UKRRIN launches new Technology and Innovation Hub in Doncaster

Led by Unipart Rail, the new Hub will assistance the sector in translating tutorial analysis and innovation to address strategic sector challenges and to permit and acquire the upcoming era of goods and providers. The Hub will have a specific focus in supporting SMEs, the two all those recognized and new to the sector.

The Hub attributes details and interactive shows on the UKRRIN Centres of Excellence, the Community Rail Analysis and Development Portfolio and a assortment of different improvements from across the field. The Hub has been supported by foremost universities together with Huddersfield, Southampton and Birmingham and organisations such as Network Rail, Unipart Rail, RSSB and the Railway Industry Affiliation (RIA).

Neil McNicholas, Controlling Director at Unipart Rail mentioned: “Unipart Rail is particularly happy to be a founding member of UKRRIN and now the home of the UKRRIN technological innovation hub. Our prosperity of awareness, expertise and market knowledge positions us as the excellent collaborative companion for SMEs, enabling them to revolutionise the shipping of ground breaking technology, whilst overcoming boundaries to entry. This new facility will assist the advancement of new technologies within just academia and the offer chain and present SMEs with steering and aid in purchase to set up a commercially viable proposition and a route to market place.”

Dr Steve Ingleton, Engineering Director at Unipart Rail, mentioned: “The Technologies and Innovation Hub is exclusively aimed to bring academia, study and progress and market much nearer together to function in partnership to deliver innovation into the sector. The Hub can engage in a essential job in supporting new technologies and digital solutions from inception by to industry deployment and make a big contribution in the transformation and modernisation of the rail community.”

Jo Binstead, Chair of the United kingdom Rail Investigate and Innovation Community (UKRRIN), mentioned: “The UKRRIN Engineering and Innovation Hub demonstrates how the effective collaboration amongst sector and academia has delivered on its guarantee to provide new systems to sector, accelerating the transformation of our railway, and confirms that the ongoing expense in Study, Advancement and Innovation with services and experience for substantial and small corporations to produce, exam, validate and deploy innovations assures the growth of providers in the rail supply chain, and delivers on the Government’s levelling up agenda”

Prof Clive Roberts, Professor of Railway Methods, Head of School of Engineering, Director of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Exploration and Education and learning and Direct for UKRRIN, mentioned: “I am delighted that UKRRIN is continuing to increase its scope and bodily presence with the addition of the new UKRRIN Engineering and Innovation Hub.  UKRRIN is a certainly open community, which permits new sector and academic associates to include new capabilities. The new hub will both of those act as a site from which we can engage new participants, for case in point through our Sheffield City Area LEP funded SME-focussed DigiRail programme, and for outputs of UKRRIN to be shown to stakeholders”.

David Clarke, Technological Director of the Railway Field Association (RIA), mentioned: “I am definitely happy to welcome this most up-to-date addition to the UKRRIN network. The complete community provides accessibility to the very best brains and services in British isles rail and the new Technological innovation and Innovation Hub is particularly welcome with its focus on supporting SMEs by supporting get their items to sector, therefore resolving real rail field difficulties. All far too often innovators undervalue what is required to go from prototype to approvals and then income, so the hub will be very important in supporting them on that journey”

The Hub was launched at an event on Wednesday 22 September covering the theme of ‘Where Good Tips Converge’ with a selection of Uk rail leaders’ furnishing insights into innovation and electronic transformation.