The University of Sheffield AMRC has today (31 July 2013) announced plans to expand its research capabilities to include castings technology, after acquiring internationally renowned company Castings Technology International (CTI) at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe, Rotherham.
The University of Sheffield has acquired the buildings and assets of CTI and Titanium Castings UK Ltd (TCUK) including the ongoing research work, commercial contracts and consultancy.
As part of the agreement, staff at CTI and TCUK are transferring to the employment of a University of Sheffield subsidiary company.
The new addition to their portfolio will allow the AMRC to offer state-of-the-art castings technologies to its industrial partners, adding breadth and depth to the University's collaborative research capabilities.
Professor Keith Ridgway CBE who founded the AMRC, said: “The AMRC plays a major role in supporting the UK’s advanced manufacturing industry and with it the economic growth and skills which are so vital to our economy. Our aim is to work with our industrial partners to be at the forefront of advanced manufacturing research, helping companies to address real manufacturing challenges with an understanding of the full manufacturing process from design and prototyping through to materials and manufacture.
"Acquiring CTI will complement our existing strengths and provide another important aspect to our work with industry. Set in the context of the AMRC’s overall vision to be the world’s leading manufacturing technology research centre, CTI is a core element which sits alongside the AMRC with Boeing, Nuclear AMRC, Design Prototype and Test Centre, apprentice Training Centre, Namtec and the reconfigurable Factory 2050.”
Professor Richard Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Sheffield, said: “We are delighted that CTI will be part of our AMRC, representing a significant investment by the University of Sheffield into driving economic growth by linking our academic research to the needs of industry.
“The new centre will develop techniques that will enable the UK sector to compete in current markets, and more importantly, provide the resources to take castings into new safety critical areas, such as aircraft structures. The integration of CTI will bring about substantial leaps in casting technology, comparable to those that the AMRC has made in areas such as machining and composites. Sheffield is the home of engineering, and we’re thrilled to be adding this to our portfolio.”
CTI Chairman Tom Westley said: “This is a real win win situation for our members and staff. Our members will continue to receive all the services they have always enjoyed, but with the much enhanced resources of the University of Sheffield to support an ambitious expansion of our activities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park.
“Foundry member companies will benefit from a strong and regular dialogue with castings users from all over the world. Major OEMs will be working with us to ensure developments are focused to their needs and take full advantage of these world class facilities.
The staff will benefit from an accelerated investment programme, which would not have been possible had CTI remained on its own.”
The University of Sheffield AMRC has an international reputation for its ground breaking collaboration with industrial partners to identify research and resolve advanced manufacturing problems. The original Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, founded in 2001 as a partnership between The University of Sheffield and the Boeing Company, has grown to include collaboration with over 70 manufacturing companies, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Spirit Aviation, United Technologies and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty and other leading manufacturers. Core research areas include machining, assembly, welding, composites manufacturing and structural testing.
Additional information
The University of Sheffield AMRC includes the original Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing; the Nuclear AMRC; Namtec, the National Metals Technology Centre; AMRC Diamond Jubilee Knowledge Transfer Centre; Industrial Doctoral Training Centre in Machining Science; and new AMRC Training Centre.
In 2007, The University of Sheffield’s AMRC with Boeing was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its unique approach to collaboration between universities and industry, and in 2011 it was named Boeing Supplier of the Year.
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www.amrc.co.uk
The University of Sheffield
With nearly 25,000 of the brightest students from 117 countries coming to learn alongside 1,209 of the world’s best academics, it is clear why the University of Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading universities. Staff and students at Sheffield are committed to helping discover and understand the causes of things - and propose solutions that have the power to transform the world we live in.
A member of the Russell Group, the University of Sheffield has a reputation for world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines. The University of Sheffield has been named University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2011 for its exceptional performance in research, teaching, access and business performance. In addition, the University has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes (1998, 2000, 2002, 2007), recognising the outstanding contribution by universities and colleges to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life.
One of the markers of a leading university is the quality of its alumni and Sheffield boasts five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students. Its alumni have gone on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields.
Research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, Siemens, Yorkshire Water, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.
The University has well-established partnerships with a number of universities and major corporations, both in the UK and abroad. The White Rose University Consortium (White Rose) is a strategic partnership between 3 of the UK's leading research universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. Since its creation in 1997 White Rose has secured more than £100M into the Universities.
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