What Edinburgh Designs Ltd. does

Edinburgh Designs Ltd. is a Scottish private limited company founded in 1987 that designs, manufactures, and installs hydrodynamic wave and tidal test equipment for research institutions, universities, naval/defense agencies, and entertainment customers worldwide. Its core products include flap ocean wave generators, piston coastal wave generators, towing carriages, instrumentation gantries, and complementary accessories such as wave gauges, beaches, and movable floors. The company differentiates through a proprietary force feedback absorption control system that maintains stable wave environments over extended periods, alongside in-house developed second order wave generation mathematics that suppresses spurious harmonics in curved-tank geometries. Supporting the hardware is a software stack (Wave Synthesiser for experiment design, Wave Runtime for real-time hardware control) that handles wave specification via an open XML-based format and runs on USB interfaces to wave gauge hardware.

The business operates a direct enterprise sales model with end-to-end project delivery from scoping through design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning, with no reseller or distributor channel. Pricing is bespoke per customer and not publicly disclosed. Revenue streams span hardware sales (wave generators, towing carriages, full tank integration), software (with recurring upgrade support for the installed base), and professional services including consultancy, refurbishment, and full electronic upgrades of older equipment. Since 1987, the company has installed over 2,100 wave paddles in more than 135 tanks across 28 countries, with flagship projects including the US Navy MASK basin at Carderock, the FloWave TT at the University of Edinburgh, the NUS DOBS Deep Ocean Basin in Singapore, and the Marin depressurised basin in the Netherlands. In May 2024 the company transitioned to employee ownership via an Employment Ownership Trust and in July 2024 relocated to expanded headquarters in Loanhead as part of the Lothian School of Technology.

Name

Edinburgh Designs Ltd.

Legal name

Edinburgh Designs Ltd.

Website

https://edesign.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hydrodynamic Test Equipment

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) (3600)

akta.pro primary industry

Hydrodynamics & Performance Engineering (Resistance, Propulsion, Seakeeping, Maneuvering) (IMAJAGAB)

Keywords

• Wave generation equipment
• Hydrodynamic test systems
• Wave tank engineering
• Tidal simulation technology
• Marine research equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wave Generator Equipment Sales: Design, manufacture, and installation of wave generation equipment including flap paddles and piston wavemakers. Equipment is continuously adapted and improved to meet customer research requirements.
2. Towing Carriages and Gantries: Design and installation of towing carriages mounted on rails above tanks for pulling models through water, and instrumentation gantries for mounting data capture equipment.
3. Tank System Integration: Complete end-to-end solutions including design, building, and integration of all major systems in wave tanks. Projects include green-field sites, wholescale upgrades, and new tanks in existing buildings.
4. Software and Control Systems: Wave generating software including Wave Synthesiser and Wave Runtime for controlling wave generation hardware. Also provides software upgrades for older machines.
5. Professional Services and Consultancy: Consultancy services from early stage scoping through to installation and commissioning. Services for researchers, lecturers, project managers, procurement officials, and commercial consultancy.
6. Refurbishment and Upgrade Services: Refurbishment of existing wave machines and full electronic upgrades bringing older equipment up to current state of the art software standards.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Edinburgh Designs Ltd. designs and manufactures hydrodynamic wave and tidal research equipment, including flap and piston wavemakers, towing carriages, gantries, flumes, tidal, wind and flow tanks, wave gauges, beaches, movable floors and leisure wave systems. The company supplies these engineered hardware systems alongside its proprietary Wave Synthesiser and Wave Runtime control software, with installation, commissioning, calibration, training and ongoing support services delivered as turnkey projects to laboratories worldwide.

Product overview

Edinburgh Designs Ltd. specializes in hydrodynamic test equipment for wave and tidal research, offering a comprehensive portfolio of wave generation and testing solutions. The core product line includes Flap Ocean Wave Generators and Piston Coastal Wave Generators, which combine robust mechanical systems with sophisticated digital controllers. Supporting products include Wave Generating Software (Wave Synthesiser and Wave Runtime), Towing Carriages and Gantries, Flumes, Tidal/Wind/Flow Tanks, Wave Gauges (WG8USB), and Beaches and Movable Floors. The company also offers specialized Leisure Waves systems for entertainment applications. All products are designed for research institutions, universities, commercial organizations, and theme parks, with global installations across 28 countries since 1987.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Force feedback absorption enables tanks to stay stable indefinitely, even without beaches
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Metal Industry Research and Development Centre (MIRDC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2025MIRDC in Kaohsiung, Taiwan commissioned Edinburgh Designs to build the MTIC Deep Ocean Basin System featuring 124 x 1.2m Hinge Depth Paddles with Force Feedback Absorption. The prestigious project represents one of the company's most significant recent installations in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Alghanem Trading & Contracting LtdminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 23 September 2022Alghanem Trading & Contracting Ltd served as project partner for the Khalifa University Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Wave Tank. The complex robotics environment tank with cross flow, waves, and instrumentation gantry was completed in late 2021.
• Belmet97minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 6 May 2022Belmet97 installed 8x500mm Pistons at the University of Split, Croatia. The project partner handled local installation which was then commissioned remotely by Edinburgh Designs.
• Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore (TCOMS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTCOMS received the NUS DOBS Deep Ocean Basin System from Edinburgh Designs in early 2022. The grand opening was held in July 2022. Testing with 184 x 2.2m hinge depth paddles conducted at this facility.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/EdinburghDesignsLtd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edinburgh-designs-ltd-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Edinburgh Designs Ltd.