Investment in academic engineering excellence is helping to drive new product development at leading electrical test and measurement company Seaward.
Seaward has linked up with Durham Universityโs Engineering Department in a partnership that sees undergraduate students as part of a project team to develop new processing technology, which could eventually be incorporated in future designs of the firmโs electronic test and measurement instruments.
The Seaward investment, designed to enhance the high-performance electrical testers provided to national and international customers, comes as part of Seawardโs ongoing commitment to boosting engineering skills and new product development to drive growth and expansion.
With an office also in Tampa, Florida, Seaward currently employs around 170 people and is a market leading manufacturer of electronic test and measurement instruments used in a wide variety of electrical, medical, industrial and energy sector applications.
The move has seen Durham University final year Mechanical and Electronics (Meng) students Haydn Lisk and Sam Sutcliffe working in the engineering department on a project that has led to the development of a new proof-of-concept platform that is currently being assessed by Seaward for its commercial and manufacturing viability.
This is all part of an innovation-led strategy linked to a partnership with the university that sees a number of student internships at the company annually, where they play a key role in product development and gain experience in industrial processes and engineering management.
Equally, Seaward is able to tap into the fresh insight and academic prowess that Sam and Haydn among others bring as part of its commitment to supporting skills development and learning.
Sam Sutcliffe said: โMy time at Seaward has been extremely beneficial. Itโs been good to be involved in a real-world project thatโs provided an understanding and insight of the important industrial processes and applications manufacturers are involved with and the whole product development cycle.โ
Haydn Lisk added: โBeing able to see from start to finish how our theoretical designs are transformed in workable solutions has been the biggest value of my time at Seaward. Iโm considering electronic design as a career, so itโs been an invaluable time that I can now build on and take forward in any future job.โ
Nick Maltby, Seawardโs engineering manager, said the partnership with Durham University is a key part of securing the companyโs current and future workforce needs.
โWe have a strategy to grow and increasing our engineering capabilities through strong academic links has become a beneficial part of our plans,โ he said. โCooperation with Durham University helps our recruitment and continues to pay dividends in terms of harnessing bright, enthusiastic academic talent across key parts of the business. This helps us to innovate, improve our core engineering skills and bring forward new products for the benefit of our worldwide customers.โ
