Chris Mitchell

Founder, Audio Analytic
Today, Chris has a PhD from Anglia Ruskin. However, he had to endure a slow start: without the maths A-level required to do the Audio Music Technology course he wanted, he had to begin with a Science Foundation course before doing a BSc Audio & Music Technology (2002) and then his PhD (2007). Towards the completion of his PhD, Chris was shortlisted by the National Council of Graduate Entrepreneurship in their search for future entrepreneurial talent. As a result, he was one of only 15 people selected to spend six months in the USA in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Chris now runs his own Cambridge-based high technology start-up company, Audio Analytic, which he started after realising the difficulties of detecting sounds. As part of his PhD, Chris had developed a now patented technology which detects music genres, and so his company developed a ‘black box’ computer which listens to sounds and, by analysing and identifying their audio signals, automatically labels them for classification. Which means they can be identified – anything from glass breaking to babies crying. Highly adaptable, it can even assist smart home security systems in detecting and responding to incidents and is used by world leading consumer companies all over the world in their products.