SAMULET Project 4

Engineers and materials scientists from six UK universities are working with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce to redesign how high-value industrial components are made. The project, part of the larger SAMULET programme, targets manufacturing processes that are currently too slow, wasteful, or inflexible for modern production demands. Why this matters: Aerospace and defence manufacturers rely on complex metal parts—turbine blades, structural casings, engine housings—that are expensive to produce and often require multiple energy-intensive steps. Small inefficiencies in these processes add up to significant costs and carbon emissions across the supply chain. If the research succeeds, factories could switch to novel forming, joining, and finishing techniques that cut material waste, reduce energy use, and shorten production times. That would lower the cost of building aircraft engines and military systems, and make UK manufacturing more competitive globally. The work is applied industrial research with a clear practical goal: transform how critical components are made, not just in a lab but on the factory floor. There is no fundamental science here—the focus is on delivering tested processes that industry partners can adopt within years, not decades.