The Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering

The Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering (ERPE) is a strategic alliance between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. As two of the UK's leading research universities, we work with academic, industry and public sector partners delivering world-leading expertise in engineering to deliver the most effective commercial, social, environmental and economic impacts. This powerhouse of engineering uses its vision of working in conjunction with each other to translate engineering research into practical outcomes. The impact of our research addresses the most urgent challenges for society.

EPSRC/Dstl funded University Defence Research Collaboration (UDRC)

EPSRC/Dstl funded University Defence Research Collaboration (UDRC) developed research in signal processing with application to the defence industry, an academia led partnership by the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University in collaboration with industry and defence partners. 32 PhD students graduated under the UDRC umbrella with 50% of those funded through industry studentships.  Topics have ranged from novel sensing and communication technologies, such as optical wireless communications, autonomous sensing, cyber security and deep learning.

Industry Case Studentships

Case studentships with industry have been really popular where a student addresses research based on a specific industry challenge using industry data, facilities and current knowledge. Some success stories can be seen below.

• PhD student’s success with Leonardo
• PhD student’s success with Thales

The EPSRC/Leonardo funded Smart Products Made Smarter

The EPSRC/Leonardo funded “Smart Products Made Smarter” Prosperity Partnership addresses a broad range of challenges to develop remote sensing systems from concept to production. These challenges exemplify future product lifecycle management from smart concept, design, development and manufacture to enhanced end-user capability, united by a common digital thread to enable smarter products to be made smarter.

The SPADS team is drawn from across a number of Schools within both UoE and HWU:

University of Edinburgh – School of Engineering

The School of Engineering supports world-class excellence in teaching and research. With over 250 staff and 500 PhD students, the School is one of the most industrially-engaged within the University, with graduates providing a higher-than-average economic impact when they enter the workplace.

University of Edinburgh – School of Informatics

The School of Informatics is a world-leader in computer science and AI research and teaching, recognised as world-leading for research impact and environment. It is the largest Informatics research group in the UK, and offers students access to internationally leading experts in this subject area.

University of Edinburgh – School of Mathematics

The School of Mathematics is one of the world’s leading mathematical sciences departments, home to internationally excellent researchers and to an innovative educational environment for both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Heriot-Watt University – School of Engineering and Physical Sciences

The School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) has an excellent international research reputation and close ties with the professional and industrial world of science, engineering and technology. The School comprises 90 research-active academic staff and 90 Research Associates, working with 280 postgraduate research students. The school embraces the disciplines of Chemistry, Physics, Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering.

Heriot-Watt University – School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

The School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences is a key partner in the Edinburgh Robotics Centre, at the forefront of research in robotics worldwide; and is an integral part of the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, one of largest and most successful mathematical research institutes in the UK. The vibrant environment of the School, the team of leading academics and research activities attract a wide variety of students and staff from all over the world.

Research Institutes

The SPADS team is drawn from five world-leading research institutes with the Schools above:

• The Institute for Imaging, Data and Communications (IDCOM) at the UoE is a leading research institute in SP, Communications and ML with 18 faculty, including 3 IEEE Fellows, and over 100 research associates (RA) and PhD students. Its expertise extends from SP theory through algorithm development to applications in radar, electronic surveillance, acoustics, imaging and communications.

• The Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour (IPAB) at the UoE is the UK’s leading robotics research institute with 18 faculty and over 70 RAs and PhD students. IPAB is UoE host for the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, and EPSRC CDT in Robotics, and previously the £36M EPSRC-Industry ORCA Hub (winner of the 2018 Guardian University Award for Business Collaboration).

• The Institute for Sensors, Signals and Systems (HWU) With 30 academic members of staff spanning 10 nationalities and four fields of expertise, offers the full portfolio of expertise in the fields of signal and image processing, novel manufacturing technologies, microsystems,microwave engineering, mobile communications systems and autonomous systems. Of particular interest to ISSS is the design, modelling, simulation, processing of information from and system integration of sensors.

• The Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) at UoE covers the full spectrum of microelectronics and nanotechnologies, from design to fabrication and has 22 academic staff, and over 150 RAs and PhDs. IMNS hosts the ACRC Academy CDT in Advanced Care and is UoE host for the Applied Photonics CDT. It has in-house capability to process foundry wafers and hosts the Centre for Electronics Frontiers, working with Dstl on low SWAP-C, and hardware-enabled AI.

• The Maxwell Institute combines HWU and UoE mathematical research and is one of the largest groupings of mathematical expertise in the UK, with more than 100 academic staff. Research themes in the remit of the CDT include “Data and Decision” and “Applied and Computational Mathematics”. It hosts the MACS-MIGS CDT and the Maxwell Institute Graduate School within its dedicated premises with training and office space available in the Institute to all PhD students.