Serving the Teesside Business Community | 63
HELPING
BOOST THE
BIOECONOMY
T
The state-of the-art education, training and
research facility will be run by Teesside University
at its campus on Darlington’s Central Park.
Executive Development, the Centre for
Process Innovation’s (CPI) National Biologics
Manufacturing Centre, and Darlington
College.
It will house academics and business
development staff from Teesside University,
working in partnership with regional, national
and international industry partners to provide
specialist education and training for the
current and future workforce, and to promote
industry-focused innovation and research.
“We’re delighted that the NHC will
be located in the Tees Valley,” said Steve
Bagshaw, chief executive of Fujifilm
Diosynth Biotechnologies. “As one of
the world’s leading biopharmaceutical
contract development and manufacturing
organisations, the development and training
of our people is central to all that we do.
“The NHC on our doorstep will allow
us to access best-in-class training and
development opportunities for our staff, and
for potential recruits to also accumulate the
skills and knowhow needed to be successful
in our day-to-day business.”
The centre will work closely with supply
chain companies, digital businesses and
academics to develop creative digital
solutions to industry challenges.
Its business offer will include provision
of graduate skills in big data, virtual reality
and visualisation technology, improving
manufacturing efficiency, product quality
and training services using ICT solutions,
and an open innovation space for project
development using data analytics, modelling
and simulation, visualisation and process
improvement and control.
Facilities at the NHC include teaching,
learning and collaborative space, together
with hi-tech laboratories and a state-of-the-
art computing suite. The investment is part
of Teesside University’s ambitious campus
masterplan, which will see £300m spent over
the next 10 years in transforming its estate to
continue to provide an outstanding student
and learning experience.
Vice-chancellor of Teesside University,
Professor Paul Croney, said: “The National
Horizons Centre is the result of significant
work with industry and our partners, to
identify how best the bioscience sector can
reach its full potential through provision of
the right education, training and collaborative
innovation.
“A key priority of Teesside University
is to help drive the knowledge economy,
by growing the high-level skills base,
building partnerships with industry and the
professions, and creating graduates with the
knowledge, aptitude and mindset to add real
value to business.
“Our investment in the National Horizons
Centre is an example of this in action. It will
play a vital role, providing first-class facilities
and programmes to grow knowledge and
research in sectors that are set to transform
the UK economy.”
More than just a building, the National
Horizons Centre will be part of a national
research, innovation and skills eco-system.
It will be the fulcrum of ideas, strategies,
foresight and collaboration that will combine
to have a profound effect on the bioeconomy
by training and supplying the people who will
be building it for generations to come.
For more information visit
tees.ac.uk/nhc
eesside University is taking part
in a £5m project to develop the
bioeconomy across the Tees
Valley, Yorkshire and the Humber
region.
The THYME project will build on the
existing expertise and innovation in the
region in a new collaboration between
the universities of Teesside, York and
Hull.
The bioeconomy uses renewable,
biological resources such as plants and
wastes to create the greener products
of the future – reducing our reliance on
fossil resources and minimising waste.
In partnership with regional industry,
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)
and the wider community, the THYME
project (Teesside, Hull and York –
Mobilising Bioeconomy Knowledge
Exchange) has three key themes:
• Transform: Produce high-value
products from bio-based wastes
and by-products
• Convert: Re-purpose industrial
sites for bio-based manufacturing
• Grow: Increase productivity by
reducing waste and energy use,
adding value to by-products and
developing better products using
industrial biotechnology.
Laura Woods, director of academic
enterprise at Teesside University’s
business hub, said: “The collaboration
with other universities to develop
this hugely important sector provides
a strong innovation platform for the
National Horizons Centre, and will
deliver vital skills and knowledge to
help grow the regional and national
economy.”
The bioeconomy is estimated to be
worth £220bn GVA in the UK alone, and
the government’s industrial strategy is
setting ambitious targets to double its
size by 2030.
The THYME project is part of a multi-
million investment package to drive
university commercialisation across the
country through Research England’s
Connecting Capability Fund (CCF).