University of Strathclyde

The participating centres at the University of Strathclyde are the Department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management (DMEM) and the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC). 

DMEM is one of the UK’s leading centres for Industrial Engineering and home to over 150 academic, teaching, research, knowledge exchange and technical staff. DMEM academics carry out fundamental and applied research in each of the  department’s eponymous subjects. Because of this research into the fundamentals of

production technologies, such as forging and micro-machining, is carried out in in close proximity to investigations into Innovation and the design process. The breadth of activity and energy of the staff produces the highest research income per academic in the University and a 4th place ranking on research power in the 2014 REF. The department has a portfolio of H2020 and Research Council funding that supports a vibrant community of over 60 postgraduate students with excellent laboratory and IT facilities. DMEM has established an environment tailored to both the investigation of the design process and the creation of novel tools for creative innovation. The proposed research will be able to exploit the knowledge and experience established in recent funded work in advanced manufacturing, Industry 4.0, visualisation and management of data, and digital prototyping.

The Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) is a collaborative venture between the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise, the UK Government and leading multinational engineering firms. The £80 million facility has a world-leading reputation for forming and forging research. The AFRC is the only one of the 7 centres that form the UK High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC), which is in Scotland and is the focal point for manufacturing innovation in Scotland, complete with a team of SME engagement partners to work with companies in the region. The centre uses its production scale facilities to take new R&D up the TRL scale and accelerate its industrial exploitation and has recently established a Digital Manufacturing team to increase the scope of its offering to industry. The team has quickly developed a base capability with virtual and augmented reality technologies such as Microsoft HoloLens, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, through working collaboratively with the ARMC. The AFRC is a globally-recognised centre of excellence in innovative manufacturing technologies, R&D, and metal forming and forging research. The AFRC has embraced the challenge of digital manufacturing from a pragmatic perspective which addresses issues in established and traditional supply chains. As well as new state-of-the-art facilities, it has in-house expertise in automation, measurement, sensing and visualisation.