Finding ways to make the manufacturing industry more sustainable is a significant challenge. For Tace Morgan, head of technology capability (HTC) for sustainability at the University of Sheffield AMRC, it is a necessity.

"Manufacturers are always asking, ‘why is sustainability important?’ – they can think it’s something they can ignore. But issues became obvious during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, when the positive environmental impacts of not travelling, and not manufacturing, became apparent,” she said.

"The political landscape has changed significantly since then, but whether it’s a global priority or not, especially with new legislations and regulations coming in, manufacturers are starting to see the importance of sustainability as resilience; against global trends and pressures, for cost saving and productivity."

Tace sits on several sustainability committees, including with the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, looking at cross-centre work that can use the strengths and expertise of the six centres, and lobby the government to put funding in the right places to secure UK manufacturing.

For the AMRC, the sustainability research she heads up concentrates on four key pillars: circular economy, resource efficiency and energy efficiency, decarbonisation and social sustainability. This is a reflection of industry demand seen by the HVM Catapult.

Green technology is a massive opportunity for UK manufacturers; the clean energy transition will need engineers, technicians and manufacturers, which the UK has. It will need tons of material – all currently sourced from abroad in finished products. Domestic decarbonisation needs an estimated 19 million heat pumps, mostly sourced from abroad. Why not the UK?

“The AMRC’s research and development (R&D) looks at how we can use research to learn for ourselves, and also show what we’ve done to share that learning with the wider industry. Lots of companies are interested in the sustainability of their supply chain, and how they can select sustainable suppliers. We find out how it works, and share that knowledge,” she said.

“Last year, we started work with local startup Suiso on a successful three-month pilot study to demonstrate its innovative gas decarbonisation technology. The trial looked to develop Suiso’s breakthrough pyrolysis technology which removes carbon from commonly-used fuels – natural gas, LPG, propane and biogas – before they are burned, with the potential to reduce or ultimately eliminate their CO2 emissions.

“We also have a project running looking at how we can decarbonise the AMRC sites, with wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars, as well as how we use energy within the business, on screens and machinery. As well as a cultural change piece – what individuals can do, and how they can have an impact – the project is also looking at how we can work with the wider Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and University of Sheffield network to see where we can collaborate.

Before she took up the helm to push the AMRC to be a more sustainable organisation, Tace was on her own journey of postgraduate research in additive manufacturing at the University of Sheffield. One day, whilst on a tour of the AMRC, she turned to her coursemate and said: “I want to work there.”

She started at the AMRC in 2018 with the design and prototyping group (DPG), working on additive manufacturing nanosatellite fuel tank design, as part of a pioneering UK Space Agency-funded programme.

“We worked on a self-supporting, cube-shaped fuel tank. It was a pressurised fuel tank, so it had to fill the space available within the cube-shaped satellite, but a cube is not a strong shape – it bows out in the middle when pressurised. We created lattice designs within it that would hold tension as the fuel tried to expand,” she explained.

After her progression to project engineer, Tace moved to the integrated manufacturing group (IMG) in 2021, Tace worked on automated guided vehicle (AGV) projects, testing what their specifications say they can do, versus what they can actually do – pushing boundaries for manufacturing shop floor applications.

As part of the automated assembly team, Tace worked with industry giants BAE Systems, Leonardo, Nissan, Accenture, Intellium, GKN Aerospace, Moy Park and academics at the University of Lincoln on Project Butterfly.

Often companies think they have unique problems. But sustainability is a challenge across every sector; by its nature, the solutions that work for one sector will often work for multiple.

That’s where her sustainability focus began. Tace said: “I started working on one or two sustainability projects, then more and more kept coming in. Project Butterfly was a cross-sector programme, which was really interesting to work on – we got to look at our tools’ application on everything from frozen chickens, to painting cars and manufacturing composites.”

A direct response to the urgent need to decarbonise the manufacturing industry, the work focused on driving forward the innovation of digital technologies at the heart of manufacturing processes – with an aim to reduce environmental impact and accelerate the industry's journey to net zero through two key AMRC tools: a process sustainability calculator and guidance for process decarbonisation.

“Often companies think they have unique problems. But sustainability is a challenge across every sector; by its nature, the solutions that work for one sector will often work for multiple other sectors. There are obviously different challenges within sectors, but it’s nice to see that an application or solution can be a common thread,” said Tace.

Since starting in the role of head of technology capability in 2023, Tace is now responsible for the wider AMRC strategy for sustainability, as well as research, to set direction for where the organisation wants to – and needs to – go.

“Part of my role is pulling on the right experts from across the organisation; getting the right people in the room. It’s about looking at where the challenges are in industry to see where we need to help the most, and making sure that our research strategy, across all of our funding sources, can deliver the best impact for industry,” she explained.

“Some of the most exciting things we’re working on focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We’re creating standard toolkits to help SMEs in the supply chain, unifying that offering across the AMRC – whether a company comes to us through the AMRC in Sheffield and Rotherham, AMRC Cymru in Wales or in Lancashire at AMRC North West.

“I’ve been lucky to have exposure to lots of different aspects of manufacturing, and sustainability is the one that really feels worthwhile doing; there are so many applications to it, it could never get boring.

“The work we do doesn’t always show its impact initially, but it's exciting thinking about how, years in the future, you could be flying on a sustainable aeroplane, working in a smart factory, looking out over a renewable energy-powered park, that you helped create.”