R&D partnership

Tait Radio Communications and design house Bluewater Systems have signed an agreement to enable shared access to specialist skills and resources.

"This partnership with Bluewater Systems is a two-way street," says Steve Kingston, Tait group development manager. "It's about working with partners to give both parties more flexibility, especially at peaks in the research and development cycle.

"For example, Bluewater can supply Tait with additional capacity in circuit board design and Tait can provide Bluewater with expertise in areas such as radio frequency design and compliance testing and certification."

Shayne Crimp, director of Bluewater Systems, agrees, "For example, we are developing a new video encoding and decoding platform that can be used in high-definition video cameras. It is a large and high-value project that demands robust design and thorough testing to ensure the product will withstand the most rugged conditions.

"Through our partnership with Tait we now have local access to its mechanical and testing laboratories and skilled staff."

Shayne adds, "We're also using Tait's laboratory to help us test the upgrade that we're working on of Extronic's iCAM501 digital stills camera we helped to develop last year.

"The camera is being used in hazardous areas worldwide such as chemical and pharmaceutical plants, oil and gas production platforms, emergency services and more," he says.

Extronics is a British company that specialises in producing intrinsically safe and explosion-proof equipment for its users around the world.

The Tait and Bluewater Systems partnership follows a separate agreement in July between Tait and i-design services, a product consultancy company which specialises in electromechanical, industrial and mechanical engineering design.

The Tait and Bluewater Systems partnership follows a separate agreement in July between Tait and i-design services, a product consultancy company which specialises in electromechanical, industrial and mechanical engineering design.