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RGU grads set up innovative subsea company

Published by , Digital Assistant Editor
World 鶹ýӳ,


Two Robert Gordon University (RGU) graduates have set up their own company specialising in developing innovative underwater products for the energy industry. Ben Grant (30), who studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Alastair McLennan-Murray (31), an Artificial Intelligence and Robotics graduate, set up Impact Subsea in February.

The pair, who met at university, have set out with the aim of creating a new generation of subsea products and launched their first offering to the sector earlier in the year 鶹ýӳ the ISA500, which provides multiple sensors in one unit.

Grant said: 鶹ýӳThis particular solution has never been available before and allows users to obtain the capability of multiple devices in one. We are looking to offer cost savings. For companies conducting work underwater, we provide products with a greater level of capability than those available today.鶹ýӳ

He added: 鶹ýӳWhen we were thinking about starting up the company, we noticed that in the oil and gas sector, a large number of the once small and highly innovative companies had grown in size, been bought up, and had significantly reduced their levels of innovation. This had led to a number of areas in the market, which could highly benefit from a new generation of subsea products. It also made sense for us to choose an area in which we both had good knowledge.鶹ýӳ

Both Grant and McLennan-Murray graduated in 2006 and worked in a range of roles before taking the leap with Impact Subsea.

鶹ýӳWe had thought about setting up a company on and off for a few years now,鶹ýӳ Grant commented. 鶹ýӳAt the start of the year, we both found ourselves wanting to do something new - so the timing seemed right to get on and make it happen. For the past decade or so, we have both worked on various technologies for underwater use. Making products for use in the depths of the ocean has significant technical challenges but it is good fun finding solutions to those challenges.鶹ýӳ

McLennan-Murray added: 鶹ýӳI think in the back of my mind there was always the plan to set up the company but initially the focus was living in the now, doing what I enjoy, learning and creating things with the knowledge that the time spent will be of great use for the future. It worked out that Ben鶹ýӳs skill set pretty much compliments mine perfectly for starting up a company.鶹ýӳ

McLennan-Murray said: 鶹ýӳDesigning our first product was technically challenging. There were many aspects, ranging from software to mechanical design, which has to be completed in a timely cost effective manner while creating a product that exceeds the capability of all of the competition.鶹ýӳ

Grant added: 鶹ýӳPulling together the initial capital to fund research, development, premises and so on was a bit of hurdle. We worked hard to minimise start up-costs and had assistance from Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise which helped a great deal.鶹ýӳ

Edited from press release by

Read the article online at: /equipment-and-safety/05102015/rgu-grads-set-up-innovative-subsea-company-1539/

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