Advanced Manufacturing Research ‘transforming’ business
TECHNOLOGICAL advances involving researchers from the University of Sheffield are highlighted in a new report on how universities can help stimulate business development and economic growth.
The report, written by entrepreneur Hermann Hauser and published by the Department of Business, Industry and Skills, looks at what has happened since the UK invested £200m in creating a network of ‘Catapult Centres’ to drive the growth of the manufacturing sector.
Each Catapult brings together leading research organisations to help companies of all sizes develop new technologies and turn them into commercial reality.
One of the most advanced centres is the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, made up of seven separate research organisations, including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing and the Nuclear AMRC.
Catapult successes cited in the report include work involving Sheffield-based cutting tool manufacturer Technicut, tool-holding specialist Nikken Kosakusho and both the AMRC and Nuclear AMRC.
The collaboration led to the creation of a record-breaking, new tooling system that allows machine tools to remove metal from components faster.
As a result, Technicut has won new orders from around the world for the system and increased its workforce, while Nikken is investing in a new European Research and Development Centre next to the AMRC, on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe.
According to the report, this and other examples highlight the High Value Manufacturing Catapult’s “ability to increase the scale, speed and scope of commercialisation, and to anchor jobs and investment in the UK that would be otherwise lost overseas.”
The report also highlights the pioneering work of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre on developing high-quality technical education and skills.
It cites the success of the AMRC Training Centre as one example of the way the Catapult centres are “developing a cadre of technologists and engineers with cross-sector design and manufacturing skills focused on the management and delivery of innovation.”
The report goes on to call for greater investment in UK research and development, with the aim of creating 30 Catapult Centres across the UK by 2030.
