A university spin-out company whose technology is helping to transform the development of next-generation electronic devices is in the running for a national award.

UltraSoc, which was spun out from the universities of Essex and Kent in 2008, is among the finalists in the Research Collaboration category of the NMI Awards, which champion the UK and Ireland electronic systems and technology industry.

Products ranging from cars to smartphones increasingly depend on single computer chips – known as SoCs (Systems-on-a-Chip) – which bring together all the major components that make a device “tick”.

The increasing complexity of SoCs means that design teams are finding it harder to understand their operation using conventional means. However, debugging and analytics technology developed by UltraSoC helpls them overcome this problem, both reducing time-to-market and improving performance.

UltraSoC chief scientist and co-founder Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier, from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering at the University of Essex, said: “We are really proud to have received this recognition. UltraSoC is helping support a transformation in the way we design and build our products.”

Also shortlisted in the same category is Chelmsford-based e2v technologies, in recognition of a collaboration with the University of Nottingham which has led to ground-breaking achievements in the development of high frequency diodes for use in semiconductors.

The other finalists are IQE, Raytheon and Ricardo UK. The winner will be announced on Thursday, November 19.