Renfrewshire will be home to the new £65m National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS), with the University of Strathclyde announced as the anchor university. Work to build the centre, which is intended to help manufacturing businesses throughout Scotland become world leaders in innovation, will begin this year.

The Scottish Government will invest £48m in NMIS with £8m from the University of Strathclyde. Renfrewshire Council will provide a further £39.1m through the Glasgow City Region Deal to support wider infrastructure work at the site. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Economy Secretary Keith Brown made the announcement during a visit to Rolls-Royce’s manufacturing facility in Inchinnan. Rolls-Royce is a founding member of the University of Strathclyde’s AFRC. Speaking after a meeting with some of Scotland’s leading manufacturers, the First Minister said: “This facility will help companies across Scotland embrace new manufacturing techniques, support cutting-edge research and further develop skills. The manufacturing jobs of the future offer exciting and rewarding careers for young people. We want to inspire them to work in this sector and revive Scotland’s tradition of manufacturing and engineering.”
For further information www.strath.ac.uk

Birmingham-based photoetching specialist Precision Micro says it was proud to support a recent charity auction raising money for The Hepatitis C Trust. The main event is a secret auction held in London each November where more than 400 artists contribute postcard-sized original artworks.

The auctions have so far raised in excess of £400,000. One contributor who joined the 2017 list was Russell Marshall, an award-winning artist based in London who worked with Precision Micro to produce images of Sid Vicious, David Bowie, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix. The images were etched on metal and donated by Precision Micro.
For further information www.precisionmicro.com

The Castings Group of the AMRC has unveiled the largest ceramic-shell titanium casting ever created from a single pour in Europe. According to the AMRC, the casting is a milestone test piece and will become a showcase for development of the AMRC’s titanium casting facility (which became operational earlier this year).

The large-scale, near net shape casting is an industrial centrifugal pump housing, used for highly corrosive applications in the chemical and petrochemical sectors. Poured from a 680 kg melt, the finished part has a weight of 200 kg.
For further information www.amrc.co.uk

Rapidly expanding laser-cutting specialist FC Laser has reached yet another milestone by achieving a monthly turnover of £½m. This follows the recent announcements of a record year that saw the company’s sales grow by 30% over 12 months and customer activity increase by 20% in a single month. FC Laser recently extended its suite of Bystronic laser-cutting machines with the addition of three 10 kW fibre machines automated with the latest ByTrans material load/unload system.

Says FC Laser’s general manager Steve Connolly: “Achieving a turnover over £500,000 in a single month is phenomenal, but it is no surprise because we have worked tirelessly over the years to satisfy customer demand and generate new business. So much of this growth is down to the company’s ethos on how it treats customers and how it supports its employees, who can pat themselves on the back for reaching this milestone.”
For further information www.fclaser.co.uk