Motherwell-based ultrasound sensors developer Novosound has appointed former Baker Hughes boss Dr Derek Mathieson as its chairman.
Texas-based Mathieson was chief marketing and technology officer of the US energy technology giant and held other senior positions at the firm from 2008 until June this year.
He has a Ph.D. in micro electro-mechanical systems and an honorary doctorate in engineering from Heriot-Watt University. Mathieon's decades of experience in the oil and gas industry include a spell as CEO of WellDynamics and roles at Shell and Wood Group in the UK.
He is a chartered engineer with the United Kingdom Engineering Council, a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Dr Dave Hughes, founding director and chief technology officer at Novosound, said: “Derek brings vast experience of international businesses to Novosound. With the global ultrasonic market now valued at $45billion, and growing, we strongly believe there is a huge opportunity to grow at scale and to take a big part of that market.
"Attracting such an influential and internationally respected industry leader as Derek is extremely exciting for us and is a strong reflection on the work we have delivered to date and demonstrates our future ambitions and plans.”
Novosound's 'thin film' ultrasound technology makes it possible to remotely inspect oil & gas and nuclear assets in real time and identify defects in aerospace machinery.
It was established in 2018 by Hughes and Richard Cooper as the first spin-out company from the University of the West of Scotland. It now employs a team of 27.
It has revolutionised ultrasound technology, which had remained largely unchanged for 40 years, by replacing conventional sensor materials with a flexible piezoelectric thin-film material. It describes its world-first flexible NDT ultrasound tool as a "fit and forget sensor" that can measure corrosion at up to 400C.
In December 2019, Novosound raised £3.3 million from a Series A funding round led by Foresight Williams, alongside existing shareholders including Par Equity, Kelvin Capital, Gabriel Investments, the University of the West of Scotland, and the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.
Mathieson said: “Industries like oil & gas, aerospace, nuclear, industrial and infrastructure crave innovation that brings improvements to process, efficiency and safety. Ultrasonic sensors are at the heart of that.
"Dave Hughes and his highly skilled team at Novosound have rapidly developed ground-breaking Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technology with truly global market opportunities and I’m looking forward to working with them to achieve their ambitious goals.”
