SPTS Technologies, a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor industry and related markets, today announced a significant gift to Swansea University, a world-class research led university, of over £600,000 worth of shares in BluGlass Limited (ASX:BLG), a green Australian public company established to commercialise innovative semiconductor technology.

“SPTS has strong ties with Swansea University, and has benefited from the knowledge exchange projects through the University’s Department of Research and Innovation (DRI),” said William Johnson, CEO at SPTS.

“The DRI which acts as the bridge between industry and academia has enabled us to extend the scope of our research beyond our existing markets and gain access to funding, which has proven invaluable to our R&D teams. This gift of shares in BluGlass is our way to pay back by ‘paying it forward’ to the University in not just the current value of the shares but the potential future value of BluGlass and the opportunities for greater collaboration between Swansea University, BluGlass and Sydney’s Macquarie University.”

Current collaboration with Swansea University includes a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) funded project for the development of micro-needles for bio-medical applications. The project which includes process equipment from SPTS for the University’s clean room facility was instrumental in developing a design for manufacturing quality packaged micro-needles which are achieving a 100% success rate in initial testing.

“Swansea University are absolutely delighted by this gift and indeed with the highly successful and ongoing collaboration with SPTS and Swansea academic, Dr Owen Guy,” said Dr Gerry Ronan, Head of IP at Swansea University.

“As a University we pride ourselves on our ability to collaborate with industry and this is an enlightened and most welcome way of strengthening such relationships.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard B. Davies, added: “This gift demonstrates the strong relationship that Swansea has with its collaborative industry partners and we look forward to extending the very productive working relationship that we have with SPTS.”

Johnson added: “SPTS has been at the forefront of micro-device process and manufacturing technology for many decades, and we remain committed to investing in R&D to ensure market competitiveness and industry sustainability. Our gift to Swansea University underpins our ongoing commitment to supporting the success of the Department of Research and Innovation, and we are proud to be able to support the future generations of engineers and researchers at this world-class research lead institution.”

BluGlass, which evolved out of Sydney’s Macquarie University, has developed breakthrough semiconductor technology called remote plasma chemical vapour deposition (RPCVD), for the production of high efficiency devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and concentrated solar cells. RPCVD has several potential advantages over current manufacturing techniques and through its low temperature deposition offers manufacturers higher performing devices and lower cost manufacturing.

About SPTS Technologies

SPTS Technologies (a Bridgepoint portfolio company) designs, manufactures, sells, and supports etch, PVD, CVD and thermal wafer processing solutions for the MEMS, advanced packaging, LEDs, high speed RF on GaAs, and power management device markets. With manufacturing facilities in Newport, Wales, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and San Jose, California, the company operates across 19 countries in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. For more information about SPTS Technologies, please visit www.spts.com.