Material change for Shropshire university engineering campus
A scheme has been launched to help small and medium-sized businesses to carry out research and innovation projects in the field of advanced engineering materials.
Run by the University of Wolverhampton's School of Engineering at the Telford Innovation Campus, the project is aimed at businesses in Shropshire and Staffordshire.
Known as Calmeric (Composites and Additive Layer Materials Engineering Research and Innovation Centre), it will benefit companies that don’t presently have full in-house capability to develop advanced components manufactured using composite or additive layer technologies.
The University of Wolverhampton secured funding from the European Regional Development Fund to deliver Calmeric.
A team of academic specialists led by Dr Syed Hasan, head of the School of Engineering, Mark Stanford, professor of Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Andrew Pollard, industrial professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, will work alongside companies, utilising specialist materials for manufacturing and testing equipment.
A launch event was held at the Telford campus last Wednesday where invited guests were given more details of the project and taken on a tour of the facilities in the School of Engineering.
Prof Pollard, project director, said: "Calmeric supports advanced engineering and manufacturing companies to develop high performance components that are lightweight and make efficient use of materials. These advantages are particularly relevant to businesses operating within aerospace, automotive, motorsport and wind energy supply chains.
“Our research team will look to build the innovation capacity of Shropshire and Staffordshire manufacturing companies by offering them access to specialist skills and resources. Our ultimate aim is to improve the performance of regional and national businesses operating within advanced manufacturing supply chains.
"If you are a SME which is looking to develop a new product then getting the right material for it, especially if it is an advanced engineering product, can be really difficult to do.
"The purpose of the project is give you access to our specialists to figure out which would be the right material, how can we improve it, and how can we get the part working better.
"The first stage of it is scoping and analysing what is needed and maybe carry out some trials. That is fully funded and costs nothing.
"Coming out of that, if there is the potential for more research, we could move into a research collaboration agreement. We would being in one of our research staff on your behalf to work on the problem. That could mean weeks or months of research.
"We have got state-of-the-art facilities here. There's a lot of investment and capability at Telford. We are investing more in composites manufacturing equipment and we have got the test laboratory here.
"These things are difficult to access normally and they are expensive. This project is about making it all possible."
It is widely-recognised there is an engineer skills shortage in the UK and according to one government study, to keep up with manufacturing demand, UK manufacturers would need to recruit an additional 203,000 skilled engineers each year until 2024.
"Industry and businesses are crying out for engineers, people with skills in CAD, materials and engineering. The job market for engineers is really strong.
"The university has invested a lot of money in engineering and have captured the imagination of young people and applications for our engineering course has just gone up and up and up," Prof Pollard added.
A plaque to commemorate the official launch of the project last Wednesday was unveiled by Telford mayor, Councillor Stephen Reynolds.
"The launch of this project is so important to both the University of Wolverhampton and local SMEs in Shropshire and Staffordshire," he said.
"It is so appropriate that the university is at the forefront of emerging technologies and exciting developments in industry in a place which was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.
"As a borough, Telford and Wrekin are delighted to support and foster good relationships with the university which is vital for the continued growth of our town."
The Calmeric project will run until December 2021.
Any business in Shropshire or Staffordshire interested in collaborating should contact 01902 323298 or email calmeric@wlv.ac.uk
