For a company focused on providing innovative, high-value solutions, research and development is key to our success.
Our rich heritage of R&D is part of what makes BMT unique. It enables us to extend the talents of our people in order to meet the current and future needs of our clients.
Our extensive R&D programme aims to ensure that BMT's products and services are designed to meet the current and future needs of our clients.
It is conducted both in central research activities, through the BMT Institute at Reading University, and in the heart of BMT's commercial operating companies, combining self-funded, joint industry, national and international programmes.
Research Directorate
Our longstanding reputation for high-quality R&D means that BMT is regularly contracted by the European Commission to identify solutions for today's challenges.
While BMT's experience in the maritime sector means that many projects are related to shipping and ports, they also extend to all forms of surface transport and other areas, such as logistics, security, aeronautics, health and the environment, where BMT's expertise can be applied.
Projects vary in size, from those involving fewer than 10 partners to larger projects that may involve more than 60 organisations, including household names such as DHL, Unilever, China Shipping, Royal Caribbean and London Underground as well as major port and police authorities across Europe. It is not only the quality of BMT's scientific expertise that drives success in the research field, it is also our experience, built up over many years, in winning funding bids, efficiently managing projects, and identifying and attracting the best people to work on them.
The work of the Research Directorate includes projects that focus on the safe evacuation of passenger shipping. Live trials conducted on major shipping routes helped to set new standards within the industry, driving new software modelling tools and changes to the design and safety of ships. Our expertise in this area has recently been transferred to land transport, working with London Underground and Barcelona Metro to improve the evacuation and crowd management of passengers.
The logistics of freight transport, whether by ship, rail or road, is also a focus for BMT's EU-funded research projects. These aim to increase efficiency through better information management and improved logistics across borders and transport modes.
The security of major ports is another area of activity for BMT's Research & Development Directorate. Operating in partnership with some of the world's biggest ports and shipping companies, BMT has led the search for efficient forms of information exchange, better guidelines and more effective underwater surveillance techniques.
Our cutting-edge research capabilities can also be seen in well-publicised projects such as the development of a robotic fish that can detect and trace sources of environmental pollution. Using our well-established data and software modelling skills, BMT is also building a reputation in the health sector, with projects ranging from the better management of patient data to enhancing the rehabilitation of stroke sufferers.
As the challenges facing companies and governments in Europe intensify, and require the best people and techniques to address them, BMT's role in EU-funded research projects looks set to grow.
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