RESEARCH NEWS
New digital factory hub in South Wales
The High Value Manufacturing( HVM) Catapult has officially opened a new digital factory hub in Baglan, South Wales, in collaboration with the Welsh Government.
“ Building on the success of the University of Sheffield AMRC Cymru in North Wales, the new facility is designed to supercharge innovation in Welsh manufacturing. It was opened by Rebecca Evans MS, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning at the Welsh Government. It is expected to unlock up to £ 18 million in additional GVA annually within five years by helping manufacturers to improve their productivity, efficiency and sustainability through the adoption of digital solutions,” explained AMRC.
The digital factory hub will be run by AMRC Cymru, part of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre( AMRC), and the team will include digital, automation and design engineers, supported by Warwick Manufacturing Group( WMG), which is also a member of the HVM Catapult. Based at the Bay Technology Centre in Port Talbot, the hub will be home to modern manufacturing equipment funded by the Welsh Government, including a SMART workbench, advanced robotics, virtual and augmented reality and additive manufacturing.
Katherine Bennett CBE, HVM Catapult CEO, said:“ This is a landmark moment for South Wales’ industrial landscape. Helping manufacturers embrace innovation and harness advanced technologies enables them
Above: Rebecca Evans MS, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Wales, with Ben Morgan( Interim CEO, AMRC).
to grow, thrive and secure high-value jobs for the future. At scale, and with the support of Innovate UK, we can elevate Wales’ role as a leader in net-zero modern manufacturing with new industry, new skills, regeneration and economic growth.”
The new facility will initially focus on the estimated 100 medium-sized enterprises that do not currently engage in research
and development activities in the area. HVM Catapult will also work to transform Wales’ s heavy industry heritage into a new net-zero cluster able to capitalise on the floating offshore wind opportunity in the Celtic Sea. The team in Baglan will support the scaling-up of disruptive technologies and optimising of factories for the wind farms which could create more than 5,000 new jobs and deliver a £ 1.4 billion boost to the Welsh economy.
Jason Murphy, strategy and commercial director at AMRC Cymru, sees the potential of HVM Catapult Baglan to drive much-needed change. He emphasised that finding a balance of support for both SMEs and large businesses was hugely important.
“ AMRC Cymru plays a pivotal role in advancing manufacturing innovation and, in turn, driving economic development across Wales. That’ s why we’ re developing a ten-year strategic plan to strengthen expertise in key technology areas, expand translational manufacturing research across Wales and deliver tangible economic benefits. The new facility in Baglan marks an important milestone in realising this vision,” he concluded.
Manufacturing is a cornerstone of the Welsh economy, contributing almost a fifth( 18.4 per cent) of its output, or £ 11.3 billion annually, and supporting 147,000 jobs. n
www
. amrc. co. uk
MINIMAL project reaches experimental stage
Cranfield’ s Centre for Propulsion and Thermal Power Engineering in the UK is researching a technology that promises major performance improvements for net-zero aero engines. Led by Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, MINIMAL( Minimum Environmental Impact ultra-efficient cores for Aircraft Propulsion) is a Horizon Europe- and UKRIfunded project aiming to demonstrate that large reductions in fuel burn and emissions may be achieved with composite cycle engine( CCE) technology.
“ Fuelled by hydrogen, or by sustainable aviation fuel, these novel engines promise unparalleled thermal efficiency and the flexibility for climate-friendly operations including contrail avoidance. We are modelling a novel hydrogen-fuelled CCE with a multicylinder opposed free piston core, where the pistons drive linear alternators to generate electric power. The team is also researching alternative fuel injection and ignition systems to maximise efficiency and minimise emissions,” confirmed Cranfield University.
At the mid-point of this four-year project, Cranfield has secured an OpenFPE Opposed Free Piston research engine provided by Libertine FPE for proof-of-concept hydrogen combustion experiments.
Libertine’ s CEO, Sam Cockerill, describes OpenFPE as“ the first ever research engine that offers real-time compression ratio control, multi-fuel capability and a customerconfigurable combustion system.”
“ This is an exciting development for MINIMAL” said Dr Andrew Rolt, Senior Research Fellow in Low Emissions Aircraft Technologies at Cranfield University.
“ The flexibility of the OpenFPE research engine will enable us to make NOx emissions measurements over a wide range of operating conditions representative of those to be encountered in future hydrogen-fuelled commercial aero engines. This takes us another step closer to our goal of achieving a double-digit percentage improvement in fuel economy and CO₂ reduction,” he continued.
The research engine will be installed in a new test cell in Cranfield’ s Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre( AVEC). AVEC will also be exploring the technology’ s potential for use in the next generation of ultra-efficient, hydrogenfuelled combustion systems for trucks, off-road machines and even motorsport. n
www. cranfield. ac. uk
16 | ismr. net | ISMR April 2025