Page 4 - Annual Report 2013-2014

4
EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in
Laser-Based Production Processes

Laser-based manufacturing n
y

is a global multi-billion or
a
dollar industry with i
ctm
significant business
u
opportunities . the past 25 m
d
u
years have seen industrial o
S
lasers replace conventional r
nt
tools in many diverse areas e
I
of manufacture, enabling v

ti
increased productivity, u

functionality and quality .
c
this annual review provides an
overview of the ePsrc centre for e
x
the EPSRC Innovative innovative Manufacturing in Laser-
E
based Production Processes. We
Manufacturing Centre in
highlight activities and achievements
Laser-based Production of its first year of operation, and our

Processes aims to support plans for future years.

an increase in uptake of

our vision is to exploit the unique features of
laser-based manufacturing laser light and a world-leading team to unlock

through a wide-ranging manufacturing innovation, and deliver ground-
breaking industrial impact in key areas of the UK
programme of coordinated
economy . our strategy to realise this vision is to
research and network focus on science-based research, drawing on the

considerable breadth in physics, materials science,
building activities, enabling and mechanical/electrical/photonics engineering

significant business growth at the five universities to deliver innovative laser
process and hardware solutions, thereby enabling
opportunities, stimulating
the creation of high-impact laser-based production
the broader UK community, process and machine technologies .

providing leadership in the the academic team currently consists of 16 academic

development of UK public staff, 14 RAs and 8 PhD students, and we expect this
to grow in the next few months, as recently approved
policy, providing access to
projects get underway . this team is supplemented by
infrastructure for SMEs, and
the excellent support and important advice we have
education and training for received from both our industrial advisory group (11

core partners of the centre) and our independent
industry .
steering group, which between them provide input

from a total of 44 different companies and other
independent organisations .

We have to date co-funded with our industrial

collaborators a total of 11 projects, led by 8 different
Principal Investigators . In particular, our research

seeks to exploit and further develop recent major