Aveillant. A vibrant company with a deep history

A brief history

Aveillant is a UK technology company spun off from Cambridge Consultants in October 2011. Cambridge Consultant’s spin-offs have a track record of success, generating a combined market value in excess of £1.5bn and more than 3,000 new jobs.

Cambridge Consultants first started working with radar in 1980 and has been developing its capability ever since. They initially focused on short range radar systems specifically designed to provide maximum information on targets in a volume of interest – rather than simply detecting objects that are as far away as possible.

Holographic Technology that's Clean Technology

The company started to apply its Holographic Radar™ technology to the wind farm aviation interference issue back in 2007 as part of its Clean Technology business. It became clear that to meet the wind industry’s targeted growth a no-compromise solution was needed and that existing technologies were inadequate. To properly address the issue, a form of radar that could differentiate between a wind turbine and aircraft was essential – clearly a good fit for Holographic Radar™.

In 2009, the unique capability of this Holographic Radar™ was recognised when successful trials of a small scale system for the MoD led to sponsorship for a proposal to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC’s) Aviation Advisory panel. Consequently in 2010, the UK Government’s Aviation Management Board selected Holographic Radar™ as the leading radar in-fill solution, and the Wind Industry offered financial support for its development.

In June 2011, Glasgow Prestwick Airport selected Cambridge Consultants to provide the first stage in a radar mitigation system design to solve the problem of interference by wind farms.

Investors

Aveillant’s funding comes from a consortium of the Wind Industry’s funding body, Aviation Investment Fund Company Limited (AIFCL), Cambridge Consultants and venture capitalists DFJ Esprit.

The AIFCL was set up to provide financial support for programs outlined in DECC’s Aviation Plan. AIFCL Members include:

  • SSE Renewables
  • Banks Renewables
  • E.On Climate and Renewables Limited
  • EDF Energy Renewables Limited
  • Ecotricity
  • Falck Renewables
  • Infinis
  • RES UK and Ireland
  • RWE npower Renewables
  • ScottishPower Renewables Limited
  • Vattenfall Limited
  • West Coast Energy Limited
  • Your Energy
  • Ridgewind
  • Community Windpower
  • Wind Prospect

Team

  • David Crisp, CEO

    David Crisp Photo

    David is an experienced technology CEO and serial entrepreneur. After a 10 year career in Oil & Gas with Schlumberger, he founded the mobile communications software company, Eden Group – a successful exit gave a ten times return for investors.

    After a brief spell as entrepreneur-in-residence for a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, he became CEO of Neopost Online Inc. a $100M funded e-commerce start-up, providing online postage, package and shipping services. Returning to the UK in 2005, David joined wave energy device developer Orecon Limited as CEO, closing a £12m ‘A’ round funding.

  • Gordon Oswald, CTO

    Gordon Oswald Photo

    Dr. Gordon Oswald is a physicist who was educated at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He has focused his career on the development and application of short range radar technology for government and commercial users. His experience has ranged from radar investigation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet through developing military instrumentation radars to creating collision sensors for the automotive industry.

    He joined Cambridge Consultants in 1980 and managed the Geophysics Group and the Radio Sensors Business Unit. He recognised in 2008 that Holographic Radar™ could be developed and deployed to mitigate the effects of wind turbines on aviation. He now leads the technology development effort for Aveillant.

  • Craig Webster, Business Development Director

    Craig Webster Photo

    Craig Webster has a significant track record taking products from an early stage to market. Following a 12 year career in new product development with Black & Decker, he joined Cambridge Consultants to build a new group specializing in Power Products. The projects included Electromechanical Systems and Electric Vehicle Drives.

    In 2009 as a Commercial Director, he formed the Cambridge Consultants Cleantech Campaign – developing technologies for the rapidly growing Cleantech sector with a particular focus on Renewable Energy.

    After two years leading the Cleantech Campaign, it became clear that there was a major opportunity to supply Holographic Radar™ to the wind industry. As the technology and market developed, Craig led this business forward, which resulted in the formation and spin-out of Aveillant.