Super progress as Wellington tech company targets big profits

16 March 2006

It has been a momentous two years since superconductor technology company HTS-110 was launched.

While not a household name, HTS-110 (pronounced H-T-S-one-ten) is projected to earn $100 million over the next five years. By 2011, the Wellington start-up could be earning up to $50 million annually, said chief executive Dr Sohail Choudhry.

The Herald first reported on the company' s launch on April 8, 2004, when it received $500,00 from a venture fund dedicated towards developing science and technology for export. The money allowed the company to break away from research institute Industrial Research. The company, to put it simply, makes magnets. Not just any magnets, mind you but lighter, smaller, and more efficient magnets for specialist equipment in sectors ranging from energy to defence.

At the heart of it is technology and material developed by Industrial Research that allows for electricity to be conducted without resistance at relatively high temperatures. The first bit of its name, HTS, is an acronym from high temperature superconductors. The second bit relates to the way its materials start superconducting at 110 degrees Kelvin (-163C). This allows for small yet more powerful magnets.
Dr Choudhry said the technology took nearly 20 years to develop and was only now being recognised internationally.
Last year, HTS-110 won Start-Up of the Year at the New Zealand Incubator Awards.

Today, the company racks up about $2 million in sales, with potential joint venture in America and Japan in the pipeline. Dr Choudhry sees the future for the company' s products and know-how in the energy and utilities sector, and also in the medical field.
The ability to transmit electricity without resistance makes it well placed to capitalise on future developments. In the medical field, there was great potential for HTS magnets to replace conventional magnets in MIR machines, said Dr Choudhry.

In future, personal MRIs could be available in every general practice, lessening the need for hospital visits.