Innovation and research
Innovation and research

£5.1m pioneering Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing scheme delivered by University of Sunderland

10 May 2019

The University of Sunderland secured £5.1m to deliver its Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing project - set to create jobs and unlock growth in the region - £2.6m from the European Regional Development Fund with industry and the University making up the additional contributions.

The pioneering scheme will enable the region’s manufacturing base of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be more productive and sustainable by finding solutions to their research, innovation and development challenges and helping them to develop their products, processes and technology.

By working closely with companies across the entire advanced manufacturing spectrum the project will deliver innovation support where it is most needed, to manufacturing companies in the North East.

Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing will:

develop new products that enable further scale-up into national supply chains and export markets
address key challenges in manufacturing process innovation through collaboration within smart specialisation areas
use larger regional companies to initiate opportunities for collaborative projects with the potential to open up new markets and business opportunities for regional SMEs
connect SMEs to specialist staff and academics that will undertake needs analysis, knowledge or technology transfer, collaborative research and validate new technologies
provide networks, infrastructure and shared facilities that will enable effective collaboration and enhance the innovation capacity of businesses
provide access to platforms for testing, developing and validating new technologies
emphasise sustainability and digital manufacturing
provide access to the University’s facilities, expertise, research and technical networks

A spokesperson on behalf of the Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing Project said: “With colleagues in the School of Engineering and at AMAP on board we have a ‘best in class’ research team on hand. We’re looking forward to supporting SMEs with overcoming blocks to growth that they are facing.”