News: AMRC marks 25 years with ambition to quadruple industrial impact
Engineers and researchers are used to focusing on precious substances like titanium and carbon fibre, but now the focus for University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is silver, as it celebrates 25 years of supporting UK manufacturers.
Founded in 2001 by the University of Sheffield and Boeing on the site of the former Orgreave Colliery in Rotherham, the AMRC is a model for collaborative research and is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult supporting hundreds of private sector partners.
Marking the silver anniversary of its opening, the centre has refocused its strategy, prioritising the high-growth aerospace, defence and nuclear energy sectors and setting a bold ambition to quadruple its economic impact over the next decade.
It all started when Professor Keith Ridgway of the University of Sheffield worked with businessman Adrian Allen from Technicut on a project with Boeing. It became the first tenant of the now world-renowned Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.
The AMRC was set up to build a bridge between the research happening in university labs and the practical needs of production lines. It has since become a global model for how research-led innovation can regenerate communities and use advanced manufacturing as an economic engine to create wealth and jobs.
Having created new centres in Rotherham, including the start-of-the-art AMRC Training Centre, the AMRC expanded over the Parkway onto the site of the former Sheffield airport, developing its own "Innovation District" with buildings such as Factory 2050, which opened in 2015.
Having started with just a team of eight, the centre now has more than 570 highly qualified researchers and engineers working on the manufacturing needs of the future, from composites to castings, additive manufacturing to machining.
The innovation-led impact has already helped attract £350m inward investment and more than 2,500 manufacturing jobs into the South Yorkshire manufacturing cluster. Further recent investments include McLaren Automotive’s announcement of a £40m expansion of its composites technology centre, creating 300 jobs, and a £19m investment by Rolls-Royce into its Advanced Blade Casting Facility, both located on the AMP in Rotherham.
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Professor Ben Morgan is chief executive officer at the AMRC and is leading the centre in its refreshed strategy, which is aligned to national priorities set out in the government’s industrial strategy.
He said: “For 25 years, our mission has been to take high-risk R&D off industry’s shoulders so manufacturers can start, scale, and stay in the UK.
“As industrial and national priorities shift, we are putting our technical capabilities squarely behind aerospace, defence, and nuclear and clean energy.
“Our goal for the next decade is to quadruple our historical impact. We aren't just doing research - we are driving up shop-floor production rates, shortening technology adoption cycles and ensuring critical supply chains remain firmly anchored in the UK.”
Katherine Bennett CBE, chief executive officer of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, added: “Throughout my career in aerospace, I have seen first-hand the reputation the AMRC has built for turning world-class research into real-world impact through close collaboration between industry, academia and government, from South Yorkshire to the North West and Wales.”
Looking ahead, the AMRC is leading a groundbeaking research programme Composites at Speed and SCale (COMPASS) with a new innovation facility in Sheffield that is home to Boeing’s largest research and development projects in the world. AMRC experts are also working on small modular reactor (SMR) development supporting Rolls-Royce SMR.
Lane Ballard, chief technology officer for Boeing, said: “Twenty-five years ago Boeing jointly established the AMRC alongside the University of Sheffield. We have never looked back.
"This year, we began the latest chapter of our partnership with the opening of the COMPASS facility, home to Boeing’s largest global R&D project, IHSS. The foundation of advanced manufacturing lies in fusing quality research, skills and supply chains.
"We are proud of what our teams continue to create in partnership in South Yorkshire.”
Alan Pardoe, senior manager for manufacturing capability delivery at Rolls-Royce SMR, said: “The AMRC has played a leading role in advancing UK manufacturing over the past 25 years.
“Through its unique and collaborative approach with British industry, it has helped turn ambition into reality - developing the skills, technologies and expertise required for long-term, sustainable success.”
AMRC website
Images: AMRC
Founded in 2001 by the University of Sheffield and Boeing on the site of the former Orgreave Colliery in Rotherham, the AMRC is a model for collaborative research and is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult supporting hundreds of private sector partners.
Marking the silver anniversary of its opening, the centre has refocused its strategy, prioritising the high-growth aerospace, defence and nuclear energy sectors and setting a bold ambition to quadruple its economic impact over the next decade.
It all started when Professor Keith Ridgway of the University of Sheffield worked with businessman Adrian Allen from Technicut on a project with Boeing. It became the first tenant of the now world-renowned Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.
The AMRC was set up to build a bridge between the research happening in university labs and the practical needs of production lines. It has since become a global model for how research-led innovation can regenerate communities and use advanced manufacturing as an economic engine to create wealth and jobs.
Having created new centres in Rotherham, including the start-of-the-art AMRC Training Centre, the AMRC expanded over the Parkway onto the site of the former Sheffield airport, developing its own "Innovation District" with buildings such as Factory 2050, which opened in 2015.
Having started with just a team of eight, the centre now has more than 570 highly qualified researchers and engineers working on the manufacturing needs of the future, from composites to castings, additive manufacturing to machining.
The innovation-led impact has already helped attract £350m inward investment and more than 2,500 manufacturing jobs into the South Yorkshire manufacturing cluster. Further recent investments include McLaren Automotive’s announcement of a £40m expansion of its composites technology centre, creating 300 jobs, and a £19m investment by Rolls-Royce into its Advanced Blade Casting Facility, both located on the AMP in Rotherham.
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Professor Ben Morgan is chief executive officer at the AMRC and is leading the centre in its refreshed strategy, which is aligned to national priorities set out in the government’s industrial strategy.
He said: “For 25 years, our mission has been to take high-risk R&D off industry’s shoulders so manufacturers can start, scale, and stay in the UK.
“As industrial and national priorities shift, we are putting our technical capabilities squarely behind aerospace, defence, and nuclear and clean energy.
“Our goal for the next decade is to quadruple our historical impact. We aren't just doing research - we are driving up shop-floor production rates, shortening technology adoption cycles and ensuring critical supply chains remain firmly anchored in the UK.”
Katherine Bennett CBE, chief executive officer of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, added: “Throughout my career in aerospace, I have seen first-hand the reputation the AMRC has built for turning world-class research into real-world impact through close collaboration between industry, academia and government, from South Yorkshire to the North West and Wales.”
Looking ahead, the AMRC is leading a groundbeaking research programme Composites at Speed and SCale (COMPASS) with a new innovation facility in Sheffield that is home to Boeing’s largest research and development projects in the world. AMRC experts are also working on small modular reactor (SMR) development supporting Rolls-Royce SMR.
Lane Ballard, chief technology officer for Boeing, said: “Twenty-five years ago Boeing jointly established the AMRC alongside the University of Sheffield. We have never looked back.
"This year, we began the latest chapter of our partnership with the opening of the COMPASS facility, home to Boeing’s largest global R&D project, IHSS. The foundation of advanced manufacturing lies in fusing quality research, skills and supply chains.
"We are proud of what our teams continue to create in partnership in South Yorkshire.”
Alan Pardoe, senior manager for manufacturing capability delivery at Rolls-Royce SMR, said: “The AMRC has played a leading role in advancing UK manufacturing over the past 25 years.
“Through its unique and collaborative approach with British industry, it has helped turn ambition into reality - developing the skills, technologies and expertise required for long-term, sustainable success.”
AMRC website
Images: AMRC
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