After winning the coveted Business Partnership award at the recent Guardian University Awards, we thought we’d give you a little more information about the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME).

The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Catalyst Fund, is a collaboration between Coventry University and Unipart Manufacturing Group.

The AME have brought together the best in academia, industry and research & development in a live manufacturing environment, with the aim of:

• Developing industry-ready, world class engineering graduates
• Accelerating next generation powertrain related technologies for automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, rail and renewables
• Disseminating research and new technologies for the benefit of Unipart, its suppliers and wider industry
• Driving economic growth by making UK engineering and manufacturing globally competitive

AME has built a bespoke ‘Faculty on the Factory Floor’ at Unipart’s manufacturing site in the heart of Coventry. This forms the focal point of activity and will house state-of-the-art robotic automation, forming, joining, analysis and simulation, metrology and product verification technology. Furthermore, our unique manufacturing courses have been shaped by some of the leading minds in academia and industry, with the focus on activity-led, ‘live project’ learning.

AME Director Professor Carl Perrin said, “When we were in the early stages of planning for AME we knew we had to create something completely different, something that would be a ‘game-changer’ for UK manufacturing. The plan, initially, was to devise a new approach to developing the graduate engineers of the future as part of our commitment to bridging the skills gap.However, when discussing the longer-term future of the Institute, we quickly relaised that was potential to achieve a far wider remit, a remit that could improve UK manufacturing’s global competitiveness. This involved developing three main areas…teaching and skills, engagement with business and commercialising Research and Development.

Whether you are looking to accelerate your career in engineering and manufacturing, interested in collaboration or keen to explore the technologies and products of tomorrow, then AME could be your partner of choice.

For research partners 

• Six research projects already secured to develop next generation fuel rails, exhaust systems and explore zero prototyping
• World class design, manufacturing and testing facilities to accelerate the process of innovation to commerical realisation
• Real-time collaboration between academia and all tiers of the supply chain
• Development of anchor technologies, including analysis and simulation, automation and robotics, joining and welding, metrology, product verification and tube forming and manipulation
• Research to inspire learning for undergraduates and postgraduates

For business

• Future access to industry-ready engineering graduates
• Benefit from cutting edge research on new technologies
• Enhanced knowledge transfer opportunities
• Driving forward growth technologies in key global markets

For the UK, AME will help to…

• Develop industry-ready engineering and manufacturing graduates
• Create jobs and deliver an economic boost to the UK’s annual GDP
• Position the UK as a world leader in reducing emissions through future powertrain technologies
• Provide a platform to prove alternative teaching methods and drive the evolution of STEM learning
• Help industry boost productivity and improve its global competitiveness

To find out more information please refer to the AME website:-http://www.coventry.ac.uk/ame/