NWCAM

Creating globally competitive products and processes through Advanced Manufacturing research

What is NWCAM?

The North West Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (NWCAM) is a new trans-regional centre for the research and development of innovative solutions and is funded by the EU’s INTERREG VA Programmes for €8.7m which is managed by the SEUPB.

Catalyst is the lead partner in the delivery of the project.NWCAM links the academic capabilities of Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and West coast of Scotland to develop and deliver, in partnership with industry partners, 16 world leading research projects within the Life and Health Science sector. The collaborative research projects have the potential to deliver global products and processes that can be licensed throughout the world.

The 16 individual Research & Innovation projects span the following Advanced Manufacturing areas:

Nano-manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing
Advanced Polymer Products
Sustainable Manufacturing

The projects are led by investigators who are world leaders in their respective fields and delivered by 13 post-doctoral researchers and 13 PhD students that are creating innovative solutions for the challenges faced by the industrial partners. The students will dedicate their course of study to these problems and will be intensively trained to become our innovators of tomorrow.

NWCAM ALUMNI 2022

We are proud to celebrate the success and career progression of our NWCAM researchers.

Find out more about the NWCAM Alumni here.

NWCAM Project Summary Reports

NWCAM

Hear from the NWCAM team and Industry Partners

NWCAM Objectives

Increase the level of cross-border collaboration throughout the region eligible for Interreg funding (NI, ROI & West Scotland), focused on Research & Innovation (R&I) for Advanced Manufacturing.
Increase the number of Life & Health Sciences sector companies engaged in commercially driven, cross-border Advanced Manufacturing R&I;
Further develop the regional economy through the development of new products and/or processes within the Life & Health Sciences Sector; developed as a result of the application of Advanced Manufacturing technologies;
Increase the awareness of the potential of Advanced Manufacturing as an enabling technology within the Life & Health Sciences Sector and other sectors key to the Region’s current and future economic success.

NWCAM Ezine

For an overview of NWCAM activity please read previous issues of our Ezine:

Ezine 1 – Read here
Ezine 2 – Read here
Ezine 3 – Read here
Ezine 4 – Read here
Ezine 5 – Read here
Ezine 6 – Read here
Ezine 7 – Read here
Ezine 8 – Read here
Ezine 9 – Read here

Life & Health Sciences Industry Survey Report

The North West Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (NWCAM) team based at Catalyst conducted a survey of the Life and Health Sciences industry sector across Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland to better understand the sector’s commercial needs and concerns, existing R&D, innovation capabilities and strategies.

Download our full Life & Health Sciences Industry Survey Report here

Download the Highlights of our Life & Health Sciences Industry Survey Report here

Publications

A selection of recent publications from some of the NWCAM Academic Partners

Developing a plant electrical energy model from historic batch scheduling data – Read here
Developments in Large Scale Additive Manufacture – Read here
A Review of Power Bed Fusion for Additively Manufactured – Read here
A Review of Thermal Modelling for Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes – Read here
Bulk modification of poly (lactic acid) by CO2 laser radiations – Read here
Identification of utility constraints in a batch manufacturing facility – Read here
Identifying highly variable and energy intensive batch manufacturing processes using statistical methodologies – Read here
Energy Consumption Profiling – A Case Study in a Batch Manufacturing Facility – Read here