Simon Edmonds discusses the latest news from Innovate UK, including generous funding to support medicines manufacturing solutions, the success of a pioneering additive manufacturing company in the Southwest and details of November’s Innovate 2017 at the NEC.
In last month’s column, I highlighted the significant opportunities for UK manufacturers in developing new battery technologies through the government’s Faraday Challenge.
The latest Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund announcement will be of great interest to UK manufacturers developing technologies and facilities that support the manufacture of medicines.
A commitment of £146m over the next four years to support life sciences in the UK has been announced by Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health.
As part of this challenge, Innovate UK is running a £15m R&D competition for innovative medicines manufacturing solutions – see www.innovateuk.gov.uk for more information.
There will be other opportunities for businesses and research organisations within this challenge. These include establishing a number of new centres that support medicines manufacturing innovation, vaccine development and advanced therapy treatments, and expanding the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult’s new manufacturing facility at Stevenage.
Success story
I am pleased to report that Innovate UK-funded projects have paved the way for an additive manufacturing firm to go into full production for automotive customers. Pioneering AM company HiETA Technologies is preparing to go into full production at Bristol and Bath Science Park with a range of high-efficiency compact heat exchangers and turbomachinery products, including an ultra-lightweight heat exchanger for cooling exhaust gases.
This article first appeared in the September issue of The Manufacturer magazine. To subscribe, please click here.
Simon Edmonds will be a keynote speaker at The Manufacturer Leaders Conference in Liverpool 15-16 Nov. Innovate UK are also the sponsor of Innovation Alley at The Manufacturer Smart Factory Expo.
HiETA, founded in 2011, now employs 30 experienced, highly-skilled engineers. It is currently expanding its manufacturing facilities at the Science Park, ready to scale-up production.
The company designs, develops and manufactures thermal management and light weighting products for the aerospace, defence, automotive and clean energy sectors using selective laser melting.
Supported by grant funding from a series of Innovate UK projects, HiETA has emerged as an industry leader in additive manufacturing. For more information on innovation funding and a case study on HiETA, please visit: bit.ly/2xfO05T
LCV 2017
HiETA were one of the recipients of Niche Vehicle Network funding announced at the recent Low Carbon Vehicle show 2017.
Over the past decade this event has provided an excellent platform for showcasing low-carbon vehicle technologies and Innovate UK is proud of its involvement.
This year, we shared the results of recent projects that have the potential to revolutionise the manufacture of low-carbon vehicles. This included the unveiling of Ariel Motor’s HIPERCAR project, developed with Innovate UK funding.
Innovate 2017 at the NEC
A reminder that our annual flagship showcase of innovation – Innovate 2017 – is being held on 8-9 November at the NEC in Birmingham.
The event offers a fantastic opportunity to meet innovative people and future focused companies that can help your business grow. If you’re a ticket holder you can pre-arrange meetings with innovators, research centres, universities, resellers, retailers and investors from the UK and overseas.
There will also be a support zone, which brings together a comprehensive range of UK business support organisations to help UK and international businesses innovate, expand and collaborate in the UK and overseas.
This area will offer an informal drop-in advice facility, giving you the chance to speak directly with organisations that exist to help your business grow globally.
For the latest programme and to buy tickets, please visit: www.innovate2017.gov.uk
Innovate UK
For more information on any of Innovate UK’s funding opportunities, please contact the customer support service:
0300 321 4357
Feedback! All feedback gratefully received. I can be found on Twitter: @SJSEdmonds
