WIRELINE ISSUE 30 WINTER 2014

that can generate engineering products. You require technical excellence first and foremost, but you must be prepared to make that transition towards commercialisation. It’s about responding to customer needs. For larger designs, cost savings gained through holograms can be considerable – up to seven times that of a physical model.” The technology can be used to present, in elaborate detail, oil and gas assets ranging from platforms to floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, or their individual component parts. The next step is to create motion video holographic 3D displays and this is still in the research phase. Don Walker, an experienced project engineer in optical-mechanical product design, has been helping to lead spin-out company PhotoSynergy Limited (PSL) from the University of St Andrews and he couldn’t agree more on the need to focus on the target market when taking academic research to the next level. From the classroom to the boardroom

to make the basic components of our prototype display.” An early result of this work is the ability to make static 3D digital holograms to present engineering designs. Holographic technology applies the physical principles of diffraction – or the ‘bending’ of light as it passes through structures that are similar in size to the light itself – to form 3D images. Holoxica’s first product, the digital hologram, takes the form of a photopolymer sheet made using a holographic printer. The 3D data for the ‘pop-out picture’ is embedded into the light-sensitive sheet by the printer. When a light is shone on it, the image emerges on the other side in 3D. Javid notes that “although the approach required a lot of theoretical work initially, at some point, you need to translate that into tools and methods

viewers to look inside and see them from different perspectives. “I started doing some research and it all snowballed from there,” describes Javid. He decided the way forward was to join a PhD programme. He relocated to Scotland and joined an engineering doctorate programme that ran across several Scottish universities. With funding in place through the programme, he spent a year studying at St Andrews and Heriot-Watt universities and then another three on technology development within his start-up company, Holoxica, based at the University of Edinburgh. He explains: “The initial focus was on theoretical research – on algorithms, running data on supercomputers, graphics processing with lots of signal processing. We were then equipped

“You require technical excellence first and foremost, but you must be prepared to make that transition towards commercialisation. It’s about responding to customer needs.”

PhotoSynergy Limited, a spin-out company from the University of St Andrews, has launched LIGHTPATH, a side-emitting flexible fibre that projects a continuous and flexible line of light carrying no electrical power. It can guide deep water divers and remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) pilots through dark, often hazardous, conditions. Pictured are tests conducted at The Underwater Centre in Fort William

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