In the Autumn Statement in December 2014 George Osborne announced as part of the funding for scientific Grand Challenges an investment of £235M to create the Sir Henry Royce Institute for advanced materials. The institute will drive collaborations between academia and industry, to commercialise the UK’s world-leading research in this field. The Sheffield wing of the institute, co-located with the AMRC High Value Manufacturing Catapult, focusses on the discovery and processing of materials for advanced manufacturing, particularly powder-based manufacturing.

In the context of the vision for the Royce Institute presented by its coordinator, Manchester, leading speakers from business and research will outline future directions in materials for advanced manufacturing, and the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District. The event specifically includes an early forum for industry and business to help shape the scope of the venture.

Morning session

• Welcome & introduction – Professor Richard Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, University of Sheffield
• Sir Henry Royce Institute – Overview from Manchester University – Professor Colin Bailey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester (to be confirmed)
  GKN Aerospace – Dan Johns, Chief Technologist
• Rolls-Royce – Alan Partridge, Head of Materials Engineering (to be confirmed)
• Showcasing the latest developments in engineering research: Materials discovery for manufacturing – Professor Mark Rainforth, University of Sheffield and Powder metals for manufacturing – Professor Iain Todd, University of Sheffield

Afternoon session

• Translational research – Nuclear AMRC – Dr Alan McLelland, Projects Director (to be confirmed)
• Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District – Diana Buckley, Economic Strategy Manager, Sheffield City Council
• Listening to industry (informal industry comments from the floor)
• Speaker panel – Q&A
• Networking/refreshments

16.00 – 17.00

• Tour of Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing (optional)

Register here