UNIVERSITIES supplement With UK firms facing more competition from overseas than ever before, there is a real need to optimise the relationship between universities and industry. The Manufacturer explores the different ways for companies to tap into the technology and skills they need through collaboration and partnership opportunities.
p02 Introduction p03 ABB p05
The University of Durham
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The University of Sunderland
p07
The University of Hudddersfield
p08
The University of Cambridge
p11
The University of Warwick
p13
The University of Covenrtry
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The University of Loughborough
Introduction UNIVERSITIES supplement
INTRODUCTION
Bridging the Gap – the relationship between universities and industry
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he Manufacturer’s report on the link between academia and business comes at a time when industry comments that it is difficult to access the skills needed to sustain productivity and create growth. Bridging the gap between educational institutions, students and industry to ensure that research is accessible and properly matched to specific industry needs is vital.
In an ideal world there would be no obvious gap between our universities and industry. Academics and industrialists would move frequently and seamlessly between the two; every university would fuel networks of Professor Fred countless spin-off companies and students would enter the workforce armed with Maillardet is a Fellow all the practical knowledge they need to of the Institution of hit the ground running and drive British Mechanical Engineers manufacturing forward.
(IMechE) and currently chairs its Education Advisory Group.
The UK has many examples of this ideal becoming a reality. The Royal Academy of Engineering’s (RAEng) Visiting Professors Schemes are encouraging senior engineers across the country to become involved in the teaching process, while Cambridge’s hugely successful ‘Silicon Fen’ is filled with spin-off companies from the neighbouring university. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Formula Student competition gives thousands of students every year the chance to get real-world, practical experience with the help of over 200 volunteers from industry.
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universities to get their funding, encourages universities to appoint staff primarily on their research record irrespective of whether they have ever actually worked in industry. We need industry to step in. Engineers working on new technologies and practices need to share that crucial knowledge with the next generation. One tried and tested way to make this happen is for local companies to provide real industrial projects for students to address in design studies during their early years or final year undergraduate project. Using company staff to supervise and assess these projects not only ensures that the students enter the workforce with the latest practical knowledge, but also helps to forge fruitful links between potential employees and the local business community. But we also need to see academics moving the other way. In continental Europe it is common to see professors holding industrial directorships or advisory roles, yet this is still surprisingly rare in the UK.
Yet, for the most part, the gap between universities and industry in the UK remains frustratingly wide. Ever since Finniston’s 1980 Engineering our Future report, engineering degree courses have included ‘engineering applications’ work to better prepare students for a career in industry. However, due to the rapid changes taking place in many technologies, engineering departments are finding it increasingly difficult to demonstrate the best current industrial practice to students.
Bridging the gap between universities and industry can build a relationship in which everyone wins. Lecturers and researchers have access to the latest industrial best practice while manufacturers can ensure the next clutch of graduates walking through their door have the skills and training they need. The UK boasts one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing sectors and some of its best universities. Together they can both achieve even more.
Reflecting industrial trends in teaching is made all the more difficult when coupled with another worrying trend in our universities – more and more full-time academic staff in engineering departments across the country have little or no industry experience. The Government’s new Research Excellence Framework, one of the primary means for
Fred Maillardet Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
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UNIVERSITIES supplement
ABB
Industry investment in universities
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he £1m partnership between ABB and Imperial College London set to last 10 years has supported a new carbon capture pilot plant.
Robot-maker ABB has invested close to £1m and signed a 10-year agreement with Imperial College London – so how will each party get their monies worth? Tom Moore speaks to both parties as hands-on teaching moves up the agenda to bring industry into UK universities
The plant, which has a capacity for 50 kg/hour capture of CO2, is part of the College’s £8.9m ChemEngSpace Project for undergraduates and forms part of the department’s new international summer school for chemical engineering.
Using a combination of ABB’s instrumentation, drives, motors and process automation equipment, the control room provides students with hands-on experience of pilot-scale industrial plant operations and is the only facility of its kind at an academic institution in the world. The agreement between ABB and Imperial gives the university access to the most advanced control and instrumentation technology available from a number of suppliers, as well as life cycle services
and support for the installation. With communication protocols including Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus DP and PA and wireless Hart all being utilised, the technical team at ABB explains that although a plant wouldn’t have this, the pilot has been deliberately designed in this way so that students can compare different suppliers. The control and instrumentation technology is used to measure and monitor conditions around the plant and to ensure optimum performance of ancillary equipment such as pumps and valves through accurate and energy efficient operation. Students are able to test various scenarios for capturing and storing carbon dioxide in an industrial process, building a skill set in the UK that will help to capture growth in the environmental technology market. In return, ABB has access to the carbon capture pilot plant for its own use and will use the facility for customer demonstrations and training, staff learning such as inter-divisional training, hands on experience for its apprentices and product testing and software evaluation.
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UNIVERSITIES supplement
ABB
The extended operator workplace (EOW) lies at the heart of the ABB Control Room which acts as the nerve centre for the carbon capture plant
“The pilot plant is a global showcase for the latest and best process control and instrumentation technology in use at one of the world’s leading engineering institutions,” says Martin Grady, general manager, Oil, Gas and Petrochemical - UK, ABB. “We will be able to trial new technology in a low risk, well-managed environment to gather Beta site test data. It is a valuable space for us as it is not high on our customer’s list of priorities to let us come and test on site.” He continues: “It gives ABB a great platform to train its staff and customers on a real pilot plant. There are very few industrial companies that have utilised all the leadingedge technology that Imperial College is featuring within this pilot plant.”
By investing in the pilot plant and the awards, we are effectively investing in our own future, by making sure that ABB will have ready access to a stream of bright young engineers Martin Grady, General Manager, Oil, Gas and Petrochemical - UK, ABB
With skills in high demand, Grady says that ABB’s involvement will help to boost the profile of a career in control and instrumentation engineering among chemical engineering graduates at a top university. The investment is seen as a shop window for presenting the opportunities available throughout ABB, particularly at one of its main execution centres for oil, gas and petrochemical automation in St Neots, Cambridgeshire and its measurement products activities in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire and Workington, Cumbria. “By investing in the pilot plant and the awards, we are effectively investing in our 4
Some of the instrumentation from ABB Measurement Products in use on the plant
own future, by making sure that ABB will have ready access to a stream of bright young engineers,” comments Grady. “One of our biggest problems is finding enough suitably qualified engineers to fill the ever growing range of opportunities we can offer. Obviously if engineering in the UK flourishes, then we flourish too.” Grady asserts that there has been a dearth of skills in the UK following the exit of big apprenticeship schemes during the 1980s but senses a renewed commitment from the top down. “The move by ABB is partly in response to government initiatives aimed at rebuilding the manufacturing base of the UK and re-establishing the important contribution that engineering makes to people’s everyday lives,” he says. “The UK needs to increase its base of skilled engineers if it is to grow its manufacturing sector towards its potential. We believe that the pilot plant will support education by giving tomorrow’s engineers hands-on exposure to real-life technology. This pilot plant really brings the real world into the classroom for the first time. Imperial has named the hi-tech centre-piece of the installation the ABB control room, which builds awareness of its “brand name” and technologies among a global audience. “Our aim is to use the plant to create a lasting association between the real-life problems that students will encounter once they qualify and the technology and capabilities available from ABB that can help solve them.”
Dr. Daryl Williams, director of the pilot plant project at Imperial, wanted to make the student experience more relevant to industry so the university redeveloped it curriculum. “It’s not always clear that students get good lab experience in schools and colleges,” he says. “There is a lack of hands-on teaching within higher education so Imperial made the decision to invest in a discovery space. The first thing we do is build the foundations and teach the basic skills that all students should know.” The lively academic explains that students and parents want to know what they are paying £9,000 a year for. “There will be real questions about whether students will want to come to universities to do their education in the future as they can go online and download the entire lecture course for free. We need to make sure there are good reasons for engineers to come and study, and these include, working with other students, opportunity to engage with industry, work with staff and hands-on teaching.” While he argues that scientists and engineers are not as proactive as others when it comes to promoting their profession, he maintains that universities need to recognise the skills needs of manufacturers and supply those it. “Engineering is more than just a book. When engineers move from here to industry they need to have worked with valves, sensors and motors so that it isn’t all new to them when they turn up for their first day at work.”
UNIVERSITIES supplement
the university of durham
Spinning top
Growth in spin-out activity Spin-outs
2008/09
2009/10
Growth
New
215
273
27%
Active
1,311
1,340
2%
Employment
14,180
16,942
19%
Turnover
£1,5bn
£1,7bn
17%
Investment
£700m
£1.1bn
63%
Source: www.spinoutsuk.co.uk
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While UK universities are internationally renowned for their education quality the relevance of their research to industry and their ability to produce IP with commercial punch has a more questionable reputation. But academics are now addressing this weak spot head on with a generation of spin-out companies creating jobs at a time of high unemployment.
Spin-outs
A report from the University of Cambridge called University spin-out companies: Starting to fill the evidence gap found five instances where the spin-out route was appropriate. (1) For platform technologies. (2) Where the inventors are very keen to commercialise the technology themselves. (3) When the idea needs to attract substantial investment to develop Intellectual Property relating to the technology for subsequent licensing. (4) When the technology is not readily licensable. (5) For a generic technology with many different applications.
The physics department at the University of Durham
he chances of success for many startups are low – the Federation of Small Businesses says one in three fail in their first year. But university spin-outs are often dealing with the added uncertainty of launching new technologies and products, which may not have mature supply chains or an established customer base.
Fear of risk taking
Andy Todd, co-founder of the Commercial Edge Initiative, an academic investment broker says that there is a poor return on the sums of money spent on research in the UK. “Between £4-6bn has gone into research at UK universities over the last five years, producing a return of £84m. This is a failure. Universities need to share commerce and business acumen to build value.”
Investment firms like the Commercial Edge Initiative are vital to funding technological innovation. The British Government puts a vast amount of funding into research, but there is a shortage of UK investors financing the transfer of that research into innovative products and services.
X-ray vision
Dr Arnab Basu, CEO at digital colour x-ray imaging firm Kromek, says that the company’s strategy of hiring experienced staff as soon as possible helped to commercialise its technology. Kromek commercialised technology developed in the physics department at Durham University over a 20-year period. Boasting a management team with over 100 years combined experience in relevant commercial and technical fields, the company has now applied its expertise in Cadmium Telluride to make x-ray products for medical imaging, security screening, industrial inspection and space exploration - allowing for very precise identification of materials. Basu explains that Kromek wouldn’t exist had it not been for the support of Durham’s University’s Technology Transfer Office during the early days and that spin-outs naturally seek further collaboration with academic institutions.
Between £4-6bn has gone into research at UK universities over the last five years, producing a return of £84m. This is a failure
Andy Todd, co-founder of the Commercial Edge Initiative
According to the Institute of Patentees & Inventors, the loss to the UK economy from intellectual property created in Britain but developed abroad is up to £174bn a year. However, there are a growing number of academics who are smashing the idea that they don’t know how to commercialise intellectual property.
After starting out as a team of three, the company successfully secured finance from a number of sources and now employs 70 people; often returning to the university to recruit from the same department from which it was spawned.
According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the number of formal spin-outs is relatively unchanged but the level of investment raised by these firms increased from £700m in 2008-09 to £1.1bn in 2009-10. This is helping to drive commercial activity and boost the number of people employed by spin-out firms.
To replicate the company’s success regarding the creation of jobs in the local area, it is important that young people are able to draw on the kind of advice and support that can help to commercialise their knowledge. 5
UNIVERSITIES supplement
THE UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND
Taking on local skills shortages TM: What are you doing to address local skills issues?
DD: We need to make sure that we are thinking about the skills needed in the local economy early enough because of the timescales involved in changing or bringing in new academic programmes.
David Donkin, assistant director for student recruitment and business partnerships at the University of Sunderland discusses the pressing skills needs within manufacturing.
One of the pressures that we have at the moment is trying to get people in schools to choose STEM subjects so that they keep their options open for some of the possible careers. Maths is a subject we are particularly concerned about; if people are not doing enough maths then they are not going to get very far.
TM: How are you planning for future skills needs?
DD: We tend to plan for the next 3 to 5 years. As I go around the region I hear a lot about the potential shortage of engineers, partly because of the aging profile of engineers. They won’t be naturally replaced with the level of people studying engineering. We have the same level of uptake from UK students but growing interest from overseas. We need greater uptake. Country of domicile
2009/10
2010/11
% change
China
56990
67325
18.1%
India
38500
39090
1.5%
Nigeria
16680
17585
5.4%
United States
15060
15555
3.3%
Malaysia
14060
13900
-1.1%
Hong Kong
9945
10440
4.9%
Saudi Arabia
8340
10270
23.1%
Pakistan
9815
10185
3.7%
Thailand
5505
5945
8.0%
Canada
5575
5905
5.9%
Source: HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2009/10, 2010/11
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The University of Sunderland has a close working relationship wit h Nissan’s Queen’s Award winning plant nearby
TM: What about when students have graduated – what are you doing to aid the transition from the library to the factory?
DD: We offer internships as we think it’s helpful for young people to get six months experience to demonstrate to employers that they can work. We didn’t expect the sheer number of people that were kept on by the companies offering internships, with 84% of the 120 graduates securing long-term graduate employment upon completion.. We will increase the scheme as far as we can but the ERDF funded programme, which is specifically to work with small companies, is capped at 50 a year.
TM: Are apprenticeships and degrees in competition or can they complement each other?
DD: Skills shortages can be immediately solved at apprenticeship level. They are the people that are needed in the economy, people that know businesses from the bottom up. We would like to see a progression so that they do an apprenticeship at college but might start a foundation degree that we work in partnership with the college on. There are elements of this taking place at the moment but to convert that into a full honours degree you would have to come to university full time. One of the things we looking to do is continue this learning at degree level on a part time basis.
UNIVERSITIES supplement
THE UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology changing the face of precision engineering
Our world-leading research in metrology, machine tool accuracy and diagnostic engineering is creating novel technologies for the next generation of metrology instrumentation and applications, leading to significant improvements in manufacturing quality and productivity.
Pushing industry’s needs in academia
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otted around the country are a series of collaborative hubs between industry, government and academia called EPSRC centres. For many years manufacturers have complained that government doesn’t understand the needs of industry but the sun is now rising for a new dawn.
will help precision engineering companies to improve quality and productivity. Current technology typically involves making a component, taking it off the machine at the end, before using another piece of equipment to inspect it. This means that faults are only detected once the full cost of manufacture has been spent to create the product. Continuing to send a product through the production line that already has a fault
wastes time and costs money. There is a massive financial benefit to being able to spot and pull a product from the line at an earlier stage so the Centre’s research team are in the process of developing new sensors, instruments and techniques that will enable component measurement to take place during the manufacturing process. There are some serious challenges in achieving this in terms of the robustness and levels of accuracy required in a production environment, but solving these problems will deliver a step-change in manufacturing quality, efficiency and accuracy, and that has a real impact on competitiveness and economic success.
With an initial five-year plan in place, the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology at the University of Huddersfield has received around £9m worth of investment. With £4.5m from the EPSRC, the main UK government agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences, and £1m coming out of the university’s own wallet, the fact that 13 industrial partners have stumped up £3.5m already is testament to the sector’s belief that there will be commercial benefits to emerge from these centres. The Huddersfield team aim to develop new measurement technology and techniques that
Demostrating measurement on a 5-axis machine tool
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See www.hud.ac.uk/cimam for more information.
Come and meet us at Farnborough Air Show in the Innovation Zone, 9-15 July 2012 and learn how we can help you gain a competitive edge.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
MET students on a visit to motorsport company Prodrive. Students visit a number of firms, representing a diverse section of manufacturing in the UK Photography: Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing
Collaborate to innovate
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t is essential that skills, knowledge and technology are transferred between universities and manufacturers. What’s clear is that there needs to be an open relationship in order to do this effectively. A protectionist stance from industry around data only limits the success of such relationships. An open approach will help to inform the research and skills that come from academic institutions that will ultimately benefit manufacturers and universities alike.
Leading figures at the University of Cambridge come together to assess the success of university-industrial collaboration at present and discuss how it can improve in the future.
Measuring collaboration
As manufacturers will know, success needs to be measured. With key performance indicators measuring everything from energy usage to the number of near miss accidents in UK factories, replicating that science to identify problems in the relationship between academic institutions and industry is crucial if things are to improve. Without this, there will be a lack of coordination in addressing the issues that exist, and curb the innovation that comes from UK universities.
49,550 Total Higher Education Qualifications obtained in 2010/11
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency for 2010/2011 show that the number of engineering students has been rising year on year with 92,580 full time undergraduates enrolled on engineering courses in 2010, a 3% increase on 2009/2010. With universities investing in new facilities for engineering students and the subject gaining greater traction with the profile it is now being given within the media, there are reasons to be hopeful that more students will enter industry.
Measuring collaboration, something very dependent on ideas, and spotting where technology can be implemented, is not so simple. Dr Tim Minshall, senior lecturer within the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of Cambridge, explains that this is very much a multi-stakeholder problem. “For each of the stakeholders there will be different measures of success for 8
UNIVERSITIES supplement
different types of relationships over varying timeframes. These will have a range of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ aspects,” he says.
Long-term need
How successful is the relationship at present? “There are some great examples of collaborative success from various universities,” says Minshall, giving the longstanding relationship between Rolls-Royce and the University of Cambridge as an example. The collaboration involves over 100 staff and graduate students in the Energy, Fluids and Turbomachinery Groups of the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University, producing the integrated approach to research necessary to apply technology to aircraft engines.
Recognition of the importance of industrial engagement has increased over the past ten years Dr Tim Minshall, Senior Lecturer within the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of Cambridge
“Success for long term strategic relationships such as these combines joint involvement in long-term research projects that may drive the emergence of new industries and redefine the current technology landscape. Success may also be the development of trusted relationships that can be called upon in response to particular emerging issues,” comments Minshall.
Case Study Level: Corporate Objective: How to maximise the engineering contribution to the business not just within individual sites but across the enterprise. Action: Configured an organisational modeling tool in partnership with BAE Systems to paint a clear picture of what capabilities it should be good at to support the delivery of business strategy based on critical success factors to the business. Result: Aided the company’s Engineering Function in setting organisational development implications in response to the Corporate Strategy, including the increased element of service provision.
Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the university, states: “A lot of work here is industrially sponsored but it remains important to ensure that research doesn’t sit on the shelf. One of our roles is to disseminate this knowledge.”
A bad reputation
Despite having some of the best universities in the world, commercialisation activities in the UK have long been thought of as poor compared to the industry-focused higher education system in the US. However, Minshall contends that “recognition of the importance of industrial engagement has increased in the past ten years,” with a rise in the volume of activities and in the implementation of structures and frameworks supporting research commercialisation. “Adding application to the traditionally core missions of research and teaching in the late 1990s started to heighten this recognition,” he says. Minshall concludes: “Instilling a culture in universities where the application of knowledge is given equal importance to the generation of knowledge would be the most important way of enabling the on-going transfer of technology.”
There is a need for long-term agreements between individual companies and universities so that trusted relationships are established. This would reduce the time taken to negotiate collaborative partnerships, which can presently take months or even years to complete. The Technology Management lecturer argues that such partnerships also provide a mechanism for helping firms recruit talented researchers, and for academics to ensure that their research is impactful and relevant. When such research is produced, British manufacturers should seek to invest in finding, developing and deploying the fruits that can be plucked from the UK’s high quality universities. Andrew Gill, a principal industrial fellow within IfM Education and Consultancy
Students undertaking a practical team exercise at the IfM’s state-of-the-art Automation Lab Photography: Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing
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UNIVERSITIES supplement
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
However, following the development of policies that encouraged universities to exploit their own inventions in the 1990s, much of the focus on the third mission – application – was on encouraging spin-off and start-up activities within and around universities. Minshall explains: “This was a valuable thing to stimulate but may have led to an overemphasis, in some cases, on creating new firms rather than building relationships with existing firms. In addition, some of the metrics used for assessing third mission encouraged the development of a short-term transaction rather than a long-term relationship based approach to working with industry.”
Talks need to take place
Since then the increasing number of technology intensive and technology contingent firms has led to more interest in working closely with universities. So how can the relationship be improved? “There needs to be more open conversations about opportunities for collaboration, raising awareness on both sides of what universities can and can’t offer, what industry does and doesn’t need, and the wide range of possible modes of engagement,” says Minshall.
It remains important to ensure that research doesn’t sit on the shelf Andrew Gill, Principal Industrial Fellow at IfM Education and Consultancy Services
He adds, “Instilling a culture in universities where the application of knowledge is given equal importance to the generation of knowledge would be the most important way of enabling the ongoing transfer of technology.” The ideal scenario is jointly developing areas for collaboration that lead to academics accessing the resources they need to undertake relevant research, and industry partners having relationships with academics that fit within a broader open innovation strategy.” Andrew Gill asserts that there can be great value in working with the university’s Education and Consultancy Services arm which partners in a very different way from the major consultancies, and can provide benefit from taking on leading edge, new and fresh thinking. 10
A femtosecond Titanium Sapphire Laser, used in the direct machining of micro and nano components, at IfM’s Centre for Industrial Photonics Photography: Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing
Having worked with the Technology Strategy Board on establishing national manufacturing competencies, Gill says “the ability to identify, realise and add value from technology is a very substantial competence in itself.” The University of Cambridge helped identify which areas of activity the UK might develop in order to most effectively support high value manufacturing. Gill, who has over two decades’ experience of working within industry, spending 18 of those years at energy giant Shell, says that the TSB HVM Catapult is now working to build this support on a cross-sector basis.
The valley of death
“There is this ‘valley of death’ that people talk about a lot and that’s to do with timeframe,” says Gill. “Technological development takes place within a long timeframe and industry in the current climate, and perhaps in many cases more generally, focuses on the shorterterm, but wishes there was a pipeline coming through to meet longer-term needs. Linking the development pipeline to profitable product and service opportunities is the key in this respect” The report, titled A Landscape for the Future of High Value Manufacturing in the UK is
now helping to shape a long-term vision that will help to forge a closer link between the research base and industry. “High Value Manufacturing is a good expression of things that are hot topics for a lot of people in a lot of sectors. Everyone is going for high value. We didn’t try to pick sectoral winners; we looked at which races to be in from the perspective of national capabilities.” According to the report, these areas include: energy generation, biotechnology, aerospace, through-life engineering and the design and manufacture of lightweight vehicles, structures and devices. Demand for successful collaboration between universities and industry might be expected to be high in such areas. Brian Kirby, research & innovation manager at renewable energies firm Alstom Grid UK, illustrates this point when he says that his firm is “looking to reduce risk by getting universities to take research on for us.” Incorporating collaboration into a more flexible innovation strategy could help to develop new products and technology in these sectors and elsewhere. But ultimately, universities must be able to provide a good return on investment just like anything else.
UNIVERSITIES supplement
THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Supply Professionalism Programme – Open to New Companies Developed in partnership with the process industry, WMG’s Supply Professionalism Programme is now the key educational platform for supply managers at AstraZeneca, Syngenta, PZ Cussons and Fujifilm. Your staff could join them. Delivered on a part-time, modular basis, it is a globally applicable education programme enhancing integrated contributions throughout the supply chain. Delegates include: Global Project Leaders, Site Managers, Factory Managers, Process Technology Managers Dedicated modules are delivered at the University of Warwick: ■ Strategic Decision Making
Networking and cultural learning opportunities with peers are invaluable, with delegates coming from a variety of countries including The Netherlands, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
Personal Leadership and Change Operations Management and Lean Supply Chain Supply Chain Strategy Compliance Management Performance, Evaluation and Control Product Lifecycle Management ■ Innovation ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
2009
collaboration to exploit high value manufacturing in the UK
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arwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick has a thirty year track record in collaborative R&D, delivering numerous innovations. These developments have been successfully embedded within products and processes in a wide range of sectors and the WMG centre within the High Value Manufacturing Catapult will build on this research pedigree. WMG’s success is the result of cutting-edge research and knowledge transfer and working collaboratively with companies to reach a common goal. The centre is primary focused on the international challenge of developing low carbon mobility. It has with a whole systems approach to exploiting leading edge capability in lightweight product and system optimisation. Structural optimisation, the manufacture and performance of advanced materials and energy
The Vehicle Energy Facility can test any hybrid vehicle architecture
storage and management will all be exploited at the unique vehicle energy facility run by WMG and a new £3m building in the pipeline to test, research and develop energy storage. These areas will be supported by the development of digital simulation technologies that will address key priorities in the technology roadmaps of the automotive, commercial vehicles, rail, marine and consumer products sectors. The WMG centre will bring together global companies and SMEs, enabling them to access cutting-edge equipment and expertise, as well as new funding streams that would otherwise be out of reach. It will act as a bridge between academia and manufacturing by engaging the UK’s industrial community in applied R&D projects.
WMG
is one of seven centres that makes up the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which includes the Advanced Forming Research Centre (University of Strathclyde), the Advanced Manufacturing and Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centres (University of Sheffield), the Centre for Process Innovation (Wilton & Sedgefield), the Manufacturing Technology Centre (Universities of Birmingham, Loughborough and Nottingham and TWI Limited) and the National Composites Centre (University of Bristol) .
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See www.go.warwick.ac.uk for more information.
To find out more about the Supply Professionalism Programme please visit our website or call us w go.warwick.ac.uk/wmgptmasters/bespoke e wmgptmasters@warwick.ac.uk t +44 (0)24 7652 3976
Professional learning and development for Engineering and Manufacturing professionals Credible training, taught by leading experts from a reputable institution. Coventry University offers a wide range of expertise for engineering and manufacturing professionals working across many sectors, including specialist areas within the automotive, aerospace and advanced manufacturing sectors. Acclaimed as the number one UK university for working with business (HE-BCI 2009/2010), Coventry University has a proven record of delivering real impact to its clients. We develop and deliver both bespoke short courses and tailored programmes of learning. By working closely with our clients, each of our courses are infused with crucial industry and company specific insight as well as cutting-edge knowledge from our relevant experts.
We have particular expertise in the following areas: • Low carbon vehicles • Intelligent transport systems • Metrology (including NPL training and measurement uncertainty) • Engineering management (including lean processes)
Pro dev fessi pro elo ona bes gram pmen l pok mes t ava e trai and ilab ning le
The course has totally changed the way I approach Metrology and Measurement, not just for my company but for its customers too Fd in Metrology student, Technical Support Engineer
Current courses available: • Business Improvement Techniques • Lean and Just in Time – JIT • Current State Value Stream Mapping • Future State Value Stream Mapping • Introduction to production planning and control – PPC • Introduction to Total Preventative Maintenance – TPM
• Introduction to Statistical Process Control – SPC • Quality Function Deployment – QFD • Kaizen • Failure Mode and Effective Critical Analysis – FMECA • Introduction to A3 Problem Solving
For more information about our courses, visit our website or contact the CPD Unit Email: cpdenquiries@coventry.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)24 7688 7798
www.coventry.ac.uk/cpd www.coventry.ac.uk/clearlycoventry
UNIVERSITIES supplement
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY
TM: What are you doing to attract local students to the university?
MB: The university is keen to engage with the local community and prides itself on the partnerships it has within Coventry. We work with many local schools and colleges to ensure young people know about the benefits taking STEM subjects. We are also working with many key local employers on student placements, research opportunities and professional learning and development programmes for their workforce.
Building a better future Professor Mike Blundell, associate dean for enterprise at Coventry University’s faculty of Engineering & Computing discusses the university’s £160m investment in new facilities.
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he stunning new £55m centre for the Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Coventry University will be innovative both inside and out. Its visually stunning, futuristic exterior is set to mark it out as an iconic building at the heart of one of the UK’s most historic engineering cities and the university hopes that the use of space will encourage group learning.
TM: What is the mission behind the new centre?
MB: The £55m investment is proof of the university’s commitment to the STEM subjects and will provide an innovative and technologically enabled environment that stimulates creative thought, team work and interdisciplinary collaboration.
TM: Will you be running any new courses when the building opens?
MB: The new building is on track for completion this summer and will open its doors to new students in September. We are currently developing a suite of new professional development courses and are keen to engage with industry to inform the content of these. The new engineering and computing building is not just a new space for existing approaches to learning and teaching but a building design focused on the provision of learning spaces for the delivery of a re-defined teaching pedagogy - ALL (Activity Led Learning). It truly is a building designed around the learning experience.
As a result of our interaction with businesses, both big and small, we have gained a fantastic reputation for real business impact and won the Times Higher Award for Most Enterprising University in 2011. This means that the education we are offering our local students is informed by industry, preparing them for a career where they are ready to hit the ground running and tackle the key challenges of tomorrow.
TM: What can you offer directly to manufacturers?
MB: We are recognised as the number one university for working with business, assisting over 9,500 SMEs and 500 large and global companies each year. Our partnerships include both global companies and SMEs across a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, digital, ICT, finance, health, government and construction. In 2009/2010, 37% of SMEs working with a university chose to work with us rather than one of 197 other higher education institutions in the UK. We have an award winning focus on supporting unique and exciting start-up companies, helping them to shape the business models, products and technologies of the future. As a forward-looking, modern university, we are advising how to develop and sustain the right set of skills for the workforce of the future. Our professional development courses, often bespoke for our client’s specific needs, are in high demand both in the UK and overseas. We recently launched our first professional development programme The new building offers over in manufacturing 3,000sq² of laboratory and management techniques, workshop space including: kick-started by a workshop Mercedes GP Petronus sub sonic wind tunnel; with lean guru, Professor AVL engine dyno test cell; Peter Hines. We created and are delivering the world’s first Foundation Degree in Metrology. Metrology is one of our most successful training programmes within the manufacturing community as we offer practical, expert knowledge and training.
Composites facility; High performance computer; Eight Tesslar Cryogenic Magnet; Metrology facility; Flight simulators and air traffic control suite; Electronics laboratories; Machinery and metal workshops; Welding facility; Rapid prototyping and desk-top milling Shaker rig; Motorsport centre.
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LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering The Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering provides a rich environment for industrially relevant, academically challenging, Learning, Research and Knowledge Transfer, in Engineering and Technology. Study full-time at Undergraduate Level: Engineering Management (BSc) Innovative Manufacturing Engineering (MEng) (6 company industry sponsored programme) Manufacturing Engineering (BEng) Mechanical Engineering (MEng/BEng) Product Design Engineering (MEng/BEng) Sports Technology (BSc) Diploma of Industrial Studies (DIS)
Study full-time and part-time at Postgraduate Level (MSc): Advanced Engineering Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and Management Engineering Design Engineering Design and Manufacture Mechanical Engineering Sustainable Engineering
Research and Knowledge Transfer with our multidisciplinary Research Groups (PhD/ EngDoc/MPhil) : Applied Aerodynamics Dynamics Healthcare Engineering Optical Engineering Manufacturing Engineering Materials and Structures Physical Ergonomics Process Engineering Sports Technds Systems, Risk & Reliability Thermofluids
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UNIVERSITIES supplement
Loughborough Engineering: Academically Challenging – Industrially Relevant
The Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering provides one of the country’s best environments for academically challenging, industrially relevant, engineering teaching and research, with over 120 members of staff and approximately 1,200 undergraduate, postgraduate and research students.
Teaching Excellence
The School brings together expertise in engineering management, engineering science, manufacturing processes and technologies, product design, and sports technology, with the six full time accredited undergraduate degree programmes being regularly placed in the top of their relevant subject league tables, and six full time / part time postgraduate MSc degrees providing enhanced specialist knowledge.
Research Excellence
The School’s research role is to define new engineering related theories, techniques and technologies across a large array of industrial sectors. At the heart of these activities are key UK Government and Industry funded research centres, with the School hosting four Innovative Manufacturing Centres with a total concurrent value of £30m+. EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine Innovative Electronics Manufacturing Research Centre These collaborative centres are cornerstones for fostering and developing new ideas, in conjunction with a large array of supporting and sponsoring companies. New collaboration between the School, the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham, and a number of key manufacturing companies has led to the development of the £40m Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), based at Ansty Park (Coventry). The MTC is now a core partner of the UK’s first £200m+ Technology innovation Centre (TIC), which is focussing on the area of High Value Manufacturing (HVM).
For more information go to: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/mm 15