06 July 2010
FSPA Partners with Loughborough University on £6m “EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Sporting Goods” Bid.
Loughborough University Sports Technology Institute
FSPA Managing Director Jane Montgomery is thrilled the national UK trade body has been asked to support Loughborough University in their bid to create a Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Sporting Goods. She stated: “We have worked alongside Loughborough University as one of the UK’s leading sports universities for a number of years and are keen to be able to support them in their bid for such a worthwhile venture which is sure to be of huge benefit to UK sporting goods manufacturers.”
The Sports Technology Research Group at Loughborough University, now the world’s largest academic-based sporting goods research group, includes a 50-strong team of academics, researchers and technicians. The Group are based within a bespoke state of the art £15m Institute, comprising research laboratories, offices and meeting rooms. The Group have submitted an outline proposal to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for circa £6m over a 5 year period.
The EPSRC are seeking to create around ten Centres to act as hubs for innovative manufacturing research, each with a distinct focus and target sector(s). One notable feature of this particular initiative is the emphasis being placed upon industry need. It is essential that the University research is directed by industry collaborators, (in this case the UK sports industry) hence why the Loughborough University partnership with the FSPA and its sports industry member companies is so important.
Speaking about the bid, Director of the Sports Technology Institute, Prof Mike Caine announced, “We are pleased that our longstanding relationship with the Federation provides us with such a good platform to engage with the UK’s sporting goods sector. We already work closely with numerous UK sports companies, from global brands to niche SME’s. However, we are always open to new approaches.
Of course this venture is still at proposal stage, but we hope this partnership with the Federation will reinforce our proposed bid in the eyes of the EPSRC panel”
If you are a UK sporting goods manufacturer keen to find out more, regardless of whether you manufacture in the UK or off-shore, please contact Prof Mike Caine at
M.P.Caine@lboro.ac.uk or on 01509 564 800 / 01509 564 819
Andrew Weekes Photography (Golf & England Shirt Testing above)