The Story of Taraz Metrology - A Spin-Out Company

The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is a highly respected and technical company. It mainly specialised in pharmaceutical development due to the University Park campus being gifted by Jesse Boots in 1921. The University believed it needed to broaden its capabilities for commercial exploitation of research, and gained lots of support and backing from companies with funding. This led to the creation of the Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV).

A Gap in the Market

A research group within the University of Nottingham Engineering Faculty, decided to raise the profile of metrology within the institute of advanced manufacturing. Richard Leach's research was looking at new areas of additive manufacturing which brought with it lots of new challenges to measure and characterise the process with the correct dimensions. People using 3D printing were trying to use existing measurement techniques however, these didn't fit with what 3D printing required, which was the ability to measure things very quickly using light. Richard Leach honed in on two particular areas: 1) Dimensional Metrology (tolerances) and, 2) Surface Metrology (quantifying surface properties and roughness). This research idea led to teams working on ways to measure dimensions and surfaces of additive manufacturing.

Establishment of Taraz Metrology

Eventually, this awareness of a gap in the market launched a spin-out company from Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV) at the University of Nottingham, to try and turn research into commercial products. This led to Taraz being set up in 2018 with a new CEO to run the business, and search for customers and investors for further funding. Through market research and developing client relationships, Taraz found quite a lot of interest in the 3D printing solutions world.

Taraz's first product sold was a research system for measurement of laser powder bed fusion (a type of 3D printer) to test if the process was working correctly, for the University of Sheffield. This gained quite a lot of research interest from other groups and research companies. Additionally, Richard Leach opened up a new application area - archaeology. This non-industrial application became too challenging to implement a commercial solution for due to limited resources and funding. This led to the decision to continue to focus on 3D printing solutions, in particular, measuring layer by layer. This in-process measurement was worked on alongside university research groups and companies. However, as COVID came along, it meant Taraz couldn't meet with customers, making it more difficult to develop products together. This also led to challenges with functioning and engaging with the global market to progress the development of the company.

The Reboot

Shortly after COVID in 2022, Taraz decided to reboot their business. This included focusing on new niche markets, enhancing their current product and service portfolio and establishing strong partnerships for research collaborations.

Taraz continues to specialise in non-contact measurement systems and has developed a range of advanced products, leveraging exceptional academic knowledge and extensive industrial experience. Additionally, Taraz continues to successfully measure precise tolerances and complex forms and surfaces across various industries.