Aerospace research funding announcement provides boost for AMRC
PLANS for a £154m government investment in aerospace research have brought a further boost for The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC).
The Rotherham-based AMRC is already heavily involved in three of the four cutting edge research programmes, funded through the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute, which will share the cash, announced by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
AMRC executive dean, prof Keith Ridgway, described Clegg’s announcement as “a welcome confirmation of long-term funding, which will help to keep the UK at the forefront of the global aerospace sector and will also support the work of the AMRC.”
Clegg unveiled the government plans during a visit to the Farnborough International Airshow.
He announced a £42m investment in research led by Airbus into designing, manufacturing and assembling the commercial aircraft ‘Wing of the Future,’ one of the projects researchers from the AMRC are already heavily involved with.
A further £20m will go to a project led by Rolls-Royce to explore new ways of creating lighter, greener and more fuel-efficient aircraft engines, while £49m will go to a project led by GKN to create lighter aircraft structures – two further areas where the AMRC is involved.
A further £13m will go into a programme to help air passengers use the internet and make phone calls more easily.
Future developments at the AMRC, including plans to create the Factory 2050 reconfigurable manufacturing facility on Sheffield Business Park and investment in what could be the world’s largest Titanium casting facility, may also play a significant part in current and future aerospace research.
Factory 2050 is designed to be a key location for developing new manufacturing methods that could determine how aerospace component are made in the future.
Plans also incorporate an extension big enough for research into new, more efficient ways of constructing aircraft wings.
