Element opens $10M UK connected tech facility

Testing and certification company Element Materials Technology has opened a new state-of-the-art UK lab aimed at the burgeoning connected technologies market.

Element's new lab will increase its capacity for EMC radio and wireless testing. Picture: Element

The $10m facility near Guildford, in southern England and named Element Surrey Hills, is a purpose-built 25,000 square-foot greenfield facility constructed with the support of a leading global technology manufacturer.

While Element has remained tight-lipped about the identity of the tech company, Element said the new site was built to facilitate getting their products to market faster in Europe.

The lab will increase Element’s capacity for EMC radio and wireless testing, and will introduce specific absorption rate (SAR) testing to Element’s leading service portfolio in Europe, adding to its existing SAR offering in the US and South Korea.

According to Element, the Surrey Hills facility was constructed and designed with the help of experts from across Element. Colleagues from Europe, the US and South Korea all helped to design, set up and prepare the facility in accordance with global best-in-class practices.

Matt Hopkinson, executive vice president of EMEAA at Element, said: “Consumer electronics are becoming extremely complex and they are required to meet ever changing global regulatory requirements. With this new laboratory, we can offer the best testing facilities to enable the latest technologies to come to market, be sold, and used across the world, supporting the increased rate of innovation amongst product developers. We proudly support manufacturers across the full product life-cycle, from R&D to launch.”

Element said that the lab is already fully accredited to UKAS 17025 and most recently gained its status as a PTCRB Associate Test Lab with 2G, 4G and 5G RSE (GERAN, E-UTRA, 5G FR1), which it says will allow the company to offer greater support to tech developers and manufacturers looking to secure interoperability between their devices and wireless networks.

The new lab adds to the company’s existing 44 connected technologies and mobility facilities in the UK, USA, Germany, China, South Korea, and Japan.