Made Smarter Innovation - Research Centre for Connected Factories
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Faculty of Engineering
Abstract
The future prosperity of the UK will increasingly depend on building and maintaining a resilient and sustainable manufacturing sector that can respond to changing supply and demand by adapting, repurposing, relocating and reusing available production capabilities. The pandemic which emerged in 2020 has influenced our perspective of future manufacturing operations and, in particular, has brought into focus the capacity challenges of delivering critical products and maintaining production in the face of major disruptions. It also accelerated the emerging trend for more localised, greener and cost-competitive indigenous manufacturing infrastructure with the ability to produce a wider set of complex products faster, better and cheaper. To meet the long-term structural and post-pandemic challenges, we need transformative new methods of building and utilising future factories by embracing complexity, uncertainty and data intensity in a dynamic and rapidly changing world.
The "Morphing Factory" Made Smarter Centre aims to deliver a platform for next generation resilient connected manufacturing services. It will allow future manufacturing operations to be delivered by ubiquitous production units that can be easily repurposed, relocated and redeployed in response to changing market demand. This vision will be delivered through 3 closely related strands:
(1) An underpinning fundamental research programme to define the principles, methods and models for future morphing factories in terms of architecture, topology, configuration methods, IoT digital awareness, in-process monitoring and AI based autonomous control. (50%).
(2) A dynamic challenge-driven applied research programme to address emerging industrial needs and validate and demonstrate the results through a set of application studies including smart machining, production integrated 3D printing and autonomous assembly integrated into a common hyperconnected morphing factory cloud (45%).
(3) A programme of networking and engagement activities with other ISCF Made Smarter research and innovation centres, industry and the general public to maximise the impact of the research, encourage accelerated technology uptake and increase the public awareness (5%).
The "Morphing Factory" Made Smarter Centre aims to deliver a platform for next generation resilient connected manufacturing services. It will allow future manufacturing operations to be delivered by ubiquitous production units that can be easily repurposed, relocated and redeployed in response to changing market demand. This vision will be delivered through 3 closely related strands:
(1) An underpinning fundamental research programme to define the principles, methods and models for future morphing factories in terms of architecture, topology, configuration methods, IoT digital awareness, in-process monitoring and AI based autonomous control. (50%).
(2) A dynamic challenge-driven applied research programme to address emerging industrial needs and validate and demonstrate the results through a set of application studies including smart machining, production integrated 3D printing and autonomous assembly integrated into a common hyperconnected morphing factory cloud (45%).
(3) A programme of networking and engagement activities with other ISCF Made Smarter research and innovation centres, industry and the general public to maximise the impact of the research, encourage accelerated technology uptake and increase the public awareness (5%).
Publications
Abdel-Aty T
(2024)
The Role of Low-Cost Digital Solutions in Supporting Industrial Sustainability
in Sustainability
Auledas-Noguera M
(2022)
Mobile Robots for In-Process Monitoring of Aircraft Systems Assemblies.
in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Brion D
(2022)
Quantitative and Real-Time Control of 3D Printing Material Flow Through Deep Learning
in Advanced Intelligent Systems
Brion D
(2022)
Automated recognition and correction of warp deformation in extrusion additive manufacturing
in Additive Manufacturing
| Description | The project has made significant progress towards meeting the stated objectives of the grant award. In particular: * Architectures, models, and control methods for connected morphing factories and their supply chains have been investigated and defined in a way that is generic enough to be widely applicable to a range of scenarios. This has been demonstrated by implementations across the consortium of project partners, including at least one concrete way that can be directly taken up by industry. * Several methods for in-process monitoring and control, particularly but not exclusively focussed on automated drilling and machining in the aerospace domain, have been developed. These methods and technologies will enable production facilities that are both more flexible and capable of increased quality whilst remaining cost-effective. * The approaches and technologies developed in the project have been prototyped, tested, and evaluated across the project partners in the context of emerging societal needs. These research facilities, including the Omnifactory® at the University of Nottingham, will continue to support research capability beyond the life of the project. * These needs and drivers of the project have been uncovered through deep engagement with the research community, industry, and wider public through the project industrial advisory board (IAB) and ongoing workshops and open days. The original project IAB has been leveraged to expand the networks of all project partners, and to develop promising new national and international partnerships. Academic publication of the project outcomes has resulted in new research connections, particularly supporting the early stage researchers supported by the project. |
| Exploitation Route | The project is delivering a blueprint for how to embed the concepts of the connected morphing factory into a real industrial organisation. Already the project partners are working with a number of industrial organisations on how to further increase the TRL of the project outcomes and gain benefit from them in their day-to-day business operations. These partners are from a number of sectors, primarily Manufacturing; Aerospace, Defence and Marine; Digital/Communication/Information Technologies; and Energy (specifically nuclear). Other discussions with the construction, pharmaceutical, electronics, and food & beverage industries are also ongoing. It is expected that the outcomes will be taken forward primarily through further research funding (either direct funding, or with the aid of a funding agency), although some are already being directly industrialised by the project partners and/or put into production by the industrial organisations. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Construction Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics Energy Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Annual UK PNT Leadership Seminar |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The Royal Institute of Navigation is updating its workplan for PNT Advisory Group, based on the Leadership Seminar |
| URL | https://rin.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1753405 |
| Description | Beyond the Hype: Making AI Work for Business Productivity |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | One of the participants reported that a new business idea based on using Artificial Intelligence in their LinkedIn Post attributing to one of my comments in the sessions. |
| URL | https://media.bethebusiness.com/documents/BtB_NPW_EventSummary-V2.pdf |
| Description | Business Model Innovation and National Quantum Computing Centre Testbeds |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Executive Member of The Productivity Institute (TPI) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | The impact includes engaging with the East Anglia Regional Productivity Forum which consists of sharing and influencing the research findings with firms in East Anglia to help address productivity related initiatives. |
| URL | https://www.productivity.ac.uk/people/chander-velu/ |
| Description | Policy Day for Dowling Fellows at the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) event, Cambridge |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Shaping the discussion around economic and business considerations. |
| URL | https://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/network/policy-fellowship/1499-42125733471611382c105294f6c579a975710a65/ |
| Description | Senior Fellow of The Conference Board advisory role to member companies of The Confernece Board on digital technology adoption and business model transformation |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | The advice provides insights to senior management in the large multinational companies on adopting and transforming business models to improve efficiency and effectiveness and to ultimately contribute to productivity improvement at the economy level. |
| Description | Oracle Cloud Credits Donated to Project |
| Amount | £46,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Oracle Corporation |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| Description | Project 1 |
| Amount | £126,165 (GBP) |
| Organisation | BAE Systems |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2022 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Description | Project 2 |
| Amount | £170,722 (GBP) |
| Organisation | BAE Systems |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 07/2025 |
| Description | Project 3 |
| Amount | £142,649 (GBP) |
| Organisation | BAE Systems |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 04/2024 |
| Description | Project 4 |
| Amount | £17,252 (GBP) |
| Organisation | BAE Systems |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 04/2024 |
| Description | SPF |
| Amount | £97,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2023 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Title | Variable Operation and Organisation Management (VOOM) Demonstrator |
| Description | At the University of Cambridge, we have upgraded existing research facilities and labs (3D printing, workshops, robotic assembly lines) to act as independent factories. The demonstrator enables a coordinated flow of production across multiple connected locations, with the ability to change volume, mix, and reallocate production to different resources. MEasurments of quality delivery time and production information can be shared between sites, facilitating research into inter-factory operations. This is the first multi-site smart factory demonstrator available for research. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The demonstrator has: 1. Enabled us to test out new low-cost digital solutions and their impact on production before deploying them in SMEs. 2. Provided data for cost experiments on increasing and decreasing production volume. 3. Provided a test-bed to demonstrate technologies and new research to industry 4. A platform to test our Machine Learning and Augmented Reality research in a replicated industry production environment |
| Title | Data set for "Generalisable 3D printing error detection and correction via multi-head neural networks" |
| Description | The dataset contains 1,272,273 labelled images of the the extrusion 3D printing process. A camera mounted next to the nozzle of the printer was used to capture images of material deposition for 192 different printed parts covering a range of geometries, material colours, and lighting conditions. Each image is labelled with: flow rate, lateral speed, Z offset, hotend temperature, hotend target temperature, bed temperature, timestamp, and nozzle tip x and y coordinates. To collect the data an automated pipeline was created to acquire and automatically label images from a fleet of 8 extrusion printers and to sample different combinations of printing parameters. The dataset provides a CSV of 948,396 pre-filtered images where complete failures, parameter outliers, dark images, and images just after parameter changes are removed. A raw CSV is also included labelling all images in the dataset. This dataset can be used for numerous applications such as real-time error detection, closed-loop control, and parameter prediction. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | One of the largest data sets of its type publicly available. Has supported the development of a spin out company from the initial research. |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/339869 |
| Description | Elastic Manufacturing and Connected Factories |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is a collaboration with University of Nottingham (EMS and Connected Factories), University of Sheffield (Connected Factories) and Imperial College London (EMS) to explore the challenges in business model design issues to cater for changing product volume and mix. The project also aims to explore the concept of connected factories to deliver the products and services in a cost effective manner. The issues are examined across the operational factory, firm, supply chain ad ecosystem levels. My research team works closely with research teams across domains including engineering and mathematics by bringing an economic and management perspective. We conducted a workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities of managing the manufacturing system when there are major fluctuations in product volume and mix in January 2024. A set of summary notes were distributed to partner firms identifying the key issues in digital technology adoption and business model innovation. The workshop included 20 participants including executives from Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN and Airbus among others. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The research programme includes an advisory board members from various manufacturing firms. These firms including Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN, Airbus, SMC have been involved in shaping the research study as well as providing insights and working collaboratively with the research team. In addition, research teams from engineering and maths work closely to develop prototype engineering solutions which provides the basis for my research team to engage on develop the business and economic implications. |
| Impact | There is a journal publication based on the research: Rama Murthy, S., Sousa-Zomer, T.T., Minshall, T., Velu, C., Kazantsev, N. and McFarlane, D., (2024). Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix. International Journal of Operations & Production Management., forthcoming |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Elastic Manufacturing and Connected Factories |
| Organisation | University of Nottingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is a collaboration with University of Nottingham (EMS and Connected Factories), University of Sheffield (Connected Factories) and Imperial College London (EMS) to explore the challenges in business model design issues to cater for changing product volume and mix. The project also aims to explore the concept of connected factories to deliver the products and services in a cost effective manner. The issues are examined across the operational factory, firm, supply chain ad ecosystem levels. My research team works closely with research teams across domains including engineering and mathematics by bringing an economic and management perspective. We conducted a workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities of managing the manufacturing system when there are major fluctuations in product volume and mix in January 2024. A set of summary notes were distributed to partner firms identifying the key issues in digital technology adoption and business model innovation. The workshop included 20 participants including executives from Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN and Airbus among others. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The research programme includes an advisory board members from various manufacturing firms. These firms including Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN, Airbus, SMC have been involved in shaping the research study as well as providing insights and working collaboratively with the research team. In addition, research teams from engineering and maths work closely to develop prototype engineering solutions which provides the basis for my research team to engage on develop the business and economic implications. |
| Impact | There is a journal publication based on the research: Rama Murthy, S., Sousa-Zomer, T.T., Minshall, T., Velu, C., Kazantsev, N. and McFarlane, D., (2024). Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix. International Journal of Operations & Production Management., forthcoming |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Elastic Manufacturing and Connected Factories |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is a collaboration with University of Nottingham (EMS and Connected Factories), University of Sheffield (Connected Factories) and Imperial College London (EMS) to explore the challenges in business model design issues to cater for changing product volume and mix. The project also aims to explore the concept of connected factories to deliver the products and services in a cost effective manner. The issues are examined across the operational factory, firm, supply chain ad ecosystem levels. My research team works closely with research teams across domains including engineering and mathematics by bringing an economic and management perspective. We conducted a workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities of managing the manufacturing system when there are major fluctuations in product volume and mix in January 2024. A set of summary notes were distributed to partner firms identifying the key issues in digital technology adoption and business model innovation. The workshop included 20 participants including executives from Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN and Airbus among others. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The research programme includes an advisory board members from various manufacturing firms. These firms including Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN, Airbus, SMC have been involved in shaping the research study as well as providing insights and working collaboratively with the research team. In addition, research teams from engineering and maths work closely to develop prototype engineering solutions which provides the basis for my research team to engage on develop the business and economic implications. |
| Impact | There is a journal publication based on the research: Rama Murthy, S., Sousa-Zomer, T.T., Minshall, T., Velu, C., Kazantsev, N. and McFarlane, D., (2024). Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix. International Journal of Operations & Production Management., forthcoming |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Strategic Partnership with BAE SYSTEMS |
| Organisation | BAE Systems |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Knowledge |
| Collaborator Contribution | Knowledge and setting of industrial challenges |
| Impact | No outputs or outcomes to date. This formal partnership is still new. We are now identifying areas of common interest within both MSI Connected Factories and Elastic Manufacturing Systems projects to which BAE Systems can contribute. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Company Name | Matta |
| Description | Matta develops AI and deep learning software for additive manufacturing. |
| Year Established | 2021 |
| Impact | Raised venture funding. Deployed product in operational manufacturing sites. |
| Website | https://www.matta.ai/ |
| Description | 1-2-1 meetings around Omnifactory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 30+ unique business have engaged with Omnifactory in 1-2-1 meetings since the facility opened on 1st March 2023. These 1-2-1 meetings include describing the capabilities, research themes and expertise available at the University of Nottingham. Some of these businesses have attended Omnifactory Open Day and wanted to follow up with 1-2-1 meetings with the team to discuss collaboration opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | 1st Workshop on Low-Cost Digital Solutions for Industrial Automation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was an academic workshop organisaed at the Insitute for Manufacturing at the Unviersity of Cambrigde. There were over 50 academic participants from institutions in the USA, Asia and Europe. The main objectives of the workshop are to foster innovation in low-cost digitalisation and digital transformation and to promote the research and development of concepts, methods, and technologies to be used for developing low-cost digital solutions for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in various sectors such as manufacturing, construction, logistics and healthcare. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://conferences.digitalshoestring.net/shoestring-conference/ |
| Description | 2x School Visits (Bluecoats Aspley) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visit from Bluecoats Aspley School, Year 8, circa 60 children. Interactive session on engineering, aerospace, manufacturing and technology, with a tour round the omnifactory facility. Children enjoyed the interactive session and seeing the robots in the facility, reporting that it made them more interested in engineering. Arranged via the widening participation team, with reports that the school would like to come back. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Apprentice training for low-cost solutions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Training with a local college for apprentices in how to deploy and build a low-cost digital solution. The training involved approximately 20 apprentices and involved several hours focused on improving their digital skills and knowledge. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Artificial Intelligence Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A workshop to present and identify different areas of AI across the university with the aim of fostering collaboration. The team presented the Omnifactory vision and machine learning and AI developments needed in such environment to support flexibility and reconfigurability. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Business Model Innovation and Platform Strategies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Executive education to ATOS and Eviden executives on the challenges in adopting business model innovation and platform strategies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Business Model Innovation: Changing the Game |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Executive education to executives studying the Executive MBA programme at NTNU, Norway on the challenges in adopting business model innovation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cambridge Demonstrator Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A formal working group has been set up for Application Study 2 with interested business partners. The group meet regularly to agree use cases and direction of the research as well as discuss and present the research outcomes. The impact of the group is to ensure that the demonstrator continues to deliver on current industrial problems and that new technologies can be adopted quicker into industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Cambridge Society for the Application of Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a presentation and demonstration to the Cambridge Society for the application of research with the general public invited to watch approximately 50-55 participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Digital Manufacturing Week 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We hosted a stand in Innovation Alley at the Smart Factory Expo as part of Digital Manufacturing week with the wider Made Smarter Team. The PI for the project, Svetan Ratchev, also gave a talk at in the Made Smarter Theatre to introduce the research so far. The expo was an opportunity to engage with business and the other Made Smarter Reserach Centres with a view to widening participation at all levels of the project engagement strategy; disseminating findings so far and promoting the benefits of the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://digital-manufacturing-week.com/ |
| Description | EPSRC Circular Economy Theme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Gave a presentation to the EPSRC Manufacturing & Circular Economy Theme to provide more information about a particular use case and follow up after the Industrial Advisory Board. Widened knowledge of the project within the EPSRC Delegation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Exhibited at Innovate UK Reimaging Materials & Manufacturing Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Exhibited at the Innovate UK Reimaging Materials & Manufacturing Event and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Exhibited at MTC Robotics & Automation Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We exhibited at the MTC Robotics and Automation Event and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. David Sanderson also gave a talk at the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Exhibited at Midlands Energy Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Exhibited at the Midlands Energy Summit and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Exhibited at Nottingham City Council UKSPF Launch Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Exhibited at the Nottingham City Council UKSPF Launch Event and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Exhibited at UoN Power of Partnerships Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Exhibited at the UoN Power of Partnerships Event and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Exhibited at the ATI Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Exhibited at the ATI Conference and disseminated information on Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and the Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Farnborough Airshow 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We participated in both the University of Nottingham Institute for Aerospace Technology and BAE Systems stands, promoting a selected sample of our research activities. Opportunity to present key research findings and capabilities developed to businesses and other research organisations within an Aerospace context, with a view to developing future partnerships. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.farnboroughairshow.com/ |
| Description | Huntingdonshire Manufacturing Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 50+ local manufacturers attended a regional manufacturing event detailing innovation facilities and capabilities in the Midlands and East of England. University of Nottingham provided a presentation and exhibited at the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | IfAM Breakfast Event (Digitalisation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Hosted a workshop for local Manufacturing business leaders about the benefits of digitalisation. Presented current capabilities and projects and how these could apply in (mostly) SME settings including quick wins and implementation as well as long term vision for companies on their digitalisation journey. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Industrial Advisory Board Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Industrial advisory board meeting and workshop with industrial partners from advisory board to discuss use cases and ensure industrial relevance of the application studies and research direction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023,2024 |
| Description | Invited speaker for RAS Chapter 2024 conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The activity included participation with a 15 minutes presentation on robotics, data and AI in the manufacturing sector followed by expert panel discussion including people from industry and academia. The event sparked further connections and questions around the work we are doing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/sheffieldrobotics/7th-ieee-uk-ireland-ras-conference-ras-2024 |
| Description | Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Wroclaw University of Technology, and IDEAS NCBR |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk about research activities in the centre to students and staff at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Wroclaw University of Technology, and IDEAS NCBR |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | MACH 22 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended as part of Made Smarter Research Organisations, MACH 22 in April 22, an exhibition for engineering manufacturing. Spoke to businesses and other research organisations about the research project and discussed ways to get involved and shape future research. 4 researchers attended over 4 days. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.machexhibition.com/ |
| Description | Made Smarter Innovation Webinar Series: September - November 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The seminar focussed on describing the industrial application studies ranging from factory level digital design and integration to advanced control techniques for individual processes such as adaptive accurate machining and 3D printing. In it we described the problems that such technologies and techniques are trying to solve; how they could be applied across multiple sectors, products and processes and how businesses can get involved throughout the programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/news/made-smarter-innovation-webinar-series-september-november-2022/ |
| Description | Manufacturing & Engineering Week Expo 22 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We had a stand at Manufacturing and Engineering week, June22. During the event we were able to engage with business about our projects with the aim of demonstrating our capabilities, disseminating our research to wider number of businesses, discuss how businesses to engage with us on current and future programmes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.mandeweek.co.uk/ |
| Description | Manufacturing Technical Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Hosted a series of events over the year to engage industry in some technical aspects of automation and digitalisation. The aims of the series was to explore a specific topic and demonstrate the capabilities developed within the projects. Participants reported feeling that they had learnt about topics previously they hadn't known that much about and would be more confident in implementing some of the techniques in their own businesses. • 27th April 2022 - Manufacturing Technical Masterclass - A quality improvement focus on digital solutions implementation - 9 attendees • 11th May 2022 - Measurement assisted determinate assembly of an aircraft wingbox - 8 attendees • 18th May 2022 - Affordable, auto-reconfigurable, multi-product manufacturing cells - 25 attendees • 25th May 2022 - Designing products & reconfigurable facilities for variable rate production - 10 attendees • 1st June 2022 - Cost estimation framework using MATLAB/Simulink - 28 attendees • 8th June 2022 - Automatic Assembly Work Instructions - 20 attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Meeting with NDT expert from an aerospace company |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to an NDT expert from GKN Aerospace, which led to the identification of a potential new use case for one of the Application Studies investigated in this project. The expert also suggests that the team further engage with the National Physical Laboratory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Mitigating Conduct Risk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Chander Velu delivered a talk for Executive education to Eviden executives and Barclays executives on how the design of business models affects conduct risk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | National Manufacturing Day 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approx 150 school children visited the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, touring various research labs. The purpose was to promote STEM. Many of the teachers specifically asked for future invites if we repeat the activity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | OMNIFACTORY Launch Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The event was the official launch of the OMNIFACTORY, a 2 day event which showcased the new facility, the current projects which were using the new facility, and previous projects which have informed the development of the facility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/world-first-multi-million-manufacturing-facility-opens-at-the-univ... |
| Description | Presenter at SGAI International Conference on AI |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Giovanna Martinez provided a presentation about the use of AI in Omnifactory at this conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Quantum computers 'to hit GDP before uplift' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Quoted in The Times Article on 'Quantum computers 'to hit GDP before uplift'' dated 24 July 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Research Seminar at Medial Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited Talk: Cyber-Human Technologies: Using Immersive Technologies to Aid Manufacturing Processes The talk was to staff and students at MIT in the US and focused on research conducted in the AR research group as part of the Cambridge team for the centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Robotics, data and AI work dissemination to AIRBUS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presented the work being done as part of the application study 1.1 of Made Smarter Connected Factories to the automation division of AIRBUS. This was followed up by planning a visit to see the production line and their activities. The intended purpose is future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | School Visit (Alderman White) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Alderman White School brought 64 Year 9 pupils to visit the Advanced Manufacturing building. They had a tour of the Omnifactory and were introduced to ideas from the Connected Factories and Elastic Manufacturing Systems projects. The objective was to inspire them to get them interested in Engineering, and also give them a little bit of guidance that if they wanted a career in Engineering. For example we presented which GCSC subjects would help them achieve that. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | School Visit (Huntingdon Academy) for School Science Week |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visit from Huntingdon Academy Year 5 (circa 30 children), interactive session on engineering, aerospace, manufacturing and technology with a tour around the Omnifactory facility. There were questions during the day and children were more interested in STEM subjects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Seminar at Bath University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk/seminar at the University of Bath relating to research in the centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Systems Integration Forum Workshop in Quantum Computing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Chander Velu participated in a roundtable discussion forum to explore the key issues from a systems integrator's perspective on the development and adoption of quantum computing to enable productivity improvements and economic growth (including application to various industries from manufacturing to services). The attendees were executives from various Systems Integration firms involved with quantum technologies. The attendees developed a deeper understanding of the issues for system integrations to help in the adoption and scaling up of quantum computing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Systems Integration Forum in Quantum Computing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Chander Velu participated in a roundtable discussion to explore the key issues from a systems integrator's perspective on the development and adoption of quantum computing to enable productivity improvements and economic growth (including application to various industries from manufacturing to services). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk at Advanced Engineering Expo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Svetan Ratchev gave a presentation on UoN manufacturing research activity including disseminating information on the Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk at FANUC Open House Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Svetan Ratchev gave a presentation on UoN manufacturing research activity including disseminating information on the Made Smarter Innovation Research Centre for Connected Factories project and Elastic Manufacturing Systems project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Business of Economics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This is a letter in The Economist on 20 April 2023 in response to an article titled 'Why economics does not understand business' (April 8th) highlighting the reasons economist typically do not focus their attention to studying innovation and firms. The letter calls for economist to work with cognate disciplines such approaches are well developed in cognate disciplines such as management, sociology and politics, among others to do so. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.economist.com/letters/2023/04/20/letters-to-the-editor |
| Description | Universal Robots (UR) Boston HQ |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | ST (Cambridge) was invited to give a talk about the research conducted at the centre to staff at Universal Robotics HQ in Boston. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Visit by engineers from aerospace company |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Two manufacturing automation engineers from Airbus attended a visit to the University of Sheffield, which led to the identification of potential work on in-process monitoring of manufacturing processes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Women in Engineering Day STEM Tours of Omnifactory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As part of Women in Engineering Day, the University of Nottingham welcomed 90 x Year 9 and Year 10 women from local schools and gave them a tour of the Omnifactory facility to inspire future careers in the manufacturing sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshop on Digital Manufacturing and Business Strategy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A one-day workshop exploring the challenge of digitalisation and business models. Aproximatly 15 participants from industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshop on Elastic Manufacturing and Connected Factories: Digital Technologeis and Business Strategy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities of managing the manufacturing system when there are major fluctuations in product volume and mix |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | World Hearing Center in Kajetany, Warsaw |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a talk about AR research currently being compleated |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Zhejiang University Summer School in Cambridge invited lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a talk/lecture on research to 30 students on a summer school programm from the Zhejiang University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |