Clean lab for electronics development opens doors

7th April 2022

Delkia

Beatrice O'Flaherty

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Cumbria-based systems integrator Delkia has opened a new clean electronics lab at its facility in Egremont. The lab will meet a need in the market for the specialised repair and testing of legacy and new electronic equipment from highly specialised sectors including nuclear, defence, aerospace and maritime.

Over £300,000 of investment has already gone into the facility and it will create many new technical jobs, including a lead hardware electronics design engineer, which Delkia is currently recruiting for.

The term ‘clean’ in this application is used to refer to the non-radioactive nature of the lab rather than one that limits airborne contaminants. As such, the lab features a range of advanced testing equipment, supported by highly skilled engineers, to help customers diagnose faults, carry out repairs, refurbish and remanufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs), computer memory, safety-related power supplies and other high assurance electronic components and systems.

“The need for the new clean lab arose because we have many customers, especially in the nuclear sector, that must continue to maintain electronic components that were first installed over forty years ago,” explained Gareth Powell, technical and engineering manager at Delkia.

“Many of these nuclear sites have been flagged for decommissioning and cannot overhaul their systems at high cost, so need a way of keeping their legacy equipment operational for the foreseeable future. Delkia’s new clean lab will offer these customers a sandbox-style environment in which to repair and test the equipment before introducing it back into often radioactive environments, further mitigating the risks.

The lab will feature a dummy control system, mimicking those found in nuclear sites, where engineers can come and test their equipment, receive specialist training as well as help from Delkia to source legacy components. The lab is also working towards achieving BS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for calibration and testing.

The creation of the lab will also create three new jobs and additional investment beyond the initial £300,000: “Delkia has doubled in size in the last financial year, both from a turnover and people perspective, with a projection to become a £5m+ business in the coming financial year,” said Canfield.

“We now have a team of over 40+ people and, in addition to this, we’re currently recruiting for a few new jobs, including a lead hardware electronics design engineer, as well as senior project managers and DevOps engineers. The job listings are available on our website, and we welcome applications."