How tech can plug the manufacturing skills gap
Roger O’Brien, Research and Technical Lead at the SAM Project, explains how investment in technology could help address skill and labour shortages for UK manufacturers.
About SAM
Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing (SAM) project is a £10.9m project to support the implementation of product and process development and the introduction of technology within the SME manufacturing base in the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NE LEP) area.
The programme is a collaboration between ERDF who is providing £5.77M funding (£2.6million from 2014-2020 and £3.1million from 2020-2023) and the University of Sunderland who are managing and, alongside industry, are investing £5.15M in delivery of this project.
The University of Sunderland have committed significant academic resources and recruited a team consisting of industrial and research specialists to support the delivery of both practical and research projects all fully funded to eligible SME’s
The project has over £1M of industry leading capital including 3D printers, I4 rigs and VR/AR equipment and software to encourage SME engagement with advanced technology.
The project also has grants of up to £50,000* available to support capital/product validation/tooling and other financial inhibitors to driving strategic development of both product and process.
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Meet The Team ..
Roger O'Brien
Technical Lead
Hamid Mehrabi
Head of Research
Dionne Clark
Compliance Officer - Finance
Claire Darling Cooper
Compliance Officer - Purchasing
Michelle Hambleton
Business Development Manager
Heather Whitmore
Data and Project Administration Co-ordinator
Ian Barrett
Computer Aided Design and Engineering Specialist
Roger Thomas
Digital Engineering (VR & AR) Specialist
Carl Gregg
Product and Process Design Specialist
Neil Taylor
Automation and Robotics Specialist
Adrian Morris
Senior Manufacturing Specialist
Richard Eynon
Industry 4.0 and Electronics Specialist
Rita Potts
Business Process Improvement and Simulation Specialist
Clare Adamson
Technical Team Support Administrative Assistant
Vacant
Advanced Manufacturing Technician
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