The AMRC is proud to host the inaugural lecture of the new Sheffield branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

The lecture will be given by John Roberts, Chief Engineer of the Airbus A380, and will look at the engineering challenges associated with keeping the world’s largest passenger airliner in the sky.

The evening event will be one of the first public events to be held in our new Knowledge Transfer Centre, located next to the AMRC with Boeing and Nuclear AMRC buildings on the Advanced Manufacturing Park. The KTC provides dedicated meeting and training space to help us engage businesses along the manufacturing supply chain.

For more information and to register, see the RAeS event page.

Subjects under development include composites, advanced assembly, nuclear technology, and the manufacturing skills agenda. The first event will be held in early spring. Full details will be posted on the AMRC website.

The Advanced Manufacturing Forum (AMF) is the AMRC’s technology network for manufacturing businesses.

The regular AMF events cover a range of topics of interest to manufacturing businesses, with leading engineers and managers providing unique insight into current and emerging technologies and supply chain issues.

AMF membership costs £50 a year for two places at each event. Non-members can also attend events for a charge of £25 per place. For more information about becoming a member and to find out about upcoming events, please contact amf@amrc.co.uk

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has awarded £9.2 million from the Regional Growth Fund to establish the centre, which will provide training for companies along the supply chain in high-value manufacturing sectors.

The AMI Training Centre will provide training in the practical and academic skills that manufacturing companies need to compete globally, from apprenticeship through to Doctorate and MBA level.

The AMI Training Centre will focus on high-level apprentice training, concentrating on sectors such as aerospace, energy and Formula One.

Young people entering the AMI Training Centre will embark on a lifetime of learning that can take them through specialised technician training, part-time undergraduate and Masters study, to Executive MBA and Engineering Doctorate study, all within the same institution.

Over 200 apprentices will enter the AMI Training Centre each year, where they will receive nine to 12 months of intensive skills training. The training schedule will be guided by the AMI’s industrial partners and participating companies.

Sheffield Hallam University will deliver part-time BEng programme, while the University of Sheffield will deliver part-time MSc, MBA, Executive MBA and EngD programmes.

Professor Keith Ridgway OBE, Executive Dean of Manufacturing at the AMI, said: “We are delighted that the government is supporting  us in this initiative. It will encourage more manufacturing companies to employ young people, with the confidence that they are receiving the world class skills training they need to compete in today’s advanced manufacturing sectors.”

Tony Pedder, Pro Chancellor and Chair of the AMI, said: “This is great news for manufacturing, particularly in the local region. The University’s AMI Training Centre will equip the next generation of manufacturers with world-class advanced manufacturing skills, something that will provide a real boost to growth.”

Professor Keith Burnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: “It’s wonderful that the University of Sheffield AMRC is able to drive forward regional economic growth through this initiative, by continuing to add to the city’s advanced manufacturing expertise. The AMI Training Centre will ensure that a wide range of young people can develop skills in advanced manufacturing from an apprenticeship level through to a Doctorate and MBA, providing them with a strong platform from which to launch their careers in the advanced manufacturing sector.”

The AMI Training Centre will be based in a new 5,000 sq m building, to be situated close to the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC) and the Nuclear AMRC.  It will open for business in September 2013. Total costs for establishing the Training Centre are £20.5 million, with the remainder coming from participating companies and other funding streams.

About AMI
The Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) is a new self-standing centre for research, knowledge exchange, teaching and learning within the academic structure of the University of Sheffield.

AMI was created in 2011 in response to the continued success and growth of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing. It includes the AMRC with Boeing, the Nuclear AMRC (a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester) and the new Knowledge Transfer Centre (due to open in the new year).

The AMRC’s MANTRA lorry, a mobile showcase for advanced engineering, parked within the Parliament grounds. Over two days, it welcomed a stream of MPs and other visitors.

AMRC member Rolls-Royce positioned the front fan assembly from a large Trent aero engine in front of Parliament. The Trent fan assembly contains a number of key components developed using new manufacturing methods pioneered at the AMRC.

The AMRC also presented its work at an exhibition and seminar within the Palace of Westminster alongside Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Boeing, and other research centres which are working with the AMRC in the new High Value Manufacturing Technology Innovation Centre.

The event aimed to highlight the importance of high value manufacturing to the UK economy.

Professor Keith Ridgway OBE, co-founder and research director of the AMRC, said: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to visit Westminster and showcase the high value manufacturing which is going on in Sheffield city region. We were grateful for the strong support of our industrial partners, local MPs and Sheffield and Rotherham councils who attended the seminar and made the event such a tremendous success.”

Professor Keith Burnett, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield (pictured with Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central), said: “We’re very proud of how the University of Sheffield, through the AMRC, is contributing to the advanced manufacturing expertise in the Sheffield city region.  Not only are we finding innovative ways to manufacture, we’re also developing the skills of young people through our apprentice scheme. It was fantastic to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the AMRC by showcasing its fantastic work to key policy makers and I look forward to the next ten years.”

AMRC directors and industrial partners also attended a reception at 10 Downing Street to mark the 10th anniversary of the centre.

Members of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee tabled an Early Day Motion applauding the AMRC’s success in promoting the development and expansion of high value manufacturing in the UK.

Construction is well underway on the new expanded home for the AMRC Composite Centre.

The complete steel framework is now in place for the 1,800 sq m extension to the AMRC Factory of the Future, with completion due in April 2012.

The new facility will allow the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials. The Centre will also work with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The new Composite Centre includes a general workshop and a controlled environment with high-spec clean rooms. It will house a range of state-of-the-art design, development and processing equipment, including a filament winding machine, automated tape/tow placement robot, 5-axis machining centres, and selection of autoclaves and ovens.

The Composite Centre is currently based in the original AMRC building, on a neighbouring plot at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, South Yorkshire.

In other developments, staff at our sister centre, the Nuclear AMRC, are now preparing to move into their new building alongside the Factory of the Future. The new Knowledge Transfer Centre is also developing rapidly, with the final layers of cladding being applied.

The latest in the AMRC’s popular series of Advanced Manufacturing Forum events looks at the complex area of quality and accreditation for the nuclear supply chain.

Energy companies are preparing to invest £40 billion in new nuclear power plant in the UK. To enter their supply chains, engineering manufacturers need to be able to demonstrate that they meet industry quality standards and contractual requirements. But this can be a confusing area for companies new to the market.

The event includes presentations from leading companies along the civil nuclear supply chain, plus specialist quality consultants, including: EDF Energy; Sheffield Forgemasters International; Parsons Brinckerhoff; and Lloyd’s Register.

This AMF will be held in the new Nuclear AMRC (next to the AMRC Factory of the Future). It will be the first public event in this landmark building.

To find out more, download the flyer.

For more information on nuclear manufacturing and the UK new-build programme, visit the Nuclear AMRC website.

The partners will collaborate on

• Technology development collaboration projects supported by the EU.
• Joint research on manufacture of lightweight components for electric vehicles.
• Joint research on Titanium and special alloys.

The aim is to increase opportunities for companies from the UK and Korea to join global supply chains in automotive, aerospace and nuclear manufacturing.

AMRC research director Professor Keith Ridgway signed the Memorandum of Understanding in a ceremony at the AMRC Factory of the Future.

The Affix project brought together universities, large companies and SMEs from across Europe. The four-year project was partly funded under the European Commision Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6), which aims to strengthen the technological base and promote the international competitiveness of European industry.

Researchers tackled real-world problems encountered by the industrial partners, including Fiat, Electrolux, EADS and Rolls-Royce.

Each of these demonstrator projects demanded a cross-disciplinary approach, involving robotics, mechanical engineering and design, computer modelling and simulation, and sensor technology. Research at the AMRC focused on innovative vision systems which allow robots working on large assemblies to be more adaptive and achieve higher levels of accuracy.

By focusing on real industrial problems, the Affix researchers provided a proof of principle for new manufacturing processes and techniques, which can be adapted and applied in a wide range of industries.

To promote the technologies developed in the Affix project, the AMRC has produced a short video showcasing some of the core projects.

For more information, see the Affix project website or contact Dr Rosemary Gault.

To find out more about the AMRC’s collaborative research, see our European projects page.