Manufacturing Magazine - August 2021 | Page 118

TECHNOLOGY

STEVE FOXLEY CEO , AMRC

The University of Sheffield Advanced

Manufacturing Research Centre ( AMRC ) is a leading facility for translational research . We work with businesses to help them build better products and processes , drawing from academic research . We are celebrating our 20th year in 2021 - 20 years of making industrial products in aerospace , in energy , in automotive , in construction better than they otherwise would be and therefore supporting the wider economy whether at the local or national level .

We have transformed the site on which we operate in South Yorkshire from a scene of de-industrialised scarring and conflict to a globally renowned research and development facility , thriving with collaboration . We have acted as a magnet to a cluster of global manufacturing companies that employ some 2500 people on the Advanced Manufacturing Park . Alongside our work in South Yorkshire , we now have operations in Samlesbury in Lancashire and Broughton in North Wales , where those regions have asked us to support their regional manufacturing ambition .

With the use of 5G being a hot topic to discuss , the scale of the shift to 5G is both unprecedented and significant . “ The jump from 4G to 5G is like comparing a winding single-file A-road in the English countryside to a multi-lane German autobahn ,” says Foxley .

“ Fewer corners equals less latency , and faster information flows ( up to 250x faster with a theoretical 1ms ). The speed represents the bandwidth , where the 60mph national speed limit is compared with as fast as you are comfortable going . Or , in this case , up to 10Gbps , 10x more than the previous 4G / LTE speeds . The number of lanes represents one of the biggest enhancements of 5G , which is network slicing . This allows ( as with the autobahn ) parts of the network to go at different speeds , latencies , ranges and have different

118 August 2021