The University of Sheffield

In 2001 Sheffield University established the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC) to open a new access route to higher education, increase social mobility and address the skills shortage in the region. The Centre’s vision was to connect education to industry, creating a significant social impact.

Over a decade later the Centre had developed into a world-class hub for research into advanced manufacturing technologies used in aerospace, power generation and medicine and continues to be a leading component in nurturing the relationship between higher education and industry. A training facility was set up, as part of the AMRC, to offer an apprentice training scheme in collaboration with leading industry companies such as Rolls-Royce. The Centre also established connections with local firms, such as Technicut, reflecting the ethos of the AMRC to make education and research work for the benefit of the local community.

The AMRC has earned a global reputation for its research-based solutions and as a result is considered a model for worldwide collaborative research involving universities, academies and industry. In 2013, the Centre recruited 170 apprentices as part of its apprenticeship scheme, many of whom were students from less advantaged backgrounds. The following year, a further 250 industry-sponsored apprentices were recruited as the facility built to full capacity.