Thursday 13th February saw DIRDI host Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Andrew Burns CB OBE FDIRDI at our laboratory in Durham. We were honoured to host the Admiral as part of his 3-day visit to the Northeast, and the programme included:
- DIRDI Fellow Dr Oliver Vogt, Industrial Tutor in the Department of Engineering at Durham University presenting on the development of his new Maker Space and its prototyping capabilities in his work with undergraduates at Durham.
- A presentation from Daniel Dobrowolski, Director of DIRDI, on DIRDI’s capabilities and the potential for future close collaboration between DIRDI and the Royal Navy, as well as how this aligns with DIRDI’s Five Aims more broadly and in supporting science beyond Defence.
- A showcase of the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PRO, by Adrian Saw FDIRDI, Technical Director of Coltraco Ultrasonics. This included an overview of current and previous work with the Royal Navy, as well as future ways in which this technology can be further developed for naval applications.
- A short address from Professor Carl Hunter, Director-General of DIRDI, on some of his work over a number of years to support the Royal Navy in his twin-hatted role as Director of the Centre for Underwater Acoustic Analysis
- An overview from Jack and Luciana, Members of DIRDI, of their role within DIRDI’s Strategy and Analysis capability supporting the Director-General in his work.
Other Fellows and Members of DIRDI were also present and contributed to the discussions, including Professor John Girkin FDIRDI, Director of the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Professor James Osborn FDIRDI, Founding Director of the Durham University Space Research Centre (SPARC), and a number of graduate and undergraduate Members. We were also honoured to be presented with a plaque by the Admiral, in recognition of our support for and work with the Royal Navy (Pictured top left).
More pictures can be seen below of the presentations and discussions with DIRDI and the Admiral. We are deeply grateful to all those who helped make the visit such a success.
