Engineering & innovation bring success to the University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is celebrating the doubling of income for engineering research over the past four years, cementing its reputation as a leading centre for engineering and advanced manufacturing research and development.

The University has the second highest research income in the UK for engineering – beating Cambridge University and only slightly behind Imperial College London.

The increase over recent years is a testament to Sheffield’s reputation for innovation in engineering, especially in the area of advanced manufacturing.

The Faculty of Engineering has seen huge growth in the past four years and is home to 5,400 students and over 1,000 staff, making it one of the largest in the country. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, 93 per cent of research was rated internationally excellent or world leading.

 

Professor Mike Hounslow, Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Engineering, said: “The vision for the Engineering at Sheffield is to be the best engineering faculty in the UK and to be amongst the best in the world, and we continue towards this through excellence in everything we do.”

“Our research-led environment means that experts teach our students in world-class facilities like the Diamond, the University’s largest-ever investment in learning teaching. Students gain practical skills on real equipment used in industry, developing them as engineers of the future.”

In the latest ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2015/16’, 94 per cent of UK full-time engineering degree students at the University of Sheffield gained employment or further study places after six months, and 88 per cent of these entered graduate level jobs. The average salary for this cohort six months after graduating was £26k per year.

Included in the research income figures is the work of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear AMRC.

A world-class centre for research into advanced manufacturing technologies used in the aerospace, automotive, medical and other high-value manufacturing sectors, the AMRC works with partners such as Boeing, Rolls Royce and BAE Systems.

Earlier this year, it was announced that McLaren Automotive and Boeing are to open new manufacturing facilities alongside the AMRC in Sheffield, bringing major investment and new jobs into the area.

Professor Keith Ridgway, Executive Dean of the AMRC, said: “The growth of the AMRC has not only contributed directly to the increase in research income of the University, but directly to Sheffield City Region by attracting inward investment, creating new jobs and contributing directly to the health of the UK supply chain.

“The work we do developing advanced manufacturing technology and techniques helps businesses to grow and to remain competitive, and helps to boost the region as the UK’s centre for advanced manufacturing.”

Commenting on the increase, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Professor Sir Keith Burnett said: “The extraordinary success of our engineers from computer scientists to the very latest in advanced manufacturing makes Sheffield an international leader in this crucial area of teaching and research.

“Companies from across the world are coming to the University of Sheffield and asking us to help solve the big challenges they face from increasing productivity to developing environmentally sustainable technologies for the cars, planes and trains of the future. It is genuinely exciting to see what is happening, and we know this also offers extraordinary opportunities for students to engage with real life problems working with global brands.”