Driving industry transformation through innovation
Powered by Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Forward‐thinking businesses across the Tees Valley are turning to innovation to sharpen their competitive edge – and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships( KTPs) are a powerful catalyst for that change.
This is exactly what KTPs are designed to do. A KTP embeds a full‐time specialist – a KTP Associate – into the business, backed by academic expertise, to deliver a strategic innovation project that drives commercial impact. It’ s a proven model that helps organisations integrate new technologies, build internal capability, enhance productivity and accelerate transformation
For companies looking to strengthen competitiveness and future‐proof their operations, KTPs offer a low‐risk, high‐impact route to meaningful change.
From left, Dr Manu Ramegowda, Professor Sina Rezaei-Gomari, Dr Hareesh Narain Ravindran Meenakumari, Clive Howseman of Saturn Turbo Services, Dr Josiah Balota and SCEDT senior technician Jeff Lawrence
One recent example is the collaboration between Teesside University and Middlesbrough‐based Saturn Turbo Services. Through this pioneering KTP, the company is embedding Industry 4.0 technologies to modernise the way rotating equipment is serviced and maintained. By introducing advanced software and automation, the project is streamlining processes, reducing manufacturing waste and cutting CO₂ emissions – delivering measurable operational and environmental benefits for the business and the wider engineering sector.
Saturn Turbo Services, a specialist in steam turbine and compressor maintenance, had been facing common sector challenges such as obsolete components, complex materials identification and time‐intensive reverse engineering. Working directly with Teesside University’ s research experts has enabled the company to unlock new digital capabilities and tackle long‐standing inefficiencies that would have been impossible to resolve alone.
Find out how a KTP can accelerate innovation within your organisation
By partnering with Teesside University through a KTP, businesses can:
> integrate new technologies and digital processes > improve productivity and operational efficiency > develop new products, services and materials > build long-term internal capability and close skills gaps
> unlock commercial growth and strengthen competitive advantage.
With businesses across advanced manufacturing, digital, engineering, biosciences, construction and professional services already benefiting, KTPs are fast becoming a catalyst for innovation across the region. The Saturn Turbo Services project demonstrates the power of academic‐industry collaboration – transforming operations today while laying the foundations for sustained growth.
‘ Working with Teesside University has allowed us to explore Industry 4.0 solutions that would have been impossible to achieve alone.’
Clive Howseman Spares and Repairs Manager at Saturn Turbo Services
60 | Tees Business