In the East Midlands, there support for such visionary thinking, by encouraging collaborative working and innovative networks that result in a hotbed of creativity.
• With a history steeped in advanced engineering and manufacturing technologies, pioneering developments are the norm in the region and this sector enjoys considerable investment and support.
• Advanced materials capability in England's East Midlands has evolved from the Motorsports industry to become a unique and increasingly important cluster of companies involved along the whole composite product lifecycle.
• Fast growing and supported by UK government, nanotechnology in the region is supported through innovation networks designed to encourage close
collaboration between business and universities.
• The East Midlands leads the way in space applications, with a number of exciting initiatives set up to support the sector as well being the home of the National Space Center
Advanced Engineering
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| Technology |
England's East Midlands has a proud heritage of industrial and research strengths in design, advanced engineering and manufacturing technologies. It is something of a hotbed for advanced engineering: the region is seeing pioneering developments in the automotive, aerospace, rail, Motorsport, marine and space industries; and there is considerable potential for application elsewhere, including within healthcare and bio science, and food and drink sectors.
The region has a vast pool of skills, resources and expertise. Of the 45,000 graduates from highly respected institutions, there is a particular strength across all the engineering disciplines, generating the UK's largest number of engineering graduates and postgraduates. The region also has the highest proportion of employees in high-tech manufacturing in the country.
Manufacturing accounts for 23.2% of the regional economy compared to 15.9% for the UK as a whole. 19% of the workforce here are employed in manufacturing, (13% UK as a whole); transport equipment, including rail, generates £1.9bn for the East Midlands economy accounting for 13% of regional manufacturing as a whole.
Advanced Materials
The UK has a dynamic materials industry, which is at the forefront in a wide range of sectors.
Advanced materials are crucial for the development of new products with improved performance and functionality.
The UK's world-class expertise in the development of many metallic systems, coupled with its recognised strengths in composite materials, mean that it leads the way in the development of new lightweight and recyclable solutions for many sectors, including transportation.
Examples of the UK's success in this field include the collaboration between Advanced Composites Group and GE Aviation with Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg for composite material and part production respectively for the CCX and CCR; its dominance in Formula 1 (where 60 per cent of cars are designed and produced in the UK); GKN's production of the A400m composite spar; and Airbus UK's wing production.
England's East Midlands is home to much of this composites capability, initially developed in response to the needs of Formula One, which then grew as a result of the drive by larger organisations here, such as Rolls-Royce Aerospace to develop a composite design and manufacturing competence. Companies such as Advanced Composites Group were formed to serve this need.
As these organisations have grown, spin-off companies have been started and so the capability base has grown.
Niche specialisms include:
• composite structure production
• design and production of unsaturated polyester resins
• reinforcements & ancillaries
• design and manufacture of precision composite components
• development of next-generation materials and processes
• manufacture and application of high performance, light weight composite structures
• manufacturers & processors of composites & carbon fibre
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is a fast-growing industry which is being heavily invested in by the UK government. England's East Midlands is a key player in this thriving sector, with over 40 companies based here who are involved in micro and nanotechnology. It is a multimillion pound industry in the region, employing around 105,000 people.
England's East Midlands has established a series of sector-focused innovation support networks, called iNets, which are designed to support relationships between businesses and universities, and increase innovation levels in the region.
Space Applications
In the East Midlands the predominant interest for inward investment is in downstream space applications. Specific opportunities focus on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and, to a lesser extent, Earth Observation (EO), with the market for these in the UK currently around £350 million per annum - a figure that is predicted to grow to £16 billion by 2015.
The continued development of GNSS is enabling a huge downstream market in services and equipment - 250 billion Euros plus by 2020. Today's main markets in terms of volume are in GNSS-enabled mobile phones and Portable Navigation Devices. Earth Observation and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is a cornerstone of the EU's Space Policy framework programme, with a development budget of 1.4 billion Euros (2007-13) to support the development and commercialisation of opportunities across public and private sector in support of mapping, resource and emergency management.
The University of Leicester enjoys worldwide recognition for its international research in space science, planetary exploration and earth observation science: the National Space Centre in Leciester is a £60M science visitor centre attracting over 200,000 visitors annually, with over 10,000 students and their science teachers participating in its Space Academy and other space education programmes. Meanwhile, the University of Nottingham is a world leader in space-based applications of GNSS.
We are proud of our assets in space-related technologies. These range from pure space research to testing and commercialisation of location-based applications, and are based in both commercial and research establishments. With an ever-increasing number of applications for space-related technology, England's East Midlands is at the forefront of this sector.
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