Nuclear AMRC to establish digital transformation facility

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), which recently helped secure more than £100m in inward investment to the Sheffield City Region from Boeing, Rolls-Royce and McLaren, has signed an agreement to establish a major innovation facility at Infinity Park.

Infinity Park is one of the sites in the Nottingham and Derby Enterprise Zone and the strategic development of the Nottingham and Derby Enterprise Zone is overseen by the ‘Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’ (D2N2).

D2N2 is allocating £12.9m to Infinity Park from its Local Growth Fund allocation, over six years, to help improve infrastructure on the site.

Councillor Martin Rawson, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and the Economy, said: “Having recently welcomed Airbus to the i-Hub, and with Rolls-Royce and a multitude of high-tech companies in the area, this move is a no-brainer for AMRC – it’s brilliant news.

“I have no doubt that this will act as a catalyst for attracting even more high-tech engineering and manufacturing companies to Infinity Park, as Derby is again recognised as a leader in this area.”

The University of Sheffield AMRC, which includes the Nuclear AMRC, was established in 2004 on the site of the old Orgreave coking plant and is now home to more than 600 highly skilled engineers working in partnership with some of the world’s most respected manufacturing brands, which include Siemens, Bentley, Airbus, 3M, Laing O’Rourke, Polypipe, BAE Systems, Westinghouse, Sellafield and EDF.

The AMRC prides itself on being at the forefront of developing cutting edge technologies and materials for some of the most demanding industries on the planet, from energy, sustainable power generation and infrastructure, through to aerospace, construction, and medical.

Andrew Storer, CEO for the Nuclear AMRC with responsibility for energy, said: “We use our research and innovation assets to tackle the grand challenges facing UK manufacturing – productivity, quality and skills – and turn them into solutions that provide our partners with a step-change in their performance and capability.

“The technologies we are developing, from novel woven composites to the creation of digital twins –  are applicable to almost any manufacturing sector.

“Our talent is taking those techniques and processes and de-risking their application and adoption in other industries, in line with the government’s Made Smarter Review and its Industrial Strategy. It is all about building a world-class manufacturing base here in the UK.”