Date Created: 26 August 2011
"This will be beneficial for our research, the companies we are working with and the Scottish economy"
Scotland’s Advanced Forming Research Centre’s (AFRC) technological expertise has attracted support from internationally renowned engineering firms such as Rolls-Royce, Boeing, Mettis Aerospace, TIMET, Aubert & Duval and Barnes Aerospace who are working with AFRC scientists to develop solutions to their technological challenges.
It has also been chosen by the UK Government as the lead partner in its new network of Technology Innovation Centres (TICs).
The AFRC, based near Glasgow, is a joint venture between the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government and industry to develop cutting-edge metal forming and forging techniques to support manufacturing for the aerospace, energy, marine and automobile industries.
As a partner in the UK TICs, the AFRC will be able to share in the £200 million funding support the UK Government has committed over the next four years.
AFRC has been in operation for the past three years and was officially opened by the Duke of York at the beginning of this year.
It is the only research institute in the UK developing super-plastic forming technologies, which will enable researchers to shape complex materials at temperatures of up to 960°C. It also boasts a £1.5 million screw press capable of exerting a force of up to 2000 tonnes with pinpoint accuracy, and furnaces capable of temperatures in excess of 1200°C.
Benefits from collaboration
AFRC Research Director Professor Jeff Brooks said being part of the new network of Technology Innovation Centres would bring benefits to AFRC and Scotland:
"We’ll be part of a wider network of expertise and will be able to collaborate across other technologies, for example, while we are the specialists on metallic materials, I can see a lot of interesting collaboration with the centre developing composite materials in Bristol to develop lightweight engineering applications.
"This will be beneficial for our research, the companies we are working with and the Scottish economy where we can build up the research infrastructure, gain more funding and employ more researchers."
Plans are already under way to enlarge AFRC over the next couple of years, doubling its current 50 research staff.
Paul Lewis, Managing Director of Industries at Scottish Enterprise, which has been a funding partner for the AFRC, said:
"Since its formation less than three years ago, the AFRC has become a breeding ground for new technology, attracting significant private sector investment and internationally renowned engineering firms. This latest announcement will further the facility’s ability to support greater collaboration between academia and industry and undoubtedly bring significant economic benefit to Scotland.
"It is a clear endorsement of the facility as a trailblazer at the forefront of innovative techniques for engineering."