Morgan Sindall Construction has successfully completed and handed over the University of Salford’s North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC).
NERIC is a £16 million facility that will serve as a hub for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to design, test and validate robotics technologies.
Focus areas for the facility include robotics for intelligent infrastructure, digital automation, and supply chain improvement.
NERIC is an all-electric building which incorporates solar PV panels on the roof and an adiabatic air handling unit.
Professor Joe Sweeney, Dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford, said: “We’re delighted and excited that NERIC will soon be active, providing an industry-facing platform for the University of Salford’s world-leading research in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
“As we move towards Industry 5.0, the use of robots in our lives, as well as industry, will be increasingly frequent, and NERIC will bring together our health-focused expertise in this area (showcased in our EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics), allied with our science and engineering research to help meet the needs of future living.”
Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the NERIC facility will enable the University’s robotics and automation specialists to expand their work with SMEs around the country.
Disciplines covered by the 22,580 square foot NERIC building will include the dynamic and growing sectors of robotics for intelligent infrastructure, digital automation and supply chain improvement, as well as health, wellbeing and integrated care technologies.
The building is part of a £2.5 billion Crescent masterplan, a 240-acre major regeneration scheme being delivered by the University of Salford, Salford City Council and development partner, The English Cities Fund, a strategic joint venture between national urban developer, Muse, Legal & General and Homes England.
Morgan Sindall Construction also recently completed work on the Science, Engineering and Environment Building (SEE Building) on campus.
Shaun Jones, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Greater Manchester, said: “It’s a pleasure to see the completion of this facility which will support vital learning and research in an established and continually expanding area of expertise by providing a hub which adds value to both the University and Greater Manchester’s technical infrastructure.
“The completion of NERIC caps a fantastic period of collaboration between ourselves and the university that has also seen the delivery of the SEE Building. We’re now really excited to see what the brilliant minds who will occupy these facilities can achieve.”
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