Sarginsons Industries is gearing up for the opening of Brunel's new National Advanced Metal Casting Centre (AMCC) by putting the finishing touches to specialist new casting equipment set to be a central feature of the £14m project.
As part of its new role as official industrial partner for AMCC, Sarginsons is currently shipping out a Jaguar Land Rover diecasting tool to Italy where it will be loaded into a new low pressure diecasting machine being readied for installation at the new AMCC research building.
By the end of March, the machine will be shipped back from Italy to Brunel University, ready for installation at the AMCC.
The casting cell will then be supported by Sarginsons’ team of engineers, who will provide all the technical expertise required to operate the unit in what amounts to a £250,000 investment from the Coventry engineering firm over five years.
In return, Sarginsons will have access to the University’s best postgraduate research students, harnessing their ideas and creativity to develop workable industrial solutions.
Sarginsons believe the research and development provided by the new Brunel University partnership will help to reaffirm their position as a centre of excellence and showcase their capabilities in the sector to potential new clients.
With an eye on doubling turnover and recruiting more staff over the next three years, Sarginsons’ MD, Anthony Evans commented: “This is the first time that the University has used this type of equipment and it will help provide the researchers with practical, hands-on experience of the industrial process.
“The partnership will be of great benefit to both parties with the objectives of the centre focused on bridging the gap between new alloy innovations developed by the University’s Centre for Advanced Solidification and the full-scale industrial trials.
“In developing new alloy innovations and implementing them within the industrial process, we have the scope to provide lighter safety critical components with greater capabilities while conserving natural resources within the industry.”
The AMCC at Brunel is jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Jaguar Land Rover; the aluminium automotive sheet and extrusions solutions provider Constellium, and Brunel University.
The centre has several key objectives that centre on producing innovative solutions to using newly developed alloys and metallurgical advancements. One particular key aim is to develop techniques that produce lighter and sustainable products using advanced manufacturing techniques.
