of the awards.”

Source: dc-pr.co.uk