Northern Ireland firm proves its worth in high-tech expertise

There's been a recent gush of interest in oil fuelled by the ousting of Sir Philip Watts from Shell.
Shell, which is the world's second biggest oil company with a market value of over £ 90 bn, stunned the oil industry on 9 January by announcing that 3.9 bn barrels of oil and gas, or 20 % of its reserves were no longer "proved" -- meaning that they would not be retrieved as quickly as thought.

The reclassification from "proven" to "potential for recovery" in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, wiped almost £ 3 bn of the group's market value as the shares dived on the news. The event has been a disaster for Shell and its chairman, Sir Philip who paid the price for the miscalculation.
This stormy event which has rocked the oil industry may seem a world away from the tranquil waterfront setting of the University of Ulster's Jordanstown Campus -- but that's precisely where a rich reservoir of research and development is based which may hold the key to the future of the global oil industry.

Smart Light Devices Ireland (SLDI) is a young, innovative Northern Ireland company based at the UU's Technology and Innovation Centre which has developed cutting edge optical technology for the oil and gas industries. The firm employs a staff of 27, mostly research and engineers creating a range of high-tech specialised products for the oil and gas sectors.
The company was set up in 2002 by Co. Tyrone-born James Kerlin and Khalid Thabeth who is from Newtownabbey. Both are former employees of Nortel Networks, as is the majority of SLDI's staff. All possess specialist expertise in optical technology gained through their experience at Nortel Network's Monkstown plant.

"We became aware that there was a real need in the oil and gas industry for optical technology to help companies achieve efficiencies," explains James Kerlin, SLDI's chief marketing officer. "Companies require devices such as sensors and communications to take them to what is termed 'digital oil fields' or 'intelligent wells'."
"Companies wanted to find new ways of discovering oil quicker, bringing it out of the ground more efficiently and amassing information to enable them to make intelligent business decisions. We saw an opportunity and after conducting market research realised that the market required more than just a few solutions. We visited several potential customers, got a feel for what they required and decided to take a chance."

The first step towards making a strike was to secure funding. This was achieved through a total funding package of £ 2.2 mm with £ 833,000 contributed by Invest NI of which £ 750,000 is in the form of share capital. Investment assistance was also received from UU Tech, W&R Barnett and the University Challenge fund.
Khalid Thabeth, SLDI CEO, says partnership has been key to fuelling the company's development.
"We are truly grateful to all of our investors who joined with us to realise this vision. Invest NI partnered with us from the very beginning offering start-up and business development support and proactively positioned us to secure other financial investment."