Industry Collaboration

Industry Collaboration

The School of Engineering undertakes research in a broad range of fundamental and applied engineering topics in Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical & Electronic Engineering. The School maintains close links with both local industry and international companies. Representatives from local industry guide the strategic direction of the School in both undergraduate and postgraduate matters.

Research collaboration ranges from consultancy by individual staff, through jointly funded applied research projects, to significant research projects funded by industry. Industrial collaboration features in many Government-funded, EC-funded and other international projects Many applied research projects are wholly funded by Industry, often directly focused on industry needs.

Examples of such projects include

  • AMEC Civil Engineering LtdGeotechnical work has focused on non-destructive testing of ground anchorage systems.
  • Elforlight – Development of subsea holographic cameras with DTI Link funding.
  • Inmarsat – This project specified an adaptation of multicast routing protocols for mobile satellite communications, to be realised in the next generation of the Inmarsat BGAN System, 2004 - 2006.
  • QinetiQ – Design of a new architecture and techniques for reconfigurable military satellite modems.
  • Shell - Research into fatigue and fracture of super duplex steel in HPHT environments.
  • Thales-Alenia Space - Analysis of performance of a new protocol architecture for next generation satellite DVB-RCS systems.
  • Vesuvius UK – Materials research on the pressing of continuous casting refractories 1997–2004.
  • EADS Astrium – Analysis of performance of a new protocol architecture for next generation satellite DVB-RCS systems, 2002. Analysis of performance of small terminal satellite systems, 2008 - 2011.
  • Network Rail - Design of microcontroller-based infrastructure monitoring equipment.
  • Scottish and Southern Energy - Design of transmission system operator components for High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnections.

Additional areas where we collaborate with industry includes:

  • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
  • Commercialisation & Proof of Concept Funding
  • Spin-Out Companies
  • Consultancy