Agilent Technologies opens molecular spectroscopy hub in Oxfordshire

Agilent Technologies has opened a new facility for the research and development of molecular spectroscopy at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, UK.

Expected to be a major research and development hub for laser spectroscopy, the new facility will also incorporate the company’s Raman spectroscopy business formed through the acquisition of Cobalt Light Systems in 2017.

Based in California, Agilent Technologies is an analytical laboratory instrument manufacturing company, which is focusing on investing in research and development to help its customers perform better science, and combine existing product lines to produce optimal customer experience.

The spectroscopy facility will also be home to the company’s Laser Spectroscopy Center of Excellence (LSCE), which is engaged in research and development of vibrational spectroscopy.

Agilent Technologies opens molecular spectroscopy facility in Oxfordshire. Photo courtesy of Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Phil Binns – vice president, and general manager of Agilent Technologies’ Spectroscopy division said: “The growth in Agilent’s molecular spectroscopy business created the need for a larger facility.

“Our new flagship site will enable us to develop a truly unified approach to vibrational spectroscopy. The location will also facilitate greater collaboration with internationally acclaimed academic and scientific thought leaders based at this premier UK hub of scientific innovation.”

The Harwell Campus is where Raman technologies were developed originally by Prof. Pavel Matousek, and his colleagues at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The same place is where Cobalt Light Systems was initially established.

Prof. Pavel Matousek – a senior fellow at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Central Laser Facility said: “I’m proud to see Agilent, and the Raman business we helped to establish, growing strongly and returning to Harwell.

“The new Agilent facility is perfectly located for collaboration between Agilent’s spectroscopy businesses and the large number of scientists and engineers we have at Harwell. I very much look forward to our future joint endeavors.”

Agilent UK employs over 480 people in the UK who are engaged in manufacturing, sales, and service.

The company’s two manufacturing facilities in Shropshire cater to the clinical and diagnostic industry by manufacturing liquid chromatography columns, magnetic beads, silica and polymeric particles. In addition to those, the facilities also manufacture instruments for gel permeation chromatography.