Measuring up thanks to £40m hub at uni
A NEW facility to help manufacturers measure up to the competition has been officially launched in Huddersfield.
The University of Huddersfield is home to a new £40m Future Metrology Hub – the only one of its kind in the UK.
And it is set to play a crucial role in what has been dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The hub, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) along with industry, will help manufacturers achieve greater accuracy and efficiency in their increasingly complex and automated production processes through metrology – the science of measurement.
The seven-year Future Metrology Hub, which receives £10m from the EPSRC and additional funding from universities and business partners, was officially launched at an event attended by more than 130 scientists, engineers, academics and industrialists from around the UK.
They heard talks from key figures, including the Hub’s director, Prof Dame Xiangqian Jiang, who provided an overview of its work. She said that metrology is critical to modern manufacturing and pledged that the technology she and her colleagues Prof Dame Xiangqian Jiang, director of the Future Metrology Hub at the University of Huddersfield, speaks at the official launch event develop in the lab – such as sensors and artificial intelligence control systems – would be geared up for use in the real world of industry. Prof Jiang stressed the need for inter-disciplinary collaboration across a wide range of sectors – adding that its goal was a transformation in UK manufacturing performance.
The university, home to the world-renowned Centre for Precision Technologies, is at the centre of the Future Metrology Hub. Its “spokes” are at the universities of Sheffield, Bath and Loughborough, which will contribute research in specialised areas.
The National Physical Laboratory, which has its regional base at the University of Huddersfield, is also involved. There are also 29 industrial partners, including leading firms such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems, Siemens, Lepton-based Reliance Precision and Carl Zeiss, all represented at the launch.
Another key partner is UK-based multinational Renishaw, which has collaborated with the university for 25 years.
Giving the keynote address, Renishaw group engineering director Prof Geoff McFarland, described the trajectory of modern manufacturing – with its “intelligent factories with zero waste and optimal efficiency using automated processes”.
Metrology was crucial to this, he MARKETING agency Fantastic Media has appointed Chris Murphy (pictured) as development director.
Chris, 30, who has returned to the Birstall-based agency after working there in 2014, will head the digital team. As well as vast technical knowledge and experience, particularly in the development of e-commerce systems, Chris will work on digital projects for a range of B2B and B2C clients.
His appointment is the fifth in four months for the agency in response to a growing number of clients and the growth of longstanding key accounts.
Managing director Andy Hobson said: “Chris is a great addition to the team.
“His knowledge in web and e-commerce is first rate and he knows the agency, so it’s great for us and our clients.
“We are continuing to grow in all areas and our digital offering is a key part of that.
“He will enable us to develop as an agency and our clients will get the benefit of his experience and fresh approach.” said, describing the science as “one of our best manufacturing tools” which needed to have a presence on the shop floor.
Renishaw has more than 1,500 patents and patents pending, said Prof McFarland, adding:. “But we don’t have all the answers and there are more and more questions. And that is why we are involved with this wonderful hub.”
The audience at the launch event also heard from Dr Katie Daniel, who heads the Manufacturing the Future Theme for the EPSRC. She said that the portfolio of research hubs was a flagship investment for the EPSRC, which was involved in drawing up the UK government’s industrial strategy.