Engineering Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre Renewal

A design team in Bath is building the digital tools that will let engineers across the globe collaborate on a single complex product without ever building a physical prototype. This matters because manufacturing is no longer a local, linear process. A car or a jet engine is now designed in one country, simulated in another, and assembled in a third. Companies face relentless pressure on cost, speed, and sustainability, yet most still rely on physical prototypes and fragmented information systems that waste time and materials. The Centre’s work addresses a specific gap: how to manage the flood of design knowledge—specs, simulations, supply-chain data—across a product’s entire life, from concept to disposal. If the research succeeds, manufacturers will shift from test-based engineering to simulation-based engineering, cutting waste and speeding up development. The tools could quietly reshape how everyday products—from medical devices to wind turbines—are designed and built, making supply chains more efficient and sustainable. This is applied research with a clear industrial target: better machines, processes, and systems, delivered faster and with less environmental cost.