Amanda Pickford has grown the business she started in a cupboard at home into a venture that could make a big difference to tackling climate change.
Her revolutionary thermal image analysis software ThermaFY aims to improve the efficiency of home heating systems by up to 15%.
It has won consistent backing from Microsoft, having been invited on to the tech giant’s accelerator programme and now been awarded a Microsoft Global AI for Earth grant.
Amanda says ThermaFY will make heating more efficient by showing engineers where it could be working better – in turn reducing emissions and saving customers money.
She said: “Our mobile digital solution is the first software of its kind that helps heating engineers to quickly identify issues.
Its user-friendly interface provides a visual aid so clients can understand why they are being recommended certain works.
The back-office reporting allows for a full system history and a record of previous works. Our software gives a before and after visualisation of the system, calculating the improvements from the work carried out.
This traceability will help maintain a loyal customer base and win new contracts whilst reducing customers’ heating bills.”
ThermaFY makes products tailored to different industries. One of them is designed to help heating technicians find problems which are invisible to the naked eye, presenting them as measurable data.
The Microsoft accelerator programme which ThermaFY took part in was the first in the world focusing on using AI for Good. The grant is from a focused programme which aims to help solve global environmental challenges using AI.
It is the latest in a string of successes for ThermaFY, which was set up in the Borders town of Kelso only four years ago but has expanded across Europe and now has five employees.