Peratech is a global tactile-sensing solutions company based Richmond, North Yorkshire. The technologies they develop are revolutionising touch sensing applications in the world of consumer electronics. Creating the best solutions in tactile-based user experiences requires talented people with broad technical skill sets, creative problem-solving capabilities, and a passion to make sustainable, positive changes in human-machine interactions. The White Rose Industrial Physics Academy (WRIPA) has helped Peratech source a consistent supply of high-calibre interns that are helping the business succeed in its goals.

The WRIPA team at the University of York first collaborated with Peratech on the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), which took place at York in 2020. The partnership developed further with a number of internships created with the WRIPA team. The universities helped to select potential students with the relevant skills and knowledge to succeed within the roles.

Dr Sarah Dempsey (R&D Manager at Peratech) explains: 

‘By working with the emerging talent from the universities in the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy, we have found a connection to talented students looking for real-world experiences in collaborating and creating solutions that make technology and automation more accessible and valuable to all in society. The internship programme has enabled Peratech to find great sources of talent and provide invaluable experiences for those working with them.’

Peratech recognises that the internships have allowed the business to take more risks, try new things, and be more flexible in creating paths to full time positions in the company. The interns helped accelerate learning cycles in the company, generate new ideas with their approaches to problem-solving, and have helped fill gaps in finding talent to solve some of the problems they want to address.

The interns have also provided senior scientists a chance to hone their leadership skills through inspiring, equipping, and enabling students through the mentoring programme. A further benefit is that the UK team is more capable of scaling without risking impact to productivity.

Peratech’s website

‘Collaborating with WRIPA gives us access to a diverse, high-skilled and motivated pool of interns, who consistently provide great impact to our work at Peratech. Our interns have helped drive our research goals, by radically changing how we test, interpret and understand difficult challenges, and inventing creative solutions to solve these. This has included expanding our test systems to further our knowledge of our materials and sensors, exploring AI algorithms and computational models, which help us to understand and optimise our sensing systems, and even delivering project management training to our UK-wide team. Our interns have positively impacted all areas of our business and are a valued addition to our research team.’

Because of the successes over the past five years, the internship programme has now expanded into Peratech becoming involved in the White Rose Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science based at the University of Sheffield. Given the extremely positive results Peratech has had with WRIPA, they are looking forward to continuing their relationship with the WRIPA team to develop new engagement opportunities.