AUTOMATION
Ian Brooks, AM Technical Fellow, University of Sheffield NW
able to demonstrate how realising
greater insights and values from
manufacturing data can lead to
improvements in productivity,
resource utilisation, sustainability and
really impact the bottom line.”
Professor Sam Turner, Chief
Technology Officer for the HVM
Catapult, said the
agreement presents a
great opportunity for
the AMRC and HVM
Catapult to build a
strong working
relationship with The
Alan Turing Institute.
He added: “AI and
machine learning are
likely to be at the heart
of many manufacturing
systems and it is important
that the UK harnesses its research and
innovation capability to take a leading
centres working with manufacturing
companies of all sizes from around the
globe. The AMRC is part of the High
Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult,
a thriving alliance of seven technology
and innovation centres that work with
industry to help bridge the gap
between technology concept and
commercialisation.
The Alan Turing Institute is the
national institute for data science and
artificial intelligence, with
headquarters at the British Library in
London. The Turing undertakes
research which tackles some of the
biggest challenges in science, society
and the economy.
Mutual research areas of interest in
the agreement between the Turing and
the AMRC include: Uncertainty
quantification; Human-centric design;
and Privacy-preserving technologies,
including utility and application of
synthetic data.
At the Turing, the collaboration will
be led by the Institute’s dynamic
Data-Centric Engineering research
programme, a major £60m research
initiative funded by the Lloyd’s
Register Foundation. The agreement
demonstrates an important step for
the programme as it seeks to
consolidate a research strategy in the
domain of manufacturing. Looking
forward, it is hoped the new
collaboration is the first of many in
this research area.
“Establishing ties with the AMRC is
essential to furthering our strategy in
the area of manufacturing,” said Mark
Girolami, the Turing’s Programme
Director for Data Centric Engineering.
“Having access to a national network
of manufacturing research expertise,
combined with the unique skill set of
Turing researchers, creates an exciting
opportunity for innovative, solutionled
research outcomes that address
key challenges such as maximising
automation, integrating intelligent
software, increasing capacity, and
reshoring, facing the manufacturing
sector.”
Professor Rab Scott, Head of Digital
at the AMRC, said: “Bringing these
world-class organisations together will
provide a tremendously valuable
resource for the UK’s manufacturing
sector. Working together, the AMRC
and The Alan Turing Institute will be
role in developing solutions.”
Machine learning technology is
obviously another key aspect of AI
with implications for manufacturing.
One example of this can be seen in the
fact that it will be used to make the
additive manufacturing (AM) process
of metallic alloys for aerospace
cheaper and faster,
encouraging production
of lightweight,
energy-efficient
aircraft to support
net zero targets for
aviation.
Project MEDAL:
Machine Learning for
Additive
Manufacturing
Experimental Design is led
by Intellegens, a University of
Cambridge spin-out specialising in
artificial intelligence, the University
of Sheffield AMRC North West, and
global aerospace giant Boeing. It aims
to accelerate the product
development lifecycle of aerospace
components by using a machine
learning model to optimise additive
manufacturing (AM) processing
parameters for new metal alloys at a
lower cost and faster rate.
AM techniques reduce material
waste and energy usage; allow easy
prototyping, optimising and
improvement of components; and
enable the manufacture of
components with superior
engineering performance over their
lifecycle. The global AM market is
worth £12bn and that is expected to
triple in size over the next five years.
Project MEDAL’s research will
WWW.MADEIN.IE « MARCH 2021 « 25
Ben Pellegrini, CEO of Intellegens
“Having access
to a national
network of manufacturing
research expertise,
combined with the skill
set of Turing researchers,
creates an exciting
opportunity for
innovative, solution-
led research”
/WWW.MADEIN.IE