Aptia Solutions, a new spin-out company, will bring the very latest cutting and packing research technologies to the marketplace. The company has developed software products and services based on pioneering automated layout technology that it will launch in the spring.

The technology offers a fast and accurate approach to automatic layout. The software can be used to place shapes on a given material that are subsequently cut out. The underpinning algorithms, developed at The University of Nottingham and now incorporated into Aptia’s products, are able to produce better layouts than are currently possible — with a major cost-saving in terms of materials and reduction of waste.

Their approaches are suitable for a variety of materials including glass, sheet metal, precious metal, fabric, as well as many others.

Aptia Solutions, spun out from the School of Computer Science & Information Technology at The University of Nottingham, will be launching its first software products in April.

Based at Highfields Science and Technology Park, adjacent to the University Park campus, Aptia is strongly positioned for the future by securing the rights to the state-of-the-art automated layout technology developed at The University of Nottingham.

Glenn Whitwell, Aptia's Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to add the University's leading research to our own expertise. We still have strong links with the university and we expect this to provide a research and development arm to Aptia which is not only cost effective but it gives us access to the latest research in this important commercial area. This will allow us to provide innovative products that are world-leading in terms of their deliverables.”

Professor Edmund Burke, Academic Director of the company and head of the School of Computer Science & IT at The University of Nottingham, said: “This development gives us the opportunity to build even stronger links between our research base and industrial practice.”

Aptia Solutions is one of more than 25 successful spin-out companies that have started life at The University of Nottingham. Other spin-outs have developed ground-breaking research and are taking it to the international marketplace in the fields of healthcare, engineering, pharmaceuticals, food science, computer science, agriculture and the environment.

Bruce Venning, Commercialisation Manager in the University’s Research Innovation Services department, said: “We are always very interested in the application of our research to real-world commercial challenges.”