Engineering news
Industrial giant SKF has joined forces with the University of Cambridge to collaborate on research into new steels and heat treatment techniques.
The partnership is to be modelled on Rolls-Royce's successful University Technology Centres (UTC), in which academic institutions are encouraged to undertake free-thinking to help progress technology in specific areas.
The SKF University Technology Centre for Steels and Heat Treatment at the University of Cambridge will carry out research into technologies such as seals, bearings, lubrication systems, mechatronics, sensors, tribology and modelling and simulation. The primary aim of the research is to develop products and systems that manage and reduce friction, therefore helping SKF's customers to reduce their energy costs.
Alan Begg, senior vice president of group technology and development at SKF, said he had been extremely impressed by the way that Rolls-Royce's UTCs had been developed as a means of creating strategic partnerships with target universities. “They give focus and critical mass,” he said.
Tom Johnson, president and chief executive of SKF, said he thought the UTC would deliver valuable research and raise the profile of the company. “The UTC will give us valuable access to materials knowledge within the university. It will also increase our visibility to students. In many ways we are an invisible company, yet our products and services touch peoples' lives every single day. It is important to interact with universities – there is a war on for talent out there.”
Johnson declined to comment on the cost of the five-year UTC partnership. But he said that the output from the partnership would be carefully measured. “We will be looking to see what results come out of it. Knowledge is important, experience is important, but results are the real proof that we are doing the right things together,” he said.
Johnson said that SKF had spoken to Rolls-Royce to tap into the aero-engine maker's experience of setting up its own network of UTCs, which now runs to 28 establishments spread around the globe. “Rolls-Royce has got a real bang for its buck from its university partnerships,” he said.
Harry Bhadeshia, professor of metallurgy at the University of Cambridge and the director of the UTC for Steels and Heat Treatment said that he was looking forward to building a fruitful relationship with SKF. “We won't agree on everything, and at times I am sure there will be heated discussions. But we will also have some fun,” he added.