Introducing Seven Technologies: A unique KTP partnership

“The success of the KTP has had a direct influence on the growth of the company. It’s a unique form of partnership which provides many benefits.”

When Tim Kernohan joined the Northern Ireland company Seven Technologies in 2009 as a KTP Associate, there were only 15 staff employed. Now known as Seven Technologies Group Ltd, it employs around 150 at sites in Lisburn, Leeds, London, and the USA and Tim is its Head of Engineering.

Seven Technologies designs, develops and manufactures specialist technical ‘SCADA’ products – supervisory control and data acquisition – which are required to function effectively in harsh environments. Due to the extreme locations in which the company’s equipment is used, protection against environmental conditions is vital to ensure the success of the system.

At the KTP awards in London in 2013, the company won the award for business impact as a result of the collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast.

Tim says, ‘The aim of the KTP was to provide a platform for growth. Its purpose was to embed a design and manufacture process for rugged electronics enclosures, bringing a mechanical engineering capability to the company. This was very important for the future. The team had great electronics and software expertise but they didn’t have the in-house design skills means to package the product for harsh environments.’

‘The KTP allowed the company to have products that were more saleable and it helped in picking up bigger projects. We’ve now also taken on some projects which are purely mechanical design.’

‘The success of the KTP has had a direct influence on the growth of the company. It’s a unique form of partnership which provides many benefits. There are currently two KTPs in Leeds and I would hope that there will be more with Queen’s University Belfast. This is a lasting relationship – both with the KTP office and with my academic partners at the university.’

Mark Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Seven Technologies Group and Tim Kernohan share more in the video below: 

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