Durham University: Research collaboration at the forefront of new partnership
Enabling innovation
We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Coltraco Ultrasonics to formalise the commitment between our two organisations to work together and combine expertise. This will enable collaborative research and innovation, as well as staff development and student placement opportunities.
We already have a strong working relationship with Coltraco, with a number of our graduates working for the firm and Coltraco having an office at Orbit, our science and technology incubator space.
The MoU was signed by Professor Colin Bain, our Vice-Provost (Research), and Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE, Chairman of Coltraco Ultrasonics.
Working together on research, teaching and more
The agreement includes a wide range of objectives, including working together on research and innovation projects that are collaborative, participative, and inter-disciplinary; supporting teaching by demonstrating the value of academic concepts in R&D applications; and career development through industry exposure for students and early and mid-career researchers.
Coltraco Ultrasonics manufactures and distributes hand-held and constant monitoring technology to improve safety through condition monitoring and predictive maintenance. Using non-destructive ultrasonic testing the monitoring equipment is used to detect defects, such as cracks or corrosion, that are not visible to the human eye.
Introducing the Durham Institute for Research, Development & Invention
Innovation is at the heart of Coltraco’s operations, demonstrated through their recent creation of the Durham Institute for Research, Development & Invention (DIRDI), which is now open to our students and staff and aims to develop collaborative research activity and to create research impact.
The three broad areas of research within DIRDI are acoustics, electromagnetism, and information engineering including signal processing and machine learning.