Barclays has launched a £100million fund to help fast growing technology businesses get to the next level. The bank will lend up to £5m to some of the most innovative UK technology businesses.Ashok Vaswani (pictured), chief executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said: "With this new drive, we will be able to supp...

To mark 2015 the International Year of Light, the University of Southampton has introduced Photonics4All, a project to highlight the importance of photonics.Photonics4All aims to raise awareness of the importance of photonics in the community as well as in business and industry through a variety of activities and events such as business innovat...

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation has decided that the permanent headquarters of the SKA project will be the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank site.The ambition is to create a system of distributed radio telescopes whose total collecting area is 1sq km. The SKA is set to provide vast amounts of data to help scientists answ...

An international research team says it has developed a way of making advanced materials that might find application in optical technologies, displays and e-readers.The team, comprising scientists from SISSA, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Padova, introduced flaws into liquid crystals by inserting microspheres and then control...

STMicroelectronics says its Q1 revenues were $1.7billion, 6.8% less than in Q4 2014 and a similar amount less than revenues in Q1 2014, leading to a loss of $22million.STMicroelectronics says its Q1 revenues were $1.7billion, 6.8% less than in Q4 2014 and a similar amount behind revenues in Q1 2014, leading to a loss of $22million.Carlo Boz...

IBM says its researchers have made two critical advances in their efforts to build a practical quantum computer. The team has shown that both kinds of quantum error – bit flip and phase flip – can be detected and measured simultaneously and has demonstrated a square quantum bit circuit design that is said to be the only physical archite...

Freescale has added the wireless FXTH8715 family to its tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) portfolio. The device is said to come in the industry's smallest fully integrated package and to provide the highest pressure accuracy for trucks and other large vehicles.The system integrates a dual axis accelerometer, motion sensor, a 315/434 MH...

In a move which it claims will redefine the market for PCB Design software, Mentor Graphics has introduced three new packages to its PADS product line.Jamie Metcalfe, market development manager, said the market had historically been seen as a pyramid. "We want to address the market from a company size point of view. While larger companies...

A team led by UCL has used 3D imaging techniques to determine what happens inside a lithium-ion battery when it overheats and then explodes. According to the researchers, it is important to understand how Li-ion batteries fail in order to improve their design to make them safer to use and transport. Recently, three airlines announced they will...

Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA says it has decided to enhance its operations by combining the sales forces of Avnet Memec and Silica into one with effect from 29 June 2015.The combined organisation will be led by Mario Orlandi, pictured, currently president of Silica. "This is an opportunity to extend our offerings and our customer base...