The director of industrial digitalisation at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has joined an industry-leading team of chief engineers who will focus on issues of national and global importance. 

Prof Rab Scott joins Mike Wilson, chief automation officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and Marc Funnell, director of digital engineering at the National Composites Centre (NCC), as the first three who have been appointed to the scheme, which has been launched by the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. 

“Having been here from the start of the HVM Catapult, the creation of unifying chief engineers in key themes shows the original vision of the Catapults is being delivered,” said Prof Scott.

“I feel this is a critical step in bringing the seven centres closer together to really make the most of the digital capabilities that each has for the good of UK manufacturing.”

Prof Scott is accountable for the delivery of the AMRC’s digital strategy and ensuring a digital thread is woven through everything the AMRC delivers for clients. Rab has been seconded into the role for the next year and will spend 40 per cent of his time on it. He will align the digital strategies of the individual centres and lead strategic HVMC digital programmes.

Engineers will be recruited on secondment directly from the HVM Catapult’s family of research centres, drawing on the expertise and talent from across its suite of experts. 

These engineers will bring a breadth of subject knowledge and expertise from their world-leading research centres to the HVM Catapult, which was established and is supported by Innovate UK. They will also work with the government and funding bodies to help establish funding opportunities. 

Professor Sam Turner, chief technology officer at HVM Catapult at the time the scheme launched, was a driving force behind the secondment approach.

“I am pleased to have established this collaborative concept before taking up my new position,” said Prof Turner, who has recently been announced as the CEO of a new centre in Northern Ireland – the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC).

“In my new role I will still be connected to HVM Catapult and will continue as the ambassador for net zero. I am looking forward to seeing how the activity evolves as part of HVMC’s next chapter and have no doubt the chief engineers will make a significant contribution to driving industrial transformation.”

The engineers will work under the direction of Prof Chris Dungey, who will be taking over the as HVM Catapult’s chief technology officer from November this year. 

He said: “The chief engineers’ team is a key function helping to galvanise and shape future strategic initiatives across HVMC. Effective collaboration is crucial if we are to deliver innovation with impact. The chief engineer secondments put us in great shape to achieve that.”

Once the recruitment process is complete, the HVM Catapult will have six chief engineers in total.