Collaboration

FabTest

The Falmouth Bay Test Site (FaBTest) site became operational in October 2011 and the Fred Olsen ‘Lifesaver’ device was the first machine deployed on site; commissioned in March 2012 and on site for 26 months. Following a successful period of prototype development in Cornwall, the device is now at the Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, and will be imminently deployed and grid connected for the next stage of technology demonstration.

In 2015, Polygen deployed their Volta device on site. The Cornish supply chain was heavily involved with the development of the mooring spread as well as installation and maintenance of the device on site.

Summer 2018 will see MPS Ltd deploying their WaveSub device on the FaBTest site. This novel quarter-scale device is designed to be modular for commercial upscaling and will undergo a rigorous testing programme to validate numerical models and optimize design.

Marine-i

Marine-i is a pioneering programme designed to help the marine technology sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly grow through research, development and innovation.

Are you a marine business interested to develop new technology? Or a business in a different sector interested to explore the opportunity that marine technology offers?

Marine-I offers:

• Business support
• Research support
• Marine Challenge Fund - £5000-£150’000 for projects with growth potential
• Access to world class testing facilities and labs
• Graduate staff at a subsidised cost
• Special events to bring together thought leaders from industry, market leading organisations, technology companies and research experts.

Contact our team today. We will listen to your ideas and help you chart the best way forward, harnessing the marine services and resources you need to help turn your ideas into reality.

MBTC

The Marine Business Technology Centre (MBTC)

The University of Exeter is a partner in the European Regional Development Funded project: The Marine Business Technology Centre (MBTC). Other partners include Plymouth City Council (Lead), Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Marine Biological Association and the University of Plymouth.

The main element of the MBTC Offer is an off-shore deep-sea test range: the ‘Plymouth Smart Sound’, in which businesses can test their innovations (usually TRL levels 5-9) in a real-world environment with support of the MBTC’s physical and knowledge assets. Devon-based SMEs can access the MBTCs physical and knowledge assets for free, to support marine-related Research, Development and Innovation. These assets include:

• Use of an autonomous vessel from June 2019.
• Platforms for testing sensors and equipment, such as the L4 Station Buoy.
• Use of two manned vessels.
• Access to world class testing facilities and labs.
• Business Support through our Knowledge Transfer Officers.
• Research-support through the project’s researchers and technicians.
• Workshops and events for networking and upskilling participants.

You can contact the UoE MBTC Team’s Jim Grant and Kitty Adhamy-Nichol for more information.

Met Office

The University of Exeter works with the Met Office to tackle key challenges in weather and climate prediction as part of an in-depth research partnership which also includes the universities of Leeds, Oxford and Reading.

The University of Exeter’s areas of expertise for the partnership include earth system science; using maths and statistics to study weather and climate; and looking at the links between human health, weather and climate.

The partnership has developed strongly since the Met Office relocated to Exeter in 2003 and there are in the region of 80 collaborative projects underway or in the pipeline, wit a total value of £18million, including studentships and research projects.

PREDEX (PREDictability of EXtreme weather events)

This collaborative interdisciplinary project will deliver and apply new mathematical complexity methods for quantifying the predictability of extreme events in complex dynamical systems. Find out more »

PAGODA

Researchers on the PAGODA project have found evidence of human-induced changes in rainfall, with wet regions becoming wetter whilst dry regions are becoming drier in response to a warming planet. Find out more »

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Our partnership with PML is addressing fundamental research questions in marine renewables, molecular biology, and environmental and human health, and much more.

Ecosystem Services And Poverty Alleviation

The project aims to improve the lives of societies susceptible to climate change impacts such as sea level rise and land degradation.

Microplastic Pollution

The University and PML have also worked on a project led by Prof Tamara Galloway looking at how microplastics pollution affects marine life. Find out more »

Global atmospheric-ocean gas exchange and climate

The oceans are a significant sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide and this is of prime importance to the global climate system. This European Space Agency funded project is using satellite sensors to improve the quantification of gas exchange and the resulting oceanic sink of carbon dioxide. Find out more »

ZSL

Working with Zoological Society of London

Based at University’s Penryn campus, researchers from the ZSL’s Marine and Freshwater Conservation team are involved with a wide variety of projects across the world, including:

Project Seahorse

Project Seahorse co-founded by Heather Kodleway in 1996 to combat threats to seahorse populations around the globe. Project Seahorse is now recognised as the world’s leading authority on seahorses, conducting innovative research and working with governments, local communities and other stakeholders to protect seahorses and their habitats, and ensure they are used sustainably. Find out more »
Video link for the Sea Horse project.

Net-works

Net-works an award-winning project that has developed a novel community-based supply chain for discarded fishing nets that are recycled into carpet tiles - with Interface Inc. - addressing issues of marine debris and poverty alleviation in coastal communities.
Video link for the net-work project

Project Ocean

Project Ocean retail activism in action - an innovative and ground-breaking partnership between the luxury London department store Selfridges and ZSL to bring ocean conservation to new audiences and change consumer buying habits. Find out more »

Chagos Archipelago Science Consortium

Chagos Archipelago Science Consortium- developed and co-ordinated by Heather Koldeway this consortium, which is working with the Bertarelli Foundation to deliver a ground-breaking science programme that supports ocean conservation and the management of large marine protected areas, particularly in the UK Overseas Territories.

Our Sea Our Life

Our Sea Our Life project in Mozambique, which is helping to create locally managed marine areas to both increase food security and protect biodiversity.

The Our Sea Our Life project works with six vulnerable communities to manage local fisheries. The goal is to improve the resilience of coastal ecosystems and community well-being by creating community fishers councils for the management of 500ha of marine areas, developing sustainable financing mechanisms and supporting Village Savings and Loan Associations to invest in alternative small-scale businesses and secure a diversity of income.

National Oceanography Centre

The NOC is one of the world’s top oceanographic institutions and has worked with the University of Exeter on a number of environmental research projects.

Convex Seascape Survey