Inventors produce ‘the grey stuff’

IMAGINE a substance that could detect chemicals in the air given off by humans, that was both a conductor and insulator of electricity, and which is so sensitive it could determine not only pressure being applied to it, but the precise amount.

It might sound like something from a Hollywood movie, but imagination is not necessary here – the substance is science fact, and is being made in a quiet and unassuming rural corner in this very region.

Named quantum tunnelling composite (QTC), the material – which was originally dubbed simply “the grey stuff” by its inventors, David Lussey, 66, and his 37-year-old son, company chief executive Christopher – is so extraordinary and displays so many unusual and exciting characteristics, it has opened up a new area for science research.

Indeed, not even its inventors know exactly what hidden and undiscovered properties QTC holds, and are finding new characteristics all the time.

And if QTC is breaking scientific boundaries, it is equally commercially useful, not to mention lucrative.

Peratech, the company set up by the Lusseys following their discovery, has six active contracts for applications of the substance, including two multi-million-pound deals.

One of these is the creation of the world’s first threedimensional touch screen, which will allow users to not only pinpoint a spot on a vertical and horizontal axis, but be able to tell how hard they are pressing, opening up a new realm possibilities for software programmers.

Past Peratech contracts for QTC include a deal with a friend of the late Apple founder, Steve Jobs, to make skiing and snowboarding jackets which would allow users to control their iPods through the fabric.

Astonishingly, as you read this, QTC is being made and tested in the quiet and sleepy parish of Brompton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire.

It may not be the first place which springs to mind when cutting-edge technology is talked about, but the Old Repeater Centre houses the headquarters of Peratech, the technology company set up by the Lusseys.

Here, the team of scientists and designers make and rigorously test and re-test new versions and applications of QTC, to ensure the application not only works every time, but will continue to work when the device has been around for months.

Even more extraordinarily than this hive of high-tech activity going on in this quiet rural corner of the North-East is that QTC was an inadvertent invention.

“It was an accidental discovery,” said Mr Lussey Sr, a Liverpool-born, former RAF specialist officer, who used to train airmen in using high-tech munitions.

“I was trying to create a conductive adhesive for Teesside University, who were having a lot of problems with computers being stolen.

“What I got was something completely different – this curious grey stuff which we now call QTC.

“I am trained in electronics, physics and chemistry for the missiles systems. I was a technical man, but I had sufficient knowledge from that training to realise that we had something which was very interesting.

“When I came to test it, I realised it had some very strange qualities about it.

“I took to Professor David Bloor, an academic at Durham University, who still sits on our board to this day. He looked at it, tested it, and drew this graph. He said he’d never seen anything like it before.

“That’s when we decided to get the process patented and set up the company. We have just grown organically from there.”

From the humble beginnings of a garage on an industrial estate behind Morrisons, in North Road, Darlington, Peratech has become a small but mighty company, boasting 76 QTC process patents worldwide, winning a plethora of lucrative contracts and creating numerous different versions of the substance, including an ink form, a clear form and a versions which can detect different chemical smells.

The company’s success is reflected in its 21 industry awards, including The Queen’s Award for innovation in enterprise earlier this year, which are all proudly displayed at Peratech’s headquarters.

But it hasn’t always been easy.

“We have gone through the trials and tribulations of any small company. We have had some really rough times, but we have had some great times too,” said Mr Lussey.

“Times are now becoming rather exceptional. We have had people from around the world coming to our door, and we also got a very strong base involving the universities. They are a key relationship.

“It is great for them and it is great for us – if you can relate the science to life, it just makes it so much more interesting for both the staff and the students.

“We have a PHD at the London College of Fashion, a PHD at Leeds University and a PHD at Durham all working on different projects associated with QTC.”

The technology has now reached the stage where Peratech are preparing to put their electronic QTC nose into test clothing.

The nose, which can detect chemicals as quickly as humans, could potentially monitor either the environment around the wearer – to spot hazardous chemicals and their levels – or the chemicals the wearer is giving off, which could be useful for monitoring how hard the person is training.

The company is developing different types of QTC which can detect different chemicals, while the PHD at the London School of Fashion is also exploring the capabilities of the technology, spelling very exciting times for Peratech.

Indeed, the substance has so many unexplored potential uses and properties, it appears to have an almost endless number of applications, which means that if one trend or use ends, another soon opens up, meaning the business wears consumer trends well.

“Tablets are really big now, and touch screens are getting used in more and more domestic appliances, so that’s great for us,” said Mr Lussey.

“But QTC has so many uses.

It is essentially a new area of science. We are still finding new things it can do which still surprise us.

We don’t always understand why it does certain things, and many of the things it does are very useful and unusual. It is fascinating stuff.

“There is a lot more yet to come.”