Blueprint for multi-million pound AMRC expansion unveiled

University of Sheffield will create Europe’s largest research-led advanced manufacturing cluster

The University of Sheffield has unveiled a masterplan for the expansion of its hugely successful Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

The university, with its partner Boeing, has signed a deal to secure 50 acres of land at Sheffield Business Park, next to its existing Advanced Manufacturing Park, on which it plans to construct a host of new buildings. These include a £43 million Factory 2050 facility, which will be the UK's first fully reconfigurable assembly and component manufacturing facility for collaborative research. Other new research buildings could include the £30 million National Material Institute, which will be part of the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials announced, a £20 million Fast Make Centre of Excellence and a possible Energy 2050 carbon capture research development.

The masterplan is a step towards the development of the UK’s first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District – which could become one of Europe’s largest research-led advanced manufacturing cluster, centred on the M1 corridor near Sheffield and Rotherham.

Professor Keith Ridgway, executive dean at the AMRC, said the masterplan would lead to a step change in the University of Sheffield’s ability to work in partnership with some of the world’s leading companies.

“We already have fantastic relationships with a number of leading aerospace and engineering companies and we’ve proved over the last decade that there is an enormous appetite from industry for the innovative work we do here.

“The submission of the masterplan is another step towards significant expansion that will put the AMRC in an even stronger position to transform research into practical applications which offer high tech solutions right across the manufacturing sector.

“If we are successful in our other plans for the Sheffield Business Park site, it will act as a catalyst for the development of an Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District, bringing more leading manufacturers to the region, re-enforcing its place as an international leader in high value manufacturing.”