Isis Innovation Works with Lakeland to Launch Oxford-designed Cooking Pan

A Flare Pan incorporating patented ‘FIN-X’ technology.

Isis Innovation, the University’s technology commercialisation company, worked with Dr Povey to protect his intellectual property, both patent and design rights, to win a Design Council award to complete professional design work and to market the opportunity and manage the license to Lakeland.

Dr Povey applied his research into the design of high-efficiency cooling systems for next-generation jet-engines to an everyday object which transfers heat: the domestic saucepan. The brand new pan design considerably speeds up cooking, providing substantial savings of time and energy consumption.

Formed from cast aluminium and incorporating patented ‘FIN-X’ technology, Flare Pans are most effective on gas hobs, estimated to be used by over two thirds of the UK. The unique, patented, finned design channels heat from the flame across the bottom and up the sides of the pan, resulting in highly efficient, even heat distribution. This means the pans heat up significantly more quickly and food cooks faster, saving time and using much less energy too – in fact, an equivalent pan of conventional design was shown to need 40% more energy to heat up than a Flare pan.

Tom Hockaday, Managing Director of Isis Innovation said: “This is a great example of clever thinking from Oxford being applied to an everyday object, one which anyone can use to speed up our cooking and improve our energy consumption. Isis is delighted to have helped Dr Povey and Lakeland commercialise the Flare Pan”.

Dr Povey and Isis Innovation went through Design Council’s Design Leadership Programme, a mixture of workshops and direct support part-subsidised by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. It is designed to help turn scientific and technological ideas into innovative, profitable products and services.