- £28 million pound investment, underpinned by a £10m award from the EPSRC with further investment from industry and the Universities of Strathclyde, Sheffield and Newcastle
- Hub will aim to design new electrical machines with improved performance, such as offshore wind turbines and electric vehicles
- Project will work with industry to drive innovation and overcome manufacturing challenges
The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering will form the Scottish arm of a hub that is combining expertise in electrical machines and manufacturing for the first time, aiming to put the UK at the forefront of an electrification revolution.
We are witnessing a huge global shift towards cleaner growth and more resource efficient economies. Electrical machines are at the heart of the move towards electric cars, planes and the use of renewable energy such as offshore wind, but face significant manufacturing challenges, particularly around new materials and the application of digital approaches.
The £28m investment, underpinned by a £10m award from the EPSRC, will enable researchers from the new EPSRC Future Electrical Machines Manufacturing Hub to work with industry on addressing key manufacturing challenges, designing new electrical machines with improved performance for the aerospace, energy, automotive and premium consumer sectors.
The drive to lower carbon emissions is resulting in dramatic changes in how we travel and the ways we generate and use energy worldwide. New electrical machines with improved performance -higher power density, increased efficiency and improved reliability – are being designed by researchers and industry to address the need for clean growth and the challenging demands of new applications.
However, there are significant manufacturing challenges to overcome if UK industry wants the ability to manufacture these new machines at an appropriate cost and with the right levels of flexibility and quality.
With funding from the EPSRC and industrial partners including Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Siemens Gamesa, GKN Aerospace, McLaren and Dyson, the team, led by the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), will work with academics at Newcastle University and the University of Strathclyde’s Electronic and Electrical Engineering department and Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) to solve these issues.
