A Northern Ireland technology firm has signed a £250,000 deal with a US university.

Dunmurry-based Lightstep Technologies is to install its intelligent evacuation system this autumn in new student accommodation at Upper Iowa University.

The company has created an LED lighting guidance system to evacuate buildings in the event of a fire. It uses automatic navigation to assist escape, incorporating proximity sensors and fire and smoke detectors.

The firm hopes the installation, its first project in the US, will become an international showcase of its work.

The university's president, Dr Alan Walker, will visit the Lightstep headquarters in Belfast this week to finalise the deal. Lightstep executive chairman Kieran Patterson said: "We look forward to seeing this exciting order progress over the coming months - this is a huge opportunity for Lightstep to bring the highest standards in evacuation systems to this vast marketplace."

Mr Patterson said a number of other projects were already in the pipeline. He added: "We have a schedule of significant installations over the next three years which will bring major revenue into the company."

The company has also been nominated in the Best Means of Escape product category at the Fire Excellence Awards, to be held in Birmingham on Monday.

The awards coincide with the International Firex Exhibition, the UK's largest dedicated fire safety event.