Carl Hunter
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Director-General
London, GB
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Professor Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE is Chairman of Coltraco Ultrasonics and Director-General of the Durham Institute of Research, Development & Invention. He also serves as Director of the Centre for Underwater Acoustic Analysis for the Royal Navy, the Centre for Strategic Electromagnetic Spectrum Research, and the Strategic-Potential Artificial Intelligence Group. In addition, he is Director-General of the National Strategic Research Group at Pembroke College, Oxford, as well as the Economic Futures Group and the Defence & Security Innovation Unit.
His company, Coltraco Ultrasonics, is a UK-based manufacturer of ultrasonic and acoustic technologies with a strong export profile. The company has twice won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
DIRDI is an independent scientific research institute operating in partnership with Durham University. It brings together 500 senior scientific Fellows from leading UK universities, supported by over 100 Visiting Fellows from academia, government, the armed forces, and industry. Its work spans naval and national security science, geostrategic support for senior policymakers, and UK civil science.
Dr Hunter is Professor-in-Practice at Durham University and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the institution. He is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Changing Character of War Research Centre, Pembroke College, Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre. He is Chairman of the Council on Geostrategy Forum and its Whitehall Briefings series, and also advises several UK Government departments.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology, and a member of the Bank of England’s Greater London agent network and its Decision Maker Panel.
Earlier in his career, he held senior international roles in the aviation engineering sector and served as an officer in The Greenjackets.
The Record
Background
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1991 — Present
Chairman
Coltraco Ultrasonics
Coltraco Ultrasonics is a UK sovereign manufacturer of ultrasonic and acoustic instrumentation, exporting to customers in over 120 countries. The company also provides engineering, scientific, and artificial intelligence services. It operates as an integrated research-to-manufacturing organisation, comprising the company, its national research institute, and several specialised research centres. Coltraco is developing a UK sovereign strategic sensor capability across ultrasonic, acoustic, non-acoustic, electromagnetic, and mechanical technologies, while also exploring quantum and AI-enabled measurement systems.
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2021 — Present
Director-General
Durham Institute of Research, Development & Invention (DIRDI)
The Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention (DIRDI) is an interdisciplinary scientific research institute founded independently and in partnership with Durham University by Coltraco Ltd. It brings together academics and industry professionals from various disciplines, delivering scientific freedom and world-changing innovation.
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2021 — Present
Director
The Centre for Underwater Acoustic Analysis (CUAA)
The Centre for Underwater Acoustic Analysis (CUAA), housed within DIRDI, conducts research on the underwater behaviour of sound, as well as the informational techniques used to process received acoustic signals, in order to inform the development and optimisation of novel submarine acoustic technologies.
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2025 — Present
Director-General
The National Strategic Research Group (NSRG)
Convening the UK’s finest minds to deliver fast, synthesised, and practical answers to complex questions for national strategy—giving policymakers time-effective access to the leading edge of research.
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2025 — Present
Director-General
The Defence & Security Innovation Unit (DSIU)
The Defence and Security Innovation Unit (DSIU) accelerates high-impact technologies for UK Defence and National Security by integrating world-class research, rapid prototyping, and sovereign manufacturing. It provides an end-to-end pathway, from idea to deployable capability, that closes the UK’s longstanding gap between research excellence and deployed technology.
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2025 — Present
Director
The Centre for Strategic EMS Research
The mission of CSEMSR is to support the UK Government to identify, advance, and develop fundamental electromagnetic capabilities to deliver strategic advantage in the electromagnetic domain.
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2006 — 2015
Managing Director International Markets
TIMCO Aviation Services
Carl was MD, International Markets at TIMCO Aviation Services, a maintenance, repair and overhaul organisation servicing Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
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1985 — 1990
Captain
Royal Green Jackets
Carl Hunter served in the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland and overseas. The Royal Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966. In 2007 the Regiment amalgamated with others to form ‘The Rifles’.
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1980 — 1981
Trainee - International Asset Management
Baring Brothers & Co
Baring Brothers & Co. (Barings Bank) was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring. The bank was a British merchant bank based in London and one of the country's oldest merchant banks.
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2000 — 2005
Senior Advisor International Markets
United Airlines
Carl acted as Senior Advisor International Markets to the CMO and CEO of United Services/United Airlines, the world's lead operator of wide-body aircraft.
In The News
Newsfeed
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24 July 2025 · GOV.UK
Business leaders welcome the UK-India Free Trade Agreement
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4 July 2025 · Britain's World
How should Britain define asymmetric advantage?
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23 May 2025 · The Northern Echo
Keir Starmer: Thousands of North East jobs protected
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11 October 2023
Hatfield College's Most Iconic Alumni 2023
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4 February 2023 · Bristol Live
Ince trainee solicitor wins Junior Lawyer of the Year Award
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13 December 2022
Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE signs agreement to establish the CUAA
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30 June 2022 · GOV.UK
British businesses backed by £7.4 billion government support to export around the world
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18 June 2022
Durham ‘ideas factory’ launched to find future Nobel Prize winners
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20 May 2022
Eradication of modern slavery at sea article for human rights at sea
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18 May 2022 · Global Trade Review
British Exporters Association names new chair
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17 May 2022
BExA appoints new Chairman
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3 May 2022 · City AM
Master of Planning and the Art of the Possible
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4 August 2021 · The Exporter
Durham University and Coltraco Create R&D Institute
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In Frame
Gallery
Formative Years
Education
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Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
1985 — 1985
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Durham University
1981 — 1984
Areas Of Focus