Using patented technology, this company is developing ways to meet the growing demand for Omega 3 supplements and oils without depleting the world’s fish stocks. It farms algae, which fish feed on to produce Omega 3, and uses its systems to cut out the middle fish to develop the nutrients directly.

As well as the food supplement sector, its technology can be applied to the cosmetics industry. Its research centre is based at Discovery Park.

Its chief executive is Naz Bashir, pictured.

A medical instrument manufacturer which makes breath and gas monitors. In business since 1976, its tools can track levels of carbon monoxide on the breath to help people stop smoking or screen for poisoning.

It sold subsidiary business NOxBOX, which makes monitoring instruments for inhaled nitric oxide therapy, to Fortune 250 company Praxair, which has sales of $11 billion. NOxBOX is now based at Kent Science Park.

This biotechnology company is developing technology which can programme the immune system to attack infections.

It is backed by a £6.3 million joint-venture between private equity investors Horizon and the Discovery Park Technology Investment Fund – a pot of Kent County Council cash used to acquire stakes in businesses. Its research and development facility is based at Discovery Park.

This manufacturer turns low-value commercial waste into high-value furniture on a large scale. It is the brainchild of Rod Fountain and Mary Dorrington Ward, who sold their thriving furniture dealership in 2008 to create a new business making products using only sustainable materials and methods. It started turning cardboard into furniture and now deals with various types of fibrous waste.

In June last year it opened its manufacturing centre in Discovery Park and by September, production was averaging 2,000 units a week. Products include desks, storage units, partitions, signage and even table tennis tables. Its clients include M&S, the NHS and Coca Cola.

This company transforms homes and businesses with its patented folding and sliding door system which appears to have no frame. Rooms are flooded with light with its windows, room dividers, screens and entrances, which are designed and developed in-house. They adhere to the latest thermal efficiency, weather resistance, security and safety specifications.

Its clients include Manchester United.

This supplier and developer of road-safety equipment and crash barriers has created portable steel barriers which have been snapped up by firms around the world.

It crash tests its products and has made huge leaps into export markets after adding wheels to its steel barriers to make them mobile. Their crash cushions are designed to save lives when hit at speeds of up to 70mph.

It has recorded the fastest-growing export sales in Kent for two of the last three years in the MegaGrowth 50 list.

This Swedish company allows passengers to use Wi-Fi on trains, buses and various forms of public transport. It opened its UK head office in Chatham Maritime in 2015 after several years based at the Medway Innovation Centre. It designs and engineers its own systems, builds its own hardware and writes its own software. Founded in 1999 by four graduates of the Chalmers Institute of Technology, its clients include bus operators Arriva and FirstGroup, ScotRail, Chiltern Railways and Siemens.

It makes wristbands, passes, lanyards and accreditation for clients like NME, Uefa, the O2 and Vodafone. Founded in 1995, it introduced the UK’s first fabric wristband at Glastonbury in 1999, now used at festivals around the world. It was also the first to incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) on wristbands, which can be used for cashless payments, and many of the security locking mechanisms on the market.

This contract medical device manufacturer turns ideas into reality. Founded as Wilj International in 1977, it works with all kinds of clients, from blue-chip companies to nutty professors, taking projects from design and development to prototyping, volume manufacturing and then distribution worldwide. It has subsidiaries in Virginia and Shanghai and has begun research and development on its own projects. Its name stands for Integrated Technologies Limited.

This small team of engineers are experts in how to fill and empty liquid tankers – and stop workers falling from height. They are specialists in transferring liquids on a large scale and make loading arms used to fill oil tankers. Founded in 1996, it has clients across Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the chemical, aviation, fertiliser and petroleum industries. Its marine loading arms transfer liquids and gas across all vessels from river barges to super tankers. Its technology also helps transfer fuels in freezing conditions on hard-to-reach oil rigs, particularly in Russia. It also makes platforms to ensure workers use their equipment without risk of falling.

It is a common misconception that Pfizer left Kent in 2011 when it announced it was closing its research site in Sandwich. It actually still employs about 700 people in a smaller space on the site, which has gone on to become the successful technology estate Discovery Park. While its research operations have been scaled back, the company’s business model has evolved to focus on development and provides as important route to market for small science companies. Its site in Discovery Park focuses on pharmaceutical sciences, worldwide safety and regulatory compliance and quality assurance.

A designer and manufacturer of camshafts used in Formula 1, Le Mans, Touring Cars and British and European Rallycross. Launched in the 1960s, it moved to its 25,000sq ft factory in Folkestone in 2007. It typically makes prototypes and small batches for racing cars. It continually invests in research and development to keep up with vehicle manufacturers as they produce lighter and more efficient engines. It also makes exhaust systems and devices to measure airflow.

Loved by green fingered folk across the country, this company makes gardens grow. Its Empathy range of products helps plants extract nutrients from soil and hold water in difficult conditions. This is done using mycorrhizal fungi, the organisms which boost the roots of plants, which have been researched and produced by the company. Its production facility is based in greenhouses at Kent Science Park.

This firm has developed a wearable device which predicts the onset of an asthma attack before it occurs by analysing breathing and coughing. Its product, called CoughAware, is due to launch later this year. It can be worn as a necklace and monitors coughing. If it detects abnormal breathing patterns, it will automatically send a text message to carers notifying them of an imminent asthma attack. It can also be applied to cystic fibrosis patients and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

A biotech company which extracts deadly venom from spiders and snakes to sell to drugs researchers. Its founder Steve Trim was a molecular biologist with Pfizer for 10 years before he set up the firm in 2010. He launched the business after struggling to get good candidate molecules for his drug discovery programmes with the global firm. Its products are made with the venom of snakes, lizards, snails, insects, scorpions.

Part of the University of Greenwich at Medway, it has world-leading expertise in the handling of powders. Its clients include Nestle, Unilever, BASF, Pfizer, RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall and GlaxoSmithKline. Its research has come up with more efficient ways of moving and mixing powders, which it refers to as “bulk solids”. Its huge range of equipment allows it to mock up a client’s whole handling process or logistics chain, at near- or full-scale, in its 4,843sq ft plant. It also trains about 300 engineers each year from around the world.