The seven-year Future Metrology Hub, which receives £10 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, with extra funding from universities and business partners, was officially launched at an event attended by more than 130 scientists, engineers, academics and industrialists from around the UK.

They heard a sequence of talks from key figures, including the Hub’s director, Professor Dame Xiangqian (Jane) Jiang (pictured), who provided an overview of its work. She said that metrology is critical to modern manufacturing and pledged that the technology she and her colleagues develop in the lab – such as sensors and artificial intelligence control systems – would be geared up for use in the real world of industry.

Professor Jiang stressed the need for inter-disciplinary collaboration across a wide range of sectors. “That is what the Hub is all about,” she said, and added that its goal was a transformation in UK manufacturing performance.

The University of Huddersfield is at the centre of the Future Metrology Hub. Its “spokes” are at the universities of Sheffield, Bath and Loughborough, which will contribute research in specialised areas.

The National Physical Laboratory, which has its regional base at the University of Huddersfield, is also a collaborator, and there are 29 industrial partners, including leading firms such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems, Siemens, Reliance Precision and Carl Zeiss, all represented at the launch.

Another key partner is the UK-based multi-national Renishaw, which has collaborated with the University of Huddersfield for a quarter of a century. Its group engineering director, Professor Geoff McFarland, gave the keynote address at the launch day.

After his keynote address, and the overview from Professor Jiang, the audience at the launch event heard from Dr Katie Daniel, who heads the Manufacturing the Future Theme for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She said that the portfolio of research hubs was a flagship investment for the EPSRC, which was involved in drawing up the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy.