AFRC secures four new members

The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) is celebrating a quadruple success of new memberships with some of the United Kingdom’s most forward-thinking technology companies. The center has signed agreements with 3D Scanners, CGTech Vericut, Dontyne Systems and TMS CADCentre, each joining as Tier 2 members.

The companies will share knowledge with the AFRC, working with the £60-million research centre on collaborative projects, partnerships and solving specific problems in particular manufacturing processes.

CGTech specialises in virtual verification software for the machining process. It will support the AFRC by ensuring the centre has robust programs to embed into its state-of-the-art tools, reducing the risk of tooling collisions or geometric errors. There is also potential for collaborations in the fields of virtual and augmented reality.

Newcastle-based Dontyne Systems approached the AFRC to help bridge the gap between the design and manufacturing of gears. The company, which supplies software and services aimed at the optimal production of gear components and their use in the transmission industry will aid the growth of the AFRC’s strategy in this sector.

TMS CADCentre, a division of Scotland-based TMS, is a market-leader in Solidworks CAD modeling software. Through its relationship with the AFRC, TMS will showcase its technology to the center’s Tier 1 members, including Boeing and Rolls-Royce, while also adding to the center’s capacity for offering consultancy on CAD issues.

The final company to come on-board is 3D Scanners, one of the UK’s biggest resellers of Polyworks Software – computer-based technology used by manufacturers across the world when designing or analysing products. The Coventry-based company is interested in the AFRC’s work in reverse engineering of surfaces as its own software can align with this area of manufacturing.

Through membership, 3D Scanners will use powerful software on cross-industry projects and in new applications outside of its current customer base. Equally the AFRC will have access to this technology which will be a huge benefit to the center.

Speaking about the four new partnerships, Dr Lynne O’Hare, chief business development officer at the AFRC, said, “The broad scope of the new members reflects the diverse range of activity that the center is involved in across the UK’s manufacturing sector."