Company recycling coffee into biofuel wins Innovation pitching event
Monday 15 December 2014The 3rd Food & FMCG Innovation Pitching Event, held on 19 November at Food Matters Live in London, saw some very innovative ideas presented.
The lost art of risk management
Thursday 11 December 2014Dr Mukesh Kumar from the Centre for International Manufacturing suggests that multinational manufacturers are taking unnecessary risks with their industrial investments – and he offers a solution.
Take a peek into the magical world of photonics and nanoparticles
Tuesday 2 December 2014Three doctoral students and a lecturer from the IfM entered images of carbon nanotube shapes, laser metal depositions and crystals into the annual Carl Zeiss Photo Competition.
Molecular Dimensions: doubling the laboratory capacity for protein crystallography specialists
Wednesday 12 November 2014Molecular Dimensions is one of more than 100 smaller manufacturers that IfM ECS is working with as part of the PrISMS programme – and this case study highlights the difference it has made.
A new way to make microstructured surfaces
Tuesday 11 November 2014A team of researchers led by Dr Michael de Volder, Lecturer at the IfM, has created a new way of manufacturing microstructured surfaces that have novel three-dimensional textures.
DIAL B for Boeing
Friday 31 October 2014Duncan McFarlane, Professor of Industrial Information Engineering and head of the IfM’s Distributed Information & Automation Laboratory (DIAL), and members of his research team have been working with Boeing since 2005, finding intelligent solutions to some challenging industrial problems.
IfM launches 3D printing lab for students
Tuesday 28 October 2014The Institute for Manufacturing has added a new cutting-edge facility to its offering – its very own 3D printing laboratory, created to support Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) Design modules.
IfM Review Issue 2
Friday 17 October 2014Featuring articles on intelligent supply and resilience, servitization, managing risk in industrial investment and new business models for sustainability as well as a case study on Linde Gases, and much more.
IfM discusses opportunities to cooperate with Japan on developing high value manufacturing
Tuesday 7 October 2014The Institute for Manufacturing took part in a workshop aimed at building closer links between industrialists, officials and academics involved with manufacturing in the UK and Japan.
Photofabrication: photochemical specialist firm achieves sustainable energy savings
Monday 6 October 2014Photofabrication is one of around 100 smaller manufacturers that IfM ECS is working with as part of the PrISMS programme – and this case study highlights the difference it has made.
IfM ECS - supporting industry and government in achieving sustainable, long-term growth
Wednesday 1 October 2014The Institute for Manufacturing’s dissemination arm, IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS), has issued two new documents which show some of the key services it can provide for industry and government.
Pitch your innovative idea to Food & FMCG giants such as Unilever, Tesco and Mars
Monday 29 September 2014The Open Innovation Forum, whose members are major Food and FMCG firms, is holding the 3rd Food & FMCG Innovation Pitching Event on Wednesday 19 November at Food Matters Live, ExCel centre, London.
Podcast - What is 3D printing? Dr Tim Minshall
Thursday 25 September 2014With news of 3D printed cars, houses and even food, is this the future of manufacturing? The Naked Scientists take a closer look at the workings of 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, and what this might mean for our collective futures. Tim Minshall took Kat Arney through the basics.
New head of SME support team for ECS
Thursday 25 September 2014Dr Karen Smith has joined IfM Education and Consultancy Services to lead its work helping SMEs to develop and grow their businesses.
September events highlights - conferences and courses
Tuesday 2 September 2014Throughout the month of September, a range of exciting courses and conferences is being organised across the Institute for Manufacturing, aimed at a wide range of audiences from industry, academia and government.
UK-India Manufacturing Policy Roundtable summary report now available
Tuesday 22 July 2014The UK-India Manufacturing Policy Roundtable, organised by the IfM and UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN), was held in April in New Delhi, India.
IfM ECS works with Yucatan government on its industrial development strategy
Monday 21 July 2014IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS) is helping the government of the state of Yucatan, Mexico develop their industrial strategy.
Future engineers challenged to build a crane during IfM visit
Monday 21 July 2014A group of students from Chelmer Valley High School have visited the IfM to learn more about what engineers do.
Open Innovation Forum hosted by Mars at 'The Biggest Chocolate Factory in the World'
Tuesday 8 July 2014More than 30 innovation leaders from major companies were hosted by Mars in Veghel, Netherlands for the June 2014 meeting of the Open Innovation Forum in the Food and FMCG Value Chain.
Key IfM role in new research centre to help manufacturers improve efficiency
Thursday 3 July 2014The Institute for Manufacturing’s research skills will be a key component of a new specialist centre dedicated to finding ways to help businesses improve efficiency in manufacturing.
Students showcase innovative new product ideas at annual Design Show
Wednesday 2 July 2014Students showcased their project work at the annual Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) Design Show at the IfM.
Twenty-first century supply chains: Transforming the pharmaceutical industry
Tuesday 1 July 2014The Centre for International Manufacturing (CIM) is leading the research programme in REMEDIES, a £23m sector-wide initiative to understand how pharmaceutical supply chains in the UK are set to change.
NASA executive with US energy and aerospace sector expertise joins ECS
Monday 30 June 2014John Saiz, a NASA executive and formerly Chief Technology Officer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, has joined IfM Education and Consultancy Services.
Insights shared to make collaborative research work better
Monday 23 June 2014More than 80 people from 50 companies and Cambridge University met to discuss lessons and insights on how best to manage collaborative research between academia and industry.
Building Long Term Strategic University-Industry Partnerships: Lessons and Effective Practices from UK and US Experiences
Friday 13 June 2014The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (CSTI) has released a summary of the key findings from a recent workshop on building strategic university-industry partnerships.
Advanced materials: one of the UK's eight great technologies for future growth
Wednesday 11 June 2014The importance of advanced materials as one of the UK's “eight great technologies” for future growth is discussed by Professor Bill O’Neill in a series which focuses on research into advanced materials across the University of Cambridge.
First year PhD students showcase research at conference
Monday 9 June 2014The 1st year PhD Students’ Conference, organised and run by the students at the IfM, showcased the work of 19 researchers.
Why SMEs need to board the Big Data train
Tuesday 3 June 2014Failing to jump aboard the Big Data train will leave businesses in the dust of newer, smarter start-ups, says Andy Neely in a blog article in The Telegraph.
Small is beautiful: Why ultra precision manufacturing is such a big deal
Monday 2 June 2014Are you happy with your smartphone? Bill O’Neill, Professor of Laser Engineering and Director of the IfM’s Centre for Industrial Photonics isn’t.
New Open Innovation Forum in Health is launched
Friday 30 May 2014The Open Innovation Forum in Health was launched with a full-day workshop at the IfM looking at open innovation (OI) skills and trends and drivers in the health sector.
Business model innovation in India
Wednesday 21 May 2014A new study by Chander Velu, from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing and Mahima Kanna from the International Finance Corporation, aims to shed light on business model innovation in India over the last decade.
Outstanding Paper award for IfM article on start-ups in emerging industries
Friday 16 May 2014An article by IfM authors on manufacturing start-ups in emerging industries has been chosen as the 2014 Outstanding Paper winner by the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.
Barack Obama's former manufacturing advisor delivers Babbage Lecture
Friday 16 May 2014Barack Obama’s former Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing, Thomas R Kurfess, delivered the Babbage Lecture on 13 May: The Digital Future of Manufacturing, Policy and Technology Opportunities for American Innovation.
IfM Briefing Day attracts more than 150 senior industrialists and policymakers
Wednesday 14 May 2014More than 150 senior representatives from industry and government as well as UK and multinational companies attended the annual IfM Briefing Day.
Health and wellbeing in the UK rail industry
Wednesday 14 May 2014Strategy and priorities needed to achieve the industry’s vision.
Highly commended papers made freely available by journal publishers for a month
Thursday 1 May 2014Two highly commended papers by IfM authors have been made freely available for a month by the publishers of the journals in which they feature.
Predicting the unpredictable: the future of manufacturing
Thursday 1 May 2014Dr Dai Morgan from the IfM’s Centre for Industrial Sustainability (CIS) reflects on the UK government’s recent Foresight report on the future of manufacturing.
Minister visits IfM to meet manufacturing firms benefitting from the PrISMS programme
Tuesday 29 April 2014A Government Minister visited the IfM today (Tuesday 29 April) to meet some of the 100 firms currently benefitting from a programme to create and safeguard jobs across the East of England.
Infrastructure seminar looks ahead with futureproofing
Tuesday 22 April 2014A workshop around the theme of Infrastructure Futureproofing was held at the IfM as part of a collaboration with Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC).
Successful webinar on Total Information Risk Management
Wednesday 16 April 2014IfM held a successful webinar outlining a new approach to quantifying the business value of high quality data and the risk to businesses of poor quality data.
Cambridge: the view from Mars
Tuesday 15 April 2014In October 2013, Mars and the University of Cambridge announced a formal collaboration. Its dual aim: to help Mars tackle global sustainability challenges that both its business and society share through first-class academic research, and to involve the University and its students in the development of new commercial applications.
New report on the latest trends in the globalisation of manufacturing
Monday 14 April 2014Capturing value from global networks, published on April 14 by the IfM, describes a set of approaches developed by IfM researchers and put into practice with a range of leading manufacturers to help them effectively design and manage their global networks.
Engineering in a connected world: Tim Minshall at TEDxCambridge
Thursday 10 April 2014What does it mean to be an engineer, and how might we all draw on our inner-engineer to change the world we live in?
Joint UK-India research programme launched to develop sustainable supply networks
Wednesday 9 April 2014Research partners from the UK and India came together in Delhi on April 9 to launch a programme aimed at developing sustainable global supply networks.
i-Teams competition prompts novel ideas for new inventions
Tuesday 8 April 2014Using moss to power fairy lights and allowing pigs to reach their food through a catflap were some of the bright ideas for scientific inventions in the What would you use THAT for? competition.
A knowledge economy that works
Friday 4 April 2014Manufacturing is an essential step in capturing value from ideas, says Professor Sir Mike Gregory, Head of the Institute for Manufacturing.
3D printing: The shape of things to come?
Tuesday 1 April 2014Dr Simon Ford, from IfM’s Centre for Technology Management, explains why we need to take a clear-eyed view of this much hyped technology if it is to realise its potential.
Insights from the UK and USA on building strategic university-industry partnerships
Monday 24 March 2014The Centre for Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (CSTI) hosted a two-day workshop exploring ways of building long-term strategic university-industry partnerships.
IfM to lead research in £23m project to reconfigure UK pharma supply chains
Friday 21 March 2014The IfM will lead research into a £23m collaborative project on reconfiguring UK pharmaceutical supply chains.
Putting the fun into computer programming with a robot that is a toy at heart
Thursday 13 March 2014John Ginger, a recent Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) graduate, is one half of a team developing a small robot to help children learn programming and robotics while they play.
IfM Review Issue 1
Saturday 1 March 2014We hope you will enjoy this new publication from the IfM which is designed to provide something for everyone – a glimpse of our current activities as well as a deeper look at some of our major lines of research and engagement with industry.
An inside view of manufacturing
Friday 7 February 2014Inside IfM gave around 150 representatives from government, industry and academia the opportunity to discover more about the latest research and projects and meet the experts who make that possible.
Increasing the uptake of electric car rentals in Japan - case study
Monday 3 February 2014Researchers at the Cambridge Service Alliance have suggested new ways of increasing the uptake of electric car usage.
Mike Sharman 1933 - 2013
Wednesday 15 January 2014Mike Sharman, a pioneering course director in manufacturing at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, has died, aged 80.