Two university-business collaboration projects to improve manufacturing processes for aerospace and electrical machines and improve reliability of the rail network, have been awarded funding through Innovate UK's Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) programme.
he AKT programme provides up to £35,000 in funding for focused three-month projects, offering a faster and more flexible route than a traditional Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). While KTPs are designed to address longer-term strategic challenges, AKTs enable businesses to rapidly identify innovation barriers, test new ideas, evaluate concepts and access specialist academic expertise to accelerate innovation and inform future investment decisions.
Scintam Engineering, a University of Nottingham spin-out company, will work with experts in Mechanical Materials to investigate how Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), a technique that uses electrical sparks to cut metal, affects the magnetic properties of materials used in aerospace and electrical machines. The project aims to improve understanding of how the EDM process influences magnetic performance, helping to inform the development of more reliable components and enhanced manufacturing practices.
This project will help us better understand how our EDM technology influences the magnetic performance of advanced materials. The AKT programme provides a valuable opportunity to work closely with University of Nottingham researchers, generating evidence that can support product development, strengthen our technology offering and create new opportunities for the business.
London St. Pancras Highspeed, which owns the concession to operate High Speed 1, will partner with Civil Engineering researchers to develop a computer simulation tool that explores how major disruptions could affect the rail network. By modelling different disruption scenarios and testing recovery strategies, the project aims to strengthen contingency planning, improve incident response and help maintain reliable services.
We're delighted to be working with the University of Nottingham on this project, bringing together academic expertise and operational experience to explore new ways of improving disruption management on the railway.
Rasa Remenyte-Prescott, Associate Professor in Risk and Reliability Engineering and Head of the Resilience Engineering at the University of Nottingham, said: "Working with London St. Pancras Highspeed gives us an excellent opportunity to apply our research to a real industry challenge. The AKT programme provides a valuable route to test new ideas in practice, and this project will help us explore how resilience engineering can strengthen disruption planning and recovery across the rail network."
This was a highly competitive funding round with 50% of the university's submitted projects being successful, outperforming the sector-wide average success rate of 35%. The result highlights the strength of the university's collaborative project pipeline and its ability to bring together academic expertise and industry needs to tackle real-world challenges.
Marta Villafranca Valls, KTP Manager, said: "It's fantastic to see two of our projects secure funding in such a competitive round. Achieving a 50% success rate reflects the strength of our project pipeline and the commitment of both our academic colleagues and industry partners to developing meaningful collaborations.
"Programmes such as AKT provide valuable opportunities for researchers to apply their expertise to real industry challenges. For businesses, they offer a low-risk way to access specialist knowledge, explore new opportunities, tackle immediate operational challenges and gain the insight needed to make informed decisions about future innovation and growth."
The projects showcase the value of university-business collaboration, enabling organisations to draw on academic expertise to solve practical challenges while creating opportunities for researchers to apply their work in real-world environments.
