Occuity Wins Prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Award 2025

We are proud to share that a team of six engineers from Occuity has been awarded the 2025 Colin Campbell Mitchell Award by the Royal Academy of Engineering for their pioneering work in optical healthcare.

The award, which recognises the greatest contribution to UK engineering in the past four years, was presented for the invention of the PM1 Pachyemter - the world’s first handheld, non-contact pachymeter – a device designed to support glaucoma diagnosis by measuring corneal thickness quickly and painlessly.

The winning team included:

The Colin Cambell Mitchell Award Winners 2025

• Dr Robin Taylor, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer

• James Reynolds, Chief Optical Engineer

• Sharon Branch, Chief Operating Officer

• Shashin Lad, Senior Firmware and Electronics Engineer

• Martin Newman, Senior Manufacturing Technician

• Jamie Serjeant, Lead Engineer (and 2024 Royal Academy of Engineering Young Engineer of the Year)

This award is an important validation of the novelty and technical quality of our work, and a recognition of the extraordinary capabilities of our team. Crucially, the same optical platform that underpins the PM1 is the foundation for our future devices – meaning every breakthrough strengthens the pipeline we are building.

Luke Logan FREng, Chair of the Academy’s Awards Committee, commented:

“The PM1 is both a breakthrough in glaucoma diagnostics and a celebration of engineering ingenuity. By eliminating the need for anaesthetic drops and bulky equipment, it redefines how early detection can be delivered – especially in communities that previously had no access to such technology.”

Occuity Co-Founder and CEO, Dan Daly, reflected on the award:

“We are absolutely delighted to receive this recognition. When we founded Occuity in 2019, our vision was to create pain-free testing that supports the prevention, not just the treatment, of chronic health conditions. The PM1 is the first step on that journey, and this award is a testament to the extraordinary capabilities of our team.”

Why the PM1 improves glaucoma care

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, affecting over 80 million people. It occurs when pressure inside the eye builds up because fluid cannot drain properly, leading to damage of the optic nerve. The disease can be managed but not cured, and once vision is lost it cannot be restored – making early detection absolutely critical.

One important step in diagnosis is measuring corneal thickness, which affects the accuracy of eye pressure readings and helps determine glaucoma risk. Traditionally, this was done using ultrasound, which required anaesthetic eye drops and direct contact with the eye – a process that could be uncomfortable for patients and time-consuming for clinicians. Non-contact alternatives existed, but they were bulky and prohibitively expensive.

Occuity’s PM1 Pachymeter solves these challenges. The handheld device measures corneal thickness in seconds, without touching the eye, anaesthetic drops, or bulky equipment.

Developing such a device required overcoming major engineering challenges:

• Miniaturising complex optical systems

• Creating high-speed lens scanning

• Developing advanced algorithms to ensure reliable results

• Establishing a certified medical device manufacturing facility in Reading to bring the product to market

  
  

Today, the PM1 is being distributed globally, making glaucoma testing more accessible than ever before.

Building a Platform for the Future

For Occuity, the PM1 is only the beginning. Our mission is to use the eye as a window to the health of the body – a field known as Oculomics.

Alongside supporting glaucoma diagnosis, we are developing our platform optical technology to produce new handheld devices for:

• Myopia management

• Diabetes screening and monitoring – replacing painful finger-prick tests with a simple scan of the eye

• Alzheimer’s disease detection

• Other chronic conditions where early detection can change outcomes

Looking Ahead

Winning the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award is a milestone, but it is only the start. With our growing pipeline and continued focus on innovation, we are determined to make eye-based diagnostics a powerful tool for improving global health.

At Occuity, we believe the future of healthcare should be accessible, non-invasive, and patient-friendly – and we are proud to be making that vision a reality.

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