NOC, Marlan Enter Knowledge Transfer Partnership

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has entered into a two year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Marlan Maritime Technologies Ltd to develop innovative remote sensing services for the survey of intertidal zones.

The partnership builds on the existing collaborative R&D between Marlan, the NOC and the University of Liverpool which included a successful ERDF-funded collaboration as part of the University’s Centre for Global Eco-Innovation (CGE) and resulted in a technique being patented.

The new project will see NOC’s Dr Paul Bell and KTP Associate Dr Cai Bird work with Marlan over the next two years to develop and then test new techniques that will ultimately provide improvements to the quality and efficiency of delivering data services to the coastal engineering industry.

Kevin Forshaw, Associate Director, Innovation and Enterprise at the NOC said:“The NOC is confident that this partnership will see the benefits of coastal knowledge transferred from the science community to UK industry, and probably beyond, for the good of all coastal communities.”

These services will enable more cost effective monitoring, design and construction of coastal and maritime infrastructure.

The services are expected to appeal to the UK’s 50 coastal councils, as well as, for example, operators of ports, coastal power stations, desalination plants, transport infrastructure, sewage treatment works, coastal engineering consultancies, research groups and military sites.

The patent also covers Europe, Australia and the USA, and so an additional 1.1 million km of coastline can be considered for potential sites.