Old rivals in the Northeast are sinking their differences and embarking on joint ventures in a bid to make an international impact. In our latest regional focus, THES reporters examine an outbreak of collaboration

"The ship industry on the river Tyne has not died a death. It has simply adapted to change and regenerated," says Pratyush Sen, professor of marine design and construction and head of the University of Newcastle's Marine Technology Department.

Professor Sen's 100-year-old department has made a similar transition, he says.

In 1989 when the pundits began to write off the North-east's heavy marine industry, the university's marine technology department was rationalised. Marine engineering and naval architecture provision were merged. Jobs were shed, and the department began to move in a new direction.

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"The ship industry on the Tyne has moved offshore and high-tech," says Professor Sen. The basic disciplines continued to be strong, but the sort of employment our students were getting into changed. We started looking into high-speed passenger craft. We covered all our bases."

With major new streams in offshore engineering and small-craft technology, the department is now the biggest and perhaps the best in the country, rated 5-star in the Higher Education Funding Council for England's 1996 research assessment exercise, and has 264 undergraduates.

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The department works closely with the regenerated business on the Tyne, such as Armstrong Technology Associates, an FPSO firm (Floating, Production , Storage and Offtake) set up by redundant workers from the famous Swan Hunter shipyard. And it also looks to the international arena to help maintain its Pounds 1 million research income.