News: Technology and Innovation Centre to benefit Rotherham
Launched in Rotherham today, The High Value Manufacturing Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) will be a national focus for advanced manufacturing research and development, with the scale and readiness to make an early and significant contribution to UK economic growth.
It will provide an integrated capability and embrace all forms of manufacture using metals and composites, in addition to process manufacturing technologies and bio-processing. It will draw on excellent university research to accelerate the commercialisation of new and emerging manufacturing technologies.
As part of the consortium running the TIC, The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing and the Nuclear AMRC will be able to access funding to invest in new facilities, to expand current operations in response to industry needs and create research programmes in new technology areas.
The centre is expected to lead to some £2bn of additional manufacturing R&D in the UK, and the creation of 3000 new research engineer jobs across the seven centres.
The seven consortium members are already world leaders in a wide range of manufacturing processes, including: machining; forging; composites; high-integrity joining; intelligent automation; assembly; and chemicals processing. These processes are used in a variety of high-value industries, including: aerospace; automotive; low-carbon energy; oil and gas; biotechnology; and electronics.
The TIC will be particularly well placed to serve the needs of the sectors forecast to grow significantly over the next decade. These include:
• High-performance batteries for electric vehicles
• Off-shore wind turbines
• New nuclear power plant
• New generation of fuel-efficient passenger aircraft
The consortium's bid for the High Value Manufacturing TIC was endorsed by over 50 major industrial manufacturers and 54 SMEs.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP said: "The announcement of the first Technology and Innovation Centre is a major early milestone in our ambition to rebalance the economy. It will bring significant benefits to Rotherham and to the country as a whole. I believe that the UK should be at the forefront of science, engineering and manufacturing, and the £200m we have committed to centres like this over the next four years is a symbol of the Government's commitment to supporting this.
"I am confident that the High Value Manufacturing Technology and Innovation Centre will blaze a trail for British industry, showing how our country’s hard work, invention and expertise can be exploited to lead us through the economic recovery into a prosperous future."
The centres are based on the model proposed by Hermann Hauser and James Dyson. Hauser's report, published last April, looked at the Fraunhofer institutes in Germany and highlighted The AMRC's sustainable business model which secures both private sector and public sector funding. It already employs around 160 researchers, engineers and support staff.
Professor Keith Ridgeway, research director at The AMRC, based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, gave evidence on the government proposals to Parliament's Science and Technology Committee in December.
Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted the success of The AMRC last October as he set out the Government's plans to back British business and create "a new economic dynamism" that will build confidence and lead to growth and jobs.
AMRC website
Nuclear AMRC website
Images: AMRC
It will provide an integrated capability and embrace all forms of manufacture using metals and composites, in addition to process manufacturing technologies and bio-processing. It will draw on excellent university research to accelerate the commercialisation of new and emerging manufacturing technologies.
As part of the consortium running the TIC, The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing and the Nuclear AMRC will be able to access funding to invest in new facilities, to expand current operations in response to industry needs and create research programmes in new technology areas.
The centre is expected to lead to some £2bn of additional manufacturing R&D in the UK, and the creation of 3000 new research engineer jobs across the seven centres.
The seven consortium members are already world leaders in a wide range of manufacturing processes, including: machining; forging; composites; high-integrity joining; intelligent automation; assembly; and chemicals processing. These processes are used in a variety of high-value industries, including: aerospace; automotive; low-carbon energy; oil and gas; biotechnology; and electronics.
The TIC will be particularly well placed to serve the needs of the sectors forecast to grow significantly over the next decade. These include:
• High-performance batteries for electric vehicles
• Off-shore wind turbines
• New nuclear power plant
• New generation of fuel-efficient passenger aircraft
The consortium's bid for the High Value Manufacturing TIC was endorsed by over 50 major industrial manufacturers and 54 SMEs.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP said: "The announcement of the first Technology and Innovation Centre is a major early milestone in our ambition to rebalance the economy. It will bring significant benefits to Rotherham and to the country as a whole. I believe that the UK should be at the forefront of science, engineering and manufacturing, and the £200m we have committed to centres like this over the next four years is a symbol of the Government's commitment to supporting this.
"I am confident that the High Value Manufacturing Technology and Innovation Centre will blaze a trail for British industry, showing how our country’s hard work, invention and expertise can be exploited to lead us through the economic recovery into a prosperous future."
The centres are based on the model proposed by Hermann Hauser and James Dyson. Hauser's report, published last April, looked at the Fraunhofer institutes in Germany and highlighted The AMRC's sustainable business model which secures both private sector and public sector funding. It already employs around 160 researchers, engineers and support staff.
Professor Keith Ridgeway, research director at The AMRC, based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, gave evidence on the government proposals to Parliament's Science and Technology Committee in December.
Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted the success of The AMRC last October as he set out the Government's plans to back British business and create "a new economic dynamism" that will build confidence and lead to growth and jobs.
AMRC website
Nuclear AMRC website
Images: AMRC
0 comments:
Post a Comment