Our consultancy services give businesses unrivalled access to the University's world-class expertise and facilities in many areas, including engineering sciences, oceanography, physical sciences, geospatial data and marine archaeology.
SMMI’s consultancy services are delivered through specialised enterprise units dedicated to delivering high quality, commercial services. For a full list of consultancy services look here:
Enterprise Units
We host a number of highly respected professional Enterprise Units, providing consultancy services including engineering consultancy at the Wolfson Unit, the Research Institute for Industry (RIfI), sound and vibration research at ISVR Consulting, oceanographic consultancy through the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and archaeological research at the Coastal and Offshore Archaeological Research Services (COARS). Further information about those most relevant to marine and maritime is listed below.
Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology & Industrial Aerodynamics (WUMTIA)
Tank testing, wind tunnel testing, consultancy, design software, on-board systems and innovative research for ship, yacht and small craft design, naval architecture, marine technology and industrial aerodynamics.
With 40 years of experience, the world-renowned Wolfson Unit operates a consultancy service supplying innovative research to a global customer base. The Unit employs a team of full-time professional engineers and has worked with some high profile clients including the designers of yachts for the 2008-09 Vendee Globe race participants Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Saffran; as well as America's Cup teams and the designers of Puma, placed 2nd in the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race. The Unit is a UK Sport Innovation Partner for the Olympics.
ISVR Consulting (Sound and Vibration)
Acoustics, noise, signal processing, modelling, automotive refinement, testing, shock, dynamics. The Institute of Sound and Vibration Research carries out world-class research in the field of sound and vibration. Their dedicated consultancy unit was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. The unit provides a range of services for the marine industry, including measurement and analysis of noise emissions, low-noise design, noise and vibration control, plus measurement and modelling. Projects range from work on small craft for the leisure sector through to very large ships and warships.
Coastal and Offshore Archaeological Research Services (COARS)
The staff at COARS have a long-standing record of providing a professional consultancy service for the marine archaeology sector. They have experience of delivering on a wide range of projects for sectors including renewable, nuclear and non-renewable energy, marine aggregates, port developments and channel dredging, oil and gas installations, pipelines and cable routes. Find out more here...
IT Innovation Centre
The IT Innovation Centre specialises in researching, developing, engineering and integrating innovative IT systems. Applying new technologies from the research community to problems in industry and commerce, IT Innovation delivers research reports, white papers, proofs-of-concept, demonstrators and novel operational systems. In our wide-ranging project portfolio we are advancing the deployment of information technologies such as secure service-oriented systems; information discovery and decision support; archiving and retrieval; and their relationship to new business models, processes and values.
GeoData Institute
Environmental services, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), database and web development. The GeoData Institute provides environmental data management, analysis and processing to the marine and coastal sector. Find out more here...
Academic Consultancy
Access to marine and maritime expertise and facilities is also available by engaging with our world-leading research centres throughout the University. The following are just a few of the subject areas where we can engage, and please contact us for information about areas not listed here.
Marine corrosion and erosion
The National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS) provides research and consultancy on marine corrosion and erosion to help solve a wide range of industry problems, including desalination plants, oil and gas valves, pipe systems loss of contaminant, pump impellers and coatings. Find out more here...
Maritime law
The Institute of Maritime Law is the UK's leading centre for teaching, research and consultancy in maritime law.
Maritime history
The Parke's Institute focuses on research by non-Jewish and Jewish scholars and students into the field of relations between Judaism and other religions, with particular expertise in Jewish Maritime History. Find out more here...
Coastal research vessels
Ranging from 5.64 meters to 19.75 meters, our well equipped vessels are available for commercial hire, subject to availability, for research, surveying, geophysics, and diving. Supported by highly qualified crews and staff, the vessels are used as a resource to support research and teaching in coastal waters.
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton is involved in academic, sponsored and commissioned research, consultancy and collaborative projects with industry, government departments and agencies around the world. This can range from a few days' consultancy, providing expert scientific or technological advice, through to the planning, design and execution of full ocean surveys. Clients include offshore industry, marine technology companies, and government agencies. Find out more...
Wind Tunnel Testing
We specialise in leading edge technology and applied research. Our professional enterprise units provide unrivalled access to our expertise and are much in demand by our partners of all sizes across all sectors.
Centre for Maritime Archaelogy
The Centre for Maritime Archaelogy is committed to the promotion and practice of maritime archaeology, undertaking collaborative projects from a local to international scale.
Multidisciplinary expertise
The depth and breadth of maritime expertise at Southampton means that we can apply multidisciplinary thinking to determine the seaworthiness of historical vessels
Propulsion material research
Erosion-corrosion of propulsion materials and coatings at the National Centre for Advanced Tribology Southampton
