Coltraco Ultrasonics: A British Manufacturer with a Research-Led Future
Founded in 1987 by current Chairman and company co-founder Professor Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE, Coltraco Ultrasonics is a high-exporting manufacturer of ultrasonic, acoustic and instrumentation technology.
The company champions an environment where individual and group potential can be developed, helping to support innovation, advancement and technical excellence.
Twice winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade, Coltraco is a highly respected company that continues to prosper and grow.
Coltraco recognises the importance of integrating the knowledge and experience of long-term academics and professors with bright young minds entering the workplace. This approach supports the company’s wider aim to advance technology while considering the economic and societal impact of its work.
Why Does Coltraco Invest in Academic and Industrial Collaboration?
Coltraco’s approach is built on the belief that innovation is strongest when academic knowledge and industrial experience work together.
By combining established expertise with new thinking, Coltraco aims to support the development of technologies that can benefit both industry and wider society.
This sits alongside a business model that considers the broader implications of the company’s work. Coltraco’s ambition is not only to grow commercially, but also to become a market leader across a broad range of technologies.
Coltraco’s Core Business Operations
Coltraco’s core business operations include a clear commitment to ensuring operational safety and functionality in industry.
This work is delivered through the company’s Safeship® and Safesite® initiatives, which support safety, reliability and performance across the industries in which Coltraco operates.
Coltraco is also committed to supporting Net Zero through manufacturing products that can be used to check airtightness in buildings. This reflects the company’s wider focus on developing technology with practical environmental and societal value.
What Is DIRDI?
In parallel with its core business operations, Coltraco founded The Durham Institute of Research, Development and Invention, known as DIRDI.
DIRDI was founded by Coltraco in 2021. Its purpose is to connect the brightest minds, bridge the gap between academia and industry, advance British science, support the next generation of researchers and drive technological innovation.
Chairman Professor Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter’s vision is helping UK scientists to achieve their academic ambitions.
How Does DIRDI Support Research and Innovation?
Collaborating with members of DIRDI to innovate and create has positive implications for business growth.
However, the partnership is grounded in a broader goal: creating positive total societal impact.
By prioritising and understanding how Coltraco and DIRDI can benefit society at large, the partnership has the potential to support promising upcoming talent while also giving those further along in their careers the opportunity to develop their ideas and make them a reality.
DIRDI currently has around 650 members from several backgrounds, all bringing a unique perspective and offering to the partnership.
What Is Coltraco’s UKSIRTMO Ambition?
Coltraco is well established in the industries in which it operates and has spent more than 35 years refining and perfecting its technological offerings and associated services.
However, a significant and potentially highly impactful aim of the company is to promote DIRDI in becoming a UK Sovereign Integrated Research-to-Manufacturing organisation.
The collective knowledge of academics and DIRDI members means Coltraco is in a unique position to provide offerings, services and continued support that are highly valuable within the technology industry.
Connecting Academic Fellows, Universities and Industry
Leading over 500 academic fellows from 20 universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Durham University and Imperial, Coltraco aims to provide a comprehensive package that supports research, development and practical delivery.
This includes product development, manufacturing, certification, installation, engineering and maintenance sustainment.
Through this model, Coltraco and DIRDI are working to strengthen the connection between British academic excellence and industrial application.
Coltraco and DIRDI’s Continued Commitment to Innovation
Coltraco Ultrasonics continues to grow as a British manufacturer of ultrasonic, acoustic and instrumentation technology with a strong commitment to innovation, safety and societal impact.
Through DIRDI, the company is helping to connect academic knowledge with industrial purpose, supporting British science and the next generation of researchers.
By combining long-standing technical expertise with new academic talent, Coltraco and DIRDI are working to support innovation that can benefit industry, the economy and society.
