QLM Technology

A Bristol-based quantum technology company that makes laser-based 'quantum gas lidar' cameras to find and measure methane leaks.

About QLM Technology

QLM Technology, short for Quantum Light Metrology, makes sensors that find leaks of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Its product, the Quantum Gas Lidar, combines lidar (which uses laser light to measure distances, a bit like radar), a technique called absorption spectroscopy that tells gases apart by the light they absorb, and detectors sensitive enough to pick up single particles of light. The result is a camera that can sit on a tower or fly on a drone and show where gas is escaping and roughly how much. Its main early use is natural gas production, transport and storage, and it can also look at sewage works and digesters.

The core idea was invented at the University of Bristol by Xiao Ai, now co-founder and chief technology officer, and the company was founded in 2017. The chief executive is Murray Reed. QLM says its mission is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and, in its words, to manufacture and deploy many thousands of its systems each year. Mr Reed has said the technology offers the largest cut in emissions at the lowest cost of ownership. It has also been picked for a Bloomberg New Energy Finance Pioneers list and has taken part in Innovate UK business support.

QLM is a Bristol company and has also worked from Cardiff, and a report in 2023 said it was moving lab space into the Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre in Paignton, Devon, close to its partner Bay Photonics, with local recruitment planned there. A 2024 interview with Xiao Ai says it chose Bristol for the nearby universities, the engineering skills inherited from the aerospace industry, and easy recruiting from Bath and Cardiff. The same report credits the University of Bristol's QTEC pre-incubation programme for early business mentoring and the Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre for labs and test equipment. An earlier report also mentioned a San Francisco operation.

We found little on internal culture. What the public record shows is a company that values advice and outside feedback: it rebuilt its branding and messaging with help from Innovate UK EDGE mentors, and it grew out of a university programme designed to help scientists become founders. Because the product is a precision instrument that has to survive outdoors, the team mixes optical and electronics specialists with software engineers and people who test equipment in real oil and gas settings.

Roles at a company like this include laser and optical engineers, electronics designers, software and data engineers who turn raw readings into gas maps, field engineers who install and test the systems, manufacturing and quality staff, and commercial and project staff who work with energy customers. Physics, engineering, computing and environmental science are all relevant starting points. QLM's own website is the best place to see what is currently open.

What they do

• {'desc': 'A laser-based camera that detects, locates and sizes methane leaks.', 'title': 'Quantum Gas Lidar'}
• {'desc': 'Continuous monitoring of gas sites from towers or drones.', 'title': 'Emissions monitoring'}
• {'desc': 'Work to extend the sensors to other gases and smaller, lighter mobile versions.', 'title': 'Wider gas detection'}

Key facts

• Founded 2017; core idea invented by co-founder and CTO Xiao Ai at the University of Bristol
• CEO Murray Reed; based in Bristol with operations in Cardiff and a laboratory move to Paignton, Devon (2023 report)
• Named in the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Pioneers selection
• Product: Quantum Gas Lidar (also called TDLidar in a case study)

Website: www.qlmtec.com